Compare Weava and Tab Notes: Which Extension is the Best?
Weava Highlighter was once a popular choice, but now it’s filled with ads and has a poor user experience. Better options like Web Highlights do the job better without the hassle. | Tab Notes lets you jot down notes right in your browser tabs. It's got an easy-to-use interface and works smoothly, making it a great tool for anyone looking to boost their productivity. | |
| 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. | 7.0 | 7.9 Winner in this category |
| Total users Total active users across all major browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari. | 200,000 Winner in this category | 1,459 |
| Total ratings Total number of user ratings received across all supported browsers. | 2,728 Winner in this category | 40 |
| Average rating Average user rating across all browsers, calculated from available store ratings. | 4.1 ⭐ | 4.8 ⭐ 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. |  4.1 3.01 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 200.0K+Users | 5.0 5.0 Average Chrome Web Store rating from the last 100 reviews 1.0K+Users Winner in this category |
| Edge User rating and stats for the extension on Edge browser. | - | - |
| Firefox User rating and stats for the extension on Firefox browser. | - |  4.6 4.64 Average Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store rating from the last 100 reviews 459Users Winner in this category |
| 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 Weava offers basic but functional features like web and PDF highlighting, annotations, and folder organization. The basic functionalities work great but the lack of innovative or advanced functionalities, especially compared to competitors, limits its appeal. Top 3 Features of Weava Highlighter1. Highlight Websites and PDFs  Similar to our favorite highlighter Web Highlights, you can highlight text on any website or PDF. Choose different colors to customize your highlights and make important information stand out. 2. Organize Research into Folders  Weava lets you save your highlights and organize them into folders, making it simple to keep your research organized and find what you need fast. 3. Collaborate with Your Team  Weava allows you to share folders with your team, making collaboration on research projects easy. Everyone can add and view highlights and notes all in one place. Winner in this category | 7.0 In our tests, the functions of Tab Notes proved to be ideal for quickly creating notes directly in the browser. If you need to develop ideas or jot down information quickly while browsing, you don't have to jump back and forth between apps.  Notes can be synchronized across different devices with GitHub gists to keep everything in one place. There is a dark and light mode function, but we would like to see more customization options here. The option to access your notes offline can also be an advantage. This also includes the export function, where the notes are exported as a text file.  Functions such as “Customize: Edit font, font size and more” and “Styled text: Make your text bold, italicized or underlined.” are listed as features on Github. These were not found in our tests in the extension on Chrome and Firefox. We feel that this function is important to be able to structure the notes a little, which would further improve the extension. |
| Performance Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Performance' aspect of each extension. | 7.0 Weava performs adequately when it comes to basic highlighting and syncing. However, the overall performance is marred by the intrusive ads and occasional bugs that make the experience less smooth than it should be. | 7.5 In terms of performance, Tab Notes is fast and responsive. It doesn't take up any resources, so your browser runs smoothly. Only the settings selection page didn't work for us. Selected options could not be saved here. Winner in this category |
| Design Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Design' aspect of each extension. | 6.0 The design is where Weava really struggles. The interface is cluttered with ads, making it not only visually unappealing but also frustrating to use. Here's a screenshot showing one of their ads taking up nearly half the height of their sidebar:  The overall design feels outdated and lacks the intuitive flow found in other tools. This poor design significantly hampers the user experience. | 8.0 The user interface is very clear and easy to use. We had no problems finding my way around and using the tool. In our test, we noticed that we would like to see a few more themes and color options. The layout is intentionally simple to minimize distractions, but it would be important to have different layout options for the font. Winner in this category |
| Value for Money Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Value for Money' aspect of each extension. | 6.8 The free version of Weava offers basic features, and their premium plan at $3.99/month is priced similarly to competitors. However, given the ads in the free version and the overall user experience, you can find better value in alternatives that provide more features and a cleaner interface for the same or even lower cost. | 8.0 The price-performance ratio of Tab Notes is fine. The extension is completely free. Compared to other free tools, however, the functions and customization options are somewhat limited. However, if you are looking for a simple extension for short notes without any frills, you will find it here. Winner in this category |
| Ease of Use Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Ease of Use' aspect of each extension. | 6.5 Weava’s basic highlighting functionality is straightforward, but the poor design and mandatory account creation add unnecessary friction. The ads make navigation cumbersome, and while it’s not difficult to learn, using the tool effectively can be a challenge due to these barriers. | 8.2 We found Tab Notes to be super easy to use. Installation and subsequent navigation is a breeze, and you can get started straight away without needing a manual. Due to the small number of functions, it is suitable for anyone, no matter how tech-savvy they are, to take simple notes. Only the non-functioning of the settings page can confuse new users. Winner in this category |
| Security & Privacy Tooltivity's expert score for the 'Security & Privacy' aspect of each extension. | 7.0 Weava does take steps to protect user data, and their privacy policy is clear about not selling personal information. However, the requirement to create an account and the potential for data collection through ads could be a concern for privacy-conscious users. | 8.5 Tab Notes uses standard encryption to protect your data. Advanced security options are not available. The privacy policy is also kept very simple and does not provide detailed information about data management. In general, the basic security and data protection guidelines are adhered to, but in our opinion they could be presented in more detail. Winner in this category |
| Conclusion A summary of our findings and final thoughts for each extension. | Weava Highlighter may still be a popular choice, but its current state leaves much to be desired. The overwhelming presence of ads and a clunky design significantly detract from the user experience, making it hard to justify its use when other tools offer a more polished and ad-free environment. If you’re serious about your productivity, it’s worth exploring alternatives like Web Highlights, which delivers all the benefits of Weava without the downsides. | Tab Notes is a good tool for anyone who wants to write down ideas as a note as quickly as possible without having to sort them out too much. Its intuitive and simple design increases productivity by reducing distractions when you just want to make a quick note. It could still be improved in areas such as customization and the number of features. Overall, it's worth considering for anyone who wants to quickly collect notes and possibly sort them into another application later. |
| Our Recommendation | In our comparison between Weava and Tab Notes, Tab Notes came out on top, scoring 7.9. Weava is the most widely used, with over 200k users and 3k+ reviews, but Tab Notes outperformed it in our review. We rate Weava and Tab Notes lower than users do. Notably, Tab Notes has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.80, which is even higher than our rating of 7.9. 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, Tab Notes is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you. | |
