Comparison

Citely vs Anara

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Citely

Features
Read full description

Paper due and the bibliography still to do? Citely formats your sources in MLA 9, APA 7 or Chicago and gives you an alphabetized Works Cited, References or Bibliography page as a PDF — or as text to paste into your document. Pick a style, add each source with a simple form, then tap Make Works-Cited PDF. • THREE STYLES — MLA 9 (Works Cited), APA 7 (References) and Chicago (Bibliography). Switch styles and every entry is reformatted. • SIX SOURCE TYPES — books, journal articles, websites, book chapters, newspaper articles and reports, each with the fields it needs: authors, year, publisher, city, edition, volume, issue, pages, URL and DOI. • AUTHORS DONE RIGHT — add as many authors as you need, or none; last names are used for sorting, initials are built for APA, and a missing year becomes “n.d.”. • ALPHABETIZED AUTOMATICALLY — entries are sorted by author, or by title when there's no author (ignoring a leading A, An or The). • PRINT-READY PAGE — US Letter, 1-inch margins, double-spaced, hanging indents and italic titles. • COPY CITATIONS — copy the whole list as plain text to paste into your paper, or print, share or save the PDF. Please check your work: Citely formats what you type — it does not look up sources online, so the result is only as accurate as the details you enter, and some rules (like title capitalization) can't be fully automated. It makes the reference list only — no in-text citations or footnotes. Always compare with your style guide. Your list isn't saved between sessions, so copy or export it before closing. Everything runs on your iPhone — nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. Try it free — 3 exports. A one-time $4.99 purchase unlocks unlimited exports. No subscription, no ads. Questions: overlapmarr@gmail.com

About

Anara

This AI-powered tool assists scientists with academic research. It enables searching, reading, and writing scientific content with verifiable citations. The mobile app provides on-the-go access to your library, allowing you to ask questions about papers and get cited answers.

Highlights
  • AI-powered academic search
  • Summarize and cite sources
  • Write with verifiable citations
  • On-demand research on mobile
  • Read and highlight PDFs offline
  • Save papers and links
  • Scan pages with camera
Read full description

Anara is AI purpose-built for science. Search, read, and write academic content with every claim cited back to its source. Anara searches your library and the web, summarizes what it finds, and helps you write with citations you can check. Anara is 4x more accurate than general-purpose AI like ChatGPT and Claude at finding information in documents. Our iOS app is a companion to the Anara web app, designed for on-demand research while you are away from your keyboard: Ask questions about your papers and get cited answers on the go Tap any citation to open the source at the exact passage Read and highlight your PDFs, offline once downloaded Save papers and links into your library from any app, or scan pages with your camera Anara requires an account. A free plan is available; paid plans and credit packs are offered as in-app purchases. Subscriptions renew monthly until canceled in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://anara.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://anara.com/privacy

Screenshots

Citely3 screens
Anara4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Citely at none against Anara's shown. Citely also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Citely sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Anara sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Citely ships an update every 4 days, Anara every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Citely versus Anara: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCitelyAnara
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB53 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperJhomar MaravillasAnara Labs Inc

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Citely

One-time1
  • Unlock Unlimited$4.99
14 purchases

Anara

Subscriptions8
  • Plus$11.991 Month
  • Plus$14.991 Month
  • Pro$23.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Pro$28.991 Month
  • Max 5x$117.991 Month
  • Max 5x$141.991 Month
  • Max 20x$239.991 Month
  • Max 20x$289.991 Month
One-time6
  • 500 credits$5.99
  • 1,000 credits$11.99
  • 2,000 credits$27.99
Show 3 more
  • 5,000 credits$70.99
  • 10,000 credits$141.99
  • 20,000 credits$239.99

Questions

Is Citely free?
Citely is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Anara free?
Anara is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Citely or Anara have ads?
Anara shows ads; Citely does not.
Which is updated more often, Citely or Anara?
Citely ships an update every 4 days, and Anara every 6 days. Most recently, Citely was updated on October 29, 2026 and Anara on October 29, 2026.

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