NotebookLM vs Gemini Notebook: same product, renamed in 2026

There is no comparison to make. Gemini Notebook is NotebookLM: Google renamed the product on July 16, 2026 and kept everything else. The announcement is one sentence long on this point — “We’re renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. It’s the same standalone product, now doing more across the Google ecosystem and updated with a secure cloud computer.” Same notebooks, same sources, same Google account.

Everything below is quoted from Google’s own pages as checked on 2026-08-21, with each page linked. The names moved once; they can move again.

What changed

The name, the addresses, and the logo. Google’s Workspace post, published the same day, says users “will see the new name and updated logo roll out across different interfaces over the next several weeks” and that “automatic redirects will ensure existing shared notebooks and user links continue to work”.

Before	After
NotebookLM	Gemini Notebook
notebooklm.google	notebook.google (the old host 301-redirects)
support.google.com/notebooklm/…	support.google.com/gemininotebook/… (same answer IDs)
NotebookLM Enterprise	Gemini Notebook Enterprise
NotebookLM mobile app	Gemini Notebook mobile app (Android, iOS)

Plan names moved with it: the help centre’s upgrade page now writes “Gemini Notebook Standard”, “Gemini Notebook in Plus”, “Gemini Notebook in Pro” and “Gemini Notebook in Ultra”.

What did not change

The caps. Read on 2026-08-21 from Google’s Upgrade Gemini Notebook page, the sources per notebook are:

Plan	Sources per notebook
Standard (free)	50
Plus	100
Pro	300
Ultra	500 or 600, by tier

One source holds up to 500,000 words or 200 MB for an uploaded file, on every consumer plan (sources page) — paying raises how many sources fit, not how big each one is. The free tier, per Google’s FAQ: “Get 100 notebooks, with up to 50 sources each and 500,000 words each.” It is also free of charge in all Google Workspace for Education editions, for users of all ages.

Notebooks, sources, the 5-hour and weekly usage limits that replaced the daily counts — the full per-plan table is in NotebookLM limits rather than repeated here, and working with them day to day is in how to use NotebookLM.

Gemini Notebook vs the Gemini chat app

This is the comparison people mean, and the two products differ at the root. Gemini Notebook answers from what you uploaded and nothing else: “Chat responses in Gemini Notebook only use data from your sources” (help page). The Gemini app is a general assistant, with the whole model behind it and no Sources panel to constrain it.

Which to open: the Gemini app for a question the world can answer, Gemini Notebook for a question only your fifty documents can — the transcript, the contract, the course, the three-year chat export. Notebook outputs are built from those sources too: Reports, Mind Maps, Audio and Video Overviews, Flashcards, Quizzes, Slide Decks and Infographics (Studio). The two do meet in one place: Google lists “Gemini Chats as context” among the source types a notebook accepts.

Why you still see both names

Because Google does too. The IAM roles on the Enterprise edition are still “Cloud NotebookLM Admin” and “Cloud NotebookLM User”; the support address in the FAQ is still notebooklm-user-support@google.com. Outside Google, every tutorial, review and third-party extension written before July 2026 says NotebookLM, and most search traffic still does.

So this site writes NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) on purpose. It is not indecision — it is the only spelling that matches both the product you are looking at and the words you typed to find it.

FAQ

Is Gemini Notebook free?

Yes, with quotas. The free tier is called Gemini Notebook Standard: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 500,000 words per source, and an AI usage budget that refreshes every 5 hours up to a weekly limit. Paid tiers come with Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra.

Is Gemini Notebook the same as NotebookLM?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026 and called it “the same standalone product”. There is no second product to choose between.

Do I need a new account for Gemini Notebook?

No. It is the same product under the same Google account; the rename applies to Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers and personal Google accounts alike.

Did my notebooks move?

No. Google states that automatic redirects keep existing shared notebooks and user links working, and notebooklm.google redirects to notebook.google.

Does NotebookLM use Gemini?

It is a Gemini product — Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026 and folded it into the Gemini line — but Google does not state a model version. The announcement (re-read 2026-09-19) names no Gemini model number, and neither does the help centre. Anyone quoting you a specific model behind the notebook is reading a third party, not Google. What Google does commit to is the constraint: “Chat responses in Gemini Notebook only use data from your sources” (help page).

How does NotebookLM integrate with Gemini?

Two ways, per the same announcement (re-read 2026-09-19). Notebooks can be accessed and created directly inside the Gemini app, with cross-app syncing between the app and the standalone Gemini Notebook; and Gemini chats can be added to a notebook as sources — Google lists “Gemini Chats as context” among the accepted source types. Google also says Gemini Notebook is coming to Search’s AI Mode, described on that page as not yet available.

What is Gemini Notebook used for?

Asking questions of material you uploaded — PDFs, Google Docs, web pages, public YouTube videos, audio files, Markdown — and turning it into Reports, Mind Maps, Audio or Video Overviews, Flashcards, Quizzes, Slide Decks and Infographics, all grounded in those sources.

Not affiliated with Google. NotebookLM and Gemini are Google trademarks; this is an independent extension that automates a signed-in session.

Whichever name your tab says, the sources still go in one at a time — source-lm is a Chrome extension that adds them in bulk.