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About
Memex is a privacy-focused, open-source browser extension built for researchers, students, and knowledge workers who want to take control of their web research. It transforms your browsing history into a fully searchable knowledge base, allowing you to find any page you've ever visited using full-text search across the actual content of visited pages — not just titles or URLs. With Memex, you can highlight passages on any webpage, add personal notes, create collections, and tag content for later retrieval. Annotations are stored locally by default, ensuring your research data remains private and under your control. Memex also supports collaborative features that let teams and communities share annotations and highlights on the same webpages, turning the open web into a shared knowledge layer. Integration with tools like Notion and Obsidian allows you to export your highlights and notes into your existing workflows. As an open-source project, Memex is transparent and community-driven, making it a strong choice for privacy-conscious users who don't want their research habits tracked by a proprietary platform. It's particularly well-suited for academic research, investigative journalism, content curation, and anyone building a personal knowledge management system from the web.
Key Features
- Full-Text Search of Browsing History: Search across the actual content of every page you've visited, not just titles or URLs, to find information instantly.
- Web Annotations & Highlights: Highlight text and add personal notes to any webpage, with annotations stored locally for privacy.
- Collections & Tagging: Organize saved pages into named collections and tag them for efficient categorization and retrieval.
- Collaborative Annotations: Share annotation layers with teams or communities, enabling collaborative research on the same web pages.
- Export to Note-Taking Tools: Push highlights and notes directly to Notion, Obsidian, or Roam Research to integrate with your existing PKM workflow.
Use Cases
- Researchers building a searchable archive of academic papers, articles, and web sources they've read.
- Journalists annotating and tagging web sources during investigative research projects.
- Students highlighting course materials and readings across multiple websites for later review.
- Content creators curating and organizing web inspiration, references, and competitor content.
- Knowledge workers integrating web research directly into Notion or Obsidian via seamless exports.
Pros
- Privacy-First & Open Source: All data is stored locally by default and the codebase is fully open source, giving users complete transparency and control.
- Powerful Full-Text Search: Indexes the actual content of visited pages, making it far more effective than browser history for research retrieval.
- Seamless PKM Integration: Direct exports to Notion, Obsidian, and Roam make it easy to incorporate web research into existing knowledge workflows.
Cons
- Browser Extension Only: Memex is limited to browser-based use and does not offer a standalone mobile app, restricting access on the go.
- Collaborative Features Require Paid Plan: Advanced sharing and team annotation features are available only on paid tiers, despite the core tool being open source.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Memex really free to use?
Yes, the core Memex browser extension is free and open source. Advanced features like collaborative annotations and increased sync storage are available on paid plans.
Where is my data stored?
By default, Memex stores all annotations and browsing data locally on your device. Cloud sync is optional and available on paid plans.
Which browsers does Memex support?
Memex is primarily available as a Chrome and Chromium-based browser extension, with Firefox also supported.
Can I export my Memex highlights to other apps?
Yes. Memex integrates with Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, and other PKM tools, allowing you to export highlights and notes directly.
How does collaborative annotation work in Memex?
Memex lets you create shared annotation spaces where multiple users can highlight and comment on the same webpages, enabling asynchronous collaborative research.
