Is NotebookLM free?

Yes. NotebookLM, now called Gemini Notebook, is free with a Google account. The free plan gives you 100 notebooks with up to 50 sources each, chat with citations, and Audio Overviews, within usage limits. Paid Google AI plans, from $4.99 a month in the US, raise those limits and add extras like advanced sharing and watermark removal.

This guide lists what the free plan includes, what each paid plan adds, and who should pay. Prices and limits were checked on Google's pages on 8 October 2026 and can change.

What the free plan includes

• 100 notebooks, each with up to 50 sources.
• Sources up to 500,000 words or 200 MB each: PDFs, Docs, Slides, web pages, YouTube videos, audio and more.
• Chat with citations, custom chat settings and notebook analytics.
• Audio Overviews, mind maps, study guides, reports, flashcards and quizzes.
• The web app and the phone apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.

You sign up "free of charge" with a Gmail account. There's no trial period: the free plan stays free.

The catch: usage limits

The free plan limits how much you can use it, not just how many sources you add. Google measures usage by computing power: your allowance refreshes every 5 hours until you reach a weekly limit. Paid plans get more: Plus 2 times the standard usage, Pro 4 times, and Ultra 5 or 20 times Pro. Google says these limits are "subject to change." Things Gemini Notebook makes automatically when you add sources, such as some reports, don't count toward your limits.

For occasional studying or research, the free limits are usually enough. If you hit them daily, or need more than 50 sources in one notebook, that's when a paid plan or another tool makes sense.

How to get more from the free plan

• Merge small files into one PDF or Google Doc, since each source can hold up to 500,000 words.
• Delete notebooks you've finished and keep each one focused on a single project.
• Ask specific questions, so you use less of your allowance on answers you don't need.
• Check what can be added: paywalled web pages can't be imported, and YouTube videos need to be public with captions.

Our guide to NotebookLM's source limit has five ways to work past the 50-source cap.

Paid plans compared

There's no separate "NotebookLM Plus" product anymore. Higher limits come with Google AI subscriptions, which also include Gemini and other Google services:

*Google applies a visible watermark to generated images and videos in India, South Korea and Vietnam on every plan.

Businesses can also get it through Google Workspace, or Gemini Notebook for Enterprise on Google Cloud, which Google lists from $21 per seat per month as part of Gemini Enterprise Business.

Should you pay?

• Stay free if you study or research now and then, and your projects fit in 50 sources.
• Google AI Plus if you need up to 100 sources per notebook or want to share notebooks more widely, and $4.99 is fine.
• Google AI Pro if you use it every day, need up to 300 sources, or also want Gemini's higher tiers.
• Look elsewhere if your files are confidential, you need it offline, or you have thousands of documents in folders. Every plan uploads your sources to Google and needs the internet.

Free and paid alternatives

• AnythingLLM is free and open source, runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and can work offline, with more setup. See Citenook vs AnythingLLM.
• Citenook is a Mac app that reads whole folders on your Mac with no source limit on its Pro plans, shows the exact sentence behind each answer, and works offline with a model on your Mac. It's free for 30 days, then $9.99 to $29.99 a month, and it doesn't make Audio Overviews. See Citenook vs Gemini Notebook.

Questions

Sources, checked 8 October 2026: Gemini Notebook plans and limits, usage limits, FAQ, adding sources, Google AI plans (US), the rename.

Related: What is NotebookLM? · NotebookLM's source limit · A NotebookLM alternative that works offline