The short answer (July 2026): Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. The core product is unchanged: a source-grounded AI research assistant that answers questions and generates audio, video, and study materials using only the documents you upload. Access it free at notebooklm.google with any Google account. The free Standard plan includes 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, and 50 chat queries per day. Paid plans are bundled into Google's AI Plans, with Google AI Pro raising those limits to 500 notebooks, 300 sources per notebook, and 500 daily chats.
Last verified: July 19, 2026, against official Google support docs at support.google.com and Google One pricing pages.
What Gemini Notebook Is (and Why the Rename Happened)
Google announced that NotebookLM is now officially called Gemini Notebook. The rebrand integrates the product into the Gemini app ecosystem: notebooks now sync with the Gemini app for conversation organization, and a secure cloud computer for in-notebook code execution is rolling out first to Ultra subscribers, with Pro access following over the coming weeks. Existing notebooks, shared links, and bookmarks continue to work without any action required.
The product's core behavior is unchanged. Gemini Notebook is a source-grounded research assistant. You upload documents, websites, or audio files, and the AI answers questions, generates study materials, and produces audio or video summaries using only what you provided. Answers include inline citations so you can trace every claim back to the source. When information is absent from your sources, the tool says so rather than pulling from general web knowledge. That constraint is the whole point: it trades breadth for reliability.
If you want to compare Gemini against general-purpose AI assistants, see our ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini guide.
How to Get Started
Go to notebooklm.google and sign in with any Google account. No installation is required. The product is available on web, iOS, and Android.
Once signed in:
- Click New notebook to create a workspace.
- Click Add in the Sources panel to upload your first document.
- Type a question in the chat panel on the right.
The chat panel answers strictly from your uploaded sources. The Studio panel (right side of the screen) generates structured outputs from your sources in one click: Audio Overviews, study guides, mind maps, flashcards, and more. Keep both panels open so you can move between asking questions and generating formatted outputs without switching views.
Creating your first notebook takes under two minutes. The real setup cost is curating which sources to add, since the quality of every output depends on what you give it.
What You Can Upload as Sources
Each individual source can contain up to 500,000 words or 200MB, whichever limit is hit first. Supported formats include:
- Documents: PDF, Google Docs, Microsoft Word (DOCX), TXT, Markdown, ePub
- Spreadsheets: Google Sheets, CSV
- Presentations: Google Slides (up to 100 slides per file), PowerPoint (PPTX)
- Images: JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, HEIC
- Audio: MP3, WAV, and other common audio formats
- Web URLs: Public pages only; the tool scrapes text content and ignores images, embedded videos, and paywalled pages
- YouTube URLs: Public videos that have captions (user-uploaded or auto-generated); the text transcript is imported, not the video itself
- Google Drive files: Supported formats sync automatically every few minutes
- Gemini chats: You can import past Gemini conversations as source context
The constraint most users hit first: web URLs import only text. If a site's key content is in images or behind a login, upload the content directly as a document instead.
Plans and Limits
Gemini Notebook is not sold as a standalone subscription. Access is bundled into Google's AI Plans. The free Standard tier is functional for individual research projects. The table below shows verified limits from Google's official support page; check notebooklm.google/plans for current US pricing on tiers other than Pro, since Google updates prices periodically.
| Plan | US Price | Notebooks | Sources per notebook | Daily chats | Audio overviews/day | Reports/day | Deep Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (free) | $0 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 3 | 10 | 10/month |
| Google AI Plus | See plans page | 200 | 100 | 200 | 6 | 20 | 3/day |
| Google AI Pro | See plans page | 500 | 300 | 500 | 20 | 100 | 20/day |
| Ultra (20 TB) | See plans page | 500 | 500 | 2,500 | 100 | 500 | 75/day |
| Ultra (30 TB) | See plans page | 500 | 600 | 5,000 | 200 | 1,000 | 200/day |
Google Workspace subscribers at Business Starter and above get Gemini Notebook access included in their plan. Enterprise licensing is available through Google Cloud for organizations that need admin controls and data governance.
Audio Overviews: The Podcast Feature
Audio Overview converts your sources into a two-host conversational discussion. In the Studio panel, click Audio Overview, optionally use the Customize field to specify a style or angle, then click Generate. The feature produces a downloadable audio file in several minutes.
The two AI hosts summarize key ideas from your documents, connect themes across multiple sources, and engage in back-and-forth dialogue rather than reading content aloud. You can choose from preset formats including Deep Dive, Brief, and Lecture. For a debate-style or critical framing, describe it in the Customize field before generating.
Audio Overviews are available in multiple languages. You can download the file or share a public link directly from the player. The daily cap is tight on the free plan (3 per day), so if you are iterating on the same source set, use the Customize field rather than regenerating from scratch each time.
Video Overviews and Other Studio Outputs
The Studio panel offers a second video format beyond Audio Overviews. Video Overviews transform your sources into a generated video in three styles:
- Explainer: A structured overview connecting your sources, available in 64 languages.
- Cinematic: An immersive visual storytelling format, English only, for users 18 and older.
- Short: A short-form summary, English only, for users 18 and older.
Video generation can take more than 30 minutes. Keep the tab open and wait; there is no reliable way to speed it up. The mobile app has limitations for this feature.
Other one-click outputs from the Studio panel include study guides, briefings, FAQs, timelines, mind maps, infographics, flashcards, quizzes, and slide decks. All of these are grounded in your sources and include citations. The free plan allows 10 reports per day; Pro allows 100.
Deep Research: Finding Sources Automatically
Instead of uploading files manually, you can have Gemini Notebook locate and add sources for you. In the Sources panel, click Add, then select Discover sources. Type a research question. Gemini Notebook queries the web or your Google Drive and returns a multi-page report with cited sources.
You review what it found, select which individual sources to import, and add them to the notebook with a click. The tool does not auto-generate a final answer; it populates your sources panel so you can then ask your own questions across the material.
Free accounts get 10 Deep Research runs per month. Google AI Pro users get 20 per day. The highest Ultra tier allows 200 per day. Deep Research counts are tracked separately from daily chat counts, so running a Deep Research query does not consume your chat quota.
FAQ
Is NotebookLM gone?
NotebookLM was officially renamed Gemini Notebook. The URL notebooklm.google continues to work with automatic redirects. Every existing notebook, shared link, and saved URL remains functional with no action required from users.
Can Gemini Notebook browse the web when answering my questions?
During a standard chat session, Gemini Notebook answers only from your uploaded sources. The Deep Research feature does query the web, but it adds results to your sources panel as a separate step before you ask questions. The chat itself stays grounded in whatever sources you have uploaded.
What happens when I hit the free-tier daily limit?
Chats stop for the day once you reach 50 queries on the Standard plan. Audio overviews and reports each have their own separate daily counters. All limits reset daily. Upgrading to Pro raises the chat cap to 500 per day and the audio cap to 20.
Is my data used to train Google's models?
Google's official FAQ states that your data will not be shared by Gemini Notebook. For the specific terms covering model training and data retention, review the data protection policy linked in the product's help center, since those terms can change.
Can I use Gemini Notebook with my team at work?
Google Workspace plans at Business Starter and above include Gemini Notebook access for all users on the plan. Organizations that need enterprise-grade admin controls, audit logging, or data residency options can license Gemini Notebook Enterprise through Google Cloud separately.
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