Glasp captures the sentences you highlight; Pith turns everything you read into a cited wiki you never had to write.
Glasp is a social web and PDF highlighter: you mark passages, and they live on a public profile you can export to Notion, Obsidian, or Readwise. Pith works the other way around — you bookmark what you read and it auto-builds a structured, cited wiki and per-client briefings, with every claim linking back to a source you saved. Glasp optimizes for collecting and sharing highlights and connecting with other learners; Pith optimizes for turning private reading into reusable, source-grounded knowledge for client work. If you want a public highlight feed, Glasp fits; if you want a reading memory that answers questions with citations, Pith fits.
Side by side
| Attribute | Pith | Glasp |
|---|---|---|
| Core model | Auto-built cited wiki from what you read | Manual highlights on a public profile |
| Authoring effort | Zero — wiki assembles itself from bookmarks | You highlight every passage by hand |
| Source grounding | Every claim links to a saved source | Highlights quote the page, no synthesis |
| Synthesis across sources | Merges many sources into wiki topics | Highlights stay siloed per page |
| Per-client briefings | Yes — tailored briefings per client | Not a concept; no client framing |
| AI access (MCP) | MCP server; assistants query your memory | AI chat over highlights, no MCP server |
| Privacy default | Private by default for client work | Highlights public by default, social-first |
| Data residency | Hosted in Frankfurt (EU) | Servers in the United States |
| Capture surfaces | Bookmarks of articles you read | Web, PDF, YouTube, Kindle highlights |
| Export | Cited wiki + briefings (PDF/JSON) | Markdown/HTML/CSV to Notion, Obsidian |
| Social discovery | None — private knowledge tool | Strong — follow people, shared highlights |
| Pricing model | Subscription for the reading-memory engine | Generous free tier; paid Premium add-ons |
| Best for | Consultants, account managers, researchers | Learners, students, public highlighters |
When Pith wins
You need an answer with citations, not a pile of highlights
Pith synthesizes everything you saved into wiki topics where each claim links to its source, so you can hand a client a defensible answer. Glasp gives you back the exact sentences you marked, but never connects them or tells you what they collectively mean.
You juggle multiple clients
Pith builds per-client briefings from your reading, so each account has its own up-to-date memory. Glasp has no notion of a client — it is one personal stream of highlights organized by you.
Client confidentiality and EU residency matter
Pith is private by default and hosts data in Frankfurt, which suits consultants handling sensitive client material. Glasp makes highlights public by default and stores data on US servers, which is the wrong default for confidential work.
Where Glasp wins
You want a free, social highlighter across PDFs and YouTube
Glasp has a genuinely generous free tier and excels at quick multi-color highlighting on web pages, PDFs, Kindle, and YouTube, plus a social layer where you follow other learners and discover their highlights. If your goal is collecting and sharing standalone highlights rather than building a private, cited knowledge base, Glasp is the better and cheaper fit.
FAQ
Is Pith just a highlighter like Glasp?
No. Glasp captures passages you manually highlight; Pith auto-builds a cited wiki and client briefings from the things you bookmark. The unit of value in Glasp is a highlight, while in Pith it is a synthesized, sourced answer.
Does Glasp build a wiki from my highlights?
Not in the way Pith does. Glasp organizes your highlights on a profile and offers AI chat over them, but it does not merge multiple sources into structured, cited wiki topics. Pith's core job is exactly that synthesis.
Can an AI assistant query my reading in either tool?
Pith ships an MCP server, so assistants like Claude or ChatGPT can query your reading memory directly. Glasp offers AI chat over your own highlights inside the product but does not expose an MCP server for external assistants.
Where is my data stored?
Pith hosts data in Frankfurt within the EU. Glasp's privacy policy states personal data from EU users may be transferred to and stored on servers in the United States.
Are my notes private by default?
Pith is private by default, which fits confidential client work. Glasp is social-first and treats highlights shared in public sections as public, so you must actively manage visibility.
Can I export from each tool?
Both export. Glasp exports highlights as Markdown, HTML, CSV, or JSON to Notion, Obsidian, Roam, and Readwise. Pith exports the cited wiki and briefings, including PDF and JSON, with sources attached.
Which is better for students and casual learners?
Glasp, honestly. Its free highlighting across PDFs and YouTube plus a social discovery layer is well suited to studying and learning. Pith is aimed at consultants and researchers who need cited, client-ready output.
Do I have to change how I read to use Pith?
No — you keep bookmarking what you already read. Pith does the assembling in the background, whereas Glasp requires you to actively highlight passages on each page for anything to be captured.
Last reviewed: 7 June 2026 · CC BY 4.0 · cite freely with attribution to Pith.