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Comparison

Sidenote vs Sider

Both live in a browser side panel. Sider is a broad, multi-model AI assistant for everything. Sidenote is a focused reader that retrieves across your documents and cites every answer to the source. Here's an honest comparison.

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The short answer

Should you use Sidenote or Sider?

Choose Sider if…You want one AI sidebar for everything — many models to pick from, writing help, translation, image tools and general chat across the whole web.
Choose Sidenote if…You want trustworthy reading of documents — summaries, chat, glossary — with citations that scroll to the source, across your wikis, PDFs and the web. For focused, citation-accurate reading rather than a do-everything sidebar, it's the best tool for the job.
Compared honestly

Sidenote vs Sider: feature by feature

CapabilitySidenoteSider
Builds a retrieval index over the documents you openSidenoteYesSiderPartial
Citations scroll & highlight the exact passageSidenoteYesSiderPartial
Server-side citation check drops unsupported claimsSidenoteYesSiderNo
Read-only connectors for Confluence, Notion, SharePoint & Google DocsSidenoteYesSiderPartial
One-click glossary of jargon & acronymsSidenoteYesSiderNo
Per-document Store / Discard retention controlSidenoteYesSiderNo
Summarise & chat with the page you're onSidenoteYesSiderYes
Upload & chat with PDFsSidenoteYesSiderYes
Choice of many AI models (GPT, Gemini, Grok…)SidenoteNoSiderYes
Built-in translationSidenoteNoSiderYes
Broad toolkit (writing, image, web search, agents)SidenoteNoSiderYes
Free tierSidenoteYesSiderYes
Sider wins on breadth — many models, translation, a whole toolkit — and we're not pretending otherwise. See Where Sider wins below.
The core difference

A generalist for everything, or a specialist for reading.

Sider is a Swiss-army knife: many models, writing, translation, image tools, web search. If you want one assistant for the whole web, it's a strong pick.

Sidenote does one thing and goes deep: it turns the documents you read into something you can question and trust — retrieval across your library, a citation on every claim, and a click that scrolls you to the source. The trade is breadth for depth.

The difference in one exampleAsk “what does the contract say about termination?”: Sider gives you a capable answer from the page context. Sidenote retrieves the relevant clause, checks the answer against it, and scrolls you to the exact sentence to confirm it.
Giving credit

Where Sider is the better tool.

If these are what you need, Sider is built for it:

  • Many models in one placePick between GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and more for each task — a model marketplace Sidenote deliberately replaces with ‘we pick the right one’.
  • Translation & languagesStrong built-in translation and a large non-English user base — not something Sidenote focuses on.
  • A broad everyday toolkitWriting, image generation, web search and agent features in one sidebar — Sidenote stays narrow on reading.
FAQ

Sidenote vs Sider — common questions

Is Sidenote a good Sider alternative?

If you want one AI sidebar that does a bit of everything — many models, writing, translation, image tools — Sider is the broader product. If your job is reading documents and you want to trust the answers, Sidenote is the focused choice: it retrieves across the docs you open and pins every answer to a source passage you can jump to.

Sider already summarises the page I'm on — why Sidenote?

Depth and trust. Sidenote builds a retrieval index over the documents you open (so it answers across many pages, not just the one in view), checks every answer server-side against the retrieved passages and drops unsupported claims, scrolls the document to the exact cited sentence, and offers a one-click glossary. It's built specifically for reading you need to rely on.

Does Sidenote let me pick the AI model like Sider?

No — and that's deliberate. Sidenote picks the model for the job: a fast model for everyday chat, a stronger one on the higher tiers for dense documents, and a cheap one for summaries and glossaries. You don't manage models; you get good answers. Sider's strength is the opposite — a model marketplace you choose from.

Which is more accurate for documents?

For grounded reading, Sidenote's citation rigour is the differentiator: answers are validated against the retrieved passages and every claim links to the source. Sider is excellent for general-purpose assistance across the web, but it isn't built around verifiable document citations.

Can I use both?

Easily. Some people keep Sider as a general AI sidebar and reach for Sidenote when they need cited answers about a specific document or wiki. Different jobs.

How much does Sidenote cost compared to Sider?

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. Sider offers several low-cost paid tiers across its broad toolkit.

Try it on a document

Reading you can trust.

Add Sidenote to Chrome, open a document, and ask. Every answer comes with the passage that proves it.

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