AI-Powered Research Assistant

Your Research Papers, Intelligently Organized

Import your PDFs, summarize and chat with the AI of your choice, search by meaning, keep everything in plain files you own and sync to a cloud storage of your choice. All this on a fast, native desktop app.

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Free for personal use, privacy first.

Research Assistant app, library view

Everything You Need to Master Your Research

A fast, native desktop app that keeps your papers on your own machine. Your library is just plain files you own, and you can sync them with any cloud you like. Using an LLM is entirely optional, and when you do, you bring your own subscription or service, so there are no extra fees from us.

Import From Anywhere

Drag in PDFs, or add papers by arXiv ID, DOI, or URL (with open-access PDF fetching). Migrate your whole Zotero or Mendeley library via BibTeX/RIS, or grab the paper you're reading with the browser extension. Metadata is fetched automatically from CrossRef, OpenAlex, and Semantic Scholar.

Read & Annotate

A fast built-in PDF reader with multiple tabs, highlights, and markdown notes beside every paper, so you never have to open a second app. Your highlights and notes are saved as plain files right next to the PDF.

AI Summaries & Tags

Generate a structured summary and suggested tags for any paper on demand. You preview the result and choose what to keep before anything is written.

Chat With Your Library

Ask questions across your papers and get answers that are grounded in the most relevant passages and that cite the papers they came from.

Semantic Search

Find papers by meaning rather than by keywords alone. The embeddings run locally on your machine, so search stays private and works offline.

Bring Your Own AI

Use a local model via Ollama, your own API key (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, OpenRouter, and more), or a CLI agent. You can run everything fully offline if you like, and there are no accounts with us and no per-seat AI fees.

Organize Your Way

Sort papers into nested collections, tag them however you think, and bulk-move or cite whole selections at once. Citations export to BibTeX, RIS, APA, MLA, Chicago, and IEEE.

Discover Connected Work

See what each paper cites and what cites it (via Semantic Scholar). Spot what's already in your library and pull in open-access references with a single click.

Own Your Files & Sync

Every paper is a plain PDF, a metadata file, and your notes, all readable without us and syncable through Filen, rclone (Proton Drive, Mega, pCloud, and more), or any folder you already sync. There's no proprietary database and nothing that locks you in.

How It Works

Four steps to go from scattered PDFs to an organized library.

01

Import Your Papers

Drag in PDFs, paste an arXiv ID / DOI / URL, or import a BibTeX/RIS export from Zotero or Mendeley. Metadata is fetched automatically.

02

Connect Your AI

Point the app at a local model, your own API key, or a CLI agent, whichever you prefer. Summaries and chat then run through the provider you control.

03

Organize Your Way

Sort papers into nested collections, tag them (with AI-suggested tags you approve), and search by meaning across everything, all on your machine.

04

Chat & Discover

Ask questions across your library and get answers that cite their sources, then follow each paper's citations and references to find related work.

Free for personal use. Pay once for work.

There are no subscriptions. If you use Research Assistant professionally for work or research, a one-time 14.99€ keeps it going. A free account is required to download.

Personal
Free
For personal use.
  • The full app, every feature
  • Use your own local or API AI
  • Free updates
  • Your files stay on your machine
Download free
Professional
14.99€one-time
For commercial, academic, or professional use.
  • Everything in Personal
  • For commercial & academic use
  • Supports ongoing development
Buy for 14.99€

About the Author

Dominik Ficek, creator of Research Assistant

Dominik Ficek

dominik.ficek@email.czLinkedIn

I'm a software engineer working in technological R&D. I built Research Assistant because I wasn't happy with the free tiers the other scientific paper managers offer. I was looking for better AI integration and cloud synchronization, however the current software monetization standard is to slap subscription fees on everything. Why do I have to pay for another LLM or cloud service when I already pay for Claude and Filen?

Feel free to reach out regarding bugs or features you'd like to see in future versions.