10 Best YouTube Video Summarizers in 2024 [Features & Pricing]
Updated on November 3, 2024
Published on March 23, 2024
by Sankari Nair
Don't have the time to watch a full YouTube video? Just want to get key points in seconds? All that is possible with AI today, there's a huge influx of video summarizers to help you save time. To help you find the best options for your specific use case, we have tested 40+ YouTube video summarizers to find out what works best. After a week of testing, this is the comprehensive guide to the 10 best YouTube video summarizers in 2024, helping you save time and boost productivity. We detail the pros and cons of each tool, along with the pricing and features they offer. Get the key points, save time, and get smarter faster on the things you truly care about.
Table of Contents
- An Introduction to AI Video Summarizers
- Why Use YouTube Video Summarizers?
- Top 10 Best YouTube Video Summarizers in 2024
- Comparison Table of the Top 10 Best YouTube Video Summarizers in 2024
- How to Choose the Right YouTube Video Summarizer
- Conclusion
- FAQs
An Introduction to AI Video Summarizers
Imagine you have a three-hour-long lecture video on YouTube that you need to watch, analyze, and make quick notes out of. There were days when you had to sit for three hours for it — well, not anymore. With a reliable YouTube video summarizer, you can easily convert those lengthy online YouTube videos into short, meaningful texts (or quick notes for revision).
AI summarizers work by scanning the content and extracting only the key points from the lengthy videos. But with so many YouTube summarizers available, it can be hard to choose the one that's accurate, affordable, feature-packed, and, most importantly, aligns with your needs. So we designed this comprehensive guide to the 10 best YouTube video summarizers in 2024, to help you make your pick!
Why Use YouTube Video Summarizers?
AI-powered YouTube video summarizers offer a ton of benefits:- Spend your time with intention: Before committing to watching a long video, a quick summary can inform you of the relevance for your use case.
- Save time: You can just get the main takeaways in a few minutes of reading versus hours of watching.
- Improved comprehension and understanding: Get concise and consolidated summaries for better understanding and information digestion.
- Productivity & Focus boost: Cover more content in less time. Especially if you struggle with ADHD, video summarizers can really help you with focus.
- Improve Accessibility: Access key information from videos in text format. This can cut down language barriers or the barriers of hearing impairments.
- Enhance Research: Video content can sometimes be daunting if you are a researchers pressed for time. Now you can easily gather insights from multiple video sources.
For this roundup, we have tested 40+ YouTube video summarizers that offer something unique to the end user. Check out the comprehensive guide to the 10 best YouTube video summarizers in 2024, helping you spend your time with intention.
Top 10 Best YouTube Video Summarizers in 2024
Not everyone has the budget to spend on a premium YouTube video summarizer. So, if you are just starting out or working within a tight budget, there are many free AI summary generators to choose from. Based on our research and hours of testing, here are the picks.
1. Recall
Recall is the Best Overall YouTube Video Summarizer
Recall is a versatile video summarizer that helps you summarize different types of online content, including PDFs, news, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and Wikipedia. It then saves all the summarized content to the knowledge base — where it is automatically organized and interlinked for quick access.
- PDFs: Let's say you have a lengthy and technical PDF document. Recall's browser extension helps you summarize the technical content and generate a set of important bullet points.
- Podcasts: If you want to learn more about a new podcast on YouTube but don't have enough time to listen to all the episodes, Recall can help. Its advanced AI technology allows you to quickly create a short, meaningful summary of the online podcasts.
- News: Whether you are listening to a news video or reading a lengthy news article, Recall has your back! It can generate a short summary of the news content, making it easy for you to get the key information.
Instead of reading lengthy documents or watching long videos, you can use Recall to generate accurate summaries with all the important information. You can then save the well-structured summary to the knowledge base, ensuring you don't have to copy-paste the summary to keep the document for later reference.
Key Features
To see the Recall video summarizer in action, check out this detailed blog post.- Choose Summary Length: Choose between concise and detailed summaries so you can get the best quality and depth of summary for your particular use case.
- Key Points and Timestamps: Every bullet point has a timestamp and hyperlink so you can easily skip to the part of the video that is of interest to you. Ensuring you can spend your time with intention.
- Multi-Language support If you are consuming content in multiple languages, Recall easily converts all language to your primary language.
- Automatic Categorization: At the bottom of the generated summary, you'll find all the key mentions extracted from the YouTube video. Recall uses these key topics to find connections with other saved content.
- Structured Summaries: Recall follows a distinct summary structure, including headings and bullet points to help you get complete information from the YouTube video.
- Personal Knowledge Base: Once the summaries are generated, you can save all of them to the personal knowledge base — making it easy to retain information anytime.
Pros
- If you are looking for summary quality, Recall stands out as having the best summary quality of all the 40 video summarizers that we reviewed.
- Recall's self-organizing personal knowledge base includes all the generated summaries, so you have a safe place to store and organize your summaries.
- It is available as a browser extension on Chrome, Firefox, Brave and Edge (or any other Chromium based browser).
- There are mobile apps available for iPhone and Android.
- You can edit and share YouTube summaries with a few clicks.
- Recall offers unlimited in-app knowledge cards.
Cons
- The free Recall Lite plan is limited to 10 AI summaries.
Pricing
- Lite Plan: Free Forever
- Plus Plan: $7/month (billed yearly)
Personal User Feedback
- "Recall's latest version of video summaries are of the best quality when compared to other video summarizers. The ability to choose between summary length and then skip to the key timestamps is a huge time saver"
2. Glasp
Glasp is Good For Short YouTube Videos
Next on our list is Glasp, a free browser extension that works well on Edge, Chrome, Brave, Safari, and Opera. It's designed for short YouTube videos that are less than 20 minutes. It's simple to use: open the YouTube video, click on the extension, and the AI tool will automatically create a short summary.
Key Features
- Option to regenerate summaries: Easily regenerate summaries if you are not happy with the quality.
- Cross-device syncing: This is great if you are working across multiple devices and want your summaries in sync.
- Social highlighting and note-taking: A great feature to mix in highlighting while reading the summary to ensure content truly sticks.
- Collaboration features: This is an awesome one that many other competitors do not have!
Pros
- Glasp lets you customize the number of key points and length of the summary.
- It is absolutely free, but you do need accounts for ChatGPT and Claude.
Cons
- It does not summarize YouTube videos that are longer than 20 minutes.
- Sometimes, the generated summary misses the important details covered in the YouTube video.
Pricing
- Free
Personal User Feedback
- "Its awesome that Glasp is free, for a short video that is less than 20 minutes, Glasp does a great job."
3. NoteGPT
NoteGPT is Best For Taking Notes on YouTube Videos
NoteGPT is a decent YouTube summarizer that's designed to identify highlights from the YouTube video and put them together. It has many summarizing options, such as transcript summary, AI summary, and you can regenerate the summary. While NoteGPT gets the job done, the free starter plan is limited and does not offer premium features. They have recently updated there reliability so I think we will soon see this one climb up the ranks.
Key Features
- Chat with summaries: An awesome feature to go deeper into specific topics within the summary.
- Cross-device syncing: This is great if you are working across multiple devices and want your summaries in sync.
- Mind-Mapping: You can seamlessly generate a mindmap from a summary, this stands out from other competitors.
Pros
- NoteGPT allows you to take screenshots and time stamped notes while watching YouTube videos.
- It has an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
- You can sync notes and summarized content across devices via the cloud.
Cons
- NoteGPT may miss certain details, tone, and context from the original YouTube video.
- You may find some inaccuracies in complex or technical content.
Pricing
- Starter Plan: Free
- Basic Plan: $2.99/month
- Pro Plan: $9.99/month
Personal User Feedback
- "The UI is clean and easy to use, while the starter plan is limited, the additional features of chat and mind mapping are really cool."
4. YoutubeDigest
YoutubeDigest is Best For Translating YouTube Summaries
If you want to generate a YouTube summary in bullet points and then save the output as a PDF or DOCX file, YoutubeDigest can do it! One thing that makes YoutubeDigest different from others is the summary translation feature. Once the YouTube summary is generated, you can translate it into many other languages, like Chinese, French, German, Korean, Russian, and more, and even create a shareable link to share output with anyone.
Key Features
- Consolidated Notifications: Combines all daily notifications into one summary, reducing clutter.
- Customizable Delivery Time: Users can choose a specific time to receive their daily digest.
- User-Friendly Organization: Organizes notifications by category for easy review.
- Reduced Notification Overload: Helps manage alerts, ensuring users stay updated without being overwhelmed.
Pros
- YoutubeDigest allows you to customize the time range of the summary.
- You can export the generated summaries in many formats, such as DOCX, PDF, or text.
- You can choose the summary output option, such as an article, bullet points, etc.
Cons
- It might lack many advanced features like a knowledge base that are important for power users.
- You need to purchase credits to use the AI tool which can be pricy if you are a heavy user.
Pricing
- Free
- 40 credits: $4.99
- 80 credits: $7.99
- 120 credits: $9.99
Personal User Feedback
- "This tool is dedicated to YouTube summaries, which means they are hyper focused on doing this and doing it well!"
5. ChatGPT for YouTube
Best for getting short Highlights
ChatGPT for YouTube is a versatile Chrome extension that can summarize news, tutorials, academic seminars, courses, and videos. It may not work well with YouTube videos that are complex, long, or have multiple speakers.
Key Features
- Free Chrome extension: Offers summarization capabilities without any cost to users.
- Generates highlights and transcripts: Provides both concise highlights and full video transcripts.
- Easy sharing options: Allows users to quickly share summaries with others.
- No OpenAI account required: Functions independently without needing a separate AI platform account.
Pros
- The ‘Highlight’ section of ChatGPT for YouTube includes important points from the video in bullet points.
- You can adjust the style and length of the summary to match your needs.
Cons
- ChatGPT for YouTube’s free plan only offers 5 free summaries for new users.
- It only works well with YouTube videos with accurate and high-quality captions or subtitles.
Pricing
- Free Plan
- Pro Plan: $9.90/month
- Subscription Plan: $29.90/month
Personal User Feedback
- "This is another very focused app, similar to YouTube digest. Its perfect for quick, short highlights.
6. HARPA AI Chrome Extension
Best Summarizer With AI Assistant
HARPA is one of the go-to YouTube summarizers that works by extracting the key takeaways from long videos with just a click. One of the well-recognized features of HARPA is its ability to scan YouTube videos and summarize important information right away. It's a best-in-class AI assistant that helps quickly summarize, correct, rephrase, and expand texts.
Key Features
- Chrome extension: Easily accessible directly from your browser for quick summarization.
- Multiple summary types: Offers bullet points and paragraph formats to suit different preferences.
- Support for over 40 languages: Provides summaries in a wide range of languages for global users.
- Key takeaway extraction: Identifies and highlights the most important points from the video.
Pros
- HARPA supports three types of YouTube summaries: nested (most detailed), long, and short.
- It can summarize YouTube videos in many languages, like English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Chinese.
- It can even transcribe the YouTube videos.
Cons
- You might need a ChatGPT account to use some HARPA features.
- It may not work well with some languages that are not supported by ChatGPT.
- There is a learning curve when it comes to using HARPA.
Pricing
- For Professionals: $12/month
- For Automators: $20/month
- For Companies: $45/month
Personal User Feedback
- "The customization that is offered by Harpa is awesome, you can easily flex just for your use-case.
7. Sider AI - Advanced YouTube Summarizer Powered by ChatGPT
Best For Generating Executive Summaries of Videos
Sider AI offers a powerful YouTube summarization tool that leverages advanced AI to condense lengthy videos into concise summaries, enabling users to grasp essential content swiftly.
Key Features:
- Blazingly Fast Summaries: Rapidly analyzes and distills key moments from even the longest YouTube videos in seconds, saving valuable time.
- Easy to Understand: Presents main ideas and key insights in a clear and straightforward manner by distilling lengthy videos into concise summaries.
- AI Chatbot Integration: Allows further engagement with the video's content through an integrated AI chatbot.
- Multi-Platform Support: Available as browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, and Edge, as well as desktop applications for Mac and Windows, and mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Pros:
- Time Efficiency: Condenses hours of content into seconds, allowing users to quickly access key moments and skip to the most relevant parts of any video.
- User-Friendly Interface: Offers a clear video summary and key moments list for easy navigation.
- Cross-Platform Availability: Accessible across various devices and platforms, ensuring flexibility for users.
Cons:
- ChatGPT Account Requirement: Some features may require a ChatGPT account.
- Language Limitations: May not work as effectively with some less supported languages.
- Learning Curve: Users may experience a learning curve when first using Sider AI.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: Access to basic features.
- Pro Plan: $9.90/month, offering advanced functionalities.
- Subscription Plan: $29.90/month, providing comprehensive access to all features.
Personal User Feedback: "The customization offered by Sider AI is impressive; it allows for easy adjustment to fit specific use cases."
8. Summarize.tech
Best For Long YouTube Videos
Summarize.tech is a free YouTube video summary generator that can summarize long YouTube videos — using nothing but a URL. It's pretty easy to use: just paste the URL of a YouTube video and select the “Submit” button to generate a short summary with bite-sized minute categories or chapters. There are many summarized examples available on the website so you can understand the output quality.
Key Features
- Simple URL input: Requires only the YouTube video URL for quick and easy summarization.
- Works with both short and long videos: Effectively summarizes videos of various lengths.
- No account required: Provides instant access without the need for registration.
Pros
- You don’t even need to install any extension to use the summarizer.
- It has a basic and easy-to-use interface.
- Its free plan helps you summarize short and long YouTube videos.
Cons
- The generated YouTube summaries are not always 100% accurate.
- Output is quite detailed, which makes it less ideal for someone looking for quick information.
Pricing
- Free
- Premium Plan: $10 per month
Personal User Feedback
- "Clean, simple and to the point. A no-fuss YouTube summariser."
9. Jasper YouTube Video Summarizer
Best Multipurpose Tool
Jasper is one of the well-known AI tools with many advanced features. It's a YouTube video summarizer that supports around 25 languages. The AI tool works by identifying the key themes and ideas in the given text. It then summarizes the YouTube video into short and concise text.
Key Features
- AI-powered content creation: Offers broader AI writing capabilities beyond just video summarization.
- YouTube video summarization feature: Specifically tailored for extracting key points from YouTube content.
- Integration with other content tools: Works alongside various content creation and management platforms.
- Customizable output formats: Allows users to tailor the summary style to their preferences.
Pros
- Jasper’s YouTube Video Summarizer helps you summarize YouTube videos in 25 languages.
- SEO integrations are available to optimize the generated summary for an improved Google ranking.
- The command feature helps you specify the length of the YouTube summary.
Cons
- There's no free plan available — though you get a 7-day free trial to test the AI tool.
- Beginners might find Jasper a little complex.
- It is expensive.
Pricing
- Creator Plan: $49 per month
- Pro Plan: $69 per month
- Business Plan: Custom
Personal User Feedback
- "Jasper is a lot more than just a YouTube video summarizer, so for a focus on content creation of your own, this is a win."
10. Eightify
Best For Summarizing in 40+ Languages
Based on the testing, Eightify comes out as a reliable multi-language summarizer. It cuts out extra sentences from the YouTube video and creates a summary with 8 key takeaways. When summarizing, Eightify breaks the text in different ps with timestamps — something which is not available in similar YouTube video summarizers.
Key Features
- Summaries in over 40 languages: Caters to a global audience with multi-language support.
- Timestamped breakdowns: Provides summaries with time markers for easy reference to specific video sections.
- Integration with note-taking apps: Seamlessly connects with popular note-taking tools for better organization.
- Customizable summary length: Allows users to adjust the detail level of summaries based on their needs.
Pros
- Eightify is available as an iOS app and also as an extension on Safari and Chrome.
- This YouTube video summarizer supports 40+ languages.
Cons
- The output always has 8 bullet points (or ideas) — which sometimes does not align with user intent.
- It's only designed to summarize YouTube videos.
Pricing
- $4.95/month
Personal User Feedback
- "Eightify has been in this game for a long time, i love that it has the full transcript and an easy switch between the short and long summary.""
Comparison Table of the Top 10 Best YouTube Video Summarizers in 2024
Tool | Key Features | Best For | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|
Recall | - Customizable summary length, - Key points with timestamps, - Multi-language support, - Automatic categorization | Comprehensive analysis and knowledge management | Lite: Free Plus: $7/month (billed yearly) |
Glasp | - Regenerate summaries, - Cross-device syncing - Social highlighting - Collaboration features | Short videos (under 20 minutes) and social learning | Free |
NoteGPT | - Chat with summaries - Cross-device syncing - Mind-mapping | Taking notes and creating mind maps from videos | Starter: Free Basic: $2.99/month Pro: $9.99/month |
YoutubeDigest | - Consolidated notifications - Customizable delivery time - User-friendly organization | Translating summaries and exporting in various formats | Free with credit purchases |
ChatGPT for YouTube | - Free Chrome extension - Generates highlights and transcripts - Easy sharing options - No OpenAI account required | Getting short highlights quickly | Free Plan Pro: $9.90/month Subscription: $29.90/month |
HARPA AI Chrome Extension | - Robust AI Summarization - Customizable Summary Length - Ease of Use - Shareable Summaries | Summarizing long videos and providing multi-language support | For Professionals: $12/month For Automators: $20/month For Companies: $45/month |
Sider AI – Advanced YouTube Summarizer Powered by ChatGPT | - Blazingly Fast Summaries - Easy to Understand - AI Chatbot Integration - Multi-Platform Support | Generating executive summaries of videos | Free Plan: Access to basic features Pro Plan: $9.90/month Subscription Plan: $29.90/month |
Summarize.tech | - AI-generated summaries - Breaks content into 5-minute segments - Provides overall video summary | Summarizing lengthy YouTube videos | Free with daily limits; Premium: $10/month |
Jasper YouTube Video Summarizer | - AI-driven text summarization - Supports over 30 languages - Maintains brand voice consistency - Integrates with other Jasper tools | Creating polished video summaries | Free trial available; Subscription plans vary |
Eightify | - AI-generated TLDR summaries - Supports over 40 languages - Timestamped breakdowns - Chrome extension and mobile apps available | Quickly grasping key points of videos | Free with limited summaries; Premium plans available |
How to Choose the Right YouTube Video Summarizer
If you are struggling to make a pick, consider these factors when selecting a YouTube video summarizer:
- Purpose: Determine your needs across summary length, if you need quick highlights or very detailed summaries.
- Integration: Check if the tool integrates with your existing workflow. This could help you pick based on browser and device support.
- Language Support: Ensure the tool supports your required languages!
- Pricing: Based on your frequency of use and quality needed, you can pick between free and paid options based on your budget and needs.
- Summary Accuracy: Test the tool's summarization quality with sample videos. Quality can be a deal breaker.
Conclusion
YouTube video summarizers are a must-have if you are consistently consuming YouTube content. It is a serious productivity hack and time saver when it comes to efficient content consumption in 2024. Whether you're a researcher, student, professional, or just a YouTube nerd, these AI-powered tools can significantly enhance your learning and productivity. Recall stands out for the best summary quality, its comprehensive features for holistic knowledge management and structured approach, but each tool offers unique benefits to suit different needs. I hope this post can help you make the best pick for your needs.
FAQs
Are these summarizers accurate?
While AI-powered summarizers are highly efficient, their accuracy can vary. It's always best to cross-reference important information with the original video.
Can these tools summarize videos in languages other than English?
Many tools, including Recall and HARPA AI, offer multi-language support. Check each tool's specifications for language capabilities.
Are there any free options available?
Yes, several tools offer free versions or trials, including Summarize.tech and the ChatGPT for YouTube extension.
How do these tools handle very long videos?
Most tools can handle long videos, but processing time may increase. Some tools like Eightify offer timestamped breakdowns for easier navigation of long content.
Can these summarizers be used for content other than YouTube videos?
While primarily designed for YouTube, many of these tools can summarize content from other video platforms or even text-based content. Check each tool's capabilities for specific details.
What are AI hallucinations?
AI hallucinations refer to instances where AI models, including large language models like those used in video summarizers, generate false or inaccurate information that wasn't present in the original input. These hallucinations can appear convincing but are fabricated by the AI.
Why do AI hallucinations occur in video summarizers?
AI hallucinations in video summarizers can occur due to several reasons:
- Limitations in the AI's training data
- Misinterpretation of context or ambiguous information in the video
- Attempts to fill gaps in understanding with plausible but incorrect information
- Inherent biases in the AI model
How can users detect AI hallucinations in video summaries?
To detect AI hallucinations in video summaries:
- Cross-reference important points with the original video
- Look for inconsistencies or implausible information
- Be cautious of overly specific details not likely to be in a summary
- Use multiple summarization tools and compare results
- Trust your intuition if something seems off or too good to be true