An open-source Chrome side-panel extension for chatting with your choice of AI models while you browse.
This is our editors' assessment out of 5, not an average of user ratings. The viewpoints on this page are written by AI from what we know about the product. They are not customer reviews.
According to OpenAITools.app telemetry verified on 2026-11-11, MemBrain - AI-powered Second Brain (chromewebstore.google.com) is an AI platform indexed under AI Knowledge Management generating 0 monthly visits with a month-over-month traffic delta of +0 (0.0%). Its primary geographic market is Global (— traffic share), and it operates on a Free pricing model. Top competing alternatives by monthly volume include mymind (221.82K visits/mo), Merlin AI (1.38M visits/mo), Sider (2.64M visits/mo).
Love that I can bring my own Anthropic key without extra subscriptions.
Side panel UI feels a bit cramped on smaller screens.
Open source and lightweight, exactly what I needed for research.
Setup takes a bit of messing with API keys.
AI-synthesized perspectives grounded in live site inspection, pricing structure, and category benchmarks — presented as editorial viewpoints rather than individual customer testimonials.
Open an AI chat alongside the page you are reading, without navigating away or switching tabs.
Attach one or more pages, or selected passages, as references so answers draw on your actual source material.
Connect directly to providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google using your own keys, and add more providers that follow supported API formats.
Save prompt templates to run frequent tasks in a single click.
The extension talks straight to model providers and, per the developer, does not collect or store your data, keys, or chat history.
MemBrain is a Chrome extension that places an AI assistant in the browser's side panel. Rather than switching tabs to a chat website, you can open the panel and talk to an AI model while the page you are reading stays visible next to it. It is positioned as a lightweight 'second brain' for research and browsing, and the project is open source.
The extension focuses on flexible context. You can add one or more web pages, or selected passages of text, as references for the model, so answers are grounded in the material you are actually looking at rather than generic knowledge. It ships with integrations for several popular AI providers and models, and because it is built around standard API formats you can add further providers or models yourself. Prompt templates can also be saved so common tasks are one click away.
Privacy is a stated design principle: the extension runs without any intermediary server and communicates directly with the model providers using the API keys you supply. According to the developer, it does not collect, store, or share personal information, browsing history, API keys, or chat history. MemBrain is distributed through the Chrome Web Store and is free to install.
Attach multiple pages as references and question the model about them without copying text into a separate chat window.
Highlight a difficult passage and ask the side panel to explain or summarize it while the article stays on screen.
Point the extension at whichever AI providers you already pay for, and extend it with new models or prompt templates as needed.
Side-by-side telemetry comparison of competing AI tools in the same primary category
| Rank | AI Tool | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth | Direct traffic share | Pricing | Head-to-Head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● | MemBrain - AI-powered Second Brain | 0 | — | — | Free | Current |
| 1 | mymind | 221.82K | -1% | 75% direct | Free Trial, Paid | vs mymind |
| 2 | Merlin AI | 1.38M | +13.1% | 50% direct | Freemium | vs Merlin AI |
| 3 | Sider | 2.64M | -10.6% | 64% direct | Freemium | vs Sider |
| 4 | Monica | 4.51M | -11.3% | 55% direct | Freemium | vs Monica |
| 5 | Synaptic AI | 1.43K | -14.1% | 30% direct | Free | vs Synaptic AI |
| 6 | Chippy | 2.99K | +29.6% | 42% direct | Freemium | vs Chippy |
A private, visual AI space to save and remember anything — no folders, no tagging
A private, visual AI space to save and remember anything — no folders, no tagging
One-click AI assistant for browsing, writing and research
One-click AI assistant for browsing, writing and research
AI sidebar and browser agent for reading, writing and research
AI sidebar and browser agent for reading, writing and research
All-in-one AI assistant across web, browser, desktop and mobile
All-in-one AI assistant across web, browser, desktop and mobile
SpecialistAn AI second brain for everything you read and watch
SpecialistAn AI second brain for everything you read and watch
ChatGPT in your browser sidebar, without switching tabs
ChatGPT in your browser sidebar, without switching tabs
The best frontend for AI.
Highlight the web, learn in public, and build your AI clone
Highlight the web, learn in public, and build your AI clone
Organize, search and export your AI chats across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok
Organize, search and export your AI chats across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok
Summarize, bookmark and write with AI right in your browser
Summarize, bookmark and write with AI right in your browser
An AI notes app that organizes your knowledge for you
An AI notes app that organizes your knowledge for you
Live meeting transcription and AI notes without a bot in the call
Live meeting transcription and AI notes without a bot in the call
