Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)

Gemini Notebook is the research tool that only tells you what your own documents say. Upload the sources, ask the questions, get answers with citations pointing back to the exact passage — no open-web guessing. Google renamed it from NotebookLM on 16 July 2026, but the product and the links still work.

What is Gemini Notebook?

Gemini Notebook, formerly NotebookLM, is Google's source-grounded research and study tool. You give it documents, PDFs, slides, web links and video, and it becomes an expert on that material and nothing else — which is precisely why researchers trust it more than a general chatbot. The rename was announced on 16 July 2026 by Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs, and described as the same standalone product doing more across the Google ecosystem; a new blue-and-purple logo rolled out over the following weeks, and automatic redirects keep existing shared notebooks and links working. By the time of the rename it had passed 30 million users and 600,000 organisations. The most substantive 2026 addition is a secure cloud computer inside every notebook that can run code against your uploaded sources — turning it from a summariser into an analysis tool.

Key Features

• Source-grounded answers: Responses come only from your uploaded material, with inline citations to the passage.
• Secure cloud computer: Run code for real data analysis grounded in your sources, not just retrieval.
• Audio and video overviews: Turn dense material into a discussion-style audio summary or a video overview; Ultra users get Cinematic Video Overviews built with Veo.
• Study tools: Flashcards, quizzes and a Deep Research mode added through 2026.
• 1M-token context: Hold and reason across very large source collections at once.

Who Should Use Gemini Notebook?

It is the best tool available for anyone working through a defined body of material: academics doing literature reviews, students preparing for exams, analysts reading filings, lawyers working through discovery, teams building a queryable internal knowledge base. The constraint is also the feature — it will not answer from outside your sources, so it is the wrong tool for open-ended research. The free tier is unusually capable, which makes it easy to evaluate before deciding whether a Google AI plan is worth it for the higher limits.

Pricing

There is a capable free tier. Paid access is not sold on its own: every paid tier is bundled into a Google AI subscription. Google AI Plus is $4.99/month after Google cut it from $7.99 on 8 June 2026; Google AI Pro is $19.99/month; Google AI Ultra starts at $99.99/month with a 30TB tier at $199.99. Ultra users get exclusive Cinematic Video Overviews built with Veo. Because the notebook tiers ride on the wider Google AI plans, the decision is usually about whether you want Gemini 3.1 Pro and Veo alongside it, not about the notebook alone.

Pros and Cons

Bottom Line

Gemini Notebook remains the single best free AI research tool, and the addition of a code-running cloud computer moved it from summarisation into genuine analysis. Start free — most people never need more. If you upgrade, understand that you are buying a Google AI plan with Gemini 3.1 Pro and Veo included, and the higher notebook limits come along with it.