Best Academic Research Databases in 2026
Updated
33 academic research databases ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
33ranked
0free plans on this page
5 Oct 2026last checked
Academic Research Databases, one module each. A lit port is something its maker publishes; 0 of the 8 on this page have a public API.
- 26 Web of Science API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.1
- 27 Academic Search Ultimate API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 28 ATLA Religion Database API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 29 EconLit API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 30 Embase AI API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 31 MLA International Bibliography API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 5.0
- 32 MathSciNet API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.9
- 33 HeinOnline API not on recordOSS not on recordFREE not on recordDOCS 4.8
Compare all 8 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | Free plan | Paid from | Full-text access | Advanced search |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Web of Science | 5.1 | No | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 27 | Academic Search Ultimate | 5.0 | No | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 28 | ATLA Religion Database | 5.0 | No | No | — | No | Yes |
| 29 | EconLit | 5.0 | No | No | — | Yes | Yes |
| 30 | Embase AI | 5.0 | No | No | — | — | — |
| 31 | MLA International Bibliography | 5.0 | No | No | — | No | Yes |
| 32 | MathSciNet | 4.9 | No | No | — | — | Yes |
| 33 | HeinOnline | 4.8 | No | — | — | — | — |