The bottom line: Glasp’s YouTube Summary is a free browser extension that puts an AI summary and full transcript beside every YouTube video — clickable timestamps, your choice of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Mistral, and one-click highlighting. The free plan covers 3 video summaries a day, plus a no-sign-up web tool for one-offs. For students and researchers drowning in video content, it’s one of the best free tools in the category.
What is Glasp’s YouTube Summary?
Glasp started as a social web highlighter and added AI summarization that now reaches over 2 million users (4.3 stars on the Chrome Web Store). The YouTube Summary extension sits beside the video player and generates key-point summaries with timestamps you can click to jump to that exact moment.
It also summarizes web articles and PDFs, and its Chat tab answers follow-up questions about whatever you’re watching or reading — with answers that cite transcript timestamps so you can verify them.
What’s actually free
The Free plan includes:
- 3 video summaries a day — full AI summaries, not just key phrases
- Full transcripts with clickable timestamps — read along, copy everything in one click, jump to any moment
- Your choice of AI model — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Mistral for each summary
- Transcript highlighting and notes — highlight lines worth keeping, add your own annotations
- Export — send highlights to Notion, Obsidian, Roam, or mem.ai; download as Markdown, HTML, CSV, or JSON
- No-sign-up web tool — paste a YouTube link at glasp.co/youtube-summary and get a summary and transcript without installing anything
- 20 Chat credits a month — ask follow-up questions about videos, articles, or PDFs
It works on Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Brave, and Opera, with mobile apps for iPhone and Android.
What’s behind the paywall
The free tier’s limits are clear:
- 3 summaries a day: enough for a study session, not for binge-researching an entire field. Power users need a paid plan.
- Chat is capped at 20 credits a month — roughly 20 follow-up questions. The deeper Balanced and Deep chat models are paid.
- Extension required for the full experience: the web tool gives summaries and transcripts, but highlighting, custom prompts, and saved history need the extension and an account.
There’s no hard paywall on the core value — summaries and transcripts stay free. Paid plans exist for unlimited summaries and heavier Chat use.
Who it’s best for
Glasp’s free plan is best for students, researchers, and curious learners — anyone who regularly thinks “I don’t have 40 minutes for this video.” The transcript-first design (timestamps, highlighting, export) makes it a research tool, not just a summary button. Content creators also use it to pull key points from videos for blog posts.
It’s not for high-volume research pipelines — 3 summaries a day won’t carry a full-time literature review.
Pros and cons
Pros
- 3 free AI summaries a day — no credit card, no trial clock
- Full timestamped transcripts, not just bullet points
- Choose your AI model per summary (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral)
- Highlighting + export to Notion/Obsidian makes it a real research workflow
- No-sign-up web tool for quick one-off summaries
- 2M+ users and a 4.3 Chrome Store rating — well-established, not a fly-by-night
Cons
- 3 summaries a day is a hard ceiling for heavy users
- Chat follow-ups capped at 20/month on free
- Best features need the extension + account
- Summary quality is good but not best-in-class, per independent reviews
Frequently asked questions
Is Glasp’s YouTube Summary really free?
Yes. The free plan includes 3 video summaries a day with full transcripts, timestamps, multi-model AI, and highlighting. There’s also a web tool that needs no sign-up at all.
Can I summarize a YouTube video without installing anything?
Yes — paste the video link into the box at glasp.co/youtube-summary and you get an AI summary and transcript instantly, no account needed.
Which AI models can I use?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Mistral — you pick per summary, and can set custom prompts and summary length in the extension.
How does Glasp compare to Eightify?
Glasp gives full timestamped transcripts, highlighting, and multi-model support; Eightify is simpler, YouTube-only, and focused on quick bullet-point extraction. For research, Glasp is the stronger free option.
Verdict
Glasp’s free tier is unusually complete: daily summaries, real transcripts, your choice of model, and a genuine export workflow — all at $0. If you learn from YouTube, install it and let the 3-a-day cap be your excuse to watch less. (Reviewed October 2026; free-tier terms can change, so check the live page before relying on it.)