7 Best AI YouTube Video Summarizers of 2024 (Ranked)

Would you use a teaspoon to drink from a waterfall? No? I agree – too much to drink, too long to complete.

Then why would you spend hours (or days) trying to consume all the content on YouTube when you could just use an AI video summarizer?

Nowadays, “reading a video” is becoming as common as watching one. Using the power of an AI video summarizer, you get a win-win situation: you save time while gaining all of a video’s knowledge, avoiding unnecessary junk in the process.

In this article, I’ll share with you the best AI YouTube video summarizers of the year. These tools not only generate high-quality summaries but also help you do more with your information (which I’ll also cover below).

What Are The Best AI Youtube Video Summarizer Tools?

For reference, in this article I’m using this YouTube video to show you how the below summarizer tools do:

Here are the best AI YouTube video summarizer tools.

1. Summarize.tech

Best for summarizing lengthy YouTube videos.

If you want to get the essence of a lengthy YouTube video, you need a tool that’s concise in its summaries. The summary shouldn’t include additional irrelevant information.

Summarize.tech does the job well on both counts. It allows the user to paste a YouTube URL and it will provide a summarized version of the video.

Key Features

• The tool splits video content into five-minute chunks. Each chunk provides a YouTube summary of what happened during that period.
• You also get a summary paragraph that overviews the whole video.

Strengths

• Great for students, researchers, or anyone who needs to get to the point quickly.
• It’s user-friendly – paste in the YouTube link and the tool will get to work.
• You can also see examples of recently summarized videos. This helps you decide if it’s the right tool for you without using it.

Weaknesses

• Since the tool groups summaries into five-minute chunks, it might miss out on nuanced details.

Verdict

Summarize.tech is handy for those who want to save time as they go through YouTube videos. Just paste in the URL and the tool will do the job.

It provides great overall convenience and a time-saving aspect to YouTube summarization.

2. Semrush

Best for versatile text summaries in bullet or paragraph form.

Many think about SEO and keyword research when they hear “Semrush”. However, the company recently launched a free summarization tool.

Whether for academic purposes, content creation, or anything in between, the summarization tool does a great job.

Key Features

• You can generate summaries in paragraph form or bullet points (or both). This is useful when presenting the information in multiple formats.
• You can choose to get a short, medium, or long summary.
• The tool works quickly – you can get your summary in a few seconds.
• It’s free to use without any hidden limitations.

Strengths

• Very user-friendly. Just paste your text, and you’ll get an almost-instant summary.
• There are no character limits. This one strength alone is worth trying the tool. Many video summary tools I’ve tried impose various limits – even on their paid plans.
• You can quickly distill the main ideas from complex articles into an easy-to-understand summary.

Weaknesses

• You can’t input a YouTube URL – you’ll have a copy and paste the transcript instead.
• If you rely solely on its AI to understand complex information, you might miss out on some of the more complex information.
• The summary quality depends on the clarity and structure of the original text. You can’t expect the tool to improve unclear text.

Verdict

Semrush’s free summary generator is a practical tool for students cramming for an exam or content creators wanting to get key points from their research before creating new stuff.

I like that you can choose the summary length and the final output type (bullets or paragraphs).

3. Quillbot

Best for shorter YouTube videos.

Quillbot is an AI text tool offering multiple templates to help users create content.

One of these is an AI text summarizer. This tool allows users to either paste text or upload documents for summarization.

What stands out the most to me is how QuillBot excels at paraphrasing, which is critical in academic work where clarity and precision are necessary.

It’s fantastic at maintaining the essence of what I’m trying to say while offering different ways to express it. This way, I can articulate my thoughts better and avoid any plagiarism pitfalls.

The above quote from a Quillbot user on Trustpilot sums up the summarizer tool.

Key Features

• Users can choose the summary length – either a short or a long version.
• It’s a handy tool as part of the suite of tools that Quillbot offers for content creation.

Strengths

• The bulleted list is on point, helping the user get a quick video understanding without going through it.
• The platform also offers a Chrome extension. This tool makes content accessible to its users.
• It’s great that you can choose your summary length. This saves you time and effort if you’re after a quick recap.

Weaknesses

• There’s a word limit of 600 words on the free version. This makes the free tool ideal for shorter documents. However, one can also upgrade to a paid summarizer with no limits.
• You will have to paste in the transcript of a YouTube video – at the moment, there’s no way to input the YouTube URL.

Verdict

Quillbolt is another solid choice for those needing quick content summaries. Whether it’s videos (through transcripts) or text, you get reliable summaries in a few seconds.

4. Jasper

Best for doing more with content summaries.

Think about this: what happens after you’ve summarized your video content?

Do you want to turn your summary into action steps, an article outline or a new YouTube script?

Jasper can do all of these with a simple command. Even more impressive, you can do this within the same summarization window.

Here’s a quote from a user on Trustpilot.com: Jasper has become my go-to assistant, seriously becoming an huge aspect inside my daily routine. Its knack for understanding context and generating responses that mirror my tone is truly remarkable.

Whether I’m drafting work emails or jotting down ideas, Jasper feels like a reliable sidekick, always ready to enhance my productivity. The more I use it, the more it adapts to my style, making the whole AI experience surprisingly personal.

It’s not just a tool; it’s like having a smart, intuitive friend by my side, making each task feel like a collaborative effort.

Starting with the content summarizer and continuing with the other tools – all working from inside the Jasper window – does feel like a “collaborative effort”.

Key Features

• Jasper’s summarization template allows for up to 16000 characters per submission. It’s also easy to run one submission after another if needed.
• There are also tens of other templates available within a few clicks.
• There’s one interface window where you can do all the actions – no need to move to multiple windows or even use other software.

Strengths

• The ability to take a long YouTube video and summarize it in one go is impressive.
• There’s just one window to work in. After you get the summary, you can stay in the same window and instruct the platform on what to do next.
• It’s easy to use the chat function to ask for further information about the video’s content.

Weaknesses

• While the character limit is on the higher end, you will still hit it if you’re summarizing very long videos.
• You can’t input a YouTube URL into the system. You’ll have to paste the transcript.
• If you want to do more with your summary, you’ll need to interact with the system to get the most out of your content. In other words, there aren’t any post-summary built-in commands.
• Jasper offers a free trial of their software. However, there’s no free version of the tool that includes the AI summarizer.

Verdict

Jasper has been around for several years. It’s a versatile tool that helps with the various aspects of your content strategy. It can also handle many words in one go (up to 16,000 characters) and provides quick summaries that hit the point.

If you use Jasper for any stage of your content creation, their content summarizer is a great tool to try out.

5. Otter

Best for transcribing audio content and extracting keywords and summaries.

Otter is another great AI content-creation tool. It lets users upload their videos or audio (or record them directly into the system). Then, the platform gets to work transcribing the audio portion of the file.

When done, it provides a list of keywords and a detailed summary based on the file’s contents.

Key Features

• You can import audio and video files for transcription.
• Otter also provides keywords for your transcription. These keywords save time when publishing new content.
• An excellent AI feature allows you to have interactive conversations with your transcripts and summaries. You can ask the tool questions and get real-time answers.
• There are multiple sharing options to help you collaborate with others.

Strengths

• Very useful for content creators, SEO strategists, and anyone doing marketing-related stuff. This is a great tool if you need to analyze video content and create real-time summaries.
• Being able to ‘chat’ with your summaries is a handy feature. Now, you won’t even have to read the summary itself – you can get the details you need without wasting time on unnecessary information. It’s like going two levels deep from the original video.
• The ability to work with others and collaborate where it matters comes in handy.

Weaknesses

• You will have to upload your audio or video files. In YouTube’s case, you’ll have to download the MP4 file and upload it into Otter. Otter will then have to process this file. This adds time to the video summarization process.

Verdict

Otter is a great tool for those wanting deeper video content analysis. There are a few additional steps to get to your video summary, but once you have it, you can return to it in the future.

They also recently launched a new feature that allows you to search through all your content on their platform. You’re not just limited to one transcript when searching. In other words, all the content you upload is part of the searchable knowledge base.

I’m pretty excited to try this feature out in more detail. It will make finding the exact piece of data I need easier.

6. Getrecall

Best for building knowledge cards.

Getrecall takes an interesting approach to data summarization. You provide a YouTube video link and the tool will create a detailed knowledge card.

It’s the first time I’ve seen this implemented at the scale Getrecall does it – and I love it.

Key Features

• They offer a browser extension to make the process easier.
• You get knowledge cards that summarize a wide range of content.
• You’re not limited to just YouTube videos. You can include blog posts, podcasts, and more.
• The knowledge cards link to external resources to make building knowledge bases easier.

Strengths

• You can share and export data to markdown format. This ability makes it easier to use content in multiple places.
• The system can quickly generate quizzes to reinforce learning and prepare for tests or exams.

Weaknesses

• There’s a limit to how much you can do on the free version. However, this version provides a great demonstration of the tool’s power.

Verdict

Getrecall is a tool that implements knowledge cards well. I love the idea of having well-organized and easy access to various resources.

With the ease at which you can summarize YouTube videos (and then do more with the information), Getrecall can easily become a tool to frequently use.

7. Liner

Best for highlighting and organizing YouTube summaries.

Liner is a great YouTube summarizer. It can save you hours by using its one-click summarizer option.

However, Liner is much more than just that. It allows users to interact with PDFs, chat with GPT-4, use the browser extension to save time, and even write with AI.

Key Features

• Liner offers instant summarization capabilities. No need to spend time copying and pasting YouTube transcripts.
• You can use their browser extension to get even more functionality out of the tool.
• You can export the summarized content into multiple formats, including Word, PDF, and OneNote.

Strengths

• Liner makes it easy to highlight, interact, and organize your YouTube summaries.
• After you generate your summaries, you can ask the tool follow-up questions in a chat-style interface.

Weaknesses

• Some of the more advanced features are limited to the pro version of the tool.

Verdict

If you’re looking for an all-in-one tool that can increase your productivity, Liner is a tool to consider.

You start by providing a YouTube URL. Then the tool will open up various possibilities based on the summary it generates.

Factors In Choosing An AI YouTube Video Summarizer

Now that I’ve covered the AI YouTube video summarizer tools you can use, let’s consider the most significant factors when settling on one tool.

Being aware of these features and functionality means you pick the tool that best suits you (both in the short and long term). Then, you’ll be able to produce high-quality summaries quickly and constantly.

Here are the key factors (in no particular order):

• Summary format: Can you get bullet points, key quotes, and video highlights? Or does your chosen tool only produce text summaries? Depending on your use case, you might want a tool that outputs multiple formats.
• Customization: Are you in control of the summary length? Can you go for short, medium, or long summaries? What about focusing on specific topics? Again, this depends on your particular needs.
• Language: For users with international audiences, the ability to input video content in different languages and get output in selected languages might come in handy.
• Text understanding: How well does the tool capture the video essence in its summary? It’s all well and good to remove unneeded information. However, if this is at the expense of essential points, you might need to look at other tools.
• Speed and processing time: If you’re after summaries, chances are that you’re short on time. You want to choose a tool that gets you the data you need in seconds.
• Pricing: Is there a free version of the tool? Or maybe a free trial? Sometimes, it makes sense to pay for a tool you use often. In this case, a free trial allows you to test out the tool before paying for it.
• Customer support: Will you get help if needed? Is the customer support team fast in their response? Even more important, are they knowledgeable about their product?
• Learning curve: Does it take you days to start using your chosen tool? Or is everything easy to understand and allows you to start within a few minutes of signing up?
• Security: For tools where you do more with your YouTube summaries, security might play a big role. What happens to any personal or professional data you upload? Most tools state they won’t share your data with third parties. However, it’s essential to consider how much private data you want to upload to your chosen tool.

What Can You Do with a YouTube Summary?

You’ve chosen your favorite summary tool. You’ve generated the best possible summary from your favorite YouTube video. What do you do next?

Here are some of my favorite ways to use this content.

Use AI To Expand On The Summary Points

Just because you got a summary doesn’t mean you can’t go deeper into any specific point. If you find a point in your summary that you want to dive deeper into, go for it.

If you’re using an integrated AI tool that does more than summaries, you can ask the tool to give you more information, examples, and details about any of the points.

You can also explore different perspectives to help get a fresh look at the information.

Get Clear On Action Steps To Take Next

Having information is great. Having a step-by-step list of action steps to solve any problem is better.

Asking AI to come up with these action steps makes a big task more manageable. And when things are manageable, it’s also clearer if they’re worth pursuing.

If you want even finer detail, why not give the AI specific information about your situation and ask it for a personalized action?

The more detail you give, the better output you get.

You can also use AI to set SMART goals based on any YouTube video summary.

Having:

• goals to aim for and
• an action plan for hitting them

… means you’re more likely to succeed.

Identify Missing Gaps In Your Knowledge

You would be surprised how often I realize I’m missing information – sometimes even when I think I know everything I need about a topic.

The right summaries help me clarify any gaps I have in my knowledge. If you’re anything like me, you can use summaries to help formulate better questions to ask to bridge these missing information gaps.

Many AI-powered summary tools can reference third-party resources to help you dive deeper into any topic. You could also connect with subject matter experts if it makes sense.

Collaborate With Others

Summaries help you collaborate with colleagues, friends, and even online communities. Being able to start a discussion and back up your points with relevant data is the foundation of these discussions.

You could share your summaries with others and ask for their opinions on your topics.

As you do more of this, you’ll start building a knowledge base of information you can use to make better decisions.

Recycle And Reuse Content

Coming up with blog posts, social media posts, and other types of content from summaries is much easier than starting from a blank page.

When repurposing content, you can use video summaries as the foundation for your content. Then, you add your expertise to get the best of both worlds.

You can also create mind maps, infographics, or visual summaries to accompany your content.

Stop Your Search

Sometimes, a content summary can save you time and effort. This happens when you realize you’re going down the wrong path.

If the summary raises a red flag in your head, you might need to pivot to new information. It’s better to catch this early than waste time you can’t get back. The right summary helps with this.

Conclusion

In today’s world, generating high-quality AI-powered video summaries is handy.

When it comes to YouTube videos, tools that create summaries give you access to the most important information without wasting time.

By using the above tools, you’ll gain an unfair advantage over those who are still going through videos second by second, trying to discover what’s valuable and what’s not.

Further reading on AdamEnfroy.com: Here are the best YouTube video ideas for your channel. Whether you’re building a faceless channel or need challenge-based videos, having the right information will save you tons of hours of research.

You can also check out this article to see how I monetize my YouTube channel.