PACR Product Update: Pricing, Credits, Referrals, and What’s Coming Next

Since launching PACR, we have been growing faster than expected.

Thousands of researchers have joined PACR to search papers, ask research questions, explore gaps, share publications, and move from idea to insight faster. That growth has been exciting, but it has also made one thing very clear: to keep improving PACR, we need to make the platform more sustainable.

AI-powered research is expensive to run. Every research session, source analysis, citation-based answer, and deep review requires real infrastructure behind the scenes. As usage has grown, those costs have grown with it.

Because of this, PACR will be moving to paid plans going forward.

PACR Essential will remain free

We want PACR to stay accessible to students, researchers, and early-career academics around the world.

That is why PACR Essential will continue to remain free.

Free users will receive:

10 AI credits every week

You can continue using PACR without paying, and your credits will refresh weekly.

Classic Search will also remain free and unlimited. You will still be able to search across papers, discover research, share publications, and use AI on papers shared by the PACR community.

PACR +: Unlimited access to PACR’s AI tools

For users who want unlimited access to PACR’s AI research tools, PACR Plus will be available at:

$15/month or $120/year

For users in India, PACR Plus will be available at:

₹500/month or ₹5,000/year

PACR Plus gives you unlimited access to core AI research features, including:

• Unlimited Quick Reviews

• Unlimited Deep Reviews

• Unlimited Research Gap Analysis

• Faster AI response speed

• Export answers with inline citations

• Priority customer support

Pricing may vary by region and will be shown clearly at checkout.

Earn more credits without upgrading

We also know that not every user is ready to upgrade right away.

So we are adding more ways to earn credits inside PACR.

You will be able to earn credits by completing useful actions, including:

• Completing your researcher profile

• Adding a profile picture

• Following researchers

• Making connections

• Sharing posts

• Sharing publications

• Exploring key PACR features

These are not random tasks. They are designed to make your PACR profile and research network more useful while giving you more access to AI features.

One-time credit packs

If you do not want a monthly plan but need an extra boost, you will also be able to purchase small one-time credit packs.

This gives you flexibility.

You can stay on PACR Essential, use your weekly free credits, earn more credits through activity, or buy extra credits only when you need them.

Referrals: invite friends and earn PACR credits

We are also introducing a referral system to make it easier for users to share PACR with their research community.

You can invite friends, classmates, collaborators, or lab members to join PACR using your referral link. When someone you refer signs up and pays for their first plan, they will receive a discount on their first payment, and you will earn cashback or credits that can be applied toward future PACR subscription months or AI sessions respectively.

This means researchers can help others discover PACR while also reducing their own subscription cost over time.

Our goal is to make referrals useful for both sides: your friends get started at a lower price, and you earn credit for helping grow the PACR community.

Improvements to PACR AI

We have also made improvements to PACR’s AI systems.

PACR now has more checks in place to help retrieve more relevant papers, better match research questions with the right journals and sources, and improve the quality of citation-based answers.

This is part of our larger goal: PACR should not just give fast answers. It should help researchers reach more reliable, source-backed insights.

Soon, we will also be adding advanced filters that give you more control over which papers PACR AI looks at. You will be able to guide the AI more precisely by filtering the research base before the answer is generated.

This matters because serious research needs control, not just speed.

What’s coming next

We are working on several major updates behind the scenes.

One of the biggest upcoming features is our in-website PDF viewer.

This will let you:

• Read PDFs directly inside PACR

• Highlight important sections

• Add notes

• Leave comments

• Keep track of your reading across sessions

We have also started closed testing for PACR’s library functionality.

This adds a new layer to the research workflow. Instead of only searching and asking questions, researchers will be able to organize papers, build structured libraries, manage research materials, and continue their work over time inside PACR.

Alongside these larger releases, we are also working on many smaller fixes, quality improvements, and product refinements based on user feedback.

Founding Member badges

Everyone who has joined PACR so far will receive a Founding Member badge.

This badge will show that you were part of PACR from the beginning. It will also display your joining number on the platform.

We want early users to be recognized as part of PACR’s foundation, not just as users, but as the community that helped shape the product.

Thank you

A lot of what PACR is becoming has come directly from your feedback.

Your suggestions, bug reports, feature requests, and honest criticism have helped us improve the product faster and make better decisions.

We are still early, and there is a lot more to build.

Thank you for being part of PACR from the beginning.

The PACR Team