Free. And predictable on purpose.
Most reference checkers charge by the entry, sell credits that expire, or make you create an account before you can see a single result. CiteLedger does none of that. This page states what is free, what might later cost money, and what we will not charge for — before you invest time in the tool.
$0 — everything
Every feature currently shipped is free, with no account, no card and no usage cap.
✓ Reference list and full-draft input
✓ Crossref + OpenAlex lookups
✓ Field-level verdicts with reasons
✓ In-text marker reconciliation
✓ HTML / CSV / PDF reports
✓ Bilingual Methods statement
✓ Offline self-test and process log
Team & API tier
If a paid tier ever appears, it will be a flat, predictable subscription for capabilities that cost us money to run — not a meter on your bibliography.
· Batch / scheduled checks for editorial teams
· An API and MCP endpoint for agent pipelines
· Local-language index adapters (CiNii, SciELO, CNKI…)
· Shared, signed audit trails
Nothing here is purchasable today. We do not collect payments, emails or waitlists.
What we will not charge for
No per-entry metering
A 4-reference essay and an 80-reference thesis are the same check. We will not sell credits, bundles or "top-ups".
No expiring balance
There is no balance to expire. Nothing is lost if you do not use the tool for a year.
No charge for a miss
If no source is found, you still get the full report and the reason. Failed retrieval is a result, not a billable event.
No paywall on your own report
Exporting, printing and copying the Methods statement are always available. Your evidence stays yours.
No account to see a result
No sign-up wall, no trial countdown, no "2 free checks" gate. The checker opens and runs immediately.
No sale of your manuscript
Draft text never leaves the browser, so there is nothing to store, train on or resell. See privacy.
Cost structure, not generosity
CiteLedger is a static site. Parsing, scoring and report generation all happen on your device; the only network calls go to free public metadata APIs. There is no inference bill, no per-check server compute and no database to amortise. That is what makes a no-credits model sustainable rather than promotional.
It also makes the tool auditable: with no server in the loop, the method on the methodology page is the whole method. If a future feature needs a server, we will say so on this page before it ships.