How does Shorty summarize an article?

Paste the article URL and Shorty extracts its text, then returns the main takeaways as a structured summary you can read in a minute or two instead of the full piece.

Can Shorty summarize a paywalled article?

Only what the site shows a signed-out reader. Shorty fetches the article without an account, so a paywall teaser is too short to summarize — but if you can read the article yourself, paste its text into Shorty and it summarizes that directly.

Do I need an account to summarize articles?

No. Shorty summarizes articles without an account and without a credit card. Signing in only adds a saved, searchable history of everything you have summarized.

Is Shorty free to use?

Yes. Shorty is free to use and does not require an account for the summarizer tools — paste or upload something and read the result. A free Shorty account keeps your history in a searchable library, and paid Premium and Pro plans raise the size and volume limits.

Does a failed job still use up my quota?

No. A Shorty job that ends in an error or is cancelled never counts against a quota — the usage is refunded automatically, so a failure costs nothing.

What language is the summary written in?

Shorty writes the summary in the language you pick from its menu of 113 languages, English unless you choose another, whatever language the source itself is in.

Does Shorty have an API?

Yes. Shorty has a public REST API at https://aishorty.com/v1, an official TypeScript SDK (@aishorty/sdk), and an OAuth 2.1 MCP server at https://aishorty.com/api/mcp that lets Claude and other AI assistants summarize, transcribe and search on your behalf.

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How It Works

Paste the Article Link

Copy the link to a news story, blog post, essay or long read and paste it into the box above. Pasting the article text itself works too.

Shorty Extracts the Story

Shorty fetches the article, drops the site's menus, header, footer and sidebars, and gives the remaining text to the AI.

Read the Takeaways

The main takeaways come back as a short overview and titled sections you can read in a minute or two.

Why Use Shorty to Summarize Articles?

Reads the Whole Piece

Shorty summarizes the full article text rather than its opening paragraphs, so a conclusion near the end still makes the summary. Only extremely long pages are trimmed.

Foreign-Language Articles

Summarize an article written in one language into any of the 113 languages in the menu.

Link or Text

Paste a link and Shorty fetches the article; paste the text of an article you already have open and Shorty summarizes that directly.

What the Article Summarizer Can and Cannot Read

What you can paste

A link to a news story, blog post, essay, newsletter post or any other article on the public web — or the article's text itself. A link to a redirect page on Facebook, Instagram or Google is unwrapped to the article it points at.

Paywalls and sign-in walls

Shorty fetches the article the way a signed-out reader would, and does not run JavaScript. If the site shows only a teaser before a paywall, or asks you to sign in, Shorty reports that the page has too little readable text or is behind a wall, instead of summarizing the teaser.

If you can read the article in your own browser, copy its text and paste that instead: pasted text is summarized directly and never fetched, so it can come from a newsletter in your inbox or a site you are signed in to.

What comes back

The article's main takeaways as a title, a one-paragraph overview and titled sections, with the site's preview image as the thumbnail. Choose any of 113 languages for the summary, including one the article is not written in — useful for reading news from another country.

An unusually long piece is trimmed before it reaches the model, so the closing part of a very long article may be missing from its summary.

Example output format — an illustration for a long-form news feature about city bike lanes, not a real summary

What Five Years of Protected Bike Lanes Changed

A feature on one city's protected bike-lane network: how ridership, traffic injuries and local shops fared after five years.

Ridership grew where the lanes connect
Counts rose most on routes that joined up into a network; isolated stretches saw little change.
Fewer serious injuries
The city attributes a drop in serious crashes to physical separation rather than painted lines.
Shop owners are divided
Some businesses report more foot traffic, while others still blame lost parking for slower sales.

Shorty turns a news story, blog post or essay into its main takeaways: paste the link and it fetches the article, or paste the text and it summarizes that directly. Pick the language the summary is written in, even for an article in another language. Free, no account needed.

Use Cases for Different Roles

For Students

Summarize assigned readings and op-eds before a seminar, then read the sections that matter in full.

For Professionals

Keep up with industry news by reading the takeaways of several articles in the time one would take.

Content Creators and Marketers

Collect the main points of articles you want to respond to or cite in your own posts.

For Researchers

Triage a stack of articles and essays to decide which deserve a close reading.

Frequently asked questions

How does Shorty summarize an article?: Paste the article URL and Shorty extracts its text, then returns the main takeaways as a structured summary you can read in a minute or two instead of the full piece.
Can Shorty summarize a paywalled article?: Only what the site shows a signed-out reader. Shorty fetches the article without an account, so a paywall teaser is too short to summarize — but if you can read the article yourself, paste its text into Shorty and it summarizes that directly.
Do I need an account to summarize articles?: No. Shorty summarizes articles without an account and without a credit card. Signing in only adds a saved, searchable history of everything you have summarized.
Is Shorty free to use?: Yes. Shorty is free to use and does not require an account for the summarizer tools — paste or upload something and read the result. A free Shorty account keeps your history in a searchable library, and paid Premium and Pro plans raise the size and volume limits.
Does a failed job still use up my quota?: No. A Shorty job that ends in an error or is cancelled never counts against a quota — the usage is refunded automatically, so a failure costs nothing.
What language is the summary written in?: Shorty writes the summary in the language you pick from its menu of 113 languages, English unless you choose another, whatever language the source itself is in.
Does Shorty have an API?: Yes. Shorty has a public REST API at https://aishorty.com/v1, an official TypeScript SDK (@aishorty/sdk), and an OAuth 2.1 MCP server at https://aishorty.com/api/mcp that lets Claude and other AI assistants summarize, transcribe and search on your behalf.