💬
Cited AI answers
Ask questions scoped to one paper, a folder, or your whole library. Every claim carries a numbered citation linking to the exact passage — verifiable, not vibes.
For students & researchers
The research library where every answer cites its source.
Upload your papers, ask questions, and get answers with numbered citations that link back to the exact passage. Read, highlight, take notes, and export a formatted APA 7 reference list — all in one place.
Free plan forever · Student plan from $5/month · Cancel anytime
Searches PubMed · OpenAlex · Semantic Scholar · Crossref
Exports to BibTeX · CSV · Word · Markdown
APA 7 · Harvard · Vancouver · IEEE references, built automatically
Everything in one workspace
From first search to final reference list
MyOwnArc replaces the tangle of a reference manager, a PDF reader, an AI chat, and a notes app with one library that keeps your sources, your reading, and your writing connected.
📚
A library that files itself
Drop in PDFs, DOCX files, or web pages. Title, authors, year, journal, and DOI auto-fill from Crossref and OpenAlex. Organise with folders and tags; search everything instantly.
🖍️
Read & highlight
An in-browser PDF reader with text highlighting. Browse your highlights per document or across a whole folder when it's time to write.
📝
Notes that cite themselves
Write in Markdown with live preview. Type @ to cite any library document — citations render as (Author, Year) and your APA 7 reference list builds itself.
🔎
Discover across databases
Search PubMed, OpenAlex, and Semantic Scholar together, de-duplicated by DOI. One click imports the open-access PDF when one exists.
🧭
Deep search reports
Give it a research question. MyOwnArc queries the databases, sifts the candidates, imports the most relevant papers, and writes a cited evidence report — saved as a note you can build on.
How it works
Three steps to a cited answer
Build your library
Upload PDFs, paste URLs, or import from PubMed, OpenAlex, and Semantic Scholar. Metadata fills itself in.
Ask & read
Chat with a document, a folder, or everything at once. Open any PDF to read and highlight as you go.
Write & export
Draft notes with @-citations, then export to Word or Markdown with a formatted APA 7 reference list — or BibTeX for LaTeX.
Pricing
Priced for a student budget
Comparable tools charge $20–$49 a month. MyOwnArc gives you cited answers, discovery, and referencing for the price of a coffee.
Explorer
Try everything, free forever
$0
- Up to 30 documents
- 25 cited AI answers / month
- Discover search & import
- PDF reader with highlights
- BibTeX & CSV export
Most popular
Student
Verified academic email
$5/mo
Billed yearly ($60) · or $7 month-to-month
- 500 documents
- Unlimited cited AI answers
- Notes with @-cite & APA 7
- 10 deep-search reports / month
- Word (.docx) export
Researcher
For serious literature work
$12/mo
Billed yearly ($144) · or $15 month-to-month
- Unlimited documents
- Unlimited cited AI answers
- 40 deep-search reports / month
- Related-papers citation graph
- Priority support
Lab
Groups & departments
$10/seat/mo
Billed yearly · 3-seat minimum
- Everything in Researcher
- Shared folders & libraries
- Centralised billing
- Admin & member management
- Invoice payment
Compare
How MyOwnArc stacks up
The AI research tools charge a premium; the reference managers don't answer questions. MyOwnArc does both jobs for less.
| MyOwnArc | Anara | Elicit | SciSpace | Paperpile | Zotero | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest full paid plan | $5/mo | $10–20/mo | $12–49/mo | $12/mo | $4.15/mo | $1.67/mo* |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ limited | ✓ limited | ✓ limited | ✗ trial only | ✓ |
| AI answers with passage-level citations | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| PDF reader with highlights | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notes with auto reference list (APA 7, Harvard, Vancouver, IEEE + more) | ✓ | partial | ✗ | partial | ✓ via Docs | ✓ via plugin |
| Data-extraction tables (literature matrix) | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ 2 free cols | ✓ 5 free cols | ✗ | ✗ |
| One-click save browser extension | ✓† | partial | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-database discovery (PubMed + OpenAlex + Semantic Scholar) | ✓ | partial | ✓ | ✓ | partial | ✗ |
| Deep-search cited evidence reports | ✓ | add-on | ✓ Pro ($49) | partial | ✗ | ✗ |
| BibTeX import & export · CSV · Word | ✓ | partial | CSV | partial | ✓ | ✓ |
*Zotero is free software; the price shown is its 2 GB file-storage add-on. †MyOwnArc's extension currently installs in developer mode; Chrome Web Store listing pending. Competitor pricing and features from public pricing pages, August 2026 — annual-billing rates where offered. Trademarks belong to their owners; MyOwnArc is not affiliated with any product listed.
FAQ
Questions, answered (with sources)
How is this different from ChatGPT?
MyOwnArc only answers from the papers in your library, and every claim carries a numbered citation that links back to the exact passage in the source. You can verify every sentence — which is what your supervisor, reviewer, or marker actually requires. No invented references.
Which databases does Discover search?
PubMed, OpenAlex, and Semantic Scholar, searched together and de-duplicated by DOI. One-click import grabs the open-access PDF when one exists; otherwise the abstract is saved as a citable reference.
Can I get my data out?
Always. Your library or any folder exports to BibTeX or CSV; notes export to Markdown or Word (.docx) with a formatted APA 7 reference list. Your research is never locked in.
Is there a student discount?
The Student plan is the discount — $5/month billed yearly with a verified academic email. That's a quarter of what comparable AI research tools charge.
What citation styles are supported?
APA 7, Harvard, Chicago (author–date), MLA 9, Vancouver, and IEEE — switchable per note, applied to previews and Word/Markdown exports alike. BibTeX export covers everything else via LaTeX or your reference manager.
How do I pay?
Payments run through Stripe: debit/credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay — or direct debit (Bacs in the UK, SEPA in Europe) if you'd rather not put a subscription on a card. We never see or store your payment details.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes, in one click from your account page. Your plan stays active until the end of the billing period, and you can export everything before you go.
Your whole research arc, in one place.
Start with 30 documents and 25 cited answers, free. No card, no lock-in — just answers you can defend.
Start free