Are.na vs Glasp (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Glasp grades higher than Are.na: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 6, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Are.na grades higher on value for money. Glasp grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Are.na
Save and connect images, links and notes in shared channels
Glasp
Social web highlighter with AI summaries of videos and articles
Which one is for you
Pick Are.na if
- Fits if you collect images and links for research or design
- Works for a small group that shares channels
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 200 blocks, and one block in several channels counts for each
- Pricey if you want table view or presentation mode, which are Premium at $7 a month
- Watch out: import from other services and bulk operations are Supporter only, at $120 a year
- Skip it if you want priority support, as that is a Premium feature
Pick Glasp if
- Fits if you collect quotes from articles, PDFs and YouTube and don't mind them being public
- Works for people who send highlights on to Notion, Obsidian or Readwise
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your highlights are nobody's business, as they're public unless you pay
- Pricey if you only want privacy, since Pro is $12.50 a month billed yearly, or $15 monthly
- Tight if you lean on the AI for free, with 3 basic YouTube summaries a day and 20 chat credits a month
- Watch out: Pro and Unlimited are marked recurring and non-refundable, and the 40% student discount covers yearly Pro only
- Skip it if you want a desktop app, as it's the web, an extension and phone apps
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAre.naFair | 2.4GPAGlaspFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPremium is $7 a month or $70 a year, around $5.83 a month, between the middle of $3.99 and the dearer quarter at $7. | DPro is $12.50 a month billed yearly, nearly four times this category's $3.33 middle and well past the $7.99 where its dearest tenth starts, and keeping your highlights private needs it. Unlimited is $30 a month. Students get 40% off yearly Pro; subscriptions are marked non-refundable. |
| Free plan and trial | CGuest plan allows up to 200 blocks, and saving a block to several channels counts once per channel. | CUnlimited highlights for free, with exports and the daily Notion sync, but the cap is an unusual one: every highlight is public unless you pay. The AI is rationed too, at 3 basic YouTube summaries a day and 20 chat credits a month. |
| Features | CBlocks, channels, browser extensions, collaboration, an open API and no ads. Table view, presentation mode and full-text extraction are Premium. | BIt covers the whole job of collecting what you read: highlights with notes and tags on web pages, PDFs and YouTube transcripts that stay marked on the page, AI summaries, audio transcription, chat with a PDF, imports from Kindle, Readwise, Instapaper and Pocket, and four export formats. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Channels and connections take learning before they feel natural. | BNo store rating on record, but there's nothing to set up: install the extension and highlight on the page you're already reading. The phone apps add a reader view and a read-later library on top. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, a browser extension, iOS and Android, with an open API. No desktop app. | BWeb, a browser extension and iPhone and Android apps, with highlights flowing out to Notion, Obsidian, Readwise, Roam Research and Logseq and in from Kindle. No desktop app, which is what holds it to a B. |
| Best for | saving images, links and notes in shared collections | highlighting articles and YouTube in the open |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Are.na and Glasp. How we grade
Price against what you get
Are.na starts at $5.83 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Glasp starts at $12.50 a month and scores 3.0.
Glasp scores higher, and starts $6.67 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other read-later and bookmark apps on the chart, 20 score higher than Are.na for less, and 6 score higher than Glasp for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Are.na also covers web clipper, research and bookmarks.
- Glasp also covers transcription, read later and highlights.
At a glance
| Are.na | Glasp | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $7 per month, or $70 per year | $12.50 per month, billed yearly at $150 ($15 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | Guest plan: up to 200 blocks, open, closed or private channels, and collaborators on channels. | Unlimited public highlights, 3 basic YouTube summaries a day, 30 PDF uploads, 20 AI chat credits and 30 minutes of audio transcription a month. No private highlights. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Are.na | Glasp Inc. |
| Price read from | are.na | glasp.co |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Are.na
- The free Guest plan stops at 200 blocks, and saving one block to several channels counts once per channel.
- Table view, presentation mode and full-text extraction of saved articles need Premium.
- Import from other services and bulk operations are Supporter-only.
- Priority support is a Premium feature; the free plan has no priority line.
Glasp
- Highlights are public by default; private highlights require the Pro or Unlimited plan.
- AI features are metered on every plan, and Free allows 3 basic YouTube summaries a day and 20 AI chat credits a month.
- The 40% student discount covers only the yearly Pro plan and needs a .edu or .ac email address.
- The pricing page marks the Pro and Unlimited subscriptions as recurring and non-refundable.
Key features
Are.na
- Blocks and channels
- Anything saved is a block, and blocks live in channels you can edit, rearrange and search. One block can be reused in many channels.
- Browser extensions
- Chrome, Firefox and Safari extensions save pages, selected text and images to a channel; screenshots work on Chrome and Firefox.
- Channel privacy and collaboration
- Channels can be open to anyone, closed to collaborators only, or private. Inviting collaborators is included on every plan.
- Open API
- A public API and developer library are available on all plans; Supporter raises the rate limits.
- Table view and presentation mode
- Premium adds a table view of a channel and a presentation mode, along with advanced search filters.
- No ads
- The site says there are no ads and no personalized recommendations; what you see comes from the network you follow.
Glasp
- Web, PDF and YouTube highlighting
- The browser extension highlights text on web pages, PDFs and YouTube transcripts in several colors, with notes and tags, and the highlights stay marked on the original page.
- AI summaries
- Summarizes YouTube videos, web articles and PDFs with models such as ChatGPT, Claude, Mistral AI and Gemini. Free accounts get 3 basic YouTube summaries a day.
- Public profiles and following
- Highlights are collected on a Glasp page that is public by default, and following other readers shows what they are saving. Private highlights need a paid plan.
- Imports and exports
- Imports highlights from Kindle, Readwise, Instapaper, Pocket, Medium and Hypothesis. Markdown, HTML, CSV and JSON exports and a daily sync to Notion are included on every plan.
- Read later and mobile apps
- The iOS and Android apps add a reader view and a read-later library for videos, articles and PDFs alongside highlighting and summaries.
- Audio transcription and PDF chat
- Uploaded audio files are transcribed and PDFs can be questioned in a chat, each within a monthly allowance: 30 minutes and 20 messages on the Free plan.
Plans
Are.na
Guest$0
Up to 200 blocks, with channels that are open, closed or private and collaborators invited to channels.
Premium$7
per month, billed monthly ($70 billed yearly)
Unlimited blocks, table view, presentation mode, advanced search filters, full-text extraction and priority support.
Supporter$120
per year
Everything in Premium plus higher API rate limits, bulk operations, import from other services and a custom profile URL.
Glasp
Free$0
Unlimited public highlights, 3 basic YouTube summaries a day, 30 PDF uploads and 30 minutes of audio transcription a month.
Pro$12.50
per month, billed yearly at $150 ($15 billed monthly)
Unlimited private highlights and basic YouTube summaries, 1,000 advanced summaries a month, 100 PDF uploads, 500 AI chat credits and all AI models.
Unlimited$30
per month, billed yearly at $360 ($36 billed monthly)
5,000 advanced summaries every 30 days, 25 tracked YouTube channels, unlimited PDF uploads, 2,000 AI credits a month and priority support.
Ways to pay less
Are.na
- Education
50% off Premium for students
The about page says students get 50% off any Premium plan for two years; teachers can ask for custom discounts for a class.
- Annual discount
Save 17% on Premium with yearly billing
The pricing section shows Premium at $7 a month or $70 a year and labels the yearly option a 17% saving.
Glasp
- Annual discount
Two months off with yearly billing
Pro costs $150 a year against $15 a month, and Unlimited costs $360 a year against $36 a month, which the pricing page labels as 2 months off.
- Education
40% off Pro for students
Students who verify a .edu or .ac email address get 40% off the yearly Pro plan, for example $90 instead of $150 a year. Glasp describes it as a limited-time offer.
- Other savings
A free year of Pro for YouTube creators
Creators with at least 5,000 subscribers and a video in the last 90 days can get 12 months of Pro free by keeping a Glasp link in a regular video's description.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Are.na or Glasp?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Are.na is cheaper to start with: $5.83 a month when paid by the year, against $12.50 a month for Glasp. Are.na starts at $7 per month, or $70 per year, and Glasp starts at $12.50 per month, billed yearly at $150 ($15 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Are.na or Glasp?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both Are.na and Glasp have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.