Page Assist vs ShroomPen
Two free Chrome extensions that work with Ollama and other local models, built for different jobs.
Published
The short answer
Page Assist is an open-source sidebar and web chat for local models: you ask questions about the page or your own files, and it answers in its own panel. ShroomPen is a writing assistant: it opens over the text box you are using, uses the page as context, and inserts the draft into that box. If you mostly chat with your model, use Page Assist. If you mostly want replies, rewrites and form answers written into websites, use ShroomPen. They can sit side by side.
Page Assist details below were checked on its GitHub page and documentation on 26 September 2026.
Side by side
| ShroomPen | Page Assist | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Draft and insert text into the field you are using | Chat with your model in a sidebar or a full-page web UI |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Source code | Closed source | Open source, MIT license |
| Browsers | Chrome | Chrome, Brave, Edge, Firefox, Vivaldi, LibreWolf, Zen |
| Local models | Ollama, LM Studio, any OpenAI-compatible server on localhost | Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, Llamafile, Chrome AI (Gemini Nano) and more |
| Cloud providers | OpenRouter (one-click sign-in), OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI-compatible | A long list of OpenAI-compatible providers, including OpenAI, OpenRouter, Anthropic and Google AI |
| Writes into page fields | Yes: Insert or Replace, plus Reply, Rewrite, Fix Grammar and Translate buttons next to a field | Not in the main extension. A separate companion extension, Page Action, can type and fill forms using Chrome's debugger permission |
| Context | The field, the page, selected text, other open tabs, PDFs open in a tab, Google Docs, Workspace notes | The current page, selected text (right-click actions), a knowledge base of uploaded files (PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV, MD) |
| Web search | No | Yes |
| Chat history | Recent conversations for the current browser session only | Stored in the browser |
| Ollama setup | Needs OLLAMA_ORIGINS set to the extension's origin | Rewrites request headers to avoid CORS errors |
Where Page Assist is the better choice
- You want to read the code. Page Assist is MIT-licensed on GitHub. ShroomPen is closed source, so you rely on its privacy policy and on watching its network traffic.
- You use Firefox or another browser ShroomPen doesn't support.
- You chat with your model a lot. Page Assist has a full chat interface with saved history, internet search, a knowledge base for your files, vision and MCP support.
- Less setup for Ollama. Page Assist works around Ollama's origin check by itself. ShroomPen needs one environment variable.
Where ShroomPen is the better choice
- The answer goes where you are writing. Open ShroomPen over a Gmail reply, a support ticket or a LinkedIn comment, and the draft is inserted into that field. No copying from a sidebar.
- Buttons on the field itself. When you click into a text field, a small helper offers Reply, Rewrite, Fix Grammar and Translate. It skips password, payment and one-time-code fields.
- Context from other places. Pick other open tabs, a PDF open in another tab or a Google Doc as context for the reply you are writing now.
- Cloud models without an API key paste. ShroomPen connects to OpenRouter with a one-click sign-in, and free OpenRouter models are listed first.
Setting up ShroomPen with Ollama
- Install ShroomPen on the Chrome Web Store.
- Allow the extension in Ollama by setting this environment variable, then restart Ollama:
The Ollama FAQ explains where to set environment variables on each system.OLLAMA_ORIGINS=chrome-extension://ghigbnpoahodgnhlgbggjphpflkofgfn - Press Ctrl+Q on any page, choose Local server, and enter http://localhost:11434/v1. No key is needed.
- Pick a model you have pulled, click into a text field and ask for a draft.
The full walkthrough is on the Ollama Chrome extension page.
Related pages
Questions
Is ShroomPen a Page Assist alternative?
For writing, yes. Page Assist is a sidebar and full-page chat for talking to your local model about a web page. ShroomPen puts the model's answer into the text field you are typing in, such as an email reply or a comment box. For chatting with a page or your files, Page Assist does more.
Do I need to set OLLAMA_ORIGINS for either extension?
Page Assist says it modifies the headers of requests to your local server to avoid CORS problems, so it usually works without it. ShroomPen does not rewrite headers, so Ollama needs to allow the extension's origin: set OLLAMA_ORIGINS to chrome-extension://ghigbnpoahodgnhlgbggjphpflkofgfn and restart Ollama.
Which one is open source?
Page Assist is open source under the MIT license. ShroomPen is closed source.
Do they work in Firefox?
Page Assist supports Firefox and several Chromium browsers. ShroomPen is a Chrome extension and is only published on the Chrome Web Store.