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Gist vs TLDR This

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Gist publishes a starting price ($0.99); TLDR This does not. Only TLDR This has a free tier. Only TLDR This ships a public API.

GistiOS app and share-sheet extension that shortens articles by up to 80% while keeping their structure and voice.TLDR ThisCondense articles, PDFs and pasted text into short summaries

Side by side

FactGistTLDR This
CategorySummarizationSummarization
Pricing modelPaidFreemium
Starts at$0.99 month—
Public APINoYes
PlatformsiOSWeb, Chrome Ext, API
CompanyKyle Halevi—
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Gist

Gist does one narrow thing, cut an article down while keeping it readable, and does it inside the reading apps a user already has rather than a separate destination. At under a dollar a month it is a low-commitment way to save reading time, but it is iOS-only and has no free tier to test first.

Pros

  • Works as a share-sheet extension across Safari, Files, and other apps rather than a standalone reader
  • Aims to preserve structure and tone rather than flattening everything into bullet points
  • Very low price point ($0.99/month)

Cons

  • No free tier to test accuracy before subscribing
  • iOS only, no Android, web, or desktop version
  • Run by a single named individual rather than a company, so support continuity is less certain

TLDR This

A single-job summariser that still earns its keep as a browser extension for triaging long articles. As a paid subscription it is hard to justify now that general assistants and Chrome's own built-in summariser do the same job inside tools you already have.

Pros

  • the extension summarises the page you are on in one click, with no copy-paste
  • handles URLs and PDFs, not just pasted text
  • a documented API exists for embedding summaries in other products
  • the free daily allowance covers casual reading

Cons

  • the core capability is now commoditised by general assistants and browser-native summarisers
  • the site sits behind aggressive bot protection, which makes verification and monitoring awkward
  • no visible company details, changelog or roadmap
  • output quality swings a lot depending on how the source page is structured

Which one fits

Choose Gist if you need

  • iOS users who read a lot of long articles and want a faster pass through them
  • Anyone who wants summarization inside Safari or the Files app rather than a separate tool
  • People who want the source's structure kept intact, not just a bullet-point summary

Choose TLDR This if you need

  • skimming long-form journalism or research pages before committing to a read
  • students reducing papers and reports to bullets for revision
  • developers who want a cheap summarisation endpoint without wiring up an LLM provider

More comparisons

All TLDR This alternatives →Browse all Summarization →