Seed Chrome Extension

YouTube is an absolute rabbit hole. You click on a 20-minute tutorial about changing a setting in Photoshop, and two hours later you're watching a documentary on the history of deep-sea exploration. It's a fantastic resource for learning, but it's also a massive time sink. I’ve lost entire afternoons just trying to find that one specific clip in a long lecture.

For years, my process was a clunky mess of scrubbing back and forth, pausing frantically to type notes, and ending up with a jumbled mess that barely made sense a week later. Sound familiar? I thought so. That's why when I stumbled across a little tool called Seed, I was intrigued. Another AI summarizer? Maybe. But this one seemed a bit different. It promised to turn YouTube videos into clean, organized Markdown summaries. As someone who basically lives in my Obsidian vault, my ears perked up.

Visit Seed Chrome Extension

So, What Exactly is Seed?

At its core, Seed is a Chrome extension that uses AI to pull the key points from a YouTube video and present them to you in a neat summary. Simple enough. But where it gets interesting is its focus. This isn't just about giving you a quick gist so you can move on. No, Seed is built for people who are actively trying to learn and retain information. It’s like a smart research assistant that lives in your browser.

The magic is in the output: clean Markdown text. If you're not a developer or a hardcore note-taker, that might not mean much. But for those of us who use apps like Obsidian, Notion, Roam Research, or just want well-formatted text files, it's a game-changer. No more wrestling with weird formatting or copying and pasting ad-libs from the transcript. You get a summary that’s ready to be dropped right into your personal knowledge base, or what some people call a "second brain."

My First Spin with Seed

To give it a proper test run, I picked a 45-minute video from one of my favorite marketing channels—a deep dive into Google's latest algorithm updates. Normally, I'd have to sit through the whole thing, pen in hand (or keyboard at the ready). Instead, I clicked the little Seed icon that appeared next to the video title. It whirred for a moment, and then... boom. A concise summary appeared in a sidebar.

I could choose between a paragraph format or bullet points. I went with bullet points. It nailed the main topics: the impact on E-E-A-T, the volatility in specific niches, and the speaker's predictions for the next quarter. I scanned it in about 90 seconds, grabbed the key insights I needed, and with one click, downloaded the .md file. That little file slid right into my Obsidian marketing folder, perfectly formatted. The whole process took less than two minutes. My mind was kinda blown.

The Standout Features That Genuinely Help

After playing around with it for a week, a few things really stood out to me as being more than just gimmicks.

Markdown is the Main Event

I can't stress this enough. While other tools give you a block of text, Seed's commitment to Markdown export is its killer feature. It shows they understand their audience. They know we're not just consuming, we're connecting ideas. Getting a clean summary with proper headings and lists that I can immediately link to other notes in my system saves a surprising amount of friction.

Not Just for English Speakers

The tool supports over 30 languages. I tried it on a video in Spanish and another in French (both on topics I vaguely understand), and the summaries were impressively accurate. This is huge for researchers or anyone learning a new language who wants to use authentic materials without getting overwhelmed.

You Can Choose Your Summary Style

Sometimes you want a narrative-style paragraph to get the flow of an argument. Other times, you just need scannable bullet points. Seed lets you toggle between them. It’s a small touch, but it shows a level of thoughtfulness I appreciate. It puts the user in control of how they process the information.

Who Should Be Using Seed Right Now?

This tool isn't for everyone, and that's okay. If you just watch YouTube for cat videos, you can probably skip this one.

However, if you're a student trying to distill lectures, a researcher wading through academic talks, a content creator looking for inspiration, or a lifelong learner building a personal knowledge library, Seed could be your new best friend. It bridges the gap between passive video consumption and active learning. It's for the information hoarders, the dot-connectors, and the productivity nerds (I say that with love!).

What's the Damage? A Look at the Price Tag

Alright, let's talk about the cost. Because great tools are only great if they're accessible. And honestly, Seed's pricing is more than fair. It's practically a steal.

My take? The free plan is generous enough to see if it fits your workflow. But the yearly plan is the real deal. Ten dollars. For a whole year. That's less than two fancy coffees. For the amount of time it saves, it feels like a no-brainer investment for anyone serious about learning from video content.

A Few Caveats and Wishful Thinking

No tool is perfect. And Seed has a couple of limitations to be aware of. First, it relies on the video having accurate captions or subtitles. If the video doesn't have them, the AI has nothing to work with, so the extension won't function. This is common for most summarizers, but it’s something to remember.

Second, it’s currently only available as a Chrome extension for desktop. As someone who often sends videos from my phone to my laptop to watch later, I'm really hoping a Firefox version and maybe even a mobile app are on their roadmap. Fingers crossed.

Final Thoughts: A Tiny Seed of Productivity

In a world of bloated software and subscription fatigue, Seed is a breath of fresh air. It does one thing, and it does it exceptionally well. It understands its target audience and gives them exactly what they need: a fast, efficient way to turn video knowledge into usable notes.

It's not going to change the world, but it might just change your workflow. It has for me. It’s transformed my YouTube time from a passive, sometimes wasteful activity into a focused, productive part of my research process. And for just ten bucks a year, that’s a productivity hack I can definitely get behind.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Seed work on every single YouTube video?

It works on the vast majority, but it has one requirement: the video must have captions or a transcript. The AI needs that text data to create the summary. Most educational and professional content has this, but some older or less formal videos might not.

Is there a limit to how many summaries I can make?

On the free plan, you get 10 free summaries per month, which is great for trying it out. If you find you need more, the unlimited plans are very affordable at $2/month or $10/year.

Can I use Seed on my phone or tablet?

As of right now, Seed is a Chrome extension, which means it only works on desktop or laptop computers running the Chrome browser. There's no mobile app just yet.

How good is the Notion integration?

The pricing page mentions that Notion integration is an upcoming premium feature. While it might not be fully rolled out to everyone yet, it's a promising sign that the developers are focused on integrating with the most popular note-taking and productivity apps out there.

Is it complicated to get the summary into Obsidian?

Not at all! It's one of the easiest things. You just click the 'Export' button, and it downloads a `.md` file. Then you can just drag and drop that file directly into your Obsidian vault. It takes about five seconds.

References and Sources

• Seed Official Website & Pricing: https://seedup.fr
• Obsidian Note-Taking App: https://obsidian.md