Is Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Free? Pricing 2026
Is NotebookLM free? Yes: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, usage that resets every 5 hours. Notebook LM pricing: Plus $4.99, Pro $19.99, students get a free year.
So you’ve tried Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM), the answers are sharp, the Audio Overviews are oddly addictive, and now you’re wondering where the catch is. Is it actually free, or the kind of free that asks for your card three clicks in? Good news: the core product is free, with no trial timer and no credit card. Paid Google AI plans, however, add room and usage on top. And if you searched “is Notebook LM free”, it’s the same app: Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026, and the free tier carried over without modification. Here’s what you get for nothing, what paying adds, and whether you need to pay at all.
Key Takeaways
- Gemini Notebook is free with a Google account: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, no card (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026).
- Since September 2, 2026, free usage refreshes every five hours until a weekly cap.
- Google AI Plus ($4.99 a month in the US) doubles usage and room. Pro ($19.99) gives four times the usage.
- Every Studio format, Audio and Video Overviews included, works on the free tier.
- Most students and solo researchers never need to pay.
Notebook LM pricing at a glance
Free costs $0, and the cheapest paid plan is $4.99 a month. The table below compares every option, so you can identify exactly which limitation you’d be paying to remove.
| Plan | US price | Notebooks / sources each | Usage | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 / 50 | Standard | Most students and solo researchers. |
| Google AI Plus | $4.99/month | 200 / 100 | 2x standard | Outgrowing the 50-source cap. |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99/month | 500 / 300 | 4x standard | Long projects and watermark-free videos. |
| Google AI Ultra (20 TB) | $99.99/month | 500 / 500 | 5x Pro | Professionals with intensive daily research. |
| Google AI Ultra (30 TB) | $199.99/month | 500 / 600 | 20x Pro | Enormous notebooks and maximum usage. |
| Student offer | $0 for one year | AI Pro (US) or AI Plus (140+ markets) | 4x or 2x standard | College students who redeem by December 31, 2026. |
Checked October 2, 2026: US prices from Google’s AI plans page, limits from Gemini Notebook Help and usage limits. Prices vary by country.
Is Gemini Notebook completely free, or is there a catch?
Yes, Gemini Notebook is free, and there’s no hidden trial. Free includes every core feature; the limitation you’ll encounter first is usage, not a paywall. Every Google account gets up to 100 notebooks, each notebook holds up to 50 sources, and each source can run to 500,000 words or 200MB (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). You never enter payment information. The catch, if you can call it that, is usage rather than features. Since September 2, 2026, Google measures how much computation each request takes, and your allowance refreshes every five hours until you reach a weekly limit (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). Specifically, Google names four things that make a request heavier: prompt complexity, chat length, the number of sources and the features you use. In other words, the free tier isn’t a stripped-down demo. You get the full product with a smaller allowance, and paid plans multiply that allowance.
So what changes day to day? Not much for a typical user, in fact. The features aren’t paywalled. Only the volume is, and our guide to Gemini Notebook usage limits explains how the five-hour windows work. You’re in good company asking, too: we analyzed 1,451 Google autocomplete suggestions for these topics in October 2026, and searches like “free unlimited”, “free vs paid” and “free for students” sat right next to this question. If you’re already bumping into those windows, the cheapest fix is to stop spending them twice.
Hit the free limits? Get more out of each one
Kortex brings AI chats, YouTube videos and web pages into Gemini Notebook in one click, and sorts notebooks into folders. It exports notes and chats to PDF, Markdown or text, so you never regenerate what you already made. It doesn't raise Google's limits. Free on Chrome.
What do you get with Notebook LM free?
Nearly everything. Free covers every Studio format with lower limits; what it holds back is a short list of extras, and Deep Research is the one you’ll miss first. Google’s plan table gives the free tier the same Studio formats paying users get: Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, Mind Maps, Reports, Flashcards, Quizzes, Data Tables, Infographics and Slide Decks, each with lower limits (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). In addition, custom chat settings and notebook analytics are free for everyone. What paid plans keep for themselves is a short list: advanced sharing, more Deep Research runs, cinematic Video Overviews and removal of the visible video watermark (the last two start at Pro). Deep Research, in particular, is capped at 10 runs a month on the free tier, against 3 a day on Plus. That’s why the honest answer to “is it free?” is yes, with a smaller allowance, rather than yes, with features missing. For example, a free account can still turn a reading list into a Debate-style Audio Overview, a quiz and a slide deck.
Are Audio and Video Overviews free?
Yes. All four Audio Overview formats work on the free tier (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). Deep Dive is the default two-host conversation, and Brief is a single speaker in under two minutes. Critique gives feedback on a draft, while Debate argues two sides of a topic. Video Overviews are free as well. Only the cinematic style starts at Pro, notably.
What file types can you upload for free?
Practically everything. The free tier accepts PDFs, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, Word, text, Markdown, CSV and PowerPoint files, copied text, web URLs, public YouTube videos, audio files such as MP3 and WAV, images and ePub files (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). Paid plans, in contrast, raise how much you can add, not what kind. Want more out of each source? Our 30 best Gemini Notebook prompts are a good start.
That’s a complete research assistant for $0. What the free tier leaves to you is the busywork around it, such as getting chats, videos and web pages in and getting your notes back out.
Free vs paid: what does Gemini Notebook Plus add?
Mostly additional capacity and usage. Plus doubles both, and the premium extras you might actually pay for begin at Pro. Gemini Notebook Plus is the name people still use for Gemini Notebook inside a paid Google AI plan, and it’s mostly about scale. Google’s usage page gives Google AI Plus twice the standard allowance and Google AI Pro four times; Ultra gets 5x or 20x more than Pro (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). As a result, capacity grows in step: 200 notebooks with 100 sources each on Plus, 500 with 300 on Pro, and up to 600 sources per notebook on the top Ultra plan, as the pricing table above shows.
Older articles, on the other hand, tell a different story. At launch in December 2024, Google promised Plus subscribers “more than five times more Audio Overviews, notebooks and sources per notebook” (Google, 2024). Likewise, it listed response customization and team analytics as Plus features. Today’s plan table, however, makes custom chat and analytics free for everyone, and capacity roughly doubles on Plus. So if a post promises 5x for a few dollars, it’s describing a plan that no longer exists.
How much does Gemini Notebook Plus cost?
$4.99 a month in the US, through Google AI Plus. Gemini Notebook isn’t sold on its own, so the real question is which Google AI plan you pick. Google AI Plus is Google’s cheapest paid AI plan, and it costs $4.99 a month in the US as of October 2026. Google launched Plus in the US at $7.99 a month with 200GB of storage in January 2026 (TechCrunch, 2026). Then, on June 8, 2026, it cut the price to $4.99 and doubled the storage to 400GB (9to5Google, 2026). Meanwhile, Google AI Pro costs $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year with 5TB, and Ultra costs $99.99 or $199.99 a month, billed monthly only (Google One, 2026). As a result, the step from free to paid Gemini Notebook now costs about as much as a coffee. That said, prices vary by country, so check Google’s plans page for your own before you subscribe.
Is Gemini Notebook included with Google AI Pro?
Yes. Every Google AI plan includes Gemini Notebook, and the plans page describes the access in rising steps: “more access” on Plus, “expanded access” on Pro and “higher access” on Ultra (Google One, 2026). On Pro, for example, that means 500 notebooks, 300 sources per notebook and four times the standard usage. Treat the dollar figures as a snapshot; the bundled, tiered structure is the part that stays put.
Do students get a discount on Gemini Notebook?
Yes, and in 2026 it’s a free year rather than a discount. The catch is the redemption deadline and the eligible account type. Eligible US college students can claim one year of Google AI Pro at no cost, valued at $19.99 a month, if they redeem it by December 31, 2026. Students in more than 140 other markets where Google AI Plus is sold get a free year of Plus instead (Google, 2026). In addition, there’s a second route. Gemini Notebook is “included in all Google Workspace for Education editions free of charge”, so a school account may already have it (Google for Education, 2026). In that case, however, your school’s admin decides whether it’s switched on. Notably, the student offers need a personal account; Google says they’re not available on school-issued accounts. You also add payment details at sign-up, though Google says it won’t charge you during the free year. Either way, most coursework fits the free tier’s 50 sources per notebook.
Before paying, therefore, it’s worth structuring your work to fit the free limits. Our Gemini Notebook workflow for students shows how to stay productive without an upgrade. Why pay for headroom you won’t use?
Who actually needs to pay for Gemini Notebook Plus?
Far fewer people than you’d guess. Four signs indicate you’ve outgrown free, and one problem no plan fixes. You probably need a paid plan if one of these sounds like you:
- You keep more than 100 notebooks.
- Your notebooks routinely pass 50 sources.
- You run out of usage most days.
- You publish videos and want them watermark-free, which starts at Pro.
Those are real needs. However, they’re not the average user’s needs, and the Upgrade button is always there the day you actually hit a wall.
Here’s the honest take: the bottleneck most people describe isn’t Gemini Notebook’s limits. It’s getting work in and out. We analyzed 776 answers to the Kortex MCP waitlist survey (September to October 2026), and we found that 244 people, or 31%, described a manual copy-paste workaround they use today. That matches what Google ships on every tier, in fact. As of October 2026, Gemini Notebook exports single notes to Google Docs or Sheets, but it has no native export of sources or chats, and personal accounts get no public API. Audio Overviews download from the player on the web, and flashcards download as a CSV file, but that’s the full list. Paying for Plus therefore gives you more room, not a way to get your content out.
If your notes belong in another app, our guide to saving Gemini Notebook notes to Notion or Obsidian shows how an AI assistant can carry them there. It uses Kortex MCP, a private beta for invited Kortex Pro members; invites go out from the Kortex MCP waitlist.
How does Kortex extend free Gemini Notebook?
It fills the gaps no Google plan covers: import, organizing and export. Kortex is a free Chrome extension that adds the pieces Gemini Notebook leaves out on every plan, starting with export. We built Kortex, so read this section as the maker’s view. Its free plan includes 10 imports and 10 exports a day, 10 saved prompts and 5 folders. Exports go to PDF, Markdown, plain text or ZIP; consequently, your sources, notes and chats leave the notebook in one click. Imports pull in AI chats, YouTube videos and web pages, and a saved prompt library keeps your best prompts one click away. Kortex Pro costs $9.99 a month, or $4.92 a month billed yearly, and adds unlimited use, automations and bulk import. None of it needs a paid Google plan. That said, Kortex doesn’t raise Google’s limits; it removes the friction around them. For instance, exporting a chat reads what’s already in the notebook, so it doesn’t ask the model to do new work. Our comparison of Kortex vs Gemini Notebook covers what each one does.
To be clear: Kortex enhances Gemini Notebook; it doesn’t replace it. You still use Google’s tools for everything they do well. Want a walkthrough? Our guide to getting started with Kortex sets it up in a few minutes.
In short, Gemini Notebook is free for the vast majority of users, and the paid plans are a fair deal if you outgrow it. Before you pay, though, fix the gap no plan covers, specifically getting your work in and out.
Get more from free Gemini Notebook, no upgrade
Kortex adds one-click import, collections and tags, and export to PDF, Markdown, text or ZIP. It doesn't change Google's limits; it removes the busywork around them. Free on Chrome.
Frequently asked questions
Is NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) completely free to use?
Yes. Gemini Notebook’s core features are free with a Google account, and no credit card is needed. The free tier gives you 100 notebooks with up to 50 sources each, plus usage that refreshes every five hours up to a weekly limit (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). Most students and solo researchers never need more.
Is Notebook LM free and unlimited?
Free, but not unlimited. Since September 2, 2026, free usage refreshes every five hours until you reach a weekly limit (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). The free tier also caps you at 100 notebooks with 50 sources each. Paid Google AI plans raise those ceilings rather than removing them.
What does NotebookLM Plus cost?
Gemini Notebook isn’t sold on its own. Its paid tiers come with Google AI plans: in the US, Google AI Plus costs $4.99 a month, down from $7.99 since June 8, 2026 (9to5Google, 2026). Google AI Pro costs $19.99 a month, and Google AI Ultra starts at $99.99.
What’s the difference between free Gemini Notebook and Plus?
Plus doubles both room and usage: 200 notebooks, 100 sources per notebook and twice the standard usage allowance (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). It also adds advanced sharing and more Deep Research runs. Custom chat and notebook analytics, however, are free for everyone.
Do students get a discount on Gemini Notebook Plus?
Better than a discount. Eligible US college students can claim a free year of Google AI Pro until December 31, 2026, and students in more than 140 other markets get a free year of Google AI Plus (Google, 2026). School accounts also get Gemini Notebook free through Google Workspace for Education.
Is there a Gemini Notebook API I can pay for?
Not on a personal account. As of October 2026, Google’s only documented Gemini Notebook API is for Gemini Notebook Enterprise on Google Cloud, which needs Enterprise licenses. Free and Plus users have no official endpoints to pull notebook content or automate it. Browser-based tools like Kortex add export and automation on top of the standard Gemini Notebook web interface instead.
Does the free tier limit which file types I can upload?
No. The free tier supports the full range of source types, including PDFs, Google Docs, Slides, Word files, web URLs, YouTube videos, audio, and images (Gemini Notebook Help, 2026). Paid tiers raise usage limits, not the variety of supported formats.
Editorial note: fact-checked against the official help pages and docs linked above on October 2, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Contact us and we will fix it, or read more about Kortex.
