Compare Diigo and ChatGPT Sidebar: Which Extension is the Best?

Diigo is a handy tool for bookmarking, highlighting, and annotating web pages. It has many features, but its old design and limited highlight colors might make it less appealing.
ChatGPT Sidebar enhances your browser with AI features like real-time data, group chat, image analysis, file interaction, AI image generation, writing, and reading assistance.
Key Features
  • Highlighting: Works well and highlights are recreated on refresh.
  • Notes: You can add notes to your highlights.
  • Link Creation: Create links to your highlights, although this feature is not very reliable.
  • Sidebar Outliner: Simple design but requires time to understand.
  • Syncing: Highlights are synced across devices.
  • Web Access: Access real-time data without GPT cut-off dates.
  • Group Chat: Engage multiple AI models simultaneously for diverse insights.
  • GPT-4o Vision: Analyze images, graphs, and charts with ease.
  • File Interaction: Chat with PDFs and other files directly.
  • AI Image Generation: Create images from text prompts using advanced models.
  • Writing Assistance: Get real-time help with grammar, tone, and rewording.
  • Reading Assistance: Summarize articles and translate text quickly.
Our Rating
7.8
8.9
Total users
200,000
1,000,000
Total ratings
2,319
26,670
Average rating
4.6 ⭐
4.9 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.6
3.56
2.3K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.9
4.87
26.7K+ ratings
1.0M+Users
Edge
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-
Firefox
-
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Safari
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Features
8.5

Diigo offers basic features for a highlighter and bookmarking tool.

It works well and we were able to highlight most websites and they were recreated when revisiting them.

The highlighter popup makes it easy to highlight text offering 4 colors. It looks like this:

Highlighter Popup with four colors

We would have wished to have more color options.

Also, note-taking and the tagging functionality are working, but its design does not look appealing.

Notes Editor: Adding notes to your highlight

The dashboard where your highlights are stored works well and gives you an overview of all your highlights.

Diigo Dashboard
9.5

The ChatGPT sidebar offers many useful AI functions that help with a wide range of everyday tasks, but can also help in the business sector.

sidebar

Users can access real-time data with Web Access, which is a huge advantage over other models. The multi-model group chat function enables users to communicate with several AI models at the same time and thus gain different insights. In addition, the tool supports interaction with images and files, allowing users to analyze images and chat directly with PDFs. These worked flawlessly in the test.

Performance
8.0

Diigo performs well in terms of highlighting and syncing across devices. The fact that highlights are always synchronized can cause some loading delays.

It's not as fast as other highlighters that use an offline-first approach, but it works reasonably well.

However, the unreliable link creation feature and the simple sidebar outliner design need improvement.

8.0

In testing, the performance of the ChatGPT Sidebar was good. You hardly notice any lag, which ensures a smooth and efficient browsing experience. Only the function of loading marked content directly into the sidebar via a pop-up, asking questions, or summarizing the content had a few problems. Sometimes it was not possible to click on the pop-up after highlighting.

Design
7.0

The design fulfills its functionality. The design of Diigo is outdated and could use a modern refresh.

The lack of a nice overview of all your highlights on the page itself means you have to open the dashboard on diigo.com instead.

The dashboard on diigo.com is okay, but other highlighters like Web Highlights have a much nicer user interface.

9.0

The ChatGPT sidebar is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. Even the basic user should have no problems navigating through all the functions. The interface looks modern and aesthetically pleasing. Several customizable settings allow the tool to be adapted individually, but there could be a few more functions here.

Value for Money
8.0

The free version of Diigo offers basic features and is fine for most users. The paid plans are reasonably priced and similar to other highlighters.

However, we think other highlighters offer more value for the same price.

8.3

The ChatGPT Sidebar offers a free version with basic features and a limited number of queries.
However, if you want to use functions such as Web Access, you need the premium version. The premium features might be a bit expensive for the basic user, but for anyone who needs the advanced features, they are still fine. Compared to alternatives, the price is competitive and offers good value for money.

Ease of Use
7.8

Diigo is fairly easy to use, but the sidebar outliner takes some time to get used to.

You can't see all your highlights on the page itself, so you have to go to the dashboard on diigo.com.

We wish there was a sidebar to quickly access all our highlighted pages, like in the Web Highlights extension.

9.0

The ChatGPT sidebar offers an uncomplicated setup process, with the basics presented in the tutorial immediately after installation. Every user should have no problem using all the functions here, as they are also very clearly presented. Should questions or problems nevertheless need to be resolved, many users have commented in their reviews on how responsive the support team is.

Security & Privacy
7.5

Diigo takes reasonable steps to protect user data. However, since you need an account and your data is stored in their database, absolute protection can't be guaranteed.

We think a highlighter should work without needing to sign up, but this feature is missing in Diigo.

9.7

Security and data protection are a top priority in the ChatGPT Sidebar. No personal data is collected in the extension. The user settings are saved locally so that the data remains private. The tool's transparent data protection guidelines and regular security updates set the extension apart from the competition.

Conclusion

Diigo is a handy tool for collecting stuff from the web, like bookmarks, highlights, and notes.


It’s a good deal with its premium plans, but the old-fashioned design and limited highlight colors might be a turn-off.


If you want something that looks nicer and offers more customization, check out alternatives like Web Highlights.

The ChatGPT Sidebar is the perfect tool to improve productivity by integrating AI into daily browsing. The many features make it a valuable asset for personal and professional use. While it stands out for its functionality and ease of use, the premium price might be too high for regular users. Overall, however, it is a highly recommended tool for anyone who wants to use AI for their daily tasks.

Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Diigo and ChatGPT Sidebar, ChatGPT Sidebar came out on top, scoring 8.9.

ChatGPT Sidebar is the most widely used, with over 1 million users and 27k+ reviews—and it also delivered the strongest performance in our tests. User reviews for ChatGPT Sidebar reflect our findings, while we rate Diigo lower than users do.

Notably, ChatGPT Sidebar has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.89, which supports its strong performance in our review.

There are some noticeable differences between these extensions, so it's worth considering your priorities and the details below.


  • Looking for the richest feature set? ChatGPT Sidebar stands out with a rating of 9.5. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.5.
  • Performance-wise, both deliver: Diigo and ChatGPT Sidebar. In the Performance category, Diigo has scored a good 8. It performs reliably, though it may not excel in all scenarios.
  • Design lovers, take note: ChatGPT Sidebar stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Want to get the most for your money? ChatGPT Sidebar stands out with a rating of 8.3. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.
  • If you hate complicated tools, ChatGPT Sidebar stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.8.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, ChatGPT Sidebar stands out with a rating of 9.7. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.5.

If you want a quick recommendation, ChatGPT Sidebar is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.