ChatGPT Sidebar Shut Down? What Happened & Best Working Alternatives (2026)

Open AI Tools

Best Working Alternatives to ChatGPT Sidebar

Verified active tools in AI Assistant, ranked by current traffic and editorial score.

All 12 →

Sider

2.6M/mo

AI sidebar and browser agent for reading, writing and research

AI AssistantFreemium64% direct

Sider sidebar summarising a web article with model picker visible

Chippy

3K/mo

ChatGPT in your browser sidebar, without switching tabs

AI BrowsersFreemium+29.6%

Monica

4.5M/mo

All-in-one AI assistant across web, browser, desktop and mobile

AI AssistantFreemium55% direct

Monica web app showing an AI chat conversation with model selector and sidebar tools

ChatGPT

6B/mo

OpenAI's flagship multimodal assistant powered by GPT-6 and GPT-5.6 for reasoning, coding, and deep research.

AI ChatbotFreemium+2.2%

Merlin AI

1.4M/mo

One AI assistant that plugs ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini into every tab

AI AssistantFreemium+13.1%

Screenshot of the Merlin AI Chrome extension summarizing an article with multiple AI models available

Walles.AI sidebar assistant summarizing a web page and answering questions in the browser

Walles.ai - Your AI Browser Sidekick

8.3K/mo

Your GPT-powered sidekick for every page, PDF and video

AI AssistantFreemium67% direct

Walles.ai - Your AI Browser Sidekick interface preview

What Was ChatGPT Sidebar? (Historical Overview)

ChatGPT Sidebar was a popular Chrome extension designed to bring OpenAI's conversational AI directly into the browser's side panel. It enabled users to highlight text, ask quick questions, and summarize web pages without needing to switch tabs or open the main ChatGPT web interface.

However, as browser vendors natively integrated AI assistants and OpenAI rolled out official desktop and web solutions, maintaining independent sidebar extensions became increasingly difficult due to Chrome Web Store policy updates and API rate limit changes.

How to Replace ChatGPT Sidebar (Migration Guide)

Check out the active AI Assistants and AI Browsers listed on this page to find reliable, currently maintained alternatives for your browser workflow.