5 Best Free Sider AI Alternatives to Try in 2026

Doing research for school can take forever. Between skimming articles, taking notes, and figuring out citations, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, don't worry, there are many great resources and tools out there you can use to get help.

AI research assistants help students summarize information, take notes, generate citations, and improve writing. These tools make the research and writing process faster and more organized.

In this article, we'll list the best free Sider AI alternatives and research assistants you can use in 2026. Let's dive in!

What is Sider AI?

Sider AI is an AI research and writing assistant that works in a sidebar on your screen. It can summarize PDFs, answer questions, generate citations, and help with writing tasks.

Many students use it to speed up their reading and simplify the writing process. It’s designed to work across tabs so you can use it while researching or drafting papers.

Is Sider AI Free?

Sider AI does not offer a free plan. To get basic and advanced credits for research, you have to upgrade to a paid plan.

If you're hitting a usage limit or looking for more flexibility, you might want a different option.

What Do AI Research Assistants Do?

AI research assistants help with key parts of the research and writing process. Whether you are reading articles or drafting an essay, these tools can be pretty useful.

Here's what AI research assistants can help with:

• Summarize long articles and research papers

• Take notes and organize information

• Generate citations in different formats

• Answer follow-up questions about the material

• Help improve your writing clarity and flow

They’re especially useful when you’re juggling multiple sources or rushing to meet a deadline.

Why Use AI Research Assistants?

When you're short on time or overwhelmed with sources, AI research assistants can help you work more efficiently. They support every part of the research process, from understanding material to organizing notes and improving your writing.

Here are the benefits of using an AI research assistant:

• Summarize Faster - Break down long readings into key points so you can move on quicker.

• Get Instant Answers - Ask follow-up questions without switching tabs or searching manually.

• Organize Notes Automatically - Keep your thoughts and highlights structured as you research.

• Improve Your Writing - Rephrase unclear sentences or polish your drafts with AI suggestions.

• Generate Citations Easily - Create properly formatted references without external citation tools.

These features can save time and reduce the stress of writing papers or preparing research assignments.

5 Best Free Sider AI Alternatives

Tired of struggling with research, summarizing articles, generating citations, and writing essays? These research tools have got you covered.

Here's our list of the 5 best free Sider AI alternatives and research assistants:

1. AI Blaze

First up on our list of the best free Sider AI alternatives is AI Blaze.

AI Blaze is your personal AI research and writing assistant that helps you quickly generate citations, summarize text, articles, and PDFs, and streamline the writing process!

With AI Blaze, you can answer questions and generate summaries on any website (no file uploading necessary)!

Features

• Use AI to answer questions - Answer questions and get detailed explanations on any page or website. No need to upload files or copy/paste!

• Take notes & generate summaries with AI - AI Blaze helps you summarize PDFs & articles and take notes using AI!

• Streamline research with AI - AI Blaze helps you answer questions, improve your writing, check for mistakes, and even generate citations!

• AI Blaze works on any website! - Get help with homework on any website on Chrome.

• AI Blaze is free! - Forget about annoying licenses or subscriptions. AI Blaze is free for students!

2. Jenni AI

Jenni AI focuses on helping you write research-based content with more structure. It suggests sentence completions, offers citation suggestions, and helps guide your ideas as you write.

You can also use its AI chat to ask questions and clarify concepts while working on your paper. Tools like Jenni AI are useful for long-form academic writing or essays with strict formatting.

3. Unriddle AI (Anara)

Unriddle AI, also known as Anara, is built for deep reading and idea extraction. It can pull out the key points from academic articles, summarize long PDFs, and let you search within documents using AI.

It also helps you connect concepts across different sources, which is helpful for building arguments. If your focus is on understanding the material, tools like Unriddle are a solid choice.

4. Merlin AI

Merlin AI works across tabs and helps with summarization, note-taking, and content generation. You can highlight content from any site and get quick insights or explanations.

It also supports writing and rewriting tasks directly in your browser. It’s useful for students who want help with both understanding content and improving their drafts.

5. Monica AI

Monica AI is a Chrome extension that functions like an on-demand research and writing assistant. It can summarize websites, generate citations, and help you rephrase your text to make it clearer.

You can also use tools like Monica AI to translate or simplify complex articles. They're helpful when juggling multiple research sources and switching between languages or writing styles.

Smarter Research Starts With the Right Tool

If Sider AI isn’t the right fit for you, there are plenty of tools that do similar things (some even more flexibly).

Whether you need better summaries, clearer writing, or faster citations, these alternatives can take some of the pressure off. Try a few and see which one fits into your workflow best.

To recap, our suggestion for the best free Sider AI alternative is AI Blaze. AI Blaze is your personal AI writing and research assistant that helps you with summarizing content, improving your writing, and much more. Plus, AI Blaze works on any website and is 100% free for students.