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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Web App

NotebookLM

Google's research assistant, now called Gemini Notebook, grounded in your own sources.

Visit NotebookLM4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Freemium

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    Web, iOS, Android

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What is NotebookLM?

NotebookLM, renamed Gemini Notebook by Google in July 2026, lets you upload documents, PDFs, slides, links and videos, then ask questions answered strictly from those sources with citations. It also generates summaries, briefing docs, study guides and audio overviews, which makes dense material far easier to get through.

Pros: what NotebookLM does well

  • Answers are grounded in your own sources
  • Citations make checking easy
  • Excellent free tier

Cons: where it falls short

  • Only as good as the sources you upload
  • Not a general purpose chatbot

Who NotebookLM is for

Anyone who has to read a lot of material and actually retain it.

Who can skip it

People who want open-ended AI chat rather than source-bound answers.

What people use NotebookLM for

  • Asking questions about your own PDFs, Google Docs, websites and videos, with answers that cite the sources
  • Turning study notes or reports into Audio Overviews you can listen to like a podcast
  • Summarising long research papers and comparing what several sources say
  • Building study guides and briefing notes from a set of documents

How to get started

  1. 1Go to notebooklm.google and sign in with a Google account.
  2. 2Create a notebook and add your sources, such as PDFs, Google Docs, links or pasted text.
  3. 3Ask questions in the chat, and click the citations to check each answer against your sources.
  4. 4Generate an Audio Overview, a Video Overview or a study guide from the same notebook.

NotebookLM pricing

NotebookLM, renamed Gemini Notebook by Google in July 2026, is free on its Standard plan with a Google account. Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra subscriptions and qualifying Workspace plans raise the limits on notebooks, sources and generated overviews. See current prices on NotebookLM's site

Checked 2026-10-31. Prices change, so double-check before you pay.

NotebookLM FAQ: quick answers

Is NotebookLM free?
Yes. The Standard plan is free with a Google account. Paid Google AI plans give higher limits.
Is NotebookLM the same as Gemini Notebook?
Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026. It is the same standalone product, and notebooklm.google still opens it.
Does NotebookLM use sources outside my notebook?
Its answers are based on the sources you add, and each answer links back to the passages it used.

Compare NotebookLM

See how NotebookLM stacks up, side by side, plus the lists it made.

NotebookLM alternatives

Not sold on NotebookLM? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Research resources

How to Use AI to Study Smarter

Focus: learning, ai and students. Shares study with NotebookLM. A YouTube Video, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

YouTube VideoFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.5Visit

PageIndex

Focus: ai search and documents. Shares research and citations with NotebookLM. An AI tool, not a web app. Rated 4.5 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

AI ToolFree planWeb
4.5Visit

Perplexity

Focus: search. Shares citations and research with NotebookLM. An AI tool, not a web app. Adds Chrome. Rated 4.5 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

AI ToolFree planWeb, iOS
4.5Visit

Open Knowledge Maps

Focus: academic search, open access and literature review. Shares research with NotebookLM. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Context.so

Focus: AI, Browser Extension and Research Tool. Also in Research and Learning, like NotebookLM. A browser extension, not a web app. Adds Chrome. Rated 4.4 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

Browser ExtensionFree planChrome
4.4Visit

Glasp

Focus: highlights, annotations and read later. Also in Reading and Research, like NotebookLM. A browser extension, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Adds Chrome and Safari. Rated 4.4 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

Browser ExtensionFreeChrome, Safari
4.4Visit

Free alternatives to NotebookLM

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Wikipedia

Focus: encyclopedia, reference and open knowledge. Shares research with NotebookLM. A website, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.8 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

WebsiteFreeWeb, iOS
4.8Visit

Internet Archive

Focus: digital library, wayback machine and archives. Shares research with NotebookLM. A website, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.7 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit

PubMed

Focus: medical research, papers and science. Shares citations with NotebookLM. A website, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.7 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

WebsiteFreeWeb
4.7Visit

Anki

Focus: spaced repetition and flashcards. Shares study with NotebookLM. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Adds macOS, Windows and Linux. Same 4.6 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit

Open Notebook

Focus: notebooklm alternative, ai chat and podcasts. Shares research with NotebookLM. An AI tool, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Same 4.6 rating.

AI ToolFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.6Visit

PixelRAG

Focus: rag, retrieval and vision. Shares research with NotebookLM. An AI tool, not a web app. Free (NotebookLM: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (NotebookLM: 4.6).

AI ToolFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.5Visit
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