Free Summarizer

What the summarizer does

The summarizer condenses text you paste into a shorter version that keeps the main points. It is built for the jobs people actually have: boiling an article down to a paragraph, pulling takeaways out of meeting notes, turning a call transcript into action items, or getting a TL;DR before you decide whether to read the full piece.

It works on pasted text. It does not open links, PDFs or videos for you, so copy the text (or the transcript) into the box. You'll sign in with Google when you run it, free and with no card.

How to summarize text in 4 steps

Step 1: Paste your text

Paste the article, notes or transcript into the input box. The page accepts up to 1,000 words at a time, and the tool in your dashboard accepts up to 5,000. For something longer, summarize it in sections.

Step 2: Say what kind of summary you want

Add one line after your text with the format, the length and the focus. The more specific you are, the more usable the result. See the examples below.

Step 3: Click Summarize

The summary appears next to your text in a few seconds. You can edit it in place and use Copy to Clipboard to take it with you.

Step 4: Check it against the source

Read the summary next to the original. Names, numbers and advice should match what the source says.

Ask for the summary you need

The tool has no format buttons. You steer it with a line of plain instructions, which also means you can ask for exactly what you need:

A real example, and what to check

We pasted a 223-word story about a small bakery moving its orders online and asked for one short paragraph plus 5 bullet takeaways. The summary was clear and mostly right. It kept the key facts: the early problems, the move to ordering by list, the phone option for customers who prefer to call.

It also made one small change. The source's advice was to change one thing at a time. The summary's takeaway read "Fixing small problems one at a time is the best approach." That is close, but it is not the same advice. Differences like this are easy to miss, which is why the last step matters. Checking one or two key points against the source takes seconds.

What a good summary keeps

• The main point, stated first.
• The evidence that supports it, with numbers and names unchanged.
• The conclusion or recommendation, in the author's own terms.
• Nothing new. A summary should not add claims, opinions or context that the source does not contain.

Summarizing is not paraphrasing

A summary is shorter than the source and keeps only the main ideas. A paraphrase rewrites the whole passage in new words at about the same length. If you need your own wording at full length, use a paraphrase tool instead. And if you use a summary of someone else's work in an essay or a post, credit the original author. A summary is still their work.

What it costs

Free tools run on your monthly credits. The charge is about 1 credit per 100 words of text, counting both what you paste and what comes back, with a minimum of 1 credit. The page shows an estimate before you run. Free accounts get 5,000 words a month, and paid plans start at $7.50 a month billed yearly. See the pricing page.

When a summarizer is the wrong tool

Do not rely on a summary alone for legal terms, medical information, contracts or anything where a missed detail has a cost. Read the source. Use the summary to decide what to read closely, not to replace reading.

Turning your notes into a longer piece? Try the AI article writer or the outline generator. To check the length of a draft, use the word counter.