Free means three different things here: free because the vendor is funded elsewhere, free until a daily cap, and free because you bring your own paid assistant account. It is worth knowing which kind you are installing.
1 / 4 - Zero-install page questions.by Google
Free with a Google account and already in the browser, which makes it the lowest-effort starting point. Gemini only, and availability still varies by region and account.
Good at
- + Built into the browser, nothing to install
- + Understands the current page without a paste step
- + Ties into the rest of Google's account services
Watch for
- - Gemini only, so it does not help if your work lives in Claude or ChatGPT
- - Rollout varies by region, account type and Chrome version
- - Oriented to the current page rather than a set of tabs
by Glasp
Free highlighting and a social layer over what you read. The AI features are lighter than a full sidebar, which is the trade for not paying.
Good at
- + Durable archive of what you highlighted
- + Good for long-running research
- + Export into your own notes
Watch for
- - Collection-first, not question-first
- - Highlighting is manual
- - Social features are not for everyone
by Various
Free transcript summarising for video, the one job the general tools handle worst. Narrow by design.
Good at
- + Instant, zero-configuration summaries
- + Transcript handling for video, which text tools cannot do
- + Usually free at light usage
Watch for
- - One page at a time
- - Quality varies enormously between publishers
- - Check who the publisher is before granting page access
by Hezekiah Nzioka
Free and simple, but now largely overlapped by ChatGPT's own search. Worth it only if you specifically want search snippets injected into the prompt.
Good at
- + Adds current search results to a conversation
- + Simple and narrow in scope
- + Free to use
Watch for
- - Overlaps with ChatGPT's own search, which now covers much of this
- - Injects search snippets rather than the pages you chose
- - Quality depends entirely on the search result quality
- How was this list of best free ai chrome extensions put together?
- Against four stated criteria: Is it usable without a card, or is the free tier a trial? Where exactly does the free tier stop: messages, days, features? Who pays for the model calls, and what do they get from you instead? Does it need broad access to every site you visit? Nothing on this page is an affiliate placement.
- How often is it updated?
- Last reviewed 2026-09-15. This space moves quickly, so entries are re-checked rather than left to age, and each tool carries its own review date.
- Is LocalBridge on the list because you make it?
- It is our product, and it is listed for the one job it does better than the alternatives: sending several tabs at once. Where another tool is the better answer, the page says so.