Best Chrome sidebar AI extensions: 6 picks by what you actually do

Published August 28, 2026 · UpdatedAugust 28, 2026

Browser sidebar AI extensions have multiplied over the last two years, and their scope varies widely: some only answer questions about the current page, some put writing, translation, image generation and automation into a single subscription, and some run the model on your own machine. This article groups six of them into three categories by use, and says who each one suits. If you want something that answers questions about the current page right after installing, start with PageGrok.

Install PageGrok →

When you open a long article, a set of API docs or an unfamiliar product page, there are usually only two or three questions on your mind: what does this page say, what does this parameter mean, how does it differ from the last one I looked at. Copying the content into another tab for those questions breaks your attention. That short trip is what a sidebar extension removes.

What a sidebar AI extension is

A sidebar AI extension installs into the browser and opens a panel that stays alongside the webpage. The panel can read the content of your current tab, so you ask about the page directly instead of switching windows or copying text. Products differ on three things: where the model comes from, where the content goes, and whether they do anything beyond reading pages.

The six at a glance

Read from the Chrome Web Store and each vendor’s own site on 2026-08-28.

Three that only read the current page

All three keep their scope on the page in front of you. PageGrok answers without a login after installing, while both Kimi extensions start from a Kimi account — one of them is official, the other is made by a third party.

PageGrok

PageGrok is a Chrome side panel that only does webpage reading. When you open the panel it reads the text already rendered in your current tab, then answers questions about that page. Its starting point is built-in AI, so you install it, open the side panel and ask, with no email, account or API key involved; once it fits how you work, you can connect a model on your own machine.

Install PageGrok →

Main capabilities

Full-page parsing and region selection. Cleanly structured articles go through full-page parsing; for long forum threads or product pages where spec tables sit between reviews, you can select the region you want to ask about, picking one area or several non-adjacent areas that merge into a single piece of content, leaving navigation, sidebars and ads out of the request.

Three clickable suggested questions after parsing. You do not have to invent the first question on a page you have just opened. Those three can be replaced with your own, up to five stored.

Follow-ups reuse the parsed content. From the second question onward the page is not read again, so the wait is shorter and the context stays on the same body of content.

The model is switchable. Built-in AI, Ollama, LM Studio or oMLX on Apple Silicon on your own machine, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint with your own key. The model list is read from the provider at run time.

Best for

• People who read long articles, documentation or product pages all day
• People who want to start immediately rather than set up a model service first
• People with pages whose content should not go to a third-party server
• People already running Ollama or LM Studio who want a webpage reading entry point

Kimi Browser Assistant

Kimi Browser Assistant is Moonshot AI’s official browser extension, with kimi.com listed as the developer website. It offers a side panel and a global floating window, bringing Kimi’s question answering onto the current page. The store page shows the last update as May 2025.

Main capabilities

Ask about a selection. Highlight a passage on the page and ask about it directly, without copying the text out first.

Ask about a screenshot. Select a region of the page, capture it and ask, which suits charts and diagrams where text extraction does not work.

One-click summary. Generate a summary of the current page as a starting point for further questions.

Two interface modes. The side panel suits reading alongside a page for a while; the floating window suits asking one question and closing it again.

Best for

• People already using Kimi who want the same account inside the browser
• Readers working mainly with Chinese-language content
• People who need to ask questions about charts via screenshots
• People for whom a whole-page summary is enough, without finer control

Kimi Copilot

Kimi Copilot lists kimi.tools as its developer, and its store description states that the extension is built by third-party enthusiasts and is not an official Kimi.ai or Moonshot AI product. It keeps its scope on whole-page summarization, and the store description says plainly that it carries no other frills. The interface is Chinese only, and you sign in to a Kimi account before using it.

Main capabilities

One-click summary from a keyboard shortcut. Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+K produces a summary of the current page without opening a panel and clicking a button first.

Video and PDF pages are covered. YouTube and Bilibili video pages and PDF pages are in scope, which suits reading a written overview before committing time to the full thing.

The summarization prompt is editable. When the default framing does not fit what you need, you replace it with your own and every later summary follows it.

Summarization is the whole feature set. The store description says it does one-click summarization only, so there are no options to learn before the first use.

Best for

• People who want one whole-page summary and will not follow up
• People who watch YouTube and Bilibili videos and want a written overview first
• People with a Kimi account who read mainly Chinese-language content
• People on native Chrome, since the store description states it does not work in Arc or other non-native Chrome browsers

Two that cover many AI tasks from one entry point

These two reach far beyond reading pages, with writing, translation, image generation and automation inside one subscription. When your needs genuinely spread across those tasks, one entry point covering all of them saves effort.

Sider

Sider lists Vidline Inc. as its developer, and it puts several kinds of AI work behind one side panel: chat, browser-agent automation, coding that rewrites websites, and image, video and slide generation, plus YouTube summaries, ChatPDF, translation, read-aloud, data analysis and speech-to-text. The subscription has three tiers, and the pricing page states that all plans include all features, with the tiers differing in monthly credits and cloud computer specification; each tier comes with a cloud computer. Prices switch currency by region, so the same tier shows different figures in different places — check its pricing page for the exact amount.

Main capabilities

Sidebar chat. Hold a conversation next to the webpage, including questions about the current page, which is its default entry point.

Claw browser-agent automation. Have the AI carry out a sequence of actions in the browser rather than only answering questions.

Coding that rewrites websites. Make changes to any site and shape the page into what you want it to be.

Image, video and slide generation. Creative work happens in the same panel, without switching to another tool.

Best for

• People whose needs land on chat, automation and creative work at the same time
• People who want the AI to click and operate inside the browser for them
• People who prefer one subscription over installing a pile of extensions
• People who need a cloud machine to run tasks on

Monica

Monica lists BUTTERFLY EFFECT PTE. LTD. as its developer, and its capabilities cover an AI agent, deep research, slide generation, a browser operator, image and video generation, side-by-side webpage and PDF translation, a Memo knowledge base and search enhancement. The second step of its own getting-started instructions is signing in, so the features sit behind an account. Its pricing page uses one set of US dollar figures worldwide: the free tier allows 40 basic-model requests a day with limited trials of ChatPDF and image generation, and Pro is US$8.3 per month or US$99 per year.

Main capabilities

AI agent and browser operator. Hand over something that takes several steps and let it work through them in the browser instead of clicking each one yourself.

Deep research and search enhancement. It gathers material around a topic on its own and organizes the result, with retrieved content carried into the answer.

Side-by-side webpage and PDF translation. Source and translation render next to each other, so reading a foreign-language article or PDF does not mean going back and forth between two windows.

Slide, image and video generation. Material you have organized can go straight into slides or illustrations without changing tools.

Best for

• People who want writing and translation solved in one tool
• People who often read foreign-language webpages and PDFs side by side
• People turning what they find into research output or slides
• People who want to try the free tier for a while before deciding on an upgrade

One that runs the model yourself

The model runs on your own machine, content does not pass through a third-party server, and using it more often costs nothing extra. The trade is that you set up the model service first. PageGrok, covered above, also connects to a model on your machine, so it does not get a second entry here.

Page Assist

Page Assist is an open-source project that connects a chat interface in the browser to a model service running on your own machine. It supports Ollama, Chrome’s own built-in AI and several OpenAI-compatible endpoints, so the range of providers is fairly wide. Before using it you configure a provider and a model, and that step has to be finished before the first conversation.

Main capabilities

General chat interface. A full conversation window inside the browser, with topics not limited to the current page.

RAG. Index your own documents, then have questions answered from material retrieved out of them.

Web search. Let it search during a conversation and bring what it finds into the answer.

Several model providers. Local model services and OpenAI-compatible endpoints both connect, so you can switch models by task.

Best for

• People already running Ollama who want a front end inside the browser
• People willing to spend setup time in exchange for more things to adjust
• People who need RAG and web search
• People who prefer open-source projects and want to read the code

How to choose

Start with how much has to happen before the first question. Some tools answer as soon as you open them, some require registering and signing in, some require a model service running on your machine first. The length of that step decides whether you actually keep using it.

Then look at where the content goes. A sidebar extension reads what is in your current tab, including what only appears after signing in. Hosted services have to send that content to their servers to produce an answer; when the model runs on your machine, the content does not leave it. For internal documents and client material, that is a hard constraint.

Check whether the scope is what you need. If nine times out of ten you open the sidebar to ask what a page says, a tool that only reads webpages is enough; if you genuinely write, translate and generate images with AI, one subscription covering all of it saves more.

Check whether the model can be changed. With a tool locked to one model, how good that model is decides how good the product is; a tool that switches models can follow the ecosystem.

Closing

None of these six is the best choice for every situation. The narrow ones work their one job in more detail, and the broad ones remove the switching between tools. Work out what you most often do when you open the sidebar, then choose from the matching group.

If you want to start from “install it and ask about the page in front of you”:

Install PageGrok →

For current features, quotas and prices on the other side, check each vendor’s own site and store page. The information above was read on 2026-08-28.

Read next: PageGrok vs Sider and Monica, PageGrok vs both Kimi extensions, Summarize any webpage.

FAQ

Which sidebar AI extension works right after installing?

PageGrok answers questions about the current page as soon as you open the side panel, using built-in AI. There is no account to create, no API key to paste and no model server to run first. A free trial is included, so the first question happens on the page you are already reading.

How is a sidebar AI extension different from using a web AI chat?

A web chat needs you to paste the content in, or hand it a link so it can fetch the page again. A sidebar extension reads the text already rendered in your current tab, which covers signed-in pages and pages rendered dynamically on the front end, without switching windows.

If I only want a summary of the page, which type should I pick?

If a summary is all you need and you will not follow up, a dedicated summarizer produces one from a single shortcut and that is enough. If you usually ask three to five more questions afterwards, pick a tool that supports follow-ups and lets you ask about one region of the page, because the round trips add up.

Do these extensions read content that is only visible after I sign in?

Sidebar extensions read the text already rendered in your current tab, which includes what is visible only after signing in, and hosted services have to send that content to their servers to produce an answer. PageGrok reads from the current tab in the same way, working from the page you already opened, and the content can stay on your own machine.