PaperPilot

What PaperPilot is

PaperPilot is a browser extension for turning research papers into structured summaries that can help readers decide what to examine more closely. On supported paper pages, it adds a Summarize button, extracts the page text and streams the result into a sidebar. Each summary is organized into Problem, Approach, Key Results, Limitations, Related Work and Why It Matters, and each section links to the passage in the paper that supports it. PaperPilot supports 14 publishers, including arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, PubMed, Nature, Science, ScienceDirect, Springer, Wiley, PLOS, Frontiers, MDPI, ACM and IEEE. The Chrome extension side panel also works on any tab, including PDFs. Previously summarized papers are cached and return instantly.

The free plan costs nothing and includes five summaries monthly across all 14 supported sites; cached summaries are unlimited. PRO costs $9 a month for unlimited summaries, higher-quality model output and priority support, with cancellation available at any time. Google handles sign-in, Stripe billing and Anthropic supplies the language model. Paper text is sent to the API for summary generation and is not persisted afterward; summaries are cached by canonical paper ID. PaperPilot says it does not train models on user content or use advertising trackers, session replay or browser fingerprinting. Its terms caution that AI summaries can contain errors and should not replace reading the source paper.

Who it suits

PaperPilot suits researchers and students who want a structured first pass through papers from its 14 supported publishers, including PDFs. It is also a fit for readers who want summary sections linked to their supporting passages before deciding what to read in full.

Limits

The free plan allows five summaries per month, although cached summaries are unlimited. PRO provides unlimited summaries for $9 a month.

Getting started

1. Open the PaperPilot website.
2. Add the Chrome extension.
3. Sign in with Google.
4. Use the Summarize button on a supported paper page, or open a PDF tab.
5. Choose the FREE plan or PRO at $9 a month.

Verdict

Choose PaperPilot if you want linked, structured summaries to triage research papers across its supported publishers. The free plan covers five summaries monthly, while PRO removes that summary limit and adds higher-quality model output and priority support. Readers should still consult the source paper because summaries may contain errors.