Notebook LM Is Now Gemini Notebook: What Changed in 2026

If you still search for notebook lm, you are not lost. Google renamed its AI research tool Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026, and your notebooks, sources and shared links kept working.

The rename landed in a busy summer. In June, Google upgraded the tool to Gemini 3.5 and started giving notebooks a secure cloud computer that writes and runs code. On September 2, it replaced fixed daily caps with compute-based limits. Search results still mix all three names, and many guides still quote outdated prices.

This guide sorts it out. You will learn what the tool is called today, what it can do, how to build your first notebook in five steps, and what each plan costs after the September changes. [Editorial note: prices and limits were checked against Google’s announcements and third-party trackers on September 28, 2026. Google changes them often, so confirm before you pay.]

Notebook LM vs Gemini Notebook: What Actually Changed

Same product, new name and logo. Google says it stays a standalone tool, used by more than 30 million people and 600,000 organizations, and that automatic redirects keep old links working. Read Google’s announcement.

The “LM” stood for language model, a suffix borrowed from Google Labs naming habits. Google dropped it to match the Gemini family.

✅ What stayed the same: your notebooks, your sources, your shared links, the standalone app and the free plan.

🆕 What is new: Gemini branding, tighter links to the Gemini app (notebooks have lived inside it since April 2026), and a promised arrival in AI Mode in Google Search.

📊 What changed under the hood: Gemini 3.5 models, a cloud computer for code, more file exports and a new usage system.

What Gemini Notebook Can Do Right Now

The core idea has not changed. You upload sources, and the tool answers from those sources with citations. It does not search the open web for answers on its own. That limit is the whole point, because it keeps every answer tied to material you chose.

Audio and Video Overviews

Audio Overviews turn your sources into a discussion between two AI hosts. You pick a format (Deep Dive, Brief, Critique or Debate), set the language and steer the focus with a short instruction.

Video Overviews add narration and visuals, with styles such as whiteboard, watercolor or classic. Both are available on the free plan. The Studio panel now shows the expected cost before you generate anything.

Deep Research and source discovery

You no longer need a pile of files to begin. Start with a loose question, and the tool uses Google Search to find sources and proposes them for your notebook. You decide what gets added, and every claim stays attributed.

Fast Research returns a list of curated links. Deep Research adds a written summary on top of the links.

Code, charts and file exports

The June upgrade gave notebooks a secure cloud computer with more than 100 curated software skills. In practice, you can ask for an analysis and get finished files back:

📊 Charts and visuals (PNG, SVG)
📄 Documents (PDF, DOCX, Markdown)
🗂️ Data files (CSV, JSON, XLSX)
🎞️ PowerPoint decks (PPTX)

[Editorial note: the rollout started with Google AI Ultra and eligible Workspace business accounts. Google said Pro users on the web would follow. Check your own Studio panel to see what you have.]

Studio also still makes mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, infographics, slide decks and data tables. Teachers and students get the most from those study formats.

How to Use Gemini Notebook in 5 Steps

1. Pick one goal and add tight sources

Keep each notebook focused on one decision or one topic. Add PDFs, Google Docs, web pages, YouTube links or audio files.

Google Docs, Slides and Sheets work as living sources you can re-sync. PDFs are static uploads, so replace them when the original changes.

2. Configure the chat before you ask anything

Open the chat settings and add a custom instruction. It frames every answer around your goal. Start with this one and edit the brackets:

Prompt: Configure Chat

Configure Chat Prompt Copy

Act as a skeptical senior advisor reviewing this decision: [describe your decision]. Every answer must cite the exact source and passage it comes from. Flag any claim you cannot support with a direct citation instead of guessing.

3. Ask for the evidence against your view

Most people use the tool to confirm what they already believe. Flip it. Ask for the strongest case against your plan before you commit to anything:

Prompt: Counter-Case

Find The Counter-Case Prompt Copy

Based only on the sources in this notebook, find the strongest evidence against my plan to: [describe your plan]. List every conflict, gap or unsupported assumption you find, with the exact source for each. Do not soften the findings to agree with me.

4. Generate outputs from Studio

Pick the format that fits the job: a briefing for a meeting, flashcards for an exam, a spreadsheet for a budget. Watch the cost bar in the Studio panel. If you hit your limit, choose “Generate later” and the notebook will notify you when the file is ready.

5. Check every citation

Click through to the source passage behind each claim. Treat the output as a strong draft, not a final answer.

After a few back-and-forth rounds, clear the chat history so earlier answers do not bias later ones. Save anything worth keeping first.

Gemini Notebook Pricing and Limits After September 2

You cannot buy the tool on its own. Every paid tier arrives inside a Google AI plan. Many guides about notebook lm pricing still list Plus at $7.99, but Google cut Google AI Plus to $4.99 a month in June.

Since September 2, Google measures usage by compute, not by fixed daily counts. Your allowance depends on prompt complexity, chat length, number of sources and the features you use. A quick question costs little. A long Video Overview costs a lot. The quota refreshes every five hours until you reach a weekly cap, and a live indicator under the chat shows where you stand.

Gemini Notebook Pricing Table

💰 Gemini Notebook (Notebook LM) pricing and limits, checked September 28, 2026. Google updates prices often, confirm before buying.

Plan	💵 Monthly price	📓 Notebooks	📚 Sources / notebook	⏱️ Compute quota vs. Free	🎬 Cinematic Video Overview
Free	$0	100	50	1x (baseline)	❌ Not available
Plus	$4.99
via Google AI Plus	200	100	~2x	❌ Not available
Pro	$19.99
via Google AI Pro	500	300	~4x	✅ 2 / day
Ultra 20TB	$99.99
via Google AI Ultra	500+	500	~5x-10x	✅ 10 / day
Ultra 30TB	$199.99
via Google AI Ultra	500+	600	~10x-20x	✅ 20 / day

Google publishes relative limits, not exact counts. Third-party trackers describe the compute quota as roughly 2x on Plus, 4x on Pro and 5x to 20x on Ultra compared with the free plan. Treat those multipliers as estimates.

The structural limits do not reset. Every tier caps a single source at 500,000 words or 200 MB.

📌 Our read: the free plan covers most people. Move to Plus when you keep hitting the cap, to Pro for heavy research, and to Ultra only if a team runs large projects.

Gemini Notebook vs ChatGPT and Perplexity: Pick the Right Tool

The tools solve different problems, so the choice is simple.

✅ Use Gemini Notebook when you already have the documents and need cited answers, study aids or overviews.
✅ Use ChatGPT or another general chatbot for open brainstorming and drafting without source files.
✅ Use Perplexity when you want a live web answer with links.
❌ Do not expect any of them to replace your own judgment.

Where Notebook LM Still Falls Short

Gemini Notebook is strong, but it has real limits.

❌ Bad sources, bad answers. Notebook LM cannot fix a weak reading list. It only reflects what you upload.
❌ No offline mode. Your files go to Google’s servers on every plan, so check your privacy rules before uploading sensitive documents.
❌ Harder-to-predict limits. Compute budgets are less clear than the old daily counts.
❌ Web research is not its best trick. One popular reviewer argues that dedicated Deep Research tools in Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude filter low-quality sources better.

US college students can get a free year of Google AI Pro. See Gemini Pro for students.

FAQ

Is Notebook LM the same as Gemini Notebook?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. It is the same standalone product with a new name and logo. Your existing notebooks, sources and shared links keep working through automatic redirects, so you do not need to rebuild anything.

Is Gemini Notebook free?

Yes. The free plan includes 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, Audio and Video Overviews and Deep Research, with no time limit. Paid tiers arrive bundled with Google AI Plus ($4.99), Pro ($19.99) and Ultra (from $99.99), and they raise limits rather than unlock basic features.

What changed on September 2, 2026?

Google replaced fixed daily feature caps with compute-based usage limits. Your allowance now depends on prompt complexity, chat length, source count and the features you pick. Limits refresh every five hours until a weekly cap. If you run out, you can queue Video Overviews and Slide Decks for later.

Can Gemini Notebook browse the web?

Not for answers. It responds from your uploaded sources. You can use Fast Research or Deep Research to find web sources, but you approve which ones enter the notebook. Only then does the tool treat them as part of the material it answers from.

Do my old NotebookLM links still work?

Yes. Google set up automatic redirects so shared notebooks and links keep working after the rename. The new name and logo roll out across interfaces over several weeks, and mobile users may need to update the app to see them.

Conclusion

The name changed, but the winning habit did not: give the tool a small, high-quality set of sources and ask sharp questions. The new cloud computer, the file exports and the Gemini links make that habit more powerful. The compute limits make it worth planning your heavy jobs.

Open Gemini Notebook today, build one notebook around a decision you need to make this month, and run the counter-case prompt. Then tell us what it changed in the comments.

Sources

9to5Google: Gemini Live adds Deep Research as Notebooks come to AI Mode