Side by side
SciSummary vs Sidenote
Both stand on ai summarizers. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
SciSummary combines structured paper summaries with figure analysis, multi-paper tools and developer access. Its trial offers a way to evaluate the paid service, while users should consider the stated limits of its security assurances.
Visit SciSummary
Choose Sidenote if you want document answers with citations that lead back to highlighted source text, along with a broad set of reading and organization tools. The Free plan has monthly document and tool limits; teams needing shared collections or Confluence indexing can look at a Team plan. Organizations requiring SOC 2 certification should note that Sidenote says it has not yet been certified.
Visit SidenoteThe facts
| SciSummary | Sidenote | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Extension, Web | Extension, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | Pro (Yearly): $48 a year | Team (annual billing): £14.40 a year |
| Plans published | 7 | 6 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | scisummary.com | getsidenote.app |
| On ai summarizers | #16 of 36 | #20 of 36 |
SciSummary: what it does well
- Summaries are organized by paper section
- Can synthesize or compare multiple papers
- Figure chat interprets statistical measures
- Bulk API accepts PDFs, links or full text
- 7-day trial is available
What to know first
- No free plan
- Pricing starts at $4/mo (annual)
- Privacy policy says absolute security cannot be guaranteed
Sidenote: what it does well
- Citations scroll to and highlight the source passage.
- Reads scanned PDFs with OCR and accepts seven upload formats.
- Includes summaries, explanations, glossaries, search, and reading notes.
- Integrates with Confluence, Notion, Google Docs, Slack canvases, SharePoint, and OneDrive.
- The 7-day Pro trial requires no card.
What to know first
- Free plan has a 3-document monthly limit.
- Free plan has no collections or Confluence space indexing.
- Opera extension is described as coming soon.
- Sidenote says it is not yet SOC 2 certified.
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