Comparison
Sidenote vs Humata
Both turn documents into answers with citations. Humata is an enterprise document-AI you upload files into and operate as a knowledge base. Sidenote is a browser extension that reads what you're already on — wikis, PDFs, articles — and cites it. Here's an honest comparison.
The short answer
Should you use Sidenote or Humata?
Compared honestly
Sidenote vs Humata: feature by feature
CapabilitySidenoteHumata
Reads the page you already have openSidenoteYesHumataNo
Works on private Confluence, Notion & SharePoint pagesSidenoteYesHumataNo
Works on web articles & live web pagesSidenoteYesHumataNo
Upload your own documentsSidenoteYesHumataYes
Inline citations on every answerSidenoteYesHumataYes
Citations scroll & highlight the exact passageSidenoteYesHumataPartial
One-click glossary of jargon & acronymsSidenoteYesHumataNo
Ask across many documents at onceSidenoteYesHumataYes
Per-document Store / Discard retention controlSidenoteYesHumataNo
Embed document Q&A in your own productSidenoteNoHumataYes
Enterprise compliance program (SOC-2 / HIPAA)SidenoteNoHumataYes
Free tierSidenoteYesHumataYes
Two rows go to Humata — the enterprise embed and compliance story — and we're upfront about it. See Where Humata wins below.
The core difference
A knowledge base you operate, or a reader that rides along.
Humata is a destination and a deployment. You bring documents into it, set it up for a team, and embed it where you need answers. It's built for running document AI as infrastructure.
Sidenote is a per-user reader. It sits in your browser, reads what you already have open, and cites every answer to the exact passage — no upload, no deployment, no admin.
The difference in one exampleReading a private Confluence page: Humata wants the content uploaded or connected into its workspace. Sidenote reads it in place, on your session, and you click a citation to land on the source line.
Giving credit
Where Humata is the better tool.
If these are what you need, Humata is built for it:
- Enterprise compliance postureA compliance and security story aimed at procurement — the kind of program a small focused tool like Sidenote doesn't yet have.
- Embed Q&A in your productDrop document question-answering into your own web app or portal — a developer surface Sidenote doesn't offer.
- Central team knowledge baseBuilt around a managed, team-wide document library rather than per-user, browser-side reading.
FAQ
Sidenote vs Humata — common questions
Is Sidenote a good Humata alternative?
For individuals and teams who want cited answers about the documents they read day to day — wikis, PDFs, articles — Sidenote is a lighter, browser-native fit. Humata is aimed more at enterprise document-AI deployments, with compliance positioning and an embeddable widget. They overlap on ‘chat with your documents, with citations’ but sit at different ends of that market.
Can Humata read my private Confluence wiki without uploading it?
Humata works on documents you upload or connect server-side. Sidenote reads what's already on your screen, on your own session — so a private Confluence page, a Notion doc or a SharePoint file is readable in place, with nothing to upload into a separate workspace.
Does Sidenote have enterprise compliance certifications like Humata?
Sidenote is a small, focused product and doesn't hold formal certifications like SOC-2 or HIPAA today. What it does do: store your content in a UK (eu-west-2) region with row-level security isolating every account, and run on model and embedding providers with no-training defaults. If a formal compliance program is a hard requirement, Humata is built for that; Sidenote is honest that it isn't there yet.
Which is better for a team?
If you need an embeddable, centrally-managed knowledge base with a compliance story, Humata is built for that. If you want every person on the team to get cited answers about the wikis and docs they already read — installed in an afternoon, £10/month per user — Sidenote is the lighter path.
Can I use both?
Yes. A team might run Humata as a central knowledge base and let individuals use Sidenote for everyday reading across the browser. They're not mutually exclusive.
How much does Sidenote cost compared to Humata?
Both have a free tier. Sidenote is free to install with a 7-day Pro trial that needs no card; paid plans start at £10/month per user. Humata's paid tiers scale up toward team and enterprise pricing.
Try it on your docs
Cited answers. No deployment.
Add Sidenote to Chrome, open a document, and ask. No upload, no admin — just the answer and the passage that proves it.
7-day Pro trial · No card required · Free tier forever