SurfSense is unclaimed —

SurfSense

The open-source NotebookLM alternative for open web research.·surfsense.net

SurfSense is an open-source, self-hostable platform that lets AI agents and users research the live web through platform-native connectors (Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Indeed, and web crawling), delivered via one REST API, an MCP server, or a web/desktop app. It includes an agent harness with retries and credit metering, a knowledge base with file and cloud storage sync, document Q&A, report/podcast/video generation, and scheduled or event-triggered AI automations. It can be self-hosted for free or used as a pay-as-you-go cloud service.

What it's for

Deep research on the live webCompetitive intelligenceAcademic literature scanFinancial and market researchAI Overview and GEO trackingBrand and competitor monitoringVoice-of-customer and pain-point miningReddit sentiment analysisCommunity research for go-to-marketBuilding B2B lead lists from Google MapsTracking product prices and reviews on Amazon and WalmartTracking job postings and labor market data on IndeedMonitoring Google Search rankings, ads, and AI Overviews

Features 15

Agent harness with retries, structured output, and credit metering
AI automations and agents (scheduled and event-triggered workflows)
AI-powered semantic search across connected tools and documents
Document Q&A with citations, report, podcast, and video generation
Incremental/delta-only scraping via date limit parameters
Knowledge base with file uploads and Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox sync
Live web research with cited briefs and alerts
Local model support (e.g., Ollama, LM Studio)
MCP server that exposes every connector as a native agent tool
Messaging channel integration for chatting with SurfSense
Native desktop app with Quick, General, and Screenshot Assist modes
Open source and self-hostable with no data limits
Platform-native connectors: Reddit, YouTube, TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Web Crawl
Real-time collaborative team chats
Typed REST API endpoints for each connector, callable from cURL, Python, JavaScript, Go, PHP, Ruby, Java, C#

At a glance

free tierfree trialopen sourceself-hostableAPI

TypeWeb app

DeploymentHybrid

PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux

CompanySurfSense

Integrations

RedditYouTubeTikTokInstagramAmazonWalmartGoogle MapsGoogle SearchIndeedNotionSlackLinearJiraGoogle DriveOneDriveDropboxGmailGitHubTelegramWhatsAppDiscordOllamaLM Studio

Resources

Pricing

Self-hosted version is free and unlimited. Cloud 'Pay As You Go' plan starts with $5 of free credit, then charges per item returned/page crawled with no subscription; $1 buys $1 of credit. Enterprise pricing available on request.

FreeFree

Self-hosted, open source version

Unlimited scraping and crawling, you control billing; self-hosted on your own infrastructure

Pay As You GoQuote

$5 of free credit to start; add credit any time with optional automatic refills

$5 of free credit to start, then pay as you go; no subscription

EnterpriseQuote

Contact Sales for quote-based pricing

Custom setup for large organizations