SurfSense
Verified Oct 15, 2026 ActiveOpen-source desktop NotebookLM alternative that runs offline on your own machine with your own model keys or a local model.
Listed on EffectHub ·
Pricing
- Pricing model
- Freemium
- Paid options from
- $60/yr
- Billing
- Yearly
The desktop app and its updates are free with no account or usage cap, and a 30-day plugin licence comes with it. The Individual licence is $60 for the first year, then $120 a year, for unlimited scraper plugins and priority support; Enterprise is quoted and invoiced annually. No plugin ships in version 2.0 yet.
Use tool ↗About SurfSense
SurfSense has turned from a hosted research platform into a free desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux that works like a private NotebookLM: you add documents, ask questions over them and get cited answers, with sources and the index kept on your own disk. It needs no account, can run fully offline, and uses either your own model API keys or a local model. The source is public, so you can also build it yourself. A paid licence will add scraper plugins that pull public data from Reddit, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Search, Amazon and other sites plus a web crawler, but no plugin has shipped yet. The old cloud service is export-only and its stored data is deleted on 18 October 2026.
- API
- Not confirmed
- Last verified
- Oct 15, 2026
Verified sources
- Pricing page: Free $0 app and updates forever with a 30-day plugin licence; Individual $60/year first year, then $120; Enterprise custom; 'No plugin ships in version 2.0' (15 October 2026)surfsense.com ↗
- Sunset page: 'SurfSense is moving to a local app'; the cloud service is export-only and everything stored in it is deleted on 18 October 2026; desktop installer for Windows, macOS or Linux, no account (15 October 2026)surfsense.com ↗
- GitHub repository MODSetter/SurfSense: about 16,400 stars, last push 15 October 2026 (15 October 2026)github.com ↗
Is SurfSense legit?
We don’t label tools safe or unsafe. Below are the records we checked ourselves, each with the date we read it.
- Domain registered
- Nov 2, 2009 (16 years ago)Registry record (RDAP), registrar GoDaddy.com, LLC, looked up Sep 6, 2026
- TLS certificate
- Issued by Let's Encrypt, valid until Jan 5, 2027Seen in our own connection to the site on Oct 15, 2026
- Last checked
- Oct 15, 2026The site answered
- Operated by
- SurfSenseOur research, card verified Oct 15, 2026
Pros & cons of SurfSense
SurfSense is now a local, air-gapped notebook for asking questions over your own documents, free to download and open source. It suits people who want NotebookLM-style answers without uploading sources to a cloud; anyone who relied on the old hosted connectors and REST API has to export before 18 October 2026 and wait for the paid scraper plugins, which have not shipped.
Pros
- The app and updates are free, with no account and no usage cap
- Runs offline with sources and index on your own disk
- Works with your own model keys or a local model
- Source is public, so it can be audited or built from scratch
Cons
- The hosted service, REST API and MCP connectors are gone; the cloud is export-only
- Scraper plugins are paid and have not shipped in version 2.0
- The cloud export does not carry original uploads, generated artifacts or citation links
Best for
- Researchers who want cited answers over their documents without a cloud account
- Teams that need document Q&A to run offline or inside their own network
- Users who already have model API keys or run a local model
Not for
- Anyone who needs live data from Reddit, YouTube or search today, since the scraper plugins are not out yet
- Users who want a hosted web app they can open from any device
Watch out: The SurfSense cloud deletes all stored data on 18 October 2026; export the ZIP before then, and note that the $60 first-year licence renews at $120.
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