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Comparison

Sidenote vs ChatPDF

ChatPDF is a place you upload PDFs into; Sidenote reads the tab you already have open, PDF or not, and cites the exact passage.

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Sidenote

Reads the tab you already have open, no upload step, citations to the exact passage.

ChatPDF

A destination you bring PDF files to, and chat with them there.

The short answer

Should you use Sidenote or ChatPDF?

Choose Sidenote if…

You read across PDFs, Confluence, Notion and articles, and want answers in place without uploading anything. Citations scroll to the exact passage, so checking an answer takes one click.

Choose ChatPDF if…

You mostly work with standalone PDF files, want a no-login free tool to paste a PDF into, and like the study extras (flashcards, AI slides) and the mobile apps.

Plenty of people use both. They solve overlapping problems from different ends.

Compared honestly

Sidenote vs ChatPDF: feature by feature.

CapabilitySidenoteChatPDF
Reads the page or PDF you already have openYesNo
Works on private Confluence, Notion & SharePoint pagesYesNo
Works on web articles & live web pagesYesNo
Upload your own PDFsYesYes
Citations scroll & highlight the exact passageYes Partial
Server-side citation check drops unsupported claimsYes Partial
One-click glossary of jargon & acronymsYesNo
Ask across many documents at onceYes Partial
Per-document Store / Discard retention controlYesNo
No-login free toolYesYes
Mobile appsNoYes
Flashcards & study extrasNoYes

Last reviewed: 3 July 2026.

Three rows go to ChatPDF, and we are not pretending otherwise; see Where ChatPDF is the better tool below. The cross-document row above is powered by Sidenote Collections.

The core difference

A place you upload to, or a reader that rides along.

ChatPDF is a destination. You open it, upload a PDF (or paste a URL), and chat with it there. It does that one job cleanly. But it's a place you go to, separate from the documents in your day.

Sidenote never asks you to leave. It sits in the side panel of every tab, reads what you already have open (a PDF, a Confluence page, an article) and answers in place. Click a citation and it scrolls the real document and highlights the exact passage.

The difference in one example

Take a private Confluence runbook. ChatPDF needs a file or a URL it can fetch on its own servers, so a page behind your company login is out of reach. Sidenote runs in your browser, on your session, and reads exactly what's on your screen.

Giving credit

Where ChatPDF is the better tool.

If these are what you need, ChatPDF is a strong choice:

No-login free PDF chat

Paste a PDF and start asking without making an account. The lowest-friction way to chat with a one-off file.

Mobile apps

Native iOS and Android apps for reading on the go. Sidenote is a desktop browser extension.

Study extras

Flashcard and slide generators aimed at students. Sidenote deliberately doesn't build those.

FAQ

Sidenote vs ChatPDF: common questions

If you mostly chat with standalone PDF files you upload, ChatPDF is a fine, focused tool. If you read across PDFs and the wider web (Confluence runbooks, Notion docs, articles, arXiv papers) and want answers in place, Sidenote is the better fit: nothing to upload, and every citation scrolls the live page to the exact passage.
No. ChatPDF works on PDFs you upload or public URLs it can fetch on its own servers; it can't sign in as you, so a page behind your company login is invisible to it. Sidenote runs inside your browser on your own session, so it reads what's on your screen, including private wikis and intranet pages.
Yes. Open a PDF in your browser (arXiv, a journal paper, any link) and Sidenote reads it with no upload, or drag a local PDF onto the side panel. Scanned PDFs are OCR'd first, so even image-only documents become searchable and citable.
Both cite sources. Sidenote adds two things: every answer is checked server-side against the passages actually retrieved, so unsupported claims have their citation dropped before you see them; and clicking a citation scrolls the document to the exact sentence and highlights it, so verifying takes a second.
Of course. Some people keep ChatPDF for quick one-off PDF questions and use Sidenote for everything they read in the browser day to day. They overlap, but they're not the same shape of tool.
Both have a free tier. Sidenote's free plan covers everyday summaries, explanations and glossaries, with an opt-in 7-day Pro trial that needs no card; paid plans start at £10/month. ChatPDF offers a no-login free tier and a paid plan above it.
Try it on the page you are on

Read anything. With citations.

Add Sidenote to your browser and ask the document in front of you a question. No upload, no new tab. Just the answer, and the passage that proves it.

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7-day Pro trial · No card required · Free plan forever