Is Liner worth it in 2026?
What Free, Pro and Max cost, how the plans changed over the past year, and when a student should pay for cited-answer search.
The quick answer
Liner Pro is worth it for a student who runs cited searches and uploads papers most weeks: it costs $17.99 a month, or $14.99 a month billed annually ($179.88 a year, our arithmetic). For one semester, monthly billing is cheaper; the annual plan only wins if you would keep Pro ten months or more. Max, at $29.99 a month billed annually, mainly adds bigger and unlimited file uploads. Liner does not refund.
Short answer: Liner Pro is worth it for students who use cited AI search for essays and literature work every week, at $17.99 a month or $14.99 a month billed annually on the Liner pricing page as of October 29, 2026. Those Pro prices match a March 2026 archive snapshot, so the price has held while the free plan and model lineup changed around it.
Liner is a search assistant that answers with linked sources, plus Liner Scholar for academic papers and Liner Write for drafting. The pitch is citations you can click and check before they go into an essay. The buying question is whether that is worth a subscription when a free account already gets advanced search, and whether Max is ever needed over Pro.
Liner plans in US dollars, as of October 29, 2026
Annual totals are our arithmetic from the per-month annual prices. Team pricing is per seat per month for 2 to 20 members.
| Feature | Free | Pro | Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billed monthly | $0 | $17.99/month | $35.99/month |
| Billed annually | $0 | $14.99/month ($179.88/year) | $29.99/month ($359.88/year) |
| File uploads | 1 a day, up to 25 MB | 20 a day, up to 100 MB | Unlimited, up to 200 MB |
| Advanced search and Deep Research | Included, on limited credits | Included | Included |
| AI models | Not listed | 350+ models | 350+ models |
| Ads | Answers with ads | Ad-free | Ad-free |
| Liner Scholar and Liner Write | Not listed | Included | Included |
What you get
- ✓Cited answers: every response links its sources, which makes checking a claim before quoting it quick.
- ✓Stable paid price: Pro has been $17.99 monthly or $14.99 annually since at least March 2026.
- ✓One plan, three tools: search, Liner Scholar and Liner Write come together on Pro.
- ✓Usable free tier: Advanced Search and Deep Research are available without paying, on limited credits.
- ✓Solid app rating: 4.4 stars from 1,371 ratings on the US App Store.
The trade-offs
- ✕No refunds: the FAQ says so plainly; cancel before renewal.
- ✕Free limits are vague: the page no longer prints daily or monthly counts, only “limited credits”.
- ✕Annual plan needs ten months of use to beat monthly billing, by our arithmetic.
- ✕Max is a narrow upgrade: $180 more a year mainly buys bigger and unlimited uploads.
- ✕Citations still need checking: a reviewer notes occasional inaccuracies.
Worth it if…
- →A student writing source-heavy essays every week who wants clickable citations.
- →A thesis writer who will use cited search and PDF uploads for ten months or more, on the annual plan.
- →Someone who wants academic search, paper chat and a writing tool under one bill.
Skip it if…
- →You search for sources a few times a month; the free plan covers it.
- →You need structured data extraction for a systematic review; a dedicated tool fits better.
- →You want a clean, ad-free search engine more than AI answers.
- →You cannot commit to cancelling on time, since there are no refunds.
How has Liner’s pricing changed?
Liner’s paid prices have been stable this year; the plans around them have not. The March 11, 2026 snapshot shows Pro at $17.99 monthly or $14.99 billed annually, Max at $29.99 billed annually and Team at $26.99 per seat, all the same as today. The annual toggle then read “Save 20%”; it now reads “Save 17%”, which matches the Pro figures (our arithmetic: $14.99 is about 17% under $17.99).
The free plan changed more. In the November 2025 snapshot and again in March 2026, Free listed 3 Advanced Searches a day and 3 Deep Research reports a month, Pro listed 25 Deep Research reports a month and Max 200. The November 2025 table also showed agent credits of 100 on Free, 1,000 on Pro and 2,500 on Max. The live page drops those counts: Free now lists unlimited Advanced Search with access to Deep Research, and its FAQ says a free account has limited credits that may run out quickly.
The product name changed too. A June 2024 snapshot of the old getliner.com domain listed Basic, Essential, Professional and Team tiers around a highlighting tool. Today’s plans sell access to 350+ AI models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and others in one subscription.
What do users and reviewers say?
The largest public rating is the Liner iPhone app, at 4.4 stars from 1,371 ratings on the US App Store as of October 29, 2026. That is a solid score on a meaningful sample, though it reflects the mobile app rather than Liner Scholar on the web.
Unite.AI’s Liner review (published June 27, 2025, updated August 30, 2026) is broadly positive on speed and accuracy but adds that “some features are gated behind a paywall and occasional inaccuracies may occur.” That caveat matters for students: a linked source makes an answer easier to check, not automatically correct. Open the citation before you quote it.
Billing is the other thing to understand before paying. Liner’s pricing FAQ is blunt: “We do not offer refunds”, and you should cancel before the plan renews or before a free trial ends. Its structured data marks returns as not permitted. Set a reminder the day you subscribe.
What does a semester or a year cost?
All figures below are our arithmetic on the listed prices. One semester (four months): monthly Pro costs $71.96, well under the $179.88 annual commitment. Break-even: nine monthly payments come to $161.91 and ten to $179.90, so the annual plan only saves money if you would keep Pro for ten months or longer.
A full academic year on monthly billing is twelve payments of $17.99, or $215.88, which is $36 more than paying annually. A student writing a thesis across a full year should take the annual plan; a student with one research-heavy course should pay monthly and cancel.
Max over Pro costs $180 more a year on annual billing ($359.88 against $179.88), or $18 more a month on monthly billing. What it adds on the current page is unlimited daily uploads at up to 200 MB each, against Pro’s 20 uploads at 100 MB. Most students uploading a few PDFs a day will not reach Pro’s cap. Team is $26.99 per seat per month, so three seats cost $80.97 a month, and its page adds that team data is excluded from AI training.
Liner vs Perplexity Pro and Kagi for essays
The decision for most students is Liner against Perplexity Pro, which sells the same idea of cited answers. Check Perplexity’s current price on its site before comparing. The practical difference is focus: Liner bundles a dedicated academic mode (Liner Scholar) and a writing tool in one plan, while Perplexity is a general answer engine. If most of your searches are for papers rather than news or shopping, Liner’s bundle fits better.
Kagi is the other route: a paid, ad-free search engine with an assistant. On its pricing page, Professional is $10 a month and Ultimate, which adds premium AI models, is $25 a month on monthly billing. Kagi is the better pick if you want a cleaner search engine; Liner is the better pick if you want answers that cite sources and handle uploaded PDFs.
For systematic literature reviews with data extraction, Elicit is built for that job. Liner sits in between: faster than a dedicated review tool for a quick essay source, lighter than one for a dissertation chapter.
Is the free plan enough for students?
Often yes, for light use. Free includes Advanced Search and access to Deep Research and image generation, one file upload a day up to 25 MB, and answers with ads. Because the limit is now credits rather than a printed count, the only way to know how far it goes is to use it for a week of real coursework and watch when it stops.
Pay when one of three things happens: you hit the credit limit during a deadline week, you need to upload more than one paper a day, or the ads get in the way of reading sources. Any of those is a reason for a month of Pro at $17.99, not yet for a year.
Academy data: of the 16 research and literature-review prompt packs in our library, none names Liner; 3 are Perplexity packs, including the Perplexity Deep Research prompts. The literature review prompts work with any cited-search tool, Liner included.
The verdict
Liner Pro is worth $17.99 a month for a student who leans on cited search and paper uploads most weeks of a term, and worth the $179.88 annual plan only for someone sure to use it for ten months or more. For a single course, pay monthly and cancel at the end.
Skip Max unless you regularly upload more than 20 files a day or files over 100 MB. What would change this verdict: a price rise, or Liner printing clear free-plan limits again so students can judge whether Free is enough. Because Liner does not refund, start on monthly billing.
Better alternatives?
If it is not the right fit, these are worth a look.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Liner Pro cost in 2026?▾
As of October 29, 2026, Liner Pro is $17.99 a month on monthly billing or $14.99 a month billed annually, which is $179.88 a year by our arithmetic. Max is $35.99 monthly or $29.99 a month billed annually.
Is Liner free?▾
Yes, there is a free plan with Advanced Search, access to Deep Research, one file upload a day up to 25 MB and answers with ads. Liner says free credits are limited and may run out quickly.
What is the difference between Liner Pro and Max?▾
Both include 350+ AI models, ad-free answers, Liner Scholar and Liner Write. Pro allows 20 file uploads a day up to 100 MB each; Max allows unlimited daily uploads up to 200 MB. Max costs $180 more a year on annual billing.
Does Liner offer refunds?▾
No. Liner’s pricing FAQ says it does not offer refunds; you can cancel before the subscription renews or before a free trial ends, in the subscription settings.
Is Liner better than Perplexity for research?▾
For academic sources, Liner’s Scholar mode and bundled writing tool make it a closer fit for students. Perplexity is a broader answer engine. Compare current prices on both sites and try each free plan on the same essay topic.