Home
Research
Glasp

Glasp

A social-first web highlighter that turns reading into a public knowledge graph, best for researchers who value community discovery over private archiving.

Excellent for active learners and YouTube researchers, weaker for those requiring strict privacy or offline reading.

Chrome Extension Note Taking Summarization Knowledge Management Youtube Content Curation Reading Personal Knowledge Base

Analysis based on product data, pricing structure, traffic signals, and public user sentiment.

Visit Website

Share this tool

Facebook X

LinkedIn Reddit

WhatsApp Telegram

Who Should Use Glasp?

Typical users

Individual researchers, students, and content curators who want to build a public digital legacy and discover content through a community.

Maturity fit

beginner to scaling

Choose this if…

You want to see what others are highlighting in real-time
Your workflow relies heavily on extracting insights from YouTube videos
You prefer a browser-native highlighter over a separate 'read-it-later' app
You want to build a 'digital clone' based on your personal knowledge base

Skip this if…

You need a distraction-free reading environment with offline support
Your highlights frequently contain sensitive or proprietary information
You require advanced spaced-repetition features like those in Readwise

About Glasp

Glasp is a social web highlighter designed to help users organize their digital learning while contributing to a collective knowledge pool. It enables users to capture text from articles, PDFs, and YouTube transcripts directly in the browser. The platform emphasizes 'learning in public,' allowing users to follow others and discover curated insights.

What it actually does

Users install a browser extension to highlight text on any webpage or PDF, which then syncs to a personal profile. It automatically generates AI summaries for YouTube videos and articles, providing quick takeaways without requiring full consumption. The tool also facilitates the export of these highlights to popular note-taking apps like Notion and Obsidian.

What makes it different

Unlike traditional bookmarking tools that focus on private storage, Glasp is social by default, creating a feed of highlights from other users. Its 'Digital Clone' feature is a unique architectural choice that uses your highlights to train a personal AI assistant capable of answering questions based on your specific reading history.

YouTube transcript highlighting and time-stamped notes Web and PDF annotation via browser extension AI-powered article and video summarization Social feed for discovering highlights from followed users Kindle highlight import and daily review One-click export to Notion, Obsidian, and Readwise Digital Clone AI training on personal highlights

Key Features

YouTube Summary

Generates AI-driven takeaways and transcripts directly in the browser sidebar.

Social Discovery

Allows you to follow other readers to see what they are highlighting on specific articles.

Digital Clone

Creates an AI agent trained on your highlights that can answer questions based on your knowledge base.

Kindle Sync

Imports book highlights to centralize them with web and video notes.

PDF Highlighting

Annotates web-based and uploaded PDFs without leaving the browser.

Export Integrations

Provides formatted Markdown or direct sync to Notion, Obsidian, and Roam Research.

Highlight Visibility Control

Allows users to toggle between public and private highlights (Pro feature).

Pricing

Free

Unlimited public highlights
Basic YouTube summaries
Notion & Obsidian export
Kindle highlight import

Popular

Pro

$15 per month

Unlimited private highlights
5,000 advanced AI summaries/mo
PDF Chat (5,000 messages/mo)
Private domain list

Unlimited

$36 per month

Higher AI usage limits
Priority support
Early access to new features

Pricing checked 4 months ago

Pricing guidance

Best plan for most users: The Pro plan is the best fit for most professional users because it unlocks private highlights, which is essential for non-public research.

Free plan enough? Yes, if you are a student or hobbyist who is comfortable with all your highlights being visible on your public profile.

Upgrade when:

When you need to highlight sensitive or private documents
When you hit the monthly limit for advanced AI summaries
When you want to use the PDF Chat feature for deep research

Watch out for:

Privacy is strictly a paid feature
YouTube summaries are limited by volume on the free tier
Advanced AI models (like GPT-4o) are reserved for Pro users

Affordable for individuals, but the jump to the 'Unlimited' tier is steep for the marginal feature gains.

Pros & Cons

Strengths

Superior YouTube integration
It is the most efficient tool for extracting value from video content, providing transcripts and AI summaries that save hours of manual note-taking.
Community-driven discovery
By seeing what experts in your field are highlighting, you discover high-quality content that algorithms often miss.
Generous free tier
Most core highlighting and basic AI features are available without a subscription, making it accessible for students and casual learners.

Weaknesses

Public by default
Privacy is a paid feature; new users often accidentally share sensitive highlights because the 'private' toggle is locked behind a subscription.

Affects: Corporate researchers and privacy-conscious users
No offline mode
The tool requires an active internet connection and the browser extension to function, making it useless for offline reading on planes or commutes.

Affects: Mobile users and frequent travelers
Cluttered user interface
The social feed and extension sidebar can feel busy and distracting compared to minimalist alternatives like Matter.

Affects: Users seeking a focused reading experience

Real User Sentiment

Users generally praise the tool for its speed and YouTube features but remain divided on the social-by-default philosophy.

Users tend to like

Instant YouTube transcripts
Ease of exporting to Notion
Discovering niche articles through the community feed
The 'Digital Clone' concept

Users commonly complain about

Accidental public sharing of private notes
Extension occasionally breaks on certain websites
Lack of a robust mobile reading experience

Recurring tradeoffs

You trade privacy for a free, feature-rich highlighter
You trade a clean reading UI for social discovery features

Happiest users

YouTube-heavy learners and researchers who enjoy sharing their findings with a community.

Often frustrated

Users who want a private, Readwise-like experience for free or those who need offline access.

Use Cases

YouTube Research

Extracting key points from long-form video essays or lectures without watching them in full.

Academic Study

Highlighting web-based PDFs and syncing them directly to an Obsidian Zettelkasten.

Content Curation

Building a public profile of interesting reads to share with a professional network.

Personal Knowledge Management

Using the Digital Clone to query your own past reading history for specific facts.

Kindle Consolidation

Bringing physical book highlights into the same digital space as web and video notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Glasp completely free?

Glasp offers a generous free tier that includes unlimited public highlights and basic YouTube summaries. However, if you want to keep your highlights private or use advanced AI features, you must upgrade to the Pro plan, which costs $15 per month.

How does Glasp compare to Readwise?

Readwise is a private-first tool focused on spaced repetition and long-term retention, starting at roughly $9/month. Glasp is a social-first tool focused on community discovery and YouTube summarization, offering a free tier for public use.

Can I keep my highlights private on Glasp?

Only if you have a Pro or Unlimited subscription. On the free plan, all highlights and notes are public by default and visible on your profile to anyone who follows you.

Does Glasp work on mobile?

Yes, Glasp has dedicated apps for iOS and Android. You can also use it through mobile browsers, though the full highlighting experience is most robust on the desktop Chrome or Safari extensions.

Can I export my highlights to Notion or Obsidian?

Yes, Glasp supports direct export to Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, and Logseq. For Obsidian, there is a community plugin that automates the sync process.

What is the 'Digital Clone' feature?

The Digital Clone is an AI feature that indexes your highlights and notes. You can then 'chat' with your clone to ask questions like 'What did I read about market psychology last month?' and it will answer based on your saved data.

Why trust this page?

This evaluation combines product positioning, pricing analysis, traffic and market signals, and public user sentiment into a single decision-support page. Content is generated editorially — not copied from the vendor's website.

Market Signals & Traffic

Estimated visits, global rank, geography, traffic sources, monthly visit trends, and organic search keywords (Similarweb)—on a dedicated page built for depth and search.

Estimated visits: 2,761,077
Global rank: #18,804
Snapshot: May 2026
Traffic trend: Surging