Summary
Basic and Premium run the same Tech Assessment at different levels. On both tiers you get every evaluation in your assessment template, an Overall Score, and the written reasoning behind each number. Basic is the free tier. Premium is the full platform.
Premium adds more evidence behind the scores, and more help reading them. A Premium assessment summarizes its own result, states a plain-language posture over the weighted scores, tells you how much to trust each number, checks how ready the technology is to commercialize, and recommends what to do next. Premium research also reaches company data, market reports, and a patent search. Outreach runs from a finished assessment on either tier, and Premium's company search is what supplies the companies to start with.
Premium is a subscription, so if your account has it, the assessments you run are Premium assessments. Every organization gets three free Premium assessments to try. They are a team-wide credit rather than three each, and the platform shows how many are left.
When to read this
Someone has asked what Premium adds.
You are deciding whether Premium fits the work your office does.
You are reading a Basic assessment and want to know what a Premium one would tell you as well.
You want to know which parts of a colleague's assessment you should expect to see in yours.
How it works
What Premium adds before you generate
Premium reads your input while you are still building the assessment and reports where more detail would improve the result, evaluation by evaluation. You can add the missing detail before you spend the run, or generate anyway. For the statuses, what to do with each one, and the confirm dialog, see Pre-flight checks: preview before you spend a run.
What Premium adds while the assessment runs
Premium research draws on three sources Basic does not use: company data, market report data, and a patent search. These sources let an evaluation name real companies as partners or competitors, quote a market size, and point at published patent documents close to the technology you described.
For how the three sit alongside public web research and your own documents, see Where the assessment's data comes from. For what the patent search finds and what it does not do, see Premium patent data: what it is and how to use it.
Premium also shows the research as it happens, so you can see what the assessment is reading while it works.
What Premium adds to the finished result
Premium summarizes the assessment for you and gives you a short, prioritized plan to work from. Basic gives you every score and every explanation, and leaves you to read the Deep Dive and work out where the technology stands. Premium condenses that into a result you can take in quickly, and lays it out so the important parts come first.
On top of the scores, Premium states an Overall Posture and names the Binding Constraint, the weakest evaluation. For how to read the two together, see Read your assessment results.
Each Premium evaluation also carries a Trust score, which tells you how stable that number is. Use it before you quote a score to an inventor or a committee. For what the Trust score measures and how it is produced, see Evaluations: scope, limits and rubrics.
Premium also checks how ready the technology is to commercialize, and it recommends next steps.
You can move from a finished assessment into outreach on either tier, using Autopilot or the Marketing Agent, without rebuilding the case for the technology somewhere else. What Premium adds is the starting point. Its company search names real companies to approach, so you know about potential companies to contact before even starting an autopilot.
What both tiers include
Every assessment, on either tier, gives you:
Every evaluation in the assessment template you chose, each scored on its own with its weight applied.
The Overall Score, which is a weighted average of every evaluation that produced a score.
The reasoning behind each score.
The research the assessment drew on, reported as a count of distinct citations.
Public web research.
Your pasted text and uploaded documents read as evidence.
The tier does not change how many evaluations you get. The assessment template decides that. For what each evaluation covers and where its limits are, see Evaluations: scope, limits and rubrics.
Side by side
Capability | Basic | Premium |
Every evaluation in your assessment template, each with its weight applied | Yes | Yes |
The full written assessment, with the reasoning behind each score | Yes | Yes |
The research the assessment drew on, counted at assessment level | Yes | Yes |
Public web research | Yes | Yes |
Your pasted text and uploaded documents read as evidence | Yes | Yes |
Pre-flight check on your input before you generate | No | Yes |
A live view of the research while the assessment runs | No | Yes |
Company search and market reports as research sources | No | Yes |
Patent search and IP analysis | No | Yes |
A scored, structured, visual result rather than the written analysis alone | No | Yes |
Overall Posture, the plain-language reading of the weighted scores | No | Yes |
Trust score on each evaluation | No | Yes |
Commercialization readiness check | No | Yes |
Recommended next steps | No | Yes |
Named companies from the company search to start outreach from | No | Yes |
When to use Basic vs. Premium
A Basic assessment is a complete assessment, not a preview of a Premium one. Every evaluation in the template runs, produces a score, and explains its reasoning. Basic does not shorten that writing or hold any of it back.
Basic is enough on its own when:
You are screening several disclosures to decide which ones deserve more attention.
The disclosure is already detailed, so a check on the input would tell you little.
The result stays inside your institution.
You want to show an inventor where their technology looks strong and where the evidence is thin.
Premium is the better fit when:
You read a lot of assessments and want each one to state its answer, instead of assembling that answer yourself from the scores.
The decision turns on commercial context, which is what the company data and the market report data supply.
You want a read on how close the technology sits to existing patent documents.
You want a named list of companies to vet before moving onto autopilot.
Tips
Improve the input before anything else. A more detailed disclosure raises what either tier can do with it, and neither tier can assess what nobody wrote down.
On a Basic assessment, treat the lowest-scoring evaluation as the thing to review. Premium names that evaluation for you as the Binding Constraint. On Basic you find it yourself on the score breakdown.
Check the Trust score on a Premium assessment before you quote a number to someone else.
Read the additional sources on a Premium assessment when you disagree with a market or competitor finding. The citation shows you what the score rests on.
Ask your Partner Relationship Manager what your account includes if you are not sure which capabilities you have.
Common issues
No pre-flight card appears while I am creating an assessment. The pre-flight check runs on Premium. Basic assessments generate without it.
My assessment has no Overall Posture or Binding Constraint. Those sit in the Decision Synthesis card, which is Premium. On Basic, read the score breakdown and start with the weakest evaluation. See Read your assessment results.
My evaluations show no Trust score. The Trust score is Premium. See Evaluations: scope, limits and rubrics.
Market or competitor detail is thinner than I expected. Company data and market report data are Premium sources. On Basic, those evaluations work from public web research and your own input. See Where the assessment's data comes from.
Two assessments of the same technology disagree. Check whether both used the same assessment template, because different templates score different evaluations. Scores also move between runs of the same assessment template, because the assessment researches live sources.
My assessment has fewer evaluations than a colleague's. That is the assessment template, not the tier. Both tiers run every evaluation the template selects. See Assessment templates: choosing, creating and editing.
Frequently asked questions
Does Basic give me fewer evaluations?
No. Both tiers run every evaluation in the assessment template you chose. The template decides how many you get.
Do I choose Basic or Premium each time I run an assessment?
No. Premium is a subscription rather than a per-assessment choice. If your account has Premium, the assessments you run are Premium assessments.
Does Premium change how the Overall Score is calculated?
No. On both tiers the Overall Score is a weighted average of every evaluation that produced a score.
Are my uploaded documents read on Basic?
Yes. Both tiers read the text you paste and the files you upload. This is not a Premium feature.
Is the written assessment shorter on Basic?
No. Both tiers explain every score in full. Premium adds a summary over the top of that writing, and Premium evaluations can cite the additional sources, so what an explanation rests on can be broader.
Will the same technology score the same on Basic and Premium?
Not necessarily. Premium research reaches company data, market report data, and a patent search that Basic does not use, so the evidence behind some scores differs. Scores also move between runs on the same tier, because the assessment researches live sources.
What are the two tiers called?
Basic is the free tier. Premium is the full platform. Your agreement or invoice may word it differently, and your Partner Relationship Manager can confirm what your account includes.