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Rayyan is a web and mobile platform for screening references in a systematic review, scoping review, or other structured literature review. It started as a 2016 research project at the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI, part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha) — described in a peer-reviewed paper by Mourad Ouzzani, Hossam Hammady, Zbys Fedorowicz, and Ahmed Elmagarmid, published in Systematic Reviews (2016;5:210) — and is now developed commercially by Rayyan Systems, Inc. (Cambridge, MA), where Hammady, one of the original co-creators, serves as VP of Engineering. That academic-to-commercial continuity is part of why Rayyan is so heavily used in university and Cochrane-affiliated reviews: the underlying tool was built by researchers doing this exact work, not adapted from generic document-review software.
What Rayyan does
Rayyan covers the screening stage of a review — the part between a finished literature search and a completed synthesis — through a free-to-start web workbench plus mobile apps:
- Dual-level screening. References move through title/abstract screening, then full-text screening, with each reviewer marking a record Include, Exclude, or Maybe against the team’s inclusion criteria.
- Blinded review and conflict resolution. Reviewers’ decisions can be hidden from each other until both have screened a record, so one reviewer’s call doesn’t anchor another’s; the platform flags disagreements for resolution and tracks inter-rater agreement.
- Duplicate detection. Rayyan flags likely-duplicate records on import, with an auto-resolve option on paid plans, and offers 15+ filterable facets (like publication type or journal) for working through a large imported set.
- AI-assisted prioritization. Rayyan’s relevance-ranking model reorders the unscreened queue based on the reviewing team’s own in-progress Include/Exclude decisions — a zero-shot model trained on that specific review’s emerging pattern, not a generic pretrained classifier applied the same way to every project. It’s decision support: the model resurfaces likely-relevant records sooner, but a human still screens every one.
- PRISMA flow diagrams. Rayyan generates a publication-ready PRISMA flow diagram directly from the recorded screening counts, on the Essential plan and above.
- AI data extraction (paid tiers). Higher plans add AI-assisted PICO field extraction and, on the Business/Academic plan, a broader “ResearchPilot” AI extraction layer.
Pricing
Rayyan publishes its pricing openly, which is unusual in this category — most competing tools require a sales conversation. As of this writing:
- Free — $0. Up to 3 active reviews, 2 reviewers per review, duplicate detection, AI relevance predictions, and standard support.
- Essential — from $4.99/seat/month billed annually. Adds PRISMA flow diagrams, 5 reviewers per review, auto-resolve duplicates, and the full mobile app.
- Advanced — from $8.33/seat/month billed annually. Adds up to 9 active reviews, 10 reviewers per review, unlimited samples, and AI-assisted PICO data extraction.
- Business/Academic — from $41.67/license/month billed annually (5-license minimum, roughly $2,500/year), with separate academic discounts available. Adds the ResearchPilot AI extraction layer, up to 250 reviewers, and org-wide review management.
- Enterprise — custom pricing. Adds unlimited reviews and viewers, SSO/SAML, and API access.
Rayyan reports over 1 million registered users across 190+ countries and 3 million-plus reviews started on the platform; treat those figures as vendor-reported scale claims rather than an independently audited count, and confirm current plan details directly with Rayyan before budgeting, since SaaS pricing and tier inclusions change.
How Rayyan compares to other screening tools
Rayyan’s free tier and academic origin make it the most common starting point for a single academic review team, which is also why it shows up as the reference point in most screening-tool comparisons rather than needing to be sold on cost. DistillerSR and its audit-trail-heavy workflow target regulated, enterprise reviews (pharma, HTA submissions) that need a fully documented decision trail; ASReview is a free, open-source alternative built around active-learning screening rather than Rayyan’s zero-shot ranking; and Nested Knowledge extends screening into a “living review” model designed to stay current as new evidence publishes. For a direct three-way comparison, see Covidence vs. Rayyan vs. DistillerSR, and for the fuller landscape across screening platforms, see Systematic Literature Review Tools: A Comparison Guide and AI Tools for Systematic Literature Reviews. If you’re still deciding whether your project needs a full systematic review at all, start with Literature Review vs. Systematic Review vs. Scoping Review before evaluating screening software.
Frequently asked questions
What is Rayyan used for?
Rayyan is used for the screening stage of a systematic review, scoping review, or other structured literature review — importing search results, removing duplicates, and having reviewers work through title/abstract and full-text screening with AI-assisted prioritization and PRISMA-compliant reporting.
Is Rayyan free?
Yes, Rayyan has a permanent free tier covering up to 3 active reviews with 2 reviewers each, duplicate detection, and AI relevance predictions. Paid plans add more concurrent reviews, more reviewers per review, PRISMA flow diagrams, and AI-assisted data extraction.
Who created Rayyan?
Rayyan began as a 2016 research project at the Qatar Computing Research Institute in Doha, described in a paper by Mourad Ouzzani, Hossam Hammady, Zbys Fedorowicz, and Ahmed Elmagarmid in Systematic Reviews. It’s now developed by Rayyan Systems, Inc., with original co-creator Hossam Hammady serving as VP of Engineering.
Does Rayyan generate PRISMA flow diagrams?
Yes, on the Essential plan and above, Rayyan generates a publication-ready PRISMA flow diagram directly from the platform’s recorded screening counts.
What’s the difference between Rayyan and Covidence?
Both support dual-reviewer screening, conflict resolution, and PRISMA reporting for academic reviews. Rayyan has a permanent free tier and an AI relevance-ranking model trained on each review’s own in-progress decisions; Covidence has no permanent free tier but adds features like an RCT classifier and structured extraction forms aimed at the same academic and Cochrane-affiliated audience. See Covidence vs. Rayyan vs. DistillerSR for a full side-by-side.
