NotebookLM alternatives: seven tools and who each suits

First, a naming note. In July 2026 Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. It is the same product, and old links redirect to the new address. Most people still search for NotebookLM, so we use both names here.

Gemini Notebook is a research notebook. You add sources, such as PDFs, Google Docs, web pages, audio files and YouTube links, and then ask questions. Answers cite the passage they came from, and it can turn your sources into Audio and Video Overviews, reports, flashcards, quizzes, mind maps and slide decks. It is good at that, and the free plan is large: 100 notebooks of up to 50 sources each.

So why look elsewhere? The reasons we hear most are videos it can't import, wanting a knowledge base that grows on its own, wanting more study tools, or wanting a general assistant instead of a notebook. Each tool below fits one of those. We make Claras, which is on this list, and we have tried to be as fair to the others as to ourselves.

The short answer

• A general assistant that can also read your files: ChatGPT or the Gemini app.
• A knowledge base that keeps everything you save: Recall.
• Study aids from course material: Mindgrasp or NoteGPT.
• A searchable library of videos, with clickable citations: Video Highlight.
• Videos Gemini Notebook can't import, and playlists from one link: Claras.

Where Gemini Notebook falls short with video

This matters for several picks below, so it is worth knowing first. Google's help pages say a YouTube source must be public and have captions, uploaded or auto-generated, and that only the text transcript is imported. Videos uploaded in the last 72 hours may not import. Instagram and TikTok aren't in its list of source types, and there is no playlist import on the help pages we read, so each video is its own source. It can transcribe an audio or video file you upload, up to 200 MB.

If your sources are mostly documents, none of this matters, and Gemini Notebook may be hard to beat. If they are mostly videos, read on.

How we checked

We read each product's own site and pricing page on 11 and 12 November 2026, and only give a price when it was there. Prices change, so check before you pay. We haven't tested answer quality across these tools, so we don't rank them on it.

1. ChatGPT: when you want a general assistant

ChatGPT isn't a notebook. It is a general assistant that can read files you upload or text you paste, search the web on every plan, and write whatever you ask for. If you used Gemini Notebook mainly to draft from your sources, it may do the job with less setup.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: range. Any format, any tone, web search in the same chat, and a long conversation you can keep refining.

Where it falls short: its pricing page lists Projects for grouping files and chats, but doesn't describe citations that open the passage in your sources, the way a notebook does. File uploads are limited on the free plan. OpenAI's pricing page doesn't mention YouTube, and its help center blocked our checks, so we won't say what happens when you paste a YouTube link.

Price: Free, Go, Plus and Pro for individuals, and Business from 2 users. Its pricing page notes the Go plan may include ads.

Choose it if you already pay for ChatGPT and your notebooks were mostly a place to write from. There is more in how Claras and ChatGPT compare.

2. The Gemini app: finding videos and asking about them

The Gemini app is Google's general assistant, and it now shares notebooks with Gemini Notebook. Its YouTube trick is different: it uses public YouTube information, so you can ask it to find videos, playlists or channels on a topic, then ask about one. Gemini in Chrome, on a computer, iPhone or iPad, can summarize YouTube videos.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: discovery. You don't need a link to start. Google AI Pro and Ultra also include a 1 million token context window.

Where it falls short: uploads are tight without Google AI Pro or Ultra: videos up to 5 minutes in total and audio up to 10 minutes, rising to 1 hour and 3 hours on Pro or Ultra. The Google pages we read don't describe a full transcript you can keep.

Choose it if you want answers about a topic on YouTube more than a store of sources. See Claras and Gemini side by side.

3. Recall: a knowledge base that grows with you

Recall (the old getrecall.ai, now recall.it) saves what you read, watch and hear: YouTube videos and Shorts, articles, PDFs, EPUBs, Apple and Spotify podcast episodes, and posts from TikTok, Instagram, X and more. It summarizes each one, and on Plus it tags items, links them into a knowledge graph automatically, and quizzes you with spaced repetition.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: it is one library, not many notebooks, and it is built to help you remember. It transcribes YouTube videos with no captions, as long as they run under 5 hours. It has four browser extensions and phone apps, and exports everything as Markdown.

Where it falls short: chat across everything you saved, quizzes and automatic tagging start on Plus. Uploading your own MP4s was listed as coming soon.

Price: free with 10 AI summaries a month and unlimited saves. Plus is $10 a month and Max $38 a month, both billed yearly.

Choose it if you want a second brain more than a research project. Read Recall and Claras compared for the video detail.

4. NoteGPT: many AI tools in one place

NoteGPT starts from a YouTube link, a file, a PDF, slides or a web page, and offers summaries, transcripts, mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, slides and writing tools, plus a chat where you can pick between ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek and other models. Its YouTube summarizer takes playlists, and batches of 5 videos on Pro, 10 on Unlimited and 20 on Max.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: study and writing tools, model choice, and videos with no captions, up to 120 minutes on Pro and 210 on Unlimited and Max.

Where it falls short: most features draw on one quota, though it lists flashcards and quizzes as free. The free plan has 15 a month, and a summary costs 1 per 10,000 words, each chat message 1.

Price: billed yearly, Pro is $108 a year. Unlimited was $239 a year at a limited-time price, normally $348.

Choose it if you want one subscription for many study jobs. Our NoteGPT alternatives guide covers its rivals.

5. Mindgrasp: a study suite for students

Mindgrasp turns course material into notes, summaries, flashcards, quizzes and an AI tutor. It reads PDFs, Word files, PowerPoints, MP3s, MP4s, articles, and YouTube and Vimeo links. It can record lectures live, including on a phone with its iOS app, and its Chrome extension reads pages on Canvas, Blackboard and Panopto.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: live lecture recording and course sites. Its free YouTube summarizer needs no sign-up.

Where it falls short: prices aren't on its website. Its App Store listing says a subscription is needed after a free trial, and lists Scholar at $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year, and Premium at $14.99 or $131.99.

Choose it if you are a student and your material is spread across slides, readings and recorded lectures. See Claras and Mindgrasp side by side.

6. Video Highlight: a library built around video

Video Highlight is the closest thing on this list to a notebook made only for videos. It imports YouTube videos, playlists and whole channels, gives timestamped summaries and transcripts in 37 languages, and lets you highlight and take notes on the transcript. Its chat answers with citations that jump to the second, and its pages describe chat across one playlist at a time. It also transcribes YouTube videos with no captions, up to 150 minutes each on the free plan.

Where it beats Gemini Notebook: playlists and channels from a link, and citations that open the moment in the video. It exports to Word, Markdown, Notion and Readwise, and has a connector so Claude and ChatGPT can search your library.

Where it falls short: uploading your own files needs a paid plan, and its browser extension was in early access, for screenshots and notes only.

Price: free for 10 public videos and 450 minutes a month. Plus is $12 a month, or $96 a year.

Choose it if you want to keep and annotate what you learn from video. Read Video Highlight and Claras compared.

7. Claras: for the videos a notebook can't take

Claras isn't a notebook. It doesn't read PDFs or web pages, it doesn't make Audio Overviews, and its citations are times written as plain text, not links into a source. If your work is mixed documents, Gemini Notebook is the better tool.

Claras is here for the gaps above. Paste a YouTube link and it reads the captions. If there are none, it transcribes the audio with AI, up to 30 minutes on the free plan and 3 hours on a paid one, where Gemini Notebook would refuse the link. Instagram and TikTok links work too, up to 30 minutes, and you can upload video and audio files up to 6 hours. For each video you get a full transcript, a summary with key takeaways, chapters that jump to their moment, and Ask AI.

For many videos at once, Bulk Summaries reads a playlist (up to 50 videos) or a YouTube search page (up to 20) from one link and gives you one summary you can ask questions about.

Using both works well. Claras's Send to AI menu includes Gemini Notebook: it copies the transcript and tells you to add it as a Copied text source. That is a way to get a caption-less video or a TikTok into your notebook.

What to watch: the free plan is small next to Google's, at 3 videos a month and 1 bulk run. YouTube Shorts and live links don't work yet, and there is no phone app.

The full comparison of Claras and Gemini Notebook has the detail, and the pricing page has the plans.

How to choose

• Your sources are documents: stay with Gemini Notebook, or move to ChatGPT if you mostly write from them.
• You want to keep everything and remember it: Recall.
• You are studying for exams: Gemini Notebook already makes flashcards and quizzes. Try Mindgrasp for lecture recording and course sites, or NoteGPT for a wider toolkit.
• Your sources are videos you want to keep and annotate: Video Highlight.
• Your sources are videos you want to get through quickly, including caption-less ones, social clips and whole playlists: Claras, on its own or feeding your notebook.

Before you move, export what you want to keep. Notes don't carry across between any of these tools by themselves.

Questions people ask

More guides are on the Claras blog, and you can browse all comparisons, or read about building a knowledge base from videos.