Dust today
At 5 seats
$150
Business Pro seat plan
- Contract
- Monthly seats can be cancelled anytime; annual seats stay available for reassignment...
- Free plan
- Free seat on the Business plan includes 500 credits, lifetime (not renewing).
Cheaper than Dust (2)
Compared at 5 seats, same currency.
| Alternative | At 5 seats | Against Dust | States that Dust doesn't | Contract | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ElicitPlus, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$55$11 × 5 seats | $95 less | Inline source citations, Academic paper database search, Upload and query own documents, Export reports and tables | Cancel paid subscription any time; it runs to the end of the... | Basic is free with limited Research Agent and Research Reports usage... |
 Claude (Research)Enterprise, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$100$20 × 5 seats | $50 less | Upload and query own documents, HIPAA BAA | Cancel anytime; plan stays active until end of billing period | Free plan with chat, web search, file creation, memory, connectors, up to 5... |
Flat tiers (2)
Priced in tiers, where Dust charges per seat.
| Alternative | At 5 seats | Against Dust | States that Dust doesn't | Contract | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ResearchRabbitResearchRabbit+ ( plan), read Oct 29, 2026 |
$12.50/moResearchRabbit+ ( plan) plan, starting price | Not comparable | Academic paper database search | Monthly payments, cancel any time | Free Forever tier: unlimited searches, unlimited library and collections... |
 Parallel Web Systemsread Oct 29, 2026 |
$3/1K requestsUsage price | Not comparable | Inline source citations | Not found | Up to 5,000 requests per month free, plus $5 in free credits per month |
Other options (2)
No computed reason to switch, listed for completeness.
| Alternative | At 5 seats | Against Dust | States that Dust doesn't | Contract | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gemini Deep ResearchGoogle AI Plus, read Oct 29, 2026 |
$4.99/moGoogle AI Plus plan, starting price | Not comparable | Nothing extra found | Not found | Free Gemini app with Flash-Lite model, image generation, Deep Research... |
| sciteBasic, read Oct 29, 2026 | $12/mo yearlyBasic plan, starting price | Not comparable | Inline source citations, Academic paper database search | Subscription continues until cancelled; cancel at least 30 days... | Trial: 7-day free trial; auto-enrolls in the selected plan after it ends unless... |
No price found, or contact sales (13)
- AlphaSensecontact the vendor
- ChatGPT (Deep Research)hybrid
- CoCounselhybrid
- Consensuscontact the vendor
- Crayonsales led
- Google NotebookLMcontact the vendor
- Harveysales led
- Iris.aihybrid
- Kluesales led
- Kompytehybrid
- Perplexitycontact the vendor
- SciSpacecontact the vendor
- Talkwalkersales led
Questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Dust?
Elicit, at $55 at 5 seats, $95 less than Dust. Computed from each vendor's published prices.
Is there a free alternative to Dust?
Yes. 5 AI research assistants have a free plan, including Elicit, Claude (Research), Gemini Deep Research, ResearchRabbit, Parallel Web Systems.
How this page is made
Alternatives come from Dust's own category, AI research assistants. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page and are compared at the same volume where both can be computed, and by starting price where neither can. "States that Dust doesn't" lists what we found on the other vendor's site and didn't find on Dust's, which doesn't prove Dust lacks it. How prices are read.