The short answer: our members

Inciteful Med is funded by the people who use it. No hospital, insurer, drug maker or advertiser pays us, and we don't sell data. Every dollar we earn comes from a patient, caregiver or advocate who decided the tool was worth it.

Why independence matters

When you research your health, you deserve to know whose interests shaped what you're reading.

Most health information has a business model behind it, and that model has goals of its own.

A hospital does better when you choose the services it offers.
An insurer does better when your care costs less, or the care you need isn't covered.
A drug maker does better when you ask your doctor about its drug.
An advertiser does better when you click.

None of those goals are wrong, but none of them are guaranteed to be yours, and most importantly, none are guaranteed to be aligned with what's best for your health outcomes.

Inciteful Med started when a missed diagnosis in our own family was caught because we could read the research ourselves and push for a second opinion. That only works when the peer-reviewed research reaches you unfiltered. So we built the one thing we could: a tool that answers only to you and the evidence.

How other health products are paid for

This isn't a criticism of the people who build other tools. Many do excellent work. Knowing the business model behind them simply helps you understand where financial incentives may influence your experience.

Free health websites are mostly funded by advertising and sponsorship. In its last public annual report, WebMD reported that about 80% of its revenue came from ads and sponsorships, most of it from drug, biotech and medical device companies[1]. A year later, private equity firm KKR's Internet Brands bought it for $2.8 billion, and its finances haven't been public since [2].
Research tools built for doctors often run on drug-maker advertising too. OpenEvidence, an AI evidence tool for clinicians that Inciteful Med is often compared to, is free for doctors and funded by more than $100M in pharmaceutical ads that show while it gathers evidence. The company says ads do not influence answers. [3]
Health data itself is bought and sold. A 2023 Duke University study found 11 data brokers willing to sell information on Americans with conditions like depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. One offered names and home addresses, within a $2,500 budget.[4]
Free health apps often make money from what you do in them. In 2023 the FTC found that GoodRx, free to patients, had sent people's prescriptions and health conditions to Facebook and Google to target its own ads, and banned it from doing so again [5].
General AI chatbots also now carry ads. OpenAI inroduced ads in ChatGPT in January 2026 for its free and lowest-priced plans, and says ads don't influence answers. That's a company policy, not law [6]. No US law is written specifically for AI answers: general advertising rules require ads to be labeled, but nothing requires a chatbot to show you who or what shaped its answer.
Hospital and insurer tools are usually free to you because they're part of how that organization serves its patients or members. They can be genuinely helpful, but they're designed around that organization's own services, coverage, and liability protections.

What Inciteful Med does instead

Members fund us. This guarantees that our financial interests are completely aligned with patient and caregiver interests. Personal plans are $10 a month and Family plans are $30 a month.
The Starter plan is free, so everyone has access It includes 5 questions a week, with the same research engine and the same citations as every paid plan.
No ads, no sponsored content, no paid placement. Nobody can pay to appear in an answer, a guide or our resource lists.
Your health information is never sold. We don't share it for marketing and never use it to train AI models.
Transparency is part of our identity. You don't have to take our word for anything. Every statement links to its published, peer-reviewed source and the exact passage behind it, so you can check it yourself.

Why we ask you to pitch in

Every question you ask runs real research, and that costs us money. Your membership covers the costs for yourself and for everyone on free plans.

If Inciteful Med has helped you, becoming a member is how you keep it free and independent for the next patient. Become a member

If cost puts Inciteful Med out of reach while you're in the middle of something important, contact us.