Consensus makes it about research done well. You type in a question. Then bam, it pulls actual science answers. No nonsense. It feels like talking to a smart friend. You don’t even need to have a PhD.
How it feels to use?
You can ask full questions. Not just keywords. It digests papers, organizes them, and outputs a summary. It is quick. It feels fluid. It even provides citations so you know it is not making things up.
How it works
Consensus uses its own LLMs. It also uses OpenAI’s best models for backup brainpower. You get this thing they call a Consensus Meter.
It weighs how robust the evidence is. You can even bookmark things and/or export your list. No stress of managing notes.
Awesome Filters
The filters are good. You can filter by sample size, type of study, open access, whether animal studies or humans. It lets you narrow down quickly. Saves time. No more searching.
Nice Snapshots
Each study gets a nice snapshot e.g. population, methods, results. Straightforward. You weed out what is pertinent without parsing through pages. That is pretty neat.
Pricing Details
They give you the first taste for free. You can play with the free plan and test out the basic features. Want more? Though they have a paid plan that is $6.99 a month if you sign up annually, you get a bonus.
Once you do, you can also access GPT 4 summaries, extra filters, bookmarks, lists, and consensus meters… wow! You simply can sign up for premium if you really like it.
Traffic Adoption Metrics
According to Similarweb their site drives quite a bit of traffic roughly 3.3 million monthly visits. That certainly indicates that people are liking it. I’ll take that as a pretty solid signal.
Social Media Adoption Metrics
Their Instagram account has about 16K followers. It’s not massive, but their follower count is pretty respectable. This means that they are building a community that is slowly, but surely, growing.
Pros
Speed can provide answers with lots of science to back it up.
Clearer summaries, that come with substantial citations.
Unique filters and easy to read snapshots.
Very affordable premium price.
Cons
Still a learning model. You may run into limits.
Premium model adds cost.
On occasion, papers are behind paywalls and can potentially create a situation where you are putting in some extra work.
Conclusion
Consensus takes the work out of researching. They do this by turning heavy papers into shorter summaries. They work pretty fast and don’t muddy things up.
It looks legit. I think it would most benefit students, professionals, writers, and anyone looking for solid information in a hurry. You should give it a shot, especially that free part!
