Summarize YouTube videos in your browser sidebar
Open youtube.com/watch and a SusurElf dock appears beside the player. It pulls the captions, writes a summary with chapter markers you can click to seek, and offers a one-click handoff to turn the same video into a two-host podcast. Uses your SusurElf credits — new accounts get 150 free credits (14 days).
YouTube dock: Chrome & Edge today. On Safari, the sidebar’s podcast and other actions still apply; YouTube auto-dock for Safari is not in this release.
How it works
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1
Install SusurElf
The YouTube host permission is granted at install or update — open a watch page and the dock is already there. No extra “summarize this site” click for YouTube.
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2
Open any video
On any youtube.com/watch page, the dock mounts in the right column beside the player (on mobile it falls back to a fixed panel).
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3
Read, jump, or listen
Captions become a streaming summary in the dock. Click a chapter card to seek the player — or hand off with Make podcast to turn the same video into a two-host episode.
What you get
Automatic on watch pages
After install, the dock simply appears on YouTube watch pages — nothing to trigger per video.
Built from the captions
The summary is based on the video’s own caption track — SusurElf does not download the full MP4 or run separate speech recognition in this version.
Chapters that seek
Each chapter marker is clickable and jumps the player to that moment, so you can verify a claim in seconds.
One balance for everything
Summaries draw from the same SusurElf credits as podcast, translation, and the other actions. When you run low, the dock points you to top up.
Credits & pricing, honestly
New signed-in accounts get 150 free credits, one-time, valid 14 days. After that, paid plans start at $1.99/month — see Pricing.
Summaries use your SusurElf credits; the cost is shown in-product when you run out or before paid actions as applicable.
Every summary draws from the same balance you use for podcasts, translation, and the other sidebar actions — one balance, no separate YouTube plan.
Known limits
- Works best when the video has usable captions or subtitle tracks. Weak or missing captions mean a weaker summary — the dock says so when that happens.
- Private or restricted videos may not summarize well.
- No whole-video MP4 download, and no offline export of the summary beyond what’s on screen.
- Leaving the watch page cancels an in-flight summary, so credits aren’t burned after you navigate away.
- Ask-this-video chat is not in this release.
Also in SusurElf
The same sidebar also turns articles into two-host podcasts, translates pages bilingually in place, builds mind maps, boils any page down to its key takeaways, and answers questions about screenshots.
Honest answers
Does SusurElf summarize YouTube videos?
Yes. After you install the extension, open a YouTube watch page and a SusurElf dock appears beside the player. It builds a summary from the video’s captions and shows chapter markers you can click to jump in the video.
Do I paste a link into a website?
No. SusurElf works on the YouTube page you’re already watching — nothing to copy into a separate tool.
Does it cost credits?
Yes. YouTube summaries use your SusurElf credits (the same balance as other sidebar actions). New accounts get 150 free credits for 14 days; then paid plans start at $1.99/month. When credits run out, the dock points you to top up on the pricing page.
What if the video has no captions?
The dock relies on caption / subtitle tracks. Videos with weak or missing captions get a weaker summary; SusurElf does not download the full MP4 to transcribe in this version.
Can I turn the video into a podcast too?
Yes. The dock includes a Make podcast control that hands off to SusurElf’s existing two-host podcast pipeline. Episodes play in the sidebar on the computer where you make them.
Which browsers get the YouTube dock?
Chrome and Microsoft Edge (Chromium extension). Safari YouTube auto-dock is not in this release.
Is my watching history sold for ads?
SusurElf reads page content when you use a page-aware action. It does not sell personal data or run advertising trackers. See the Privacy Policy.
New users get 150 free credits
One-time 150 credits, 14 days or until used. No card required.