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Productivity & Business

Surfsense

Surfsense is an AI-powered research and knowledge management assistant designed to connect large language models (LLMs) with internal company knowledge sources, documents, and tools. It centralizes both company and personal knowledge into a single intelligent workspace, enabling users to retrieve information instantly, receive detailed updates, and obtain cited answers from connected sources. The platform supports real-time collaboration on documents and chats, multimedia creation such as podcasts, and integration with numerous external services for enhanced productivity. The tool integrates with over 20 popular applications including Notion, GitHub, Slack, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, and Jira, among others. It supports more than 100 LLMs with options for on-premise deployment, allowing for customizable local inference. Surfsense offers multiple deployment methods including a cloud-hosted option for immediate access and self-hosted setups via Docker or manual installation. Its open-source backend allows for modifications and the addition of agent tools.

Updated Dec 29, 2025unknown
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Overview

Surfsense is an AI research and knowledge management assistant that integrates LLMs with internal knowledge sources and supports real-time collaboration.

Pricing
unknown
Category
Productivity & Business
Company
Visual Guide
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Key Features
01
Connects with tools such as Notion, GitHub, Slack, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Linear, Jira, ClickUp, Confluence, Gmail, YouTube, Discord, Airtable, and Google Calendar to centralize knowledge.
02
Enables on-demand calling of over 100 large language models, including on-premise options like vLLM, Ollama, llama.cpp, and LM Studio.
03
Allows multiple users to collaborate simultaneously on documents and chats with live edits, synced content, presence indicators, and commenting features.
04
Includes a browser extension for saving webpages and supports retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to query uploaded content effectively.
05
Offers cloud-hosted access for instant use and self-hosted deployments via Docker or manual setup, catering to different user preferences.
Real-World Use Cases

Knowledge Management for Teams

Teams using multiple productivity and communication tools can centralize their knowledge and documents into one intelligent workspace.

Research Assistance

Users can query internal documents and external data sources in real time using integrated LLMs to obtain detailed and cited answers.

Collaborative Document Editing

Multiple team members can work together on documents and chats simultaneously with live updates and commenting.

Quick Start
1
Use Cloud Option
Access SurfSense Cloud for immediate use without installation.
2
Local Docker Deployment
Run the provided docker-compose command to start frontend (localhost:3000), backend API (localhost:8000), and supporting services.
3
Set Up Prerequisites
Configure Google OAuth for Gmail/Calendar, obtain Unstructured API key for file processing, and set up Firecrawl for web crawling.
4
Install Browser Extension
Build the browser extension via Plasmo and load it in developer mode with your API key.
5
Verify Setup
Sign in (e.g., with Google), create a search space, upload a document, and test chat functionality.
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Pricing
Model: unknown

No pricing details are publicly available. Surfsense offers a cloud-hosted option and self-hosted deployments without disclosed costs.

Assessment
Strengths
  • Multiple deployment options including cloud, Docker, and manual installation provide flexibility.
  • Extensive integrations with over 20 popular tools enable connection of disparate knowledge sources.
  • Supports real-time multiplayer collaboration on documents and chats.
  • Customizable support for over 100 LLMs including local inference options.
  • Open-source backend allows for modifications and addition of agent tools.
Limitations
  • Requires API keys for integrations such as Unstructured, Firecrawl, and Google OAuth.
  • Manual installation involves multiple steps including setting up dependencies, backend/frontend, and building the browser extension.
  • No transparent pricing information is provided for cloud usage.
Alternatives
NotebookLM→Perplexity→Glean→