Consensus vs StoryCraft

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Free plan: Only Consensus (StoryCraft has paid plans only)
Public API: Consensus has one; not confirmed by us for StoryCraft
Higher Trust score: Consensus — 90 vs 82 for StoryCraft
Best fit: Consensus: Checking whether a specific claim has support across published studies · StoryCraft: independent documentary producers scoping a subject
Platforms: Consensus: Web, iOS, Android · StoryCraft: Web

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

ConsensusSearch over peer-reviewed papers with claim summaries

StoryCraftResearch briefs for documentary filmmakers with sourced timelines and per-source credibility scores

Side by side

Fact	Consensus	StoryCraft
Category	Academic Search & Literature Review	Deep Research Agents
Pricing model	Freemium	Paid
Starts at	—	$79/mo
Public API	Yes	Not confirmed
Trust score	90 / 100	82 / 100
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android, API	Web
Company	Consensus NLP, Inc.	StoryCraft
Launched	2021	—
Last verified	Oct 15, 2026	Oct 15, 2026

What our research says

Consensus

Useful when you want to know what a body of literature actually concludes rather than reading one paper at a time, but it orients you, it does not replace reading them.

Pros

Every answer is tied to specific papers with study design and sample size
Free tier is a standing plan rather than a time-limited trial
The yes-or-no consensus meter is a fast orientation device
Covers a very large index of peer-reviewed literature

Cons

Summaries can flatten real disagreement between studies into false consensus
Coverage skews to indexed English-language biomedical work
Pricing cannot be verified from outside; the site blocks automated access
Free allowance of the deeper analyses runs out quickly in real use

StoryCraft

Aimed at a real gap: independent documentary teams doing weeks of scattered verification by hand. The output shape is right, structured timelines with per-source credibility rather than prose, and the defamation scan and FOIA kit show someone who knows the workflow. But it is still closed beta, run by one founder, and three briefs a month at $79 works out around $26 each.

Pros

Output is structured research: timeline, sources and credibility scores, not prose
Defamation risk scan and FOIA kit target real documentary production problems
Exports to PDF and Markdown and stays searchable across past briefs
Prices are published rather than hidden behind a sales call

Cons

Still closed beta with a waitlist, so access is not guaranteed on signup
Only three briefs a month at the entry price, roughly $26 per brief
Single-founder operation with no company registration details published
Credibility scores are generated, not audited, and still need a human pass before broadcast

Which one fits

Choose Consensus if you need

Checking whether a specific claim has support across published studies
Clinicians and students orienting quickly in an unfamiliar literature
Anyone who wants citations attached to every summarised claim

Choose StoryCraft if you need

independent documentary producers scoping a subject
investigative teams that need a sourced timeline fast
researchers who want exportable briefs rather than chat transcripts