The best free AI Chrome extensions in 2026 are Glasp (YouTube and article summaries), Grammarly Free (grammar plus 100 AI prompts), HARPA AI (page-aware AI commands and web monitors), QuillBot (paraphrasing and summaries) and Tactiq (free meeting transcripts). All five install from the Chrome Web Store and have a $0 plan with no card. Below is what each one does for free, where the free plan stops, and which one to install first.
We ranked them by one question: how much useful AI work does the free plan give you in a normal week? We looked at the official pricing pages on 11 November 2026, checked each free limit, and noted what you only get on a paid plan. If a tool hides its free limit behind vague words like “limited”, we say so.
Best free AI Chrome extensions at a glance
| Rank | Extension | Best for | What the free plan gives you | Paid plan from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasp YouTube Summary | Summarising videos, articles and PDFs | Free extension; transcript and summary beside every YouTube video; uses your own ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Mistral | Free |
| 2 | Grammarly | Writing anywhere on the web | Spelling and grammar fixes, tone detection, 100 AI prompts | $12/month (Pro) |
| 3 | HARPA AI | Page-aware AI and automation | Demo plan: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini via web sessions (10 messages/day), up to 100 command runs, web monitors | $12/month billed yearly |
| 4 | QuillBot | Rewriting and summarising | Paraphrase up to 125 words in 2 modes, basic grammar, basic summaries | $4.17/month billed yearly |
| 5 | Tactiq | Meeting transcripts | 10 transcripts a month, 5 AI credits a month | $8/user/month billed yearly |
Prices are in US dollars as listed on each official site in November 2026. They change often, so check the linked pricing page before you pay.
How we ranked these extensions
An AI extension is only useful if you can keep using it after the first day. So we scored each one on four things:
- Free allowance: how many summaries, prompts or transcripts you get before a paywall.
- Everyday usefulness: does it help with something most people do daily (reading, writing, meetings)?
- Clarity of limits: does the pricing page tell you the exact free limit?
- Privacy and permissions: AI extensions read the pages you open, so fewer surprises scored higher.
We left out tools whose free tier is only a short trial. If you want a full AI assistant rather than an add-on, see our guide to the best free ChatGPT alternatives.
1. Glasp YouTube Summary with ChatGPT & Claude
Glasp’s extension is the easiest win on this list. Open any YouTube video and it shows the full transcript beside the player, with timestamps you can click, plus a one-click summary. It also summarises web articles and PDFs, and its Chat tab answers questions about the page you are on.
The clever part is how it stays free: Glasp sends the transcript to the AI account you already use (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Mistral), so you are not burning Glasp credits. Glasp lists the extension as free, with more than 2,000,000 users and a 4.3 rating on the Chrome Web Store. You can export highlights and transcripts to Notion, Obsidian or Markdown.
How to use it
- Install “YouTube Summary with ChatGPT & Claude” from glasp.co.
- Open a YouTube video. The transcript panel appears on the right.
- Click the summary button and pick your AI (ChatGPT is the default).
- Copy the summary, or click a timestamp to jump to that part of the video.
Pros: free with no usage cap from Glasp, works on videos, articles and PDFs, clickable timestamps.
Cons: summary quality and limits depend on the AI account you connect; videos without captions have no transcript.
2. Grammarly (Free plan)
Grammarly is the extension most people already know, and the free plan is still good. It checks spelling and grammar as you type in Gmail, Google Docs, LinkedIn, WordPress and most text boxes, and it tells you how your tone comes across. The free plan also includes 100 AI prompts for drafting or rewriting text.
What you do not get for free: full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, fluency suggestions, plagiarism and AI-text detection, and the larger 2,000-prompt allowance. Those are in Grammarly Pro, listed at $12 a month.
Pros: works almost everywhere you type, reliable basic corrections, tone feedback.
Cons: the best rewriting features are Pro-only; 100 AI prompts go fast if you draft a lot. If you want more for free, compare the options in our free Grammarly alternatives guide.
3. HARPA AI
HARPA is the power-user pick. It reads the page you are on, so you can ask “summarise this”, “reply to this email” or “extract the prices from this table” without copying anything. You can save prompts as reusable commands, and set web monitors that watch a page (a competitor’s pricing, a product price) and alert you when it changes.
The free tier is called the Demo plan. According to HARPA’s pricing FAQ it gives you ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini through “web session” connections (your own logged-in accounts) limited to 10 messages a day, up to 100 total AI command runs, and access to predefined and custom commands and web monitors. Paid plans start at $12 a month billed yearly, and there is a $240 one-time lifetime plan.
A good first command to try
- Install HARPA AI and pin it to the toolbar.
- Open a long article and press
Alt+Ato open the sidebar. - Pick the built-in “Summary” command, or type: “List the 5 key points and any numbers in this page.”
- Save the prompt as a command so you can reuse it in one click.
Pros: page-aware AI on any site, reusable commands, page monitors, choice of models.
Cons: 10 messages a day on the free plan, and the 100 command runs are a total, not a monthly refill. It asks for broad page permissions, so only use it on pages you are comfortable sharing with an AI.
If you like HARPA’s automation side, our list of free AI agent builders shows how to automate tasks beyond the browser.
4. QuillBot
QuillBot’s Chrome extension puts its paraphraser, grammar checker and summariser on any page. Highlight a sentence, click the QuillBot icon, and you get a rewritten version you can paste back. It is handy for emails, captions and student notes.
The free plan lets you paraphrase up to 125 words at a time in 2 modes, fix basic grammar errors, generate basic summaries, humanize up to 125 words with limited usage, and use the AI detector with limits. Premium is listed at $4.17 a month billed yearly and removes the word limit.
Pros: cheap upgrade, quick rewrites in place, simple to use.
Cons: 125 words per paraphrase is short; only 2 modes on free. Always reread rewrites: paraphrasing can change meaning.
5. Tactiq
Tactiq is a meeting transcription extension. It captions your online meetings in real time and saves a transcript you can share or export, then uses AI to pull out a summary and action items.
The free plan is free forever with no card and includes 10 transcripts a month, 5 AI credits a month, AI-generated insights, sharing and export, and in-meeting AI. Pro is $8 per user a month billed yearly and adds unlimited transcripts.
Pros: no meeting bot joins the call, transcripts are easy to share, solid free allowance for a few meetings a week.
Cons: 5 AI credits a month is small, so you will read most transcripts yourself. Always tell people when you record or transcribe a meeting. For more options, see our ranking of the best free AI note takers.
Honourable mentions
- Merlin: one sidebar for many AI models. Its free plan lists “limited access” to basic and Plus-level models and to extension features, but no exact number, so we could not rank it above tools with clear limits.
- Sider: a popular sidebar with chat, an AI browser agent and image tools. Its pricing page currently lists paid plans from US$10 a month and does not show a free allowance.
- Claude in Chrome: Anthropic’s extension can click, type and fill forms for you, but it is available on paid Claude plans only, so it is not free.
- AI built into the browser: some browsers now ship an assistant without any extension. Our guide to the best free AI browsers compares them.
Which free AI Chrome extension should you install first?
- You watch a lot of tutorials or read long articles: start with Glasp.
- You write emails, posts or reports all day: Grammarly Free, plus QuillBot for quick rewrites.
- You want AI that acts on the page and watches prices: HARPA AI.
- You sit in many online meetings: Tactiq.
- You are a student: Glasp for lectures and QuillBot for notes; our free AI tools for students list adds more.
How to stay safe with AI extensions
AI extensions need permission to read the pages you visit. That is how they summarise them, but it also means they can see what is on screen. A few habits keep you safe:
- Install only from the Chrome Web Store and check the publisher name and review count.
- Open
chrome://extensionsand set “Site access” to “On click” for extensions you rarely use. - Do not run AI commands on banking pages, password managers or private documents.
- Remove extensions you have not used in a month. Fewer extensions also means a faster browser.
FAQ
Are AI Chrome extensions really free?
All five ranked here have a $0 plan with no card. Each one has a cap: Grammarly gives 100 AI prompts, HARPA 10 messages a day, QuillBot 125 words per paraphrase and Tactiq 10 transcripts a month. Glasp stays free because it uses your own AI account.
What is the best free AI extension for summarising YouTube videos?
Glasp’s “YouTube Summary with ChatGPT & Claude”. It shows the transcript with clickable timestamps and summarises with the AI you already use. HARPA can also summarise videos, but its free plan has a daily message limit.
Is there a free ChatGPT extension for Chrome?
Yes. Glasp and HARPA both let you use ChatGPT from inside Chrome through your own ChatGPT account, so you get ChatGPT’s own free limits rather than paying the extension.
Are AI Chrome extensions safe to use?
Well-known extensions from established companies are generally safe, but every AI extension can read the pages you grant it. Limit site access, avoid using them on sensitive pages, and read the privacy policy before you install.
Do AI extensions slow down Chrome?
Each extension adds some memory use. Keep only the ones you use every week, and set the others to run “On click” so they load only when you need them.
The bottom line
For most people, the best free setup is Glasp for reading and videos plus Grammarly Free for writing. Add HARPA if you want AI that works on any page, and Tactiq if your week is full of calls. All five cost nothing to try, so install one, use it for a week and keep it only if it saves you time.
Want your own website to show up when people search for tools like these? Get a free SEO audit from SSA Agency and we will show you what to fix first.