---
title: Pricing - Scholar Sidekick
description: Machine-readable pricing for the Scholar Sidekick citation API and MCP server. Web tools are free; the REST API has a free BASIC tier plus paid tiers via RapidAPI.
last_updated: "2026-05-21"
canonical: https://scholar-sidekick.com/docs#pricing
---

# Scholar Sidekick - Pricing

> Machine-readable pricing for AI agents and comparison tools.
> Human version: https://scholar-sidekick.com/docs#pricing

## Summary

- **Web tools** (citation formatter, verifier, DOI lookup, retraction & open-access checkers) are **free** with **no account required**.
- The **REST API and MCP server** have a **free BASIC tier** (500 requests/month) plus paid tiers from **$9/mo**, billed and managed through RapidAPI.
- **Every tier unlocks the same features** — tiers differ only by monthly request quota and per-IP burst allowance, never by capability.
- No seat fees, no setup fees, no annual lock-in. Currency: USD.

## Web tools

The web tools at https://scholar-sidekick.com/tools are **free** with **no account required**. Anonymous use is rate-limited for fair use.

## Plans

Light/anonymous API use is free. For a monthly quota and higher limits, get an API key on RapidAPI (the BASIC tier is free):
https://rapidapi.com/scholar-sidekick-scholar-sidekick-api/api/scholar-sidekick

| Tier | Price | Requests / month | Overage (then) | Per-IP burst | Best for |
|------|-------|------------------|----------------|--------------|----------|
| BASIC | Free | 500 | $0.001 each | 1× (base) | Trying the API, hobby scripts, low-volume agents |
| PRO | $9 / mo | 10,000 | $0.001 each | 2× | Indie apps, research tooling, steady production use |
| ULTRA | $49 / mo | 100,000 | $0.0008 each | 4× | High-traffic apps and batch citation pipelines |
| MEGA | $199 / mo | 500,000 | $0.0005 each | 8× | Platforms and bulk bibliography processing at scale |

All prices are in USD per month. No seat fees, no setup fees, no annual contract — change or cancel any time on RapidAPI.

### Plan details

#### BASIC — Free

- **Included requests:** 500 / month
- **Overage after quota:** $0.001 each
- **Bandwidth:** 10,240 MB / month, then $0.001/MB
- **Per-IP burst allowance:** 1× (base)
- **Best for:** Trying the API, hobby scripts, low-volume agents
- **Features:** identical to every other tier — no capability is paywalled.

#### PRO — $9 / mo

- **Included requests:** 10,000 / month
- **Overage after quota:** $0.001 each
- **Bandwidth:** 10,240 MB / month, then $0.001/MB
- **Per-IP burst allowance:** 2×
- **Best for:** Indie apps, research tooling, steady production use
- **Features:** identical to every other tier — no capability is paywalled.

#### ULTRA — $49 / mo

- **Included requests:** 100,000 / month
- **Overage after quota:** $0.0008 each
- **Bandwidth:** 10,240 MB / month, then $0.001/MB
- **Per-IP burst allowance:** 4×
- **Best for:** High-traffic apps and batch citation pipelines
- **Features:** identical to every other tier — no capability is paywalled.

#### MEGA — $199 / mo

- **Included requests:** 500,000 / month
- **Overage after quota:** $0.0005 each
- **Bandwidth:** 10,240 MB / month, then $0.001/MB
- **Per-IP burst allowance:** 8×
- **Best for:** Platforms and bulk bibliography processing at scale
- **Features:** identical to every other tier — no capability is paywalled.

### What counts toward your quota

- One call to any endpoint counts as **one request**, whether single or batch.
- All tiers include **10,240 MB/month** of bandwidth, then $0.001/MB.
- **Per-IP burst protection** scales with tier (BASIC base, PRO x2, ULTRA x4, MEGA x8). Responses carry IETF `RateLimit-*` and legacy `X-RateLimit-*` headers, plus `Retry-After` on HTTP 429.
- Overage (per-request, after the monthly quota is exhausted): BASIC/PRO $0.001, ULTRA $0.0008, MEGA $0.0005.

## Features included in every tier

No capability is paywalled — only volume scales with price.

- **Identifier types resolved (8):** DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, ISSN, arXiv, ADS bibcode, WHO IRIS URL.
- **Citation styles:** 5 built-in (Vancouver, AMA, APA, IEEE, CSE) plus 10,000+ CSL styles (Harvard, Chicago, Nature, Lancet, BMJ, MLA, and more).
- **Export formats (9):** bibtex, ris, csl-json, endnote-xml, refworks, nbib, rdf, csv, txt.
- **Endpoints / MCP tools:**
  - Resolve an identifier to structured CSL-JSON metadata (`POST /api/format`, `resolveIdentifier`).
  - Format a citation in any supported style as text, HTML, or JSON (`POST /api/format`, `formatCitation`).
  - Export a bibliography file in any supported format (`POST /api/export`, `exportCitation`).
  - Check retraction / correction / expression-of-concern status via Crossref + Retraction Watch (`POST /api/verify`, `checkRetraction`).
  - Check open-access status and the best legal URL via Unpaywall (`checkOpenAccess`).
  - Verify whether a claimed citation matches the work at its identifier — fabrication detection (`POST /api/verify`, `verifyCitation`).
- **Also on every tier:** batch input, deterministic output at a pinned `x-scholar-transform-version`, and full provenance headers (`x-request-id`, `x-scholar-cache`, `x-scholar-style`).

## Authentication

- **Anonymous access** is available at the lowest rate-limit tier — no key required for light use.
- For a monthly quota and higher limits, send your key as `X-RapidAPI-Key` (RapidAPI) or `X-Scholar-API-Key` (first-party).

## Quickstart

```bash
# Free, no key required for light use:
curl -sX POST https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/format \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"text":"10.1038/nphys1170","style":"apa"}'
```

Full API reference: https://scholar-sidekick.com/docs - OpenAPI: https://scholar-sidekick.com/.well-known/openapi.yaml

## MCP server

The Scholar Sidekick MCP server is free and open-source, run locally over stdio:

```
npx -y scholar-sidekick-mcp@latest
```

It calls the same API; light use is free without a key. Docs: https://scholar-sidekick.com/mcp

## Pricing FAQ

**Is there a free tier?** Yes. The web tools are free with no account, and the REST API / MCP server include a free BASIC tier (500 requests/month). No credit card is required to start.

**Do paid tiers unlock more features?** No. Every tier — including the free BASIC tier — has the full feature set. Paid tiers only raise the monthly request quota and per-IP burst allowance.

**What happens when I exceed my monthly quota?** Requests keep working and are billed per-request at the tier's overage rate (BASIC/PRO $0.001, ULTRA $0.0008, MEGA $0.0005 each). You are never hard-cut off mid-month.

**How is a "request" counted?** One call to any endpoint is one request, whether the payload is a single identifier or a batch.

**How do I upgrade or cancel?** Plans are managed on RapidAPI (https://rapidapi.com/scholar-sidekick-scholar-sidekick-api/api/scholar-sidekick). Switch tiers or cancel any time; there is no annual lock-in.

**Can I self-host or use it without billing?** Yes. The MCP server (`npx -y scholar-sidekick-mcp@latest`) and anonymous API access are free for light use without any key.

## See also

- Human pricing & full API docs: https://scholar-sidekick.com/docs#pricing
- API Terms: https://scholar-sidekick.com/legal/api-terms
- Machine-readable index: https://scholar-sidekick.com/llms.txt