# An AI summarizer that keeps the point

Paste an article, a report or a long email and pick a format and a length. Textlume writes the short version, with names and figures as your text has them.

## How it works

Give the summarizer a whole passage, and know what the summary is for before you run it.

1. **Paste the article, not the page**
   Copy the article's main text and leave the menus and ads behind. An article summarizer only sees what you paste.
2. **Keep a report section whole**
   Take the one section that answers your question, heading included. Cut a point in half and the finding loses its reason.
3. **Pick a format**
   Key sentences when you plan to quote. Paragraph for a note to your manager. Bullet points for a meeting.
4. **Set the length and run it**
   Choose Short, Medium or Long under Length, then press Summarize. Compare the result with the source when dates matter.

## Free limits

| Tool | No account | Free account |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI summarizer | Up to 250 words per run, 1 run per day | Up to 250 words per run, 1 run per day |

## Frequently asked questions

### Is there a free AI summarizer?

Yes. Textlume summarizes up to 250 words for free once a day, with no card and no account. The count resets at midnight UTC. Paste more and the summary covers the opening part, with a note on how many words were left out. Paid plans take up to 6,000 words per run.

### How do I summarize an article?

Copy only the article's main text, without menus or comments. Then decide what you need, quick notes for yourself or a brief for someone else, and pick the format and length to match. Keep the title and link next to the summary so you can find the evidence later.

### Can it summarize a PDF?

Yes. Select Upload file and choose a PDF of up to 2 MB. Its text lands in the box and you summarize it as usual. Word documents work the same way. A scanned PDF that holds only pictures of pages has no text to read, so paste the text instead.

### How long should a summary be?

Long enough to carry the main point and the context your reader needs. A note to yourself can stop at the conclusion, while a brief for a manager needs the reason too. Start with Medium and switch to Short or Long if it feels thin or crowded.

### Does an AI summary change the meaning?

It shouldn't, but compare it with the source when details matter. Key sentences returns the source's sentences unchanged. Paragraph and Bullet points are told to keep every figure and name and add nothing, and they get a second attempt if a number appears that your text lacks.

### What is the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing?

Summarizing makes a text shorter by keeping only its main points. Paraphrasing keeps the content and detail but changes the wording. Use a summary for notes and overviews, and the [paraphraser](/paraphrasing-tool) when a passage belongs in your draft in other words. Cite the source either way.

### Is it plagiarism to use an AI summary in a paper?

Pasting a summary of someone else's work into your paper without a citation is plagiarism, whoever wrote the summary. Use it to understand the source, then make the point in your own words and cite the original. Check your school's policy on AI tools as well.

### Can I summarize a web page from a link?

Not from the link itself. Open the page, copy the article text and paste it into the box. That way you decide what goes in, and the sidebars and reader comments stay out. A saved PDF of the page works too, through Upload file.

### Does the summarizer work in other languages?

Yes. The summary is written in the language of your text, so a Spanish report gets a Spanish summary. It works in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Turkish, Korean and Japanese. It doesn't translate.

### Why does it say my text is too short?

A summary of a very short text would just repeat the same sentences, so the summarizer asks for at least 50 words. Key sentences also needs 3 complete sentences to choose from. For one short paragraph, try Paragraph.

### Is my text saved when I summarize it?

Only if you're signed in. Then the text and its summary go into your history, where you can delete one entry or all of them, or switch history off. Without an account nothing is kept. The text goes to an AI service that may not keep it or train on it.

- [View this page on the site](https://textlume.com/summarizer)
- [Pricing](https://textlume.com/pricing.md)
- [How we measure accuracy](https://textlume.com/accuracy)