NotebookLM
NotebookLM is Google's AI notebook for your own documents. Upload PDFs, YouTube videos, and web pages — the AI answers only based on your sources, without hallucinations.
What is NotebookLM?
NotebookLM is an AI-powered research and note-taking tool by Google, built on the Gemini model. Since July 16, 2026 it has been called Gemini Notebook – according to Google the same standalone product under a new name; the old address notebooklm.google redirects to notebook.google. The key distinction: the AI answers exclusively based on the sources you upload — PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube videos, websites, or audio files. External information or training data does not influence the answers, which effectively eliminates hallucinations within your source set.
NotebookLM in our review: Strengths and weaknesses
NotebookLM excels particularly at PDF analysis with page-level references, multi-source synthesis, and its unique Audio Overview feature, which generates a podcast-style dialogue from your documents. Weaknesses: no general knowledge outside your own sources – web content only comes in if you add it as a source (for example via the "Discover sources" feature). For general AI questions, ChatGPT or Claude are better suited.
Pricing and plans
Gemini Notebook is free with up to 100 notebooks and 50 sources per notebook. Google no longer offers a separate "NotebookLM Plus" subscription; higher limits come with the Google AI plans, which also include Gemini: Google AI Plus (€4.99/month, 200 notebooks, 100 sources per notebook), Google AI Pro (€21.99/month, 500 notebooks, 300 sources, 5x more Audio Overviews according to Google), and Google AI Ultra (from €99.99/month, up to 600 sources per notebook). Google no longer states fixed daily quotas for chats and Audio Overviews.
As of: Limits and prices checked on October 22, 2026 in Google's help article on usage limits and at gemini.google/subscriptions (monthly prices for Germany; no annual price is shown there). Price trends for many AI tools are tracked in our AI tool price index.
Who is NotebookLM for?
NotebookLM is the first choice for students, researchers, journalists, and knowledge workers who regularly work with their own documents. Ideal for literature reviews, paper analysis, exam preparation, and internal document review. Users who prefer listening over reading benefit especially from the Audio Overview feature.
