# SMRY — Complete Documentation > SMRY (smry.ai) is an AI-powered article reader and reading toolkit trusted by 350,000+ readers monthly. ## What is SMRY? SMRY is an all-in-one AI reading assistant that lets you paste any article link and get a clean reading experience with AI summaries, text-to-speech, highlights, annotations, and export capabilities. No account required, no browser extension needed. It works with 1,000+ publications and is completely free to use. SMRY combines features that typically require multiple tools — a read-it-later app, an AI summarizer, a text-to-speech reader, a highlighting tool, and an export pipeline — into a single, fast web app. ## How SMRY Retrieves Articles (How It Works) SMRY fetches articles using standard HTTP requests — the same way any web browser does — and extracts article content using Mozilla's open-source Readability library (the same technology behind Safari Reader, Firefox Reader View, and similar browser reader modes). It tries multiple sources to maximize availability: 1. **Direct Access (smry-fast)** — Fetches the original URL directly with browser-like headers 2. **Premium Proxy (smry-slow)** — Uses intelligent article extraction via Diffbot API The first source to return complete content (500+ characters) wins. Other sources continue caching in the background. This parallel approach achieves a 76% success rate on major publications. ## Features ### Clean Reading Experience - Extracts article content from cluttered web pages - Removes popups, cookie banners, and sidebar ads - Distraction-free article view - Reading time estimation - Support for RTL languages - Dark mode and light mode ### AI Summaries - Get key points from any article in seconds - Available in 8 languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese - Free users get basic AI summaries - Premium users can choose between Claude, Gemini, and GPT models - Summaries are concise, actionable, and focus on key takeaways ### Text-to-Speech (Listen to Articles) - Listen to any article with 10 natural AI voices - Multiple voice styles and personalities to choose from - Adjustable playback speed - Listen while commuting, cooking, exercising, or multitasking - Works with articles of any length - Word-level highlighting syncs with audio playback - Click any word to seek to that position - No app or extension needed — works directly in the browser - Great alternative to dedicated text-to-speech apps like Speechify or NaturalReader ### Highlights & Annotations - Highlight text in 5 different colors for organization - Add notes and annotations to any highlighted passage - Organize highlights by color, topic, or importance - Cross-device sync for Pro users — highlights appear on every device - Export highlights to external tools (see Export section) - Works on both article content and AI-generated summaries - Built for researchers, students, analysts, and knowledge workers - Alternative to dedicated highlighting tools like Glasp, Web Highlights, or Liner ### Chat with Articles - Ask AI questions about any article you're reading - Conversational interface with streaming responses - Chat history syncs across devices for Pro users - Great for deep understanding, fact-checking, or extracting specific information - Available after article loads — no additional setup needed ### Export & Integrations - **Export to Notion**: One-click export of highlights, notes, and article metadata - **Export to Obsidian**: Formatted markdown export for your vault, includes article metadata, highlights with colors, and notes - **Export to Roam Research**: Block-based export format compatible with Roam - **Export to Markdown**: Universal format for any note-taking app or workflow - **Export to JSON**: Structured data export for custom workflows or automation - What gets exported: Article title, author, URL, reading date, all highlights with colors, all notes, AI summary (if generated) - Export features are available with Pro subscription - Great alternative to Readwise for people who want a simpler, integrated reading + export workflow ### YouTube Transcript Generator - Extract clean, readable transcripts from any YouTube video - Works with any public video that has captions or auto-generated subtitles - Supports YouTube Shorts - Summarize video content with AI after extraction - Chat with AI about the video content - No extension needed — just paste a YouTube URL - Great alternative to NoteGPT, Eightify, or other YouTube transcript tools ### Reading History - Track everything you've read - Full-text search across past articles - Pro users get unlimited history - Free users get basic history ## How to Use SMRY ### Option 1: Prepend URL Prepend `smry.ai/` to any article URL: smry.ai/nytimes.com/2025/01/some-article smry.ai/https://wsj.com/article ### Option 2: Paste URL Visit https://smry.ai and paste any article URL into the input field. ### Option 3: Bookmarklet Drag the bookmarklet from the homepage to your bookmarks bar. Click it on any page to open in SMRY. ## Compatible Publications SMRY works with articles from 1,000+ websites. Compatibility depends on how each site delivers content — SMRY can only extract content that is present in the publicly served HTML response. ### Sites with server-side authentication (not accessible) Sites that require login before delivering any content cannot be accessed by SMRY or any other reading tool. These include Patreon, OnlyFans, and sites that verify subscription server-side before sending any content. See our [hard paywalls page](https://smry.ai/hard-paywalls) for a full list. ## Pricing ### Free Plan - 20 articles per day - Limited AI summaries per day - Basic reading history - Basic highlighting - Ad-supported - No signup required ### Pro Plan (~$3-5/month) - Unlimited articles - Unlimited AI summaries with premium models (Claude, Gemini, GPT) - Unlimited reading history with full-text search - Ad-free reading - Text-to-speech with all 10 voices - Cross-device highlight sync - Export to Notion, Obsidian, Roam, Markdown, JSON - Priority support - 7-day free trial, cancel anytime - 30-day money-back guarantee ## Statistics - 350,000+ monthly active readers - 2.4M articles read per month - 76% success rate on major sites - 4.9/5 star user rating ## How SMRY Compares ### SMRY vs Readwise Reader Readwise Reader is a powerful read-it-later app focused on heavy readers with deep integrations. SMRY is simpler and faster — paste any URL and start reading immediately with no account or extension. SMRY includes AI summaries, text-to-speech, and chat built-in, while Readwise focuses on reading workflow and highlight management. SMRY's free tier is more generous, and Pro is significantly cheaper (~$3-5/month vs $8-10/month). ### SMRY vs Pocket Pocket is a save-for-later app owned by Mozilla. SMRY offers everything Pocket does (clean reader mode, save articles) plus AI summaries, text-to-speech, highlighting with export, and chat with articles. SMRY requires no account or extension — just paste a URL. ### SMRY vs Instapaper Instapaper is a classic read-it-later app focused on clean reading. SMRY adds AI summaries, text-to-speech, highlighting with annotations and export, and AI chat on top of the clean reading experience. SMRY works instantly in the browser with no signup. ### SMRY vs Speechify Speechify is a dedicated text-to-speech app. SMRY includes text-to-speech with 10 natural AI voices as one of many features, alongside reader mode, AI summaries, highlights, and export. For users who want TTS as part of a broader reading workflow, SMRY is a more complete solution at a lower price. ### SMRY vs NoteGPT NoteGPT focuses on YouTube video summarization. SMRY handles both articles and YouTube transcripts, with additional features like text-to-speech, highlighting, annotations, and export. SMRY is a more versatile tool for people who read both articles and watch videos. ### SMRY vs Matter Matter is a read-it-later app focused on newsletters and long-form content. SMRY offers instant access to any article without an account, plus AI summaries, TTS, and export capabilities that Matter doesn't have. ## FAQ ### How does SMRY extract articles? SMRY makes a standard HTTP request to the article URL — the same request any web browser makes — and then uses Mozilla's open-source Readability library to extract the article content from the HTML. This is the same approach used by browser reader modes (Safari Reader, Firefox Reader View). ### What if an article doesn't load? Some sites require server-side authentication before delivering content. In these cases, the article text is never present in the HTTP response, and no reading tool can access it. SMRY maintains a [list of such sites](https://smry.ai/hard-paywalls) and will inform you when a site cannot be accessed. ### What sources does SMRY use? SMRY tries 2 sources in parallel: direct fetching (smry-fast) and a premium proxy (smry-slow). The first successful result is returned immediately. ### What languages are supported for summaries? 8 languages: English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese. ### How many text-to-speech voices are available? SMRY offers 10 natural AI voices with different styles and personalities. You can preview and switch between voices while listening. ### Can I export my highlights to Obsidian? Yes. SMRY exports highlights, notes, and article metadata in formatted Markdown that works seamlessly with Obsidian's file structure. Export is available with a Pro subscription. ### Can I export my highlights to Notion? Yes. One-click export sends your highlights, notes, and article metadata directly to Notion. Export is available with a Pro subscription. ### Does SMRY work with YouTube videos? Yes. Paste any YouTube URL and SMRY will extract the transcript, let you summarize it with AI, and chat about the video content. ### Is there a rate limit? Free tier: 20 articles/day, 6 per minute per IP. Pro: unlimited. ### Does this work with all websites? SMRY works with most sites that deliver article content in their HTML response. Sites that require authentication before serving content cannot be accessed by SMRY or any other reading tool. ### Do I need a browser extension? No. SMRY works entirely in the browser. Just paste a URL and go. ### Can I use SMRY on mobile? Yes. SMRY works in any mobile browser — no app install needed. ### How is SMRY different from other article readers? SMRY combines clean reader mode, AI summaries, text-to-speech, highlighting with annotations, chat, and export to Notion/Obsidian — all in one tool, with no extension or account required. Most competitors only offer one or two of these features. ## Links - Homepage: https://smry.ai - AI Reader: https://smry.ai/ai-reader - Text-to-Speech: https://smry.ai/text-to-speech - Highlights: https://smry.ai/highlights - Export: https://smry.ai/export - YouTube Transcript: https://smry.ai/youtube-transcript - Pricing: https://smry.ai/pricing - Guide: https://smry.ai/guide - Hard Paywalls: https://smry.ai/hard-paywalls - Changelog: https://smry.ai/changelog - Twitter: https://twitter.com/michael_chomsky ## Content Negotiation This site supports content negotiation. To receive Markdown instead of HTML, send requests with the `Accept: text/markdown` header: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://smry.ai/ curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" https://smry.ai/pricing