Elicit vs iatroX (2025): AI for Research vs AI for Practice
At a Glance
Who is it for?
iatroX:Clinicians treating patients (Point of Care).
Elicit:Academics & Researchers writing papers.
Why choose iatroX?
- **Clinical Safety**: Grounded in established national guidelines (NICE, BNF, CKS).
- **Actionable**: Synthesises a management plan, not just a literature summary.
- **UK Focused**: Filters for UK-licensed drugs and pathways.
- **Zero-Shot**: Answers the question immediately without needing to select papers.
Why choose Elicit?
- **Literature Matrix**: Builds incredible tables comparing methodology across 100+ papers.
- **Primary Research**: Finds the cutting-edge data that hasn't made it into guidelines yet.
- **Bias Analysis**: Automatically flags funding sources and sample size limitations.
- **Discovery**: Finds relevant papers even if keywords don't match perfectly.
Feature Comparison
| Capability | iatroX | Elicit |
|---|---|---|
| Source Material | Secondary Evidence (Guidelines) | Primary Evidence (Academic Papers) |
| Primary Output | Clinical Answer / Plan | Literature Review / Synthesis |
| Target User | Doctor on the Ward | Doctor in the Library |
| Speed | Instant Answer | Deep Analysis (Minutes) |
In-Depth Analysis
Overview
Elicit is a superpower for creating knowledge. If you are writing a paper, doing an audit, or trying to find the answer to a question that has no guideline, Elicit is the best tool to search the raw scientific literature.
iatroX is a superpower for applying knowledge. In clinical practice, we generally do not treat patients based on a single new paper; we treat them based on synthesized guidelines. iatroX retrieves these guidelines to ensure you are practicing safe, defensible medicine.
Key Differences
- Ask Elicit: "Does magnesium help sleep?" -> It analyzes 15 papers, summarizes the findings, and notes that evidence is mixed.
- Ask iatroX: "How do I treat insomnia?" -> It provides the NICE guideline on sleep hygiene, CBT-i, and short-term Z-drugs.
Use-Cases
Writing a Systematic Review
When to choose iatroX
- N/A
When to choose Elicit
- **Essential.** Can save hundreds of hours of screening papers.
Treating a UTI
When to choose iatroX
- **Recommended.** Gives the current approved antimicrobial guidance.
When to choose Elicit
- **Dangerous.** Might suggest a drug effective in a recent trial but not licensed or available in your hospital.
Answering a Patient's Niche Question
When to choose iatroX
- Good for standard advice.
When to choose Elicit
- **Recommended.** Useful if the patient asks about a brand new treatment they saw on the news.
FAQs
- Is Elicit free?
- Elicit has a limited free tier, but power features require a subscription.
- Can iatroX find research papers?
- No. iatroX looks for clinical guidelines (NICE, CKS). Use Elicit or Consensus for raw research papers.