Focal vs Eightify: Which YouTube Summariser is Better?

6 min read · May 1, 2026

If you've been looking for an AI tool to summarise YouTube videos, you've probably landed on two names: Focal and Eightify. They both promise to save you time. They both use AI to condense long videos into something digestible. But they take meaningfully different approaches — and the right choice depends on how you watch YouTube.

We tested both tools across three types of content: a 3-hour podcast episode, a 45-minute university lecture, and a 20-minute product tutorial. Here's what we found.

How They Work

Eightify is a Chrome extension that adds a summary panel directly to the YouTube page. It generates a timestamped bullet-point summary when you click the extension icon. The summary is tied to the video's transcript and processed via GPT.

Focal, an AI YouTube summarizer, is also a Chrome extension but takes a different approach. Rather than just generating a summary, Focal produces a structured verdict on the video — is it worth watching in full, worth skimming, or skippable? Alongside that, you get a TLDR, key points, and timestamps. There's also a "Lenses" system that lets you filter the summary around a specific angle (e.g., extract only the actionable takeaways, or only the research and evidence).

Head-to-Head: Five Categories

1. Summary Quality

For the 3-hour podcast, both tools produced accurate high-level summaries. Eightify's output was clean but thin — five bullet points that captured the broad topic but missed most of the substance. Focal's summary was longer and more structured, with a clear TLDR, six to eight key points, and specific timestamps for each one.

For the lecture, Focal's key points were notably more precise. It captured the specific claims made — not just "the speaker discussed memory" but the actual framework being explained. Eightify tended to compress things too aggressively, which worked fine for casual videos but lost too much on dense educational content.

Winner: Focal — better fidelity on long or information-dense content.

2. Timestamps

Both tools link their key points to timestamps so you can jump directly to a section. Eightify's timestamp links are accurate. Focal's timestamps are also accurate and tied to specific claims, so you can navigate directly to the moment where a particular point was made rather than just the general section.

Winner: Tie — both work well here.

3. ADHD and Attention Friendliness

This is where the tools diverge most sharply. Eightify is designed as a time-saver — it summarises so you can decide to watch. Focal is designed around the question "should I even open this video at all?" The watch/skim/skip verdict means you know within ten seconds whether this is worth your attention. For people who struggle with the decision to commit to a long video, that's a meaningful difference.

Winner: Focal — the verdict system reduces decision fatigue.

4. Interface

Eightify's panel sits neatly inside YouTube's existing sidebar. It's unobtrusive and fast to access. Focal opens in a side panel with more visual hierarchy — sections, tags, and verdict badges. It's slightly more to look at, but the structure pays off on longer content where you need to navigate.

Winner: Eightify — simpler and faster for casual use.

5. Customisation

Eightify has limited customisation — you get the summary it gives you. Focal's Lenses feature lets you specify what you want from the summary: actionable takeaways only, just the research, what questions the video raises, and so on. If you watch a lot of a single content type (say, startup podcasts), you can tune Focal to extract exactly what matters to you.

Winner: Focal — significantly more flexible.

Summary Table

Pricing

Both tools have free tiers, but they differ meaningfully in what you can actually do before hitting a limit.

Focal's free tier includes all 6 built-in lenses — the feature that most differentiates it — so you can genuinely evaluate the product before paying. Eightify's free tier gives you basic summaries only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Focal better than Eightify?

For long-form content — podcasts, lectures, conference talks — Focal is the stronger tool. The watch/skim/skip verdict, deeper key points, and lenses system make it better suited for people who watch a lot of dense video and need to make decisions about whether to commit. For short, casual videos where you want a quick summary and nothing more, Eightify's simpler interface may be preferable.

What's the main difference between Focal and Eightify?

The core difference is intent. Eightify summarizes what's in a video. Focal tells you whether the video is worth watching at all, then summarizes it. The watch/skim/skip verdict is unique to Focal and is the most useful feature for anyone who regularly opens videos they end up regretting.

Is Eightify free?

Eightify has a limited free tier (around 3 summaries/day). The paid plan, which removes limits and adds support for longer videos, costs around $8–12/month depending on the plan you choose.

Does Focal work on Firefox?

Yes — Focal has extensions for both Chrome and Firefox. The core functionality (verdict, key moments, timestamps) is available on both browsers.

Which Should You Use?

Use Eightify if you want a fast, simple summary to decide whether to watch a short-to-medium video. It gets out of your way quickly and integrates smoothly into YouTube's UI.

Use Focal if you watch long videos regularly — podcasts, lectures, conference talks — and need more than a headline summary. The verdict system, deeper key points, and Lenses make it better suited for people who consume a lot of content and want to be more intentional about what they actually watch versus what they skip.

If you have ADHD or find yourself opening videos but never finishing them, Focal's structure is specifically designed for that pattern. The watch/skim/skip verdict removes the paralysis of deciding whether a 2-hour video is "worth it."

Want to see how both tools stack up against five more YouTube summarizers? See our full AI YouTube summary tools roundup.