What Findto is
Findto is an open source, decentralized search assistant for AI, web, and more. The application comes from Brazil, is fully open source under the MIT license, entirely free, available exclusively as an online service.
Key features and functionality
The decentralized search architecture sets Findto apart from traditional, centralized search engines controlled by a single company - results and infrastructure are distributed, instead of depending on one central point of control. Support for both AI search and traditional web search means Findto combines two different approaches to finding information in one tool, instead of being limited to just one search type. The open-source nature under the MIT license lets the technical community review the code responsible for the search mechanism and verify exactly how the decentralized architecture works.
Who it's for
Findto is aimed primarily at people who value decentralization and are skeptical of centralized search engines controlled by single large tech corporations. Distributed technology enthusiasts, interested in the practical application of decentralization in the context of information search, test Findto as an example of that approach. People wanting to combine AI search with traditional web search in one tool, instead of using separate solutions for each type, appreciate Findto's versatility. Open-source software enthusiasts, who value transparency in the code responsible for processing their search queries, choose Findto for its open-source nature.
Use cases
Someone who values decentralization and is skeptical of dominant search engines tests Findto as an alternative built on distributed infrastructure instead of a single company's centralized server. A user needing both AI search and traditional web search at once uses Findto for both tasks in one coherent interface. A developer interested in decentralized search architecture reviews Findto's open-source code, learning how the mechanism was implemented. A distributed technology enthusiast compares the search experience in Findto against traditional centralized alternatives, assessing the differences in approach.
Pricing and business model
Findto is entirely free and open source under the MIT license, with no licensing fees for using the tool. This model, typical of decentralized open-source projects, lets a broad community freely use the search assistant and contribute to its development, consistent with the decentralization philosophy underlying the project itself.
Comparison with SumizAI
Findto and SumizAI offer different approaches to AI-assisted search and information access. Findto focuses on decentralized search combining AI and the web, with an open-source, distributed architectural approach. SumizAI, by contrast, is a centralized platform aggregating multiple major conversational model providers, enabling their answers to be compared. Someone prioritizing decentralization and code openness might choose Findto, while users wanting to compare answers from major commercial AI models will naturally reach for SumizAI.
AI notes from decentralized search
Findto users often save the most valuable search results as ai notes in a separate knowledge management tool, appreciating that they come from a decentralized, transparent search process. Findto's open code lets advanced users verify exactly how given results were generated before saving them as ai notes in their archive. Decentralization enthusiasts building an ai notes base from Findto search results appreciate the philosophical consistency between the tool itself and how they manage their knowledge. Findto's open-source nature under the MIT license also means such a note base is never dependent on one commercial company's decision to change the tool's access terms in the future - the code stays available regardless of the original project's fate.
| Price | Free |
|---|---|
| Licence | Open Source — MIT |
| Category | AlternativeTo does not say |
| Origin | Brazil |
| Platforms | Online |
What SumizAI is
A note-taking application built around a conversation with an AI model. You ask a question, the answer streams back, and the answers worth keeping become Markdown notes — filed into a vault that is a folder on your own disk.
A vault is a directory holding base.md, a generated table of contents up to six levels deep, and a notes/ folder with one .md file per note. Before a note is written it is checked against the ones already there, so the fourth note about the same idea gets merged instead of added. Links between notes are ordinary Markdown links to files that exist.
The model is never ours: you bring your own API key to one of seven providers — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Groq, OpenRouter, a local Ollama or your own server — and pay that provider directly. A question sends the table of contents plus at most five relevant notes within a 24,000-character budget, and the app shows you which five it used.
Every answer kept this way becomes one of these ai notes, ready to search again months later without hunting back through old chats.
Side by side
| Side by side | SumizAI | Findto |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1/month, one plan, 7-day trial without a card | Free |
| Licence | Proprietary | Open Source — MIT |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Online |
| Category | Note-taking — AI chat into Markdown | AlternativeTo does not say |
| Where notes live | Standard .md files in a folder you choose | AlternativeTo does not say |
| AI model | Seven providers, always on your own API key | Its description mentions AI |
| Origin | Poland, EU | Brazil |
Where they differ
- Findto is a place to have the conversation. SumizAI is not a chatbot — the conversation is the input, not the product. What comes out of it is a
.mdfile with a title, a place inbase.mdand a duplicate check against the notes already in the vault. If you only want to talk to a model, you do not need SumizAI. - Findto is open source (MIT), and SumizAI is not. If reading the source is what decides it for you, that is a real argument for Findto. The guarantee SumizAI offers instead is structural rather than legal: the notes are Markdown files in a folder you chose, so they open in any editor whether or not the application is running.
- AlternativeTo's description of Findto does not mention Markdown, so check what format your notes end up in before you fill it up. SumizAI writes standard
.mdfiles to a folder you picked, and an unpaid account can still export all of them. - Findto runs in the browser. SumizAI is a desktop and mobile application, and on the desktop the vault is a folder on your own disk rather than a document in someone's cloud.
- Both search. SumizAI's search reads the whole note — title, summary, body and the original question and answer — rather than titles alone.
Which one to pick
Reasons to pick Findto
- the source is open and you want to read it
- it costs nothing
- you need it to run in a browser
Reasons to pick SumizAI
- the notes you want already exist inside conversations with an AI model
- you want the filing — title, chapter, duplicate check — to happen without you
- you want the result as plain
.mdfiles in a folder you picked - you would rather pay your AI provider directly than have a note app resell the model
Facts about Findto: AlternativeTo, read 2026-08-16. SumizAI is not affiliated with Findto, and the name is used only to identify the product being compared.
Taken from the AlternativeTo lists: ChatGPT. Be sure to check out SumizAI's main competitor: obsidian alternative.