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. | Transform your new tab into a distraction-free notepad with New Tab Notes. Offering rich text formatting, auto-sync, and customization, it's a handy tool for seamless note-taking. | |
Key Features A summary of the most important features offered by each extension. |
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Our Rating Tooltivity's expert review score for each extension, based on hands-on testing and research. | 7.8 | 8.6 Winner in this category |
Total users Total active users across all major browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. | 200,000 Winner in this category | 1,232 |
Total ratings Total number of user ratings received across all supported browsers. | 2,319 Winner in this category | 16 |
Average rating Average user rating across all browsers, calculated from available store ratings. | 4.6 ⭐ | 4.7 ⭐ Winner in this category |
Entry Level Price The minimum price required to start using the extension. "Free" means a free tier is available. | Free | Free |
Chrome User rating and stats for the extension on Chrome browser. | ![]() 4.6 3.56 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 200.0K+Users Winner in this category | ![]() 4.4 4.62 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 1.0K+Users |
Edge User rating and stats for the extension on Edge browser. | - | ![]() 5.0 5.0 Average Microsoft Edge Store rating from the last 100 reviews 232Users Winner in this category |
Firefox User rating and stats for the extension on Firefox browser. | - | - |
Safari User rating and stats for the extension on Safari browser. | - | - |
Features Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Features' aspect of each extension. | 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: ![]() 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. ![]() The dashboard where your highlights are stored works well and gives you an overview of all your highlights. ![]() | 8.7 New Tab Notes offers a range of functions for quickly and effectively storing information and ideas in a structured manner. Headings are generally used to achieve a clear structure of the notes so that you can return to the notes you are looking for on the note sheet, which is always updated. ![]() The Markdown and shortcut support are particularly worth mentioning here, as they allow users to format the notes effectively and quickly. Anyone who already has experience with Notion, for example, will find it easy to use. However, new users may miss out on this function, as the markdowns are not described again in the extension itself and must be learned on the website. A small manual at the beginning should help new users to be able to use them as well. In addition to the headings, formats such as bullet lists, numbered lists, and codes can also be embedded. ![]() Other functions such as highlighting notes or integrating links can also be very helpful. For advanced users, a few functions may still be missing here, for example, to highlight them visually using different font colors. ![]() The automatic synchronization by the browser is used by the extension to synchronize data across devices. A big difference from other competitors is that the data is not stored on separate servers. Furthermore, the saved notes can be exported in various file formats so that they can be sorted and saved elsewhere later if necessary. ![]() Overall, the extension offers all the essential functions for general users to create structured notes. For advanced users, however, additional organizational tools could be beneficial. Winner in this category |
Performance Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Performance' aspect of each extension. | 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. | 8.8 In our tests, New Tab Notes works reliably and without any significant noticeable reduction in browser performance. Winner in this category |
Design Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Design' aspect of each extension. | 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. | 8.5 The design of New Tab Notes is clean and minimalistic. It creates a distraction-free environment where you can easily take structured notes without getting distracted. Winner in this category |
Value for Money Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Value for Money' aspect of each extension. | 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. | 8.7 As a free extension, New Tab Notes offers excellent value for money. For the basic user, the range of functions should be sufficient, considering that it is a free tool. For advanced users, there are still a few functions missing that other providers already have. If these were also added free of charge, the price-performance ratio would be unbeatable. Winner in this category |
Ease of Use Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Ease of Use' aspect of each extension. | 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. | 8.5 New Tab Notes was easy to install in the test and the learning curve was very fast. Even Basic users should have no problems finding and using most of the functions straight away. However, one suggestion for improvement would be a small tutorial for new users on advanced features such as markdowns and shortcuts. Everyone who installs but doesn't see the website with instructions may not know about these features. Winner in this category |
Security & Privacy Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Security & Privacy' aspect of each extension. | 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. | 8.2 New Tab Notes is an extension that stores all data exclusively via the browser. This approach is ideal for the user, as it eliminates the need for an account and reduces the risk of data breaches associated with other external cloud storage. This was apparent to us in our tests, but it is not clear whether the basic user is aware of this, as we were unable to find a privacy policy from the provider either in the store or on the website. This would be an important point of improvement to allow every user to read the extension's guidelines. Winner in this category |
Conclusion A summary of our findings and final thoughts for each extension. | Diigo is a handy tool for collecting stuff from the web, like bookmarks, highlights, and notes.
| With New Tab Notes, ideas, and information can be quickly and easily noted and saved directly in the browser without distractions. Text formatting features such as headings and the accompanying markdowns and shortcuts make it quick and easy to write them down in a structured way. The design is very user-friendly, but the extension could still benefit from additional export options and possibly more advanced functions. Overall, it is the perfect choice for anyone looking for a simple and effective solution to quickly save notes. |
Our Recommendation | In our comparison between Diigo and New Tab Notes, New Tab Notes came out on top, scoring 8.6. Diigo is the most widely used, with over 200k users and 2k+ reviews, but New Tab Notes outperformed it in our review. User reviews for New Tab Notes reflect our findings, while we rate Diigo lower than users do. Notably, New Tab Notes has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.70, 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.
If you want a quick recommendation, New Tab Notes is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you. |