Free, open-source AI engine that generates thesis-level research drafts with verified citations.
19 specialized agents · CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv · PDF/DOCX/LaTeX export
🚀 Try the free hosted version on OpenPaper.dev →
3 free papers per day · No credit card required
| What it is | Open-source Python engine for AI-generated research drafts with verified citations |
| Best for | Master's theses, PhD dissertations, literature reviews, research papers |
| Agents | 19 specialized AI agents (research, structure, writing, citation, polish, export) |
| Sources | CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar (200M+), arXiv |
| Languages | 57+ languages including English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese |
| Export | PDF, Microsoft Word (.docx), LaTeX |
| Cost | Free (self-hosted, MIT license) or free tier at OpenPaper.dev (3 papers/day) |
| Typical output | 5–80+ pages, 10k–20k+ words, 30–50+ verified citations |
| Time to draft | 10–20 minutes |
| API cost per draft | ~$0.35 (Gemini Flash) to ~$3.00 (Claude Opus) |
- At a Glance
- What is OpenDraft?
- Try it free — no installation
- Why OpenDraft Exists
- What OpenDraft is NOT
- OpenDraft vs ChatGPT
- How It Works
- Features
- Quick Start
- Which AI Model Should I Use?
- Example Output
- People Also Ask
- FAQ
- Alternatives Comparison
- Tech Stack
- Contributing
- Links
OpenDraft is an open-source Python engine that generates thesis-level research drafts using 19 specialized AI agents. It is designed for academic researchers who need long-form documents (10,000–20,000+ words) with citations verified against real databases.
Unlike general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT, OpenDraft does not hallucinate citations. Every source is checked against CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv before being included in the bibliography.
- OpenDraft is a command-line tool and Python library for drafting academic papers.
- OpenPaper is the free hosted SaaS version of OpenDraft (3 papers per day, no credit card required).
- Best for: Researchers drafting literature reviews, research papers, bachelor's theses, master's theses, and PhD dissertations.
- Price: 100% free and open source (MIT license).
- Setup time: 10 minutes for local installation.
- SaaS version: OpenPaper.dev — run it in your browser, 3 free papers/day.
Not ready to self-host? OpenPaper.dev is the free, hosted version of OpenDraft:
- ✅ 3 research papers per day on the free plan
- ✅ Searches CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv
- ✅ PDF + DOCX export
- ✅ No credit card required
- ✅ Upgrade to Pro ($9/mo) or Max ($25/mo) for more daily credits
We built OpenDraft after repeatedly encountering AI writing tools that produced confident-sounding research drafts with hallucinated or unverifiable citations.
Academic research requires trust, sources, and accountability.
OpenDraft explores a different approach: instead of a single general-purpose model, it uses multiple specialized agents, each responsible for a specific step in the research drafting process, grounded in real academic literature.
We open-sourced OpenDraft so researchers can inspect, critique, and improve how these systems actually work.
- Hallucinated citations — ChatGPT and similar LLMs invent citations 30–50% of the time. OpenDraft verifies every source.
- Length limits — Most AI tools cannot produce documents longer than a few thousand words. OpenDraft generates 20,000+ word theses.
- Generic structure — ChatGPT outputs lack proper academic chapter/section hierarchy. OpenDraft builds thesis-grade outlines.
- No export options — ChatGPT cannot export to PDF or Word with academic formatting. OpenDraft exports to PDF, DOCX, and LaTeX.
- Closed source — Most academic AI tools are black boxes. OpenDraft is fully open source under the MIT license.
- Graduate students writing a master's thesis or PhD dissertation who need a structured first draft.
- Undergraduate students working on a bachelor's thesis or capstone project.
- Researchers preparing a literature review or journal submission.
- Academics who want to verify that every citation in their AI-assisted draft links to a real paper.
- Developers who want to build custom research tools on top of an open-source academic writing engine.
OpenDraft is intentionally not designed for:
- One-click generation of final papers
- Cheating on assignments
- Inventing citations or bypassing peer review
- Replacing human researchers
It is a research assistance and drafting tool, not an autonomous author.
| Question | ChatGPT | OpenDraft |
|---|---|---|
| Does it hallucinate citations? | Yes (often) | Verified against real databases |
| Can it write 20,000+ words? | No (hits limits) | Yes |
| Does it search real papers? | No | Yes (CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv) |
| Thesis structure? | Generic | Academic chapters & sections |
| Export to PDF/Word? | No | Yes |
| Free? | Limited | 100% free (self-host) |
| Open source? | No | Yes (MIT license) |
| Hosted SaaS? | ChatGPT Plus $20/mo | OpenPaper.dev — 3 free/day |
Bottom line: If you need an AI for academic writing with real citations, OpenDraft is a free, open-source alternative to ChatGPT.
OpenDraft uses 19 specialized AI agents that work like a research team:
📚 RESEARCH PHASE → Finds relevant papers from CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv
🏗️ STRUCTURE PHASE → Creates thesis outline with chapters
✍️ WRITING PHASE → Drafts each section with academic tone
🔍 CITATION PHASE → Verifies every source exists (CrossRef, arXiv)
✨ POLISH PHASE → Refines language and formatting
📄 EXPORT PHASE → Generates PDF, Word, or LaTeX
Result: A complete research draft in 10-20 minutes instead of weeks.
Every citation is verified against CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv. If a paper doesn't exist, it's not included.
- Research papers (5-10 pages)
- Bachelor's thesis (30-50 pages)
- Master's thesis (50-80 pages)
- PhD dissertation (100+ pages)
English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, and 40+ more.
- PDF - LaTeX-quality formatting
- Microsoft Word (.docx)
- LaTeX source - for journals
MIT license. Self-host with your own API keys. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no limits.
OpenDraft includes two standalone tools for quickly understanding any research paper:
Generate a concise 5-bullet summary of any paper in seconds:
# As a subcommand
opendraft tldr paper.pdf
# Or standalone
opendraft-tldr paper.pdf
# Output to file
opendraft tldr paper.pdf -o summary.mdEach bullet follows academic structure: thesis, key finding, method, implication, limitation.
Generate a podcast-style audio summary you can listen to:
# Generate script + audio
opendraft digest paper.pdf
# Choose a different voice (rachel, adam, josh, elli, bella)
opendraft digest paper.pdf --voice adam
# Script only (no audio)
opendraft digest paper.pdf --no-audio
# Specify output directory
opendraft digest paper.pdf -o output/Requirements:
- Digest audio requires an ElevenLabs API key set as
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY - PDF reading requires the optional
pdfextra:pip install opendraft[pdf]
Both tools work with any academic paper (PDF, Markdown, or plain text), not just OpenDraft-generated documents.
Fetch research data from major statistical APIs directly into your workflow:
# Search for indicators
opendraft data search GDP
# Fetch World Bank data
opendraft data worldbank NY.GDP.MKTP.CD --countries USA;DEU --start 2020 --end 2023
# Fetch EU statistics (Eurostat)
opendraft data eurostat nama_10_gdp
# Fetch Our World in Data datasets
opendraft data owid covid-19Supported providers:
- World Bank - Development indicators (GDP, population, education, health)
- Eurostat - European Union statistics
- Our World in Data - Open research datasets
Data is saved as CSV files for use in your research.
Revise existing drafts with AI assistance:
# Revise a draft with natural language instructions
opendraft revise ./output "Make the introduction longer and add more context"
# The revised draft is saved as draft_v2.md (with PDF/DOCX exports)Features:
- Auto-detects draft files in output folders
- Preserves all citations during revision
- Automatic versioning (v2, v3, v4...)
- Quality scoring before/after
- PDF and DOCX export of revised version
Generate a quick research overview instead of a full draft:
opendraft "Neural Networks in Healthcare" --exposeThis produces a research expose with:
- Research Sources Overview - Number of sources, publication years, key journals
- Key Research Teams - Major authors and research groups in the field
- Structured Outline - Chapter/section structure for a full paper
- Complete Bibliography - All sources with DOIs and journal info
- Next Steps - Guidance for developing into a full draft
Use expose mode when you want to:
- Quickly scope a research topic
- Validate there's enough literature
- Get a structured starting point
- Review sources before committing to a full draft
Expose mode is ~3x faster than full draft generation.
Generate a 5-bullet summary of any academic paper in seconds:
# Summarize a PDF
opendraft tldr paper.pdf
# Summarize a markdown file
opendraft tldr draft.md
# Save to file
opendraft tldr paper.pdf --output summary.mdOutput:
📄 TL;DR: paper.pdf
• Main finding: Neural networks improve diagnostic accuracy by 23%
• Method: Retrospective analysis of 50,000 patient records
• Key limitation: Single-center study, needs external validation
• Implication: AI-assisted diagnosis could reduce misdiagnosis rates
• Future work: Multi-center trials planned for 2025
Works with any PDF, Markdown, or text file.
Generate a 60-second audio summary using ElevenLabs TTS:
# Generate audio digest (requires ElevenLabs API key)
opendraft digest paper.pdf
# Choose a voice
opendraft digest paper.pdf --voice adam
# Available voices: rachel (default), adam, josh, elli, bellaOutput: paper_digest.mp3 - a professional narration summarizing the key points.
Setup: Set ELEVENLABS_API_KEY in your environment or .env file.
- Python 3.10+
- A free Gemini API key
git clone https://github.com/federicodeponte/opendraft.git
cd opendraft
pip install -r requirements.txtCreate a .env file with your API key:
GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-keyfrom engine.draft_generator import DraftGenerator
generator = DraftGenerator()
draft = generator.generate(
topic="The Impact of AI on Academic Research",
paper_type="master", # research_paper, bachelor, master, phd
language="en"
)
# Export to different formats
draft.to_pdf("thesis.pdf")
draft.to_docx("thesis.docx")
draft.to_latex("thesis.tex")See engine/README.md for detailed API documentation.
| Model | Speed | Quality | Cost/Draft | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3 Flash | ⚡ Fast | Good | ~$0.35 | Most users |
| Gemini 3 Pro | Medium | Excellent | ~$1.40 | Important papers |
| GPT-5.2 | Medium | Excellent | ~$1.60 | OpenAI users |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Medium | Excellent | ~$1.80 | Nuanced writing |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | Slow | Best | ~$3.00 | Maximum quality |
Recommendation: Start with Gemini 3 Flash for most use cases. Use Gemini 3 Pro or Claude Sonnet 4.5 for important papers.
See what OpenDraft produces:
📄 Download Sample PDF (60 pages, 18k words, 40+ citations)
Generated in ~15 minutes with verified citations from real academic papers.
opendraft/
├── engine/
│ ├── draft_generator.py # Main 19-agent pipeline
│ ├── config.py # Model & API settings
│ ├── prompts/ # Agent instruction templates
│ ├── utils/ # Citations, export, helpers
│ └── opendraft/ # Core agent modules
├── examples/ # Sample thesis outputs
├── requirements.txt # Python dependencies
└── README.md
Yes. OpenDraft is 100% free and open source under the MIT license. You can self-host it with your own API keys (a typical thesis costs ~$0.35–$3 in API fees). There is also a free hosted version at OpenPaper.dev with 3 papers per day and no credit card required.
Yes, for research drafts. ChatGPT frequently hallucinates citations and cannot produce documents longer than a few thousand words. OpenDraft generates 20,000+ word theses with every citation verified against real academic databases.
OpenDraft can generate a complete first draft of a PhD dissertation (100+ pages) in 10–20 minutes. However, it is a drafting assistant, not an autonomous author. You must review, edit, and add your own analysis before submission.
No. OpenDraft verifies every citation against CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv. If a paper does not exist, it is not included in the bibliography.
OpenDraft is the open-source Python engine you run locally. OpenPaper is the hosted SaaS version that runs OpenDraft in the cloud so you can use it in your browser without installing anything.
10–20 minutes for a full master's thesis (50–80 pages). A shorter research paper takes 5–10 minutes.
PDF, Microsoft Word (.docx), and LaTeX source.
Yes. The MIT license permits commercial use, modification, and distribution without restriction.
Yes. OpenDraft is 100% open source under the MIT license. Self-host with your own API keys. A typical thesis draft costs ~$0.35-$3 depending on the model.
You can also use the free hosted version at OpenPaper.dev — 3 papers per day, no credit card required.
For research drafts, yes. ChatGPT often hallucinates citations. OpenDraft verifies every citation against CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and arXiv.
OpenDraft generates research drafts—starting points you should review, edit, and build upon. Always:
- Verify all sources yourself
- Add your own analysis and insights
- Check your institution's AI policy
Most AI tools use a single model. OpenDraft uses 19 specialized agents—one for research, one for citations, one for structure, etc. This produces higher quality output.
Yes. MIT license allows commercial use. Build products, offer services, modify the code—no restrictions.
| Tool | Price | Open Source | Verified Citations | Long Documents | Hosted Free Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenDraft | Free | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ OpenPaper.dev (3/day) |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20/mo | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Jasper | $49/mo | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Jenni AI | $20/mo | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
OpenDraft is a free, open-source research draft generator with verified citations.
- Engine: Python 3.10+, multi-agent orchestration
- Models: Google Gemini 3, Anthropic Claude 4.5, OpenAI GPT-5
- Citations: CrossRef API, OpenAlex API, Semantic Scholar API, arXiv API
- Export: WeasyPrint (PDF), python-docx (Word)
Contributions welcome!
Ideas:
- Add new AI model support
- Improve citation accuracy
- Add export formats
- Translate prompts
Maintainer workflow docs:
- Push/auth runbook:
docs/MAINTAINER_PUSH_RUNBOOK.md - Automated push preflight:
scripts/push-preflight.sh
- 🌐 Website: opendraft.xyz
- 🚀 Free Hosted Version: OpenPaper.dev
- 💬 Discussions: GitHub Discussions
- 🐛 Issues: Report Bug
- 🗒️ Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- 📜 License: MIT
OpenDraft is a free, open-source Python engine for generating academic research drafts. It uses 19 specialized AI agents to create drafts with citations verified against real databases (CrossRef, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv).
Keywords: AI thesis writer, AI research paper generator, ChatGPT alternative, free thesis generator, open source AI writing, multi-agent AI, verified citations, Python thesis generator, academic writing 2025, literature review generator, dissertation helper, OpenPaper, free academic AI
If OpenDraft helps your research, please star the repo!
⭐ Star on GitHub
