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Deep research · AI agent

EvoScientist: review, pricing, security and alternatives

EvoScientist is an open-source AI agent published by EvoScientist, in the deep research family. EvoScientist brings scientific agents together in a system intended to conduct research and evolve its working methods. Its repository has 4,915 stars and its last commit is from October 24, 2026.

Score
65/100
Adoption (stars) 20/40
Activity (commits, releases) 30/30
Framework (licence, control, models) 15/30
Open sourceActively maintainedLow risk

What EvoScientist does

EvoScientist belongs to the deep research family: agents that search, read and cross-check dozens of sources to produce a sourced report. On our grid it ranks #8 of the 18 projects of this family listed in the directory.

Who is EvoScientist for?

It targets analysts, students and teams who must cross-check many sources to produce a reasoned summary. Typical tasks people give it:

  • write a sourced overview of a topic
  • compare products or competitors
  • prepare a technical or regulatory watch

Access and human control

Its documentation does not detail the access granted to the agent: check the settings before connecting it to your accounts.

We could not establish whether it asks for human approval before sensitive actions: test it first on an unimportant account or folder.

Run commands in a terminalRun commands in a terminal : 6 %6 %Read and edit filesRead and edit files : 28 %28 %Drive a web browserDrive a web browser : 22 %22 %Call online services and APIsCall online services and APIs : 56 %56 %
Share of the 18 agents in the family that have each access, according to their documentation. In orange, EvoScientist's access.

EvoScientist pricing

The code is free, under the Apache-2.0 licence.

Getting started with EvoScientist

  1. Install it: the project ships as a Python package (install with pip or uv). The exact command is in the repository README.
  2. Create an API key with the model provider and put it in an environment variable, never in a shared or versioned file.
  3. Give it a first playground with nothing at stake: a test folder, a secondary account or a throwaway project. Only open your real accounts once you have seen how it behaves.
  4. Give it a short, checkable task, review the result and its action log, then raise the difficulty step by step.

Security: risk level

An agent's report may cite misread or invented sources: check the links before reusing a figure.

Three habits: least privilege (minimal rights, dedicated keys), human approval for irreversible actions, a sandbox for code execution. The AI agent security check reviews your setup in a few minutes.

Project activity and releases

Created on January 26, 2026, the EvoScientist/EvoScientist repository has 4,915 stars, 340 forks and 39 open issues, with 772 commits in total. It received changes this month.

Over the last 52 weeks: 751 commits, an average of 14.4 per week.

Nov 2, : 0 · Nov 2, 2025Nov 2,Nov 9, : 0 · Nov 9, 2025Nov 16, : 0 · Nov 16, 2025Nov 23, : 0 · Nov 23, 2025Nov 30, : 0 · Nov 30, 2025Dec 7, : 0 · Dec 7, 2025Dec 14, : 0 · Dec 14, 2025Dec 21, : 0 · Dec 21, 2025Dec 28, : 0 · Dec 28, 2025Dec 28,Jan 4, : 0 · Jan 4, 2026Jan 11, : 0 · Jan 11, 2026Jan 18, : 0 · Jan 18, 2026Jan 25, : 0 · Jan 25, 2026Feb 1, : 9 · Feb 1, 2026Feb 8, : 52 · Feb 8, 2026Feb 15, : 37 · Feb 15, 2026Feb 22, : 58 · Feb 22, 2026Feb 22,Mar 1, : 56 · Mar 1, 2026Mar 8, : 29 · Mar 8, 2026Mar 15, : 81 · Mar 15, 2026Mar 22, : 61 · Mar 22, 2026Mar 29, : 16 · Mar 29, 2026Apr 5, : 15 · Apr 5, 2026Apr 12, : 10 · Apr 12, 2026Apr 19, : 14 · Apr 19, 2026Apr 19,Apr 26, : 16 · Apr 26, 2026May 3, : 13 · May 3, 2026May 10, : 13 · May 10, 2026May 17, : 5 · May 17, 2026May 24, : 8 · May 24, 2026May 31, : 2 · May 31, 2026Jun 7, : 18 · Jun 7, 2026Jun 14, : 18 · Jun 14, 2026Jun 14,Jun 21, : 11 · Jun 21, 2026Jun 28, : 11 · Jun 28, 2026Jul 5, : 3 · Jul 5, 2026Jul 12, : 12 · Jul 12, 2026Jul 19, : 18 · Jul 19, 2026Jul 26, : 10 · Jul 26, 2026Aug 2, : 12 · Aug 2, 2026Aug 9, : 10 · Aug 9, 2026Aug 9,Aug 16, : 9 · Aug 16, 2026Aug 23, : 7 · Aug 23, 2026Aug 30, : 2 · Aug 30, 2026Sep 6, : 6 · Sep 6, 2026Sep 13, : 6 · Sep 13, 2026Sep 20, : 14 · Sep 20, 2026Sep 27, : 12 · Sep 27, 2026Oct 4, : 6 · Oct 4, 2026Oct 4,Oct 11, : 29 · Oct 11, 2026Oct 18, : 19 · Oct 18, 2026Oct 25, : 23 · Oct 25, 2026Oct 25,
Commits per week on the main repository, last 52 weeks (GitHub API, checked October 25, 2026).

42 releases in total; 30 in the last twelve months. Latest release: v0.3.8, on October 24, 2026.

v0.2.0 · Jun 26, 2026v0.2.0Jun 26, 2026v0.2.1 · Jul 6, 2026v0.2.2 · Jul 11, 2026v0.2.3 · Jul 17, 2026v0.2.4 · Jul 26, 2026v0.2.5 · Aug 1, 2026V0.2.6 · Aug 7, 2026v0.2.7 · Aug 14, 2026v0.2.8 · Aug 21, 2026v0.2.9 · Aug 29, 2026v0.2.10 · Sep 5, 2026v0.3.0 · Sep 11, 2026v0.3.1 · Sep 19, 2026v0.3.2 · Sep 23, 2026v0.3.3 · Sep 26, 2026v0.3.4 · Sep 29, 2026v0.3.5 · Oct 3, 2026v0.3.6 · Oct 9, 2026v0.3.7 · Oct 17, 2026v0.3.8 · Oct 24, 2026v0.3.8Oct 24, 2026
The latest 20 releases published on GitHub (hover a point for details).

EvoScientist vs other deep research

GitHub stars of the best-rated open-source projects in the deep research family. Stars measure attention, not quality: a heavily promoted project collects them fast, a specialised tool will have few.

DeerFlowDeerFlow : 84.4K84.4KGPT ResearcherGPT Researcher : 30.3K30.3KOpen ScienceOpen Science : 5.4K5.4KFeynmanFeynman : 10K10KLocal Deep ResearchLocal Deep Research : 9.4K9.4KOpenScienceOpenScience : 4.2K4.2KLLM for ZoteroLLM for Zotero : 3.4K3.4KEvoScientistEvoScientist : 4.9K4.9K
Log scale; EvoScientist in orange. Checked October 25, 2026.

EvoScientist and other deep research at a glance

The 7 best-ranked agents in the same family, 7 of them open source. The score out of 100 only applies to open-source projects; for proprietary services we show the published entry price. A dash marks information the documentation does not state.

Quick comparison: deep research
AgentModelScoreStars or entry priceSelf-hostableHuman approval
EvoScientistopen source654.9K ★––
DeerFlowopen source8784.4K ★yes–
GPT Researcheropen source8030.3K ★yes–
Open Scienceopen source765.4K ★yes–
Feynmanopen source7410K ★yes–
Local Deep Researchopen source749.4K ★yes–
OpenScienceopen source704.2K ★yes–
LLM for Zoteroopen source683.4K ★yes–

How we rated it

Score: 65/100, computed only from public, verifiable data, with no subjective testing or partnership:

  • Adoption 20/40: 4,915 stars on a log scale (40 points from about 200,000).
  • Activity 30/30: last commit less than a month ago, 30 releases in six months, 751 commits in a year.
  • Framework 15/30: licence, default human approval, self-hosting, model choice and documentation site.

The score does not say whether the agent will succeed at your tasks: it measures how solid the project is. The full grid is on the method page.

Verdict

EvoScientist is a serious option; check the limitations below before granting it access.

Strengths

  • Very active development
  • Frequent releases (30 in a year)
  • Permissive licence (Apache-2.0)

Frequently asked questions

Is EvoScientist free?

The software is free (Apache-2.0 licence). You still pay for the model calls, unless you use a local model.

Is EvoScientist safe?

Our risk level: low. Give it minimum rights and approve irreversible actions.

Which models does EvoScientist use?

Its documentation does not specify the supported models.

Can EvoScientist be installed on your own server?

This is not clearly documented: check with the vendor.

What are the alternatives to EvoScientist?

In the same family: DeerFlow, GPT Researcher, Open Science, and Feynman.

EvoScientist or DeerFlow: what is the difference?

Both belong to the deep research family. EvoScientist has 4.9K stars against 84.4K for DeerFlow. The right choice mostly depends on the access you are willing to give it.

Related articles

Neutrality. No affiliate links. No vendor pays to be reviewed, rated or ranked. Reviews are directed by François Chollet, neutral and factual, and every data point is dated and sourced. How we score