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Head-to-head · AI Summarizers

Scholarcy vs Sidenote

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score Scholarcy #2 in AI Summarizers 8.8/10 Free plan · 7-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Scholarcy
Sidenote #4 in AI Summarizers 7.9/10 Free plan · 7-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 3 of 3 features Visit Sidenote

Scholarcy leads on 0 checks, Sidenote on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreScholarcy · 8.8/10
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialboth
  • Most featuresSidenote · 3 of 3

Scholarcy scores higher on our rubric for ai summarizers: 8.8 against 7.9 out of 10; our editors rank them #2 and #4.

Scholarcy is the better fit for researchers managing large paper collections. Sidenote is the better fit for teams needing cited summaries and integrations.

  • Scholarcy fits best

    Researchers managing large paper collections

  • Sidenote fits best

    Teams needing cited summaries and integrations

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Scholarcy 8.8/10 Visit ↗ Sidenote 7.9/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.8 7.9
Ranking #2 in AI Summarizers #4 in AI Summarizers
Best for Researchers managing large paper collections Teams needing cited summaries and integrations
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free plan + paid
Starting price — £96/yr
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial 7 days 7 days
Free trial length 7 days 7 days · no card needed
Deployment Cloud, Browser extension Cloud, Browser extension
Platforms Web, Chrome extension Web, Chrome extension
Integrations 5 integrations 9 integrations
Features Scholarcy 1/3 · Sidenote 3/3
Document upload Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Webpage summaries ✓ ✓
Transcript summaries Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Specs
Input limit Not checked yet Not checked yet
Summary length control Not checked yet Short
Export formats Not checked yet Markdown
Our review
Pros
  • Bulk-imports and summarizes up to 64 research papers
  • Structured flashcards cover citations, methods, findings, and references
  • Integrates with Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, and Scite.AI
  • Clickable citations connect summaries to source passages.
  • Supports PDFs, Office files, webpages and connected documents.
  • Integrates with Confluence, Notion, SharePoint, Slack and more.
Cons
  • The free plan provides limited summaries
  • Paid plans are monthly or yearly subscriptions
  • Commercial API access is no longer available
  • Free plan limits monthly documents, summaries, explanations and chat turns.
  • OCR and Word and PowerPoint support begin on the Pro plan.
  • Shared collections and SAML SSO require a Team plan.
Our verdict

Scholarcy is a web-based research reading and summarization service for students, researchers, and academics. It converts PDFs, Word documents, book chapters, online articles, plain text, and YouTube videos into structured summary…

Read the review →

Sidenote is an AI reading assistant and document summarizer available through a Chrome extension and web dashboard. It is designed for students, researchers, analysts, legal teams, consultants and organizations working with internal…

Read the review →
  1. ScholarcyAI Summarizers 8.8Free plan · 7-day trial
  2. SidenoteAI Summarizers 7.9Free plan · 7-day trial

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Scholarcy — where it wins

    • Bulk-imports and summarizes up to 64 research papers
    • Structured flashcards cover citations, methods, findings, and references
    • Integrates with Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, and Scite.AI

    Where it doesn't

    • The free plan provides limited summaries
    • Paid plans are monthly or yearly subscriptions
    • Commercial API access is no longer available

  • Sidenote — where it wins

    • Clickable citations connect summaries to source passages.
    • Supports PDFs, Office files, webpages and connected documents.
    • Integrates with Confluence, Notion, SharePoint, Slack and more.

    Where it doesn't

    • Free plan limits monthly documents, summaries, explanations and chat turns.
    • OCR and Word and PowerPoint support begin on the Pro plan.
    • Shared collections and SAML SSO require a Team plan.
  • Scholarcy8.8/10 · Free plan · 7-day trial

    A research-focused summarizer that turns papers into structured, searchable flashcards.

    Visit ScholarcyFull verdict →
  • Sidenote7.9/10 · Free plan · 7-day trial

    Cited document summaries, chat, OCR and integrations for research-heavy teams.

    Visit SidenoteFull verdict →

More comparisons

All AI summarizers comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update