Pick NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) if…
your research starts from documents you already have — course readings, reports, papers — and you want answers grounded only in them.
Both are research tools that cite their sources, but the sources differ. NotebookLM — now called Gemini Notebook — answers only from documents you upload. Perplexity searches the web and links what it found.
Use NotebookLM to study, summarise and question your own PDFs, notes and papers — its free tier is generous. Use Perplexity ($20/mo) to research what's out there on the web. Many researchers use both, and both free tiers go a long way.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) | Yes | $4.99/mo | $99.99–199.99/mo | Students, researchers, and analysts who need grounded answers and audio summaries from their own documents |
| Perplexity | Yes | $20/mo | $200/mo | Research with verifiable sources, fact-checking, exploring unfamiliar topics |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
| NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) | Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers from | Only the sources you upload | The web, with citations |
| Free tier | 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, 50 queries/day | Unlimited Quick searches, 5 Pro searches/day |
| How you pay | Not sold alone — bundled with Google AI Plus/Pro/Ultra | Standalone Pro and Max plans |
| Standout feature | Audio Overviews (podcast-style summaries) | Multi-model Pro searches, GPT-5.6 and Claude Sonnet 5 |
your research starts from documents you already have — course readings, reports, papers — and you want answers grounded only in them.
you need to find and verify information you don't have yet, with sources you can click through.
Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026; most guides and reviews still use the old name.
You can't buy it alone. Higher limits come with a Google AI subscription: AI Plus ($4.99/mo) raises you to 200 queries a day, AI Pro ($19.99/mo) to 500 plus 20 Audio Overviews a day.
Perplexity Pro includes unlimited file uploads, but it's built around web search; NotebookLM is built to answer only from your sources.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.