PaperPilot
PaperPilot is a browser extension that adds a Summarize button to research-paper pages and streams a structured AI summary into a sidebar.
What PaperPilot is
PaperPilot is a browser extension that adds a Summarize button to research-paper pages and streams a structured AI summary into a sidebar. It extracts text from the page and organizes results into Problem, Approach, Key Results, Limitations, Related Work, and Why It Matters. Each section links to its supporting passage in the paper. The extension supports 14 publishers, including arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, PubMed, Nature, Science, ScienceDirect, Springer, Wiley, PLOS, Frontiers, MDPI, ACM, and IEEE. Its Chrome side panel works on every tab, including PDFs, and cached papers return instantly. The FREE plan costs nothing and allows five summaries monthly, with unlimited cached summaries. PRO costs $9 a month for unlimited summaries, higher-quality model output, and priority support. PaperPilot says paper text is sent for generation and not persisted afterward, while summaries are cached by canonical paper ID. Its terms warn that AI summaries can contain errors.
Good
- Structured summaries cover six research-focused sections
- Section links point to supporting source passages
- Supports 14 named academic publishers
- Chrome side panel works on PDFs
- Free plan includes five summaries monthly
Watch out
- Free plan limits summaries to five monthly
- AI summaries may contain errors
- Requires browser extension use
- Paper text is sent to the API
Who it suits
PaperPilot suits readers who triage papers across supported publishers before deciding what to read closely. It is also useful for Chrome users working with PDF tabs and needing linked summary sections.
Verdict
PaperPilot provides publisher coverage, linked summary sections, and a Chrome sidebar for quick paper triage. The free tier is limited to five summaries monthly, while unlimited use costs $9 a month and summaries still require source-paper checking.
Plans and prices
From PaperPilot's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| FREE | Free | 5 summaries per month · All 14 supported sites · Cached summaries are unlimited · Sign in with Google · $0/ month |
| PRO | $9 a month | Unlimited summaries · Higher-quality model output · Priority support · Cancel any time · $9/ month |
| PRO | $59 a year | Unlimited summaries · Higher-quality model output · Priority support · Cancel any time · $59 / year |
The facts
Each one read from PaperPilot's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Account deletion
- Users can request account deletion by email, and PaperPilot says it will remove profile and usage history within seven days.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Data handling
- Paper text is sent to the API for summary generation and is not persisted afterward; generated summaries are cached by canonical paper ID.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Google handles sign-in, Stripe handles billing, and Anthropic provides the language model for summaries.checked 4 Oct 2026
- PDF support
- The Chrome extension side panel works on every tab, including PDFs.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Privacy claims
- PaperPilot says it does not train models on user content, sell or rent personal data, or use advertising trackers, session replay, or browser fingerprinting.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Publisher coverage
- It supports 14 publishers: arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, PubMed, Nature, Science, ScienceDirect, Springer, Wiley, PLOS, Frontiers, MDPI, ACM, and IEEE.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- PaperPilot adds a Summarize button to research paper pages and generates structured AI summaries for triage.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Source links
- Each summary section links to its supporting passage in the source paper.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Summary caveat
- The terms say AI-generated summaries may contain errors and should not replace reading the source paper.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Summary sections
- Summaries cover Problem, Approach, Key Results, Limitations, Related Work, and Why It Matters.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- Support questions, bug reports, and feature requests can be sent to [email protected].checked 4 Oct 2026
- Workflow
- It extracts paper text from the page and streams a summary into a sidebar; cached papers return instantly.checked 4 Oct 2026
Alternatives to PaperPilot
- 1
ChatPDF
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.2From $89.99 a year - 2
AskYourPDF
Free planAndroidiOSWebAPI8.1From $11.99 a month - 3
Eightify
AndroidiOSWebExtension7.7From $59.99 a year - 4
Podwise
AndroidiOSWebAPI7.6From $70.80 a year - 5
Scholarcy
Free planWebAPIExtension7.5From $90 a year - 6
SciSummary
Free planWebAPIExtension7.4From $48 a year