Petal
- Android app
- Not listed
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid plans from
- $2.55/mo
- Runs on
- Browser extension, Web
Summary
Petal is a research assistant and reference manager for academic work, available on the web and as a browser extension. It provides a library for uploading, storing, and organizing PDFs with collections, metadata, and tags, as well as shared workspaces for group projects, papers, and reviews. Its AI tools can translate, summarize, explain, extract key points, suggest questions and search terms, and support conversational queries. The citation generator supports more than 10,000 styles and can copy citations or export them to BibTeX or Word. References can be imported by identifiers including DOI, PMID, ArXivID, ISBN, ISSN, and EAN, or captured from URLs. Petal lists browser add-ins for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and a Word add-in for references and bibliographies. The free plan includes 1 GB of cloud storage, one seat, three guests, 400 AI credits, two collections, and three annotations per document; citation export is not included. Paid plans are listed from $4.99/user/mo (annual).
Who it is for
Petal is intended for academic researchers who need to organize PDF literature, compare studies, and manage citations. Shared workspaces may also suit research groups working on reviews or co-authored papers.
What is good
- Organizes PDFs with collections, metadata, and tags
- Offers AI summaries, translation, and key-point extraction
- Supports shared workspaces
- Imports references by identifiers or URL metadata
- Word add-in supports citations and bibliographies
What to know first
- Free plan has 1 GB of storage
- Free plan excludes citation export
- No mobile apps are listed
Verdict
Petal brings PDF organization, AI research tools, collaboration, and citation management into one academic workflow. Review the free plan’s storage and feature limits, and note that no mobile apps are listed.
Petal plans and pricing
All plansCompared on AI citation generators
Facts
- Research assistant
- Petal describes itself as an AI-powered research assistant for academia that helps narrow literature reviews and compare studies.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Research library
- Users can upload, store, and access PDF documents and organize them with collections, metadata, and tags.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Collaboration
- Shared workspaces support collaboration on group projects, co-authored papers, and reviews.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- AI tools
- Petal lists translation, summarization, explanation, question and search-term suggestions, key-point extraction, and conversational AI.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Reference imports
- Petal says it can import by DOI, PMID, ArXivID, ISBN, ISSN, and EAN lookup and capture metadata from URLs.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Browser and Word add-ins
- The product page lists web importer add-ins for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, plus a Word add-in for inserting references and generating bibliographies.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Free-plan limits
- The Free plan includes 1 GB cloud storage, one seat, three guests, 400 AI credits, two collections, and three annotations per document.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Support
- The FAQ says Petal generally responds to customer support requests within 30 minutes.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Petal says it was created to serve academia and names research institutes, universities, and large organizations as enterprise-license prospects.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
- Company
- Petal's site identifies the company as Paladin Max, Inc. and gives a Walnut Creek, California mailing address.petal.org · 2 Oct 2026
Company
- Founded
- 2021petal.org · 23 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Walnut Creek, California, United Statespetal.org · 23 Sept 2026
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Sources
- petal.org/reference-manager· checked 2 Oct 2026
- petal.org/resources/pricing· checked 2 Oct 2026
- petal.org/resources/faqs· checked 2 Oct 2026
- petal.org/company/about-us· checked 2 Oct 2026
- petal.org/legal/privacy-policy· checked 2 Oct 2026