Alternative to Liner
A Liner alternative that is just a highlighter.
Liner began as a web highlighter and is now sold as an AI search and research assistant, with the highlighter as one feature inside a subscription. Selection Toolbar goes the other way: the highlighter is the product. Press H on a selection, the passage is marked and restored on every later visit, and a side panel lists everything with your notes. When you do want an AI, the same bar hands your selection to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity in a new tab, on your own account, with nothing passing through a server of ours.
If you came here for
The things people say they miss when they look for a replacement.
- Highlight on any page with one key, and see it again next time.
- A panel that lists highlights by page, searchable, with a note on each.
- Markdown export with the source link, for Obsidian or Notion.
- AI when you ask for it, not an assistant that reads every page you open.
- A price that is zero for the highlighter itself.
Side by side
| What | Liner | Selection Toolbar |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI research assistant with highlighting, summaries and a search chat. | A toolbar on selected text. Highlighting, notes and export are the core; AI is a hand-off to the assistant you already use. |
| Highlighting | Colours, folders and a browser panel, part of the subscription. | Four colours, one key, restored on every visit, listed in a side panel with search. |
| AI | Built in, on Liner's models and servers. | Opens ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity in a new tab with your selection and prompt. Nothing of yours passes through us. |
| Where your data lives | Liner's account and servers. | Your browser's extension storage; Premium syncs it across your browsers if you want that. |
| Export | Depends on plan. | Copy or download as Markdown, free. |
| Price | Free tier with limits, paid plans for the rest. | Free. Premium, $19 a year or $59 once, adds sync across devices, exports and search; nothing that is free today moves behind it. |
Facts about Liner are as published by its maker at the time of writing; tell us if one is out of date.
Not here
So you do not install it for the wrong reason.
- No summaries or answers generated inside the extension. AI actions open the assistant's own site.
- No folders or tags for highlights; the panel groups them by page and searches the text and notes.
- No PDF highlighting yet.
- Sync is a paid extra, Premium, not part of the free tier.
How it works
Three keys cover most of it.
- 1Select text on any page. The bar appears beside it. Press H to highlight; the picker under the bar changes the colour or removes it.
- 2Press Alt Shift H for the panel: this page, all pages, search, and a note on each highlight.
- 3Export copies or downloads everything as Markdown: a heading per page linking to the source, a quote per highlight, your note under it.
Questions
Does it read the pages I visit?
No. The script on each page waits for you to select text and does nothing else. Highlights are restored by looking for the exact text you marked on that page, in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Can I still ask an AI about a passage?
Yes. Select it and press G for ChatGPT or M for Gemini, with a default prompt you set once, or hold Alt for a one-off question. The assistant opens in a new tab on your own account.
Is it free?
Yes. Highlights, notes, the panel and Markdown export are free with no account. Sync across devices is the first paid extra, Premium; nothing that is free today moves behind it.
Where do my highlights live?
In your browser's own extension storage, on your machine. Nothing is uploaded unless you later choose to sign in and turn on sync.
Try it on this page.
Install, come back, select a sentence, press H. It is highlighted the next time you open this page.