7 Best Free Sharly AI Alternatives for Research in 2026

Reading and understanding long documents can be overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to study or research multiple topics at once.

AI tools now make it easier to summarize, extract key points, and even answer questions directly from your readings. Amazing, right?

In this article, we’ll look at the 7 best free Sharly AI alternatives for research, summarizing, and document reading in 2026.

What is Sharly AI?

Sharly AI is an AI document reader that helps users summarize research papers, reports, and articles. It allows you to upload files or paste text and then ask questions directly about the content.

It is primarily used as an AI research assistant to extract key points, generate short summaries, and make studying easier.

Is Sharly AI Free?

Sharly AI offers a free plan, but it only includes 5 free documents a day. To get more, you have to upgrade to a paid plan.

If you are doing more intense studying or research, 5 documents a day might not be enough, so you'll need to check out the alternatives below for options that offer expanded free usage.

What Do AI Document Readers Do?

AI document readers use natural language processing to help you interact with research material. Instead of reading everything manually, these tools summarize content, answer questions, and support study workflows.

Here are the main ways AI document readers help with research:

• Summarize content - Generate short and clear summaries from long papers or articles.

• Answer your questions - Ask specific questions about a document and get relevant answers instantly.

• Help you do research - Extract insights, identify important sections, and support research projects.

• Generate citations - Create proper references and citations automatically from your sources.

How to Choose a Sharly AI Alternative

When choosing a Sharly AI alternative, focus on how easily the tool fits your study habits and research needs. Some work better for summarizing PDFs, while others are designed for question-answering or writing help.

Here are some features/important points to consider:

• Easy to use for students - The tool should have a simple, distraction-free layout that makes it quick to upload and read files.

• Supports multiple file types - Look for tools that can handle PDFs, research papers, web articles, and class notes without conversion.

• Lets you ask questions - Choose one that allows you to ask follow-up questions directly about your document or study material.

• Has a useful free plan - Make sure the free version gives you enough uploads or summaries to use regularly for schoolwork.

• Helps you study smarter - Tools that include citations, note exports, or highlight key ideas can make your study sessions much more effective.

7 Best Free Sharly AI Alternatives

Without further ado, here's our list of the 7 best free Sharly AI alternatives:

1. AI Blaze

First up on our list of the best free Sharly AI alternatives is AI Blaze.

AI Blaze is an all-in-one AI summarizing, studying, and writing assistant that helps you quickly read & summarize PDFs and generate summaries in any format and on any site.

Here's why AI Blaze stands out:

• Summarize any article or PDF with AI - Quickly chat with & summarize online articles or PDFs with AI.

• Answer questions with AI - Have a question about something in a PDF, article, email, or anything else? AI BLaze can help you answer it in seconds!

• Best AI writing & studying assistant - AI Blaze helps you improve your writing, generate study guides, take notes, and much more!

• No file uploads necessary! - AI Blaze can read any PDF or document, no file upload necessary. Plus, it works with any file type in Chrome!

• Price: AI Blaze is free! - AI Blaze is 100% free for students!

2. SciSummary

SciSummary AI is an AI summarizer built for research articles and academic papers. It lets users upload PDFs or links to scientific papers and generates clear summaries in seconds.

The tool focuses on extracting the most relevant findings and key concepts from studies. Students can use tools like SciSummary to save time when preparing notes or reviewing sources.

• Price: 1 month free for students, then $48/year.

3. ChatDoc

ChatDoc is an AI document reader that lets you upload PDFs and ask questions directly about their content. It identifies and highlights the most relevant text from within the document to support its answers.

The tool is useful for understanding complex research papers and getting quick insights without reading everything manually. Students use sites like ChatDoc as an AI study tool to simplify dense academic material.

• Price: 10 free uploads, then $8.99/month.

4. Scite AI

Scite AI is an AI research assistant designed to evaluate scientific claims using citation context. It helps users see how studies have been supported or challenged by other research.

Instead of just summarizing, Scite focuses on analyzing credibility and citation quality. This makes it useful for students working on literature reviews or academic essays that require evidence-based sources.

• Price: $20/month.

5. Jenni AI

Jenni AI is an AI writing tool that combines document understanding with research support. It can summarize papers, generate content drafts, and suggest citations as you write.

Students often use it to build outlines or expand academic sections based on uploaded material. The tool connects reading and writing workflows, which makes it practical for academic writing projects.

• Price: 10 free PDF uploads, then $12/month.

6. SciSpace AI

SciSpace AI is an AI study tool that helps users explore and understand research papers more easily. It provides explanations for technical terms and summarizes sections within scientific documents.

You can ask questions, search related topics, and connect papers for deeper understanding. It’s a strong option for students who regularly read academic research.

• Price: Limited free plan.

7. Elicit AI

Elicit AI is an AI research assistant that automates parts of the research process. It helps users find papers, extract summaries, and organize evidence for research questions.

The tool focuses on structuring data and insights rather than just summarizing documents. Students can use it to speed up literature reviews and data gathering for academic projects.

• Price: 4 free papers at once. $120/year for more.

Make Research Faster with the Right AI Tool

AI tools can save students hours of reading and note-taking by turning research papers into short, clear takeaways. We recommend starting with one or two tools from this list and find what fits your study routine best.

To recap, our suggestion for the best free Sharly AI alternative is AI Blaze. AI Blaze is your personal AI summarizing, writing, and studying assistant that helps you summarize articles, generate study guides, take notes, and much more! Give it a try for free today!