Tool profile
Keenious: cost, fit and limits
Keenious is a literature discovery service made by Keenious AS of Norway that suggests relevant academic papers from a question or from the text you are writing, in a web app and in Word and Google Docs add-ins.
What to know first
Keenious has a free plan with no time limit, Individual from €10 per month billed annually, Team from €20 per user per month and a custom University license. Free keeps all search results and topic maps but allows only three AI conversations a day. The privacy policy is unusually specific: EU processing, raw prompts deleted after 24 hours and an ISO 27001 statement. There is no free trial for Individual.
Keenious at a glance
| Maker | Keenious AS, Norway |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes |
| Entry price | €0/month (Free) |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Literature Search Tools in 2026, rank 5 of 13 |
| Website | keenious.com |
Who Keenious is best for
Writers who draft in Word or Google Docs
The add-ins read the text you are writing and suggest papers to cite, so searching does not mean leaving the document and starting a separate query.
European institutions with GDPR duties
The University license lists a GDPR data processing agreement, EU hosting and SAML SSO, and the policy states ISO 27001, which suits procurement checklists.
Librarians managing campus access
University adds a library link resolver, IP-range access and an admin usage dashboard, so a library can see adoption across departments.
Students who manage references in Zotero or EndNote
Individual exports to RIS, BibTeX, Zotero, EndNote and CSV, which keeps found papers flowing into an existing reference library. That keeps an existing reference library current without manual entry.
Keenious plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 per month, always free | All search results and 2D topic maps, plus access through the web app, Microsoft Word and Google Docs; AI conversations and uploads are limited. |
| Individual | From €10 per month, billed annually | Unlimited searches, topic maps, AI companion conversations, export to RIS, BibTeX, Zotero, EndNote and CSV, and the Word and Google Docs add-ins. |
| Team | From €20 per user per month, billed annually | Everything in Individual, an admin console for seats, centralized billing with pro-rata seat changes and two-factor authentication controls. |
| University | Custom quote, invoiced annually | Campus-wide Plus access, library link resolver, SAML SSO, IP-range access, an admin usage dashboard, a GDPR DPA and EU hosting. |
Checked November 2026.
What Keenious does
- 2D topic maps
- Search results are grouped on a map of the field, which shows clusters of related work. The maps are included on the free plan, unlike AI conversations.
- AI companion conversations
- Users ask questions about papers and results in a chat. Free allows 3 conversations a day with 5 AI replies each, while paid plans lift that limit.
- Word and Google Docs add-ins
- Related papers appear beside the draft, so citing becomes part of writing. The add-ins are available on every plan, including Free. Citing therefore stays inside one window.
- Reference export
- Individual exports found papers to RIS, BibTeX, Zotero, EndNote and CSV, which avoids retyping references into a manager. That saves retyping and keeps the library clean.
- PDF upload
- Free accepts PDFs up to 3 MB and Individual up to 20 MB, so a long scanned report may need compressing before it goes in.
How Keenious handles your data
Keenious states that it does not use user prompts, inputs or outputs to train its own models or its providers' models. Raw prompts and outputs are deleted after 24 hours by default, and inactive backups are removed after 90 days. Prompts, messages, files and AI responses are processed and hosted in the EU, in Ireland, Belgium and Germany, while the locations of other data are not specified. The policy states an ISO 27001 certified information security management system and does not mention SOC 2.
Where Keenious falls short in practice
- Free chat is tight. Three conversations a day with five AI replies each stops quickly during a real literature session, and the paid plan is the only way past it.
- No review workflow. Keenious lists no screening, extraction or table features, so a systematic review needs a second tool for those steps. A review team would still need a second tool for those steps.
- Cancellation is strict. Cancelling keeps access to the end of the paid period with no refund, and Individual has no trial to test first. Students on a short project may pay for months they never use.
- Plan changes need support. Moving an individual plan to Team requires contacting support, which slows a lab that outgrows a single seat. A lab adding members mid-term should plan for that delay.
Works with
Alternatives to Keenious
Keenious: common questions
How much does Keenious cost?
Free costs €0 with no time limit. Individual starts at €10 per month billed annually, Team at €20 per user per month billed annually, and University is a custom quote. Prices are as of November 2026 from the vendor's pricing page.
Where does Keenious process my data?
The privacy policy says prompts, messages, files and AI responses are processed and hosted in the EU, in Ireland, Belgium and Germany. It adds that the locations of other data are not specified, so ask about account and billing data if that matters.
Does Keenious train AI on my text?
No, according to its policy: user prompts, inputs and outputs are not used to train Keenious models or its providers' models. Raw prompts and outputs are deleted after 24 hours by default, and inactive backups after 90 days. Training use of the vendor's providers is covered as well.
Does Keenious work inside Microsoft Word?
Yes. Add-ins for Word and Google Docs are listed on every plan, including Free. They surface related papers from the text you write. Free users still face the daily limits on AI conversations. Word and Google Docs are both named on the pricing page.
Is Keenious ISO 27001 certified?
Its privacy policy states an ISO 27001 certified information security management system. SOC 2 is not mentioned. Ask for the certificate and scope if your institution needs to verify it before signing a University license. Scope matters because a certificate can cover only part of the company.