TubeOnAI vs NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook): Which to Use When
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is a research notebook for your documents; TubeOnAI summarizes videos and podcasts and repurposes them.
Updated
Short answer: use Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) when you want to study or research a set of documents: you load up to 50 sources into a notebook on the free tier, ask questions across all of them, and turn them into Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, mind maps, flashcards, quizzes or reports. Use TubeOnAI when your material is mostly video and audio: it summarizes YouTube videos even without a transcript, handles podcasts and other video sites, follows channels for you, and turns summaries into blog posts, threads and newsletters.
NotebookLM has a new name. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026 (Google’s announcement). It is still a standalone research tool, now also available inside the Gemini app, and the old NotebookLM address redirects to the new site. Features below were checked on Google’s official pages in October 2026.
Comparison Table
| TubeOnAI | Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Summarize content and repurpose it | Research and study assistant grounded in the sources you add |
| Sources | YouTube and other public video/audio links (Dailymotion, Bilibili, Twitch, SoundCloud; availability varies by site), podcasts, web articles, PDFs, Google Docs, Slides and Drive files, uploads | PDFs, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, Word, PowerPoint, text, Markdown, CSV, ePub, images, audio files, web URLs, public YouTube URLs, Gemini chats |
| YouTube | Summarizes videos with or without a transcript | Public videos with captions only; imports the transcript text |
| Working across sources | Collections library; chat with a summary or document | Notebooks with up to 50 sources each (free); chat across all of them |
| Outputs | Summaries plus 150+ repurposing templates: blog posts, X threads, newsletters, LinkedIn posts, custom prompts | Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, mind maps, flashcards, quizzes, study guides, reports, infographics, slide decks |
| Finding new sources | Subscribe to YouTube channels; new videos are summarized automatically | Fast Research and Deep Research search the web or Drive and import sources |
| Listening | Text summaries read aloud (Pro plan) | Audio Overviews: an AI-hosted discussion of your sources |
| Platforms | Web, Chrome extension, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android, and inside the Gemini app |
| Free plan | Starter, free forever: 3 channel subscriptions, 400 credits | Free: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 chat queries a day |
| Paid plans (as of October 2026) | Essential $9/mo, Pro $19/mo, Enterprise $29/mo; 7-day free trial | Higher limits through Google AI plans (for example, 500 notebooks and 300 sources per notebook on Pro) |
Where Gemini Notebook Is Stronger
Research Across Many Documents
A notebook can hold dozens of sources, and every answer is grounded in them. That makes Gemini Notebook a strong choice for literature reviews, course readings, long reports and internal documents, where you need to compare what several files say.
Study Formats Built In
From the same sources you can generate an Audio Overview (a podcast-style discussion between two AI hosts), a Video Overview with images and quotes from your documents, a mind map, flashcards, a quiz, a study guide, a report, an infographic or a slide deck. TubeOnAI does not create podcast-style overviews or explainer videos.
Research Help and Google Integration
Fast Research and Deep Research can browse the web for you and add what they find as sources. Notebooks also sync with the Gemini app, and Google is rolling out code execution so notebooks can analyze data.
A Generous Free Tier
The free version allows 100 notebooks with 50 sources each and 50 chat queries a day, which is enough for most students.
Where TubeOnAI Is Stronger
Videos and Podcasts, Not Just Documents
Gemini Notebook only imports public YouTube videos that have captions, and it works from the transcript text. TubeOnAI can summarize YouTube videos without a transcript, accepts links from other video and audio sites, and can summarize podcasts directly. If most of what you need to get through is video or audio, TubeOnAI removes a step.
Turning Summaries Into Content
TubeOnAI’s 150+ repurposing templates turn a video, podcast or article into a blog post, an X thread, an email newsletter or a LinkedIn post, and you can write and save custom prompts for anything else. Gemini Notebook’s outputs are aimed at understanding the material, not at publishing it.
Following Channels Automatically
Subscribe to YouTube channels in TubeOnAI and every new video is imported and summarized, with an instant notification. In Gemini Notebook you add sources yourself or find them with its research tools.
A Chrome Extension and Mobile Apps
Both tools now have iOS and Android apps. TubeOnAI also has a Chrome extension, and its summaries can be translated into 30+ languages.
Verdict: Documents or Video and Audio
Choose Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) if you are a student, researcher or analyst working mainly with PDFs, Google Docs, slides and web pages, and you want to question them together or turn them into study material and audio overviews.
Choose TubeOnAI if you mostly consume YouTube videos and podcasts, follow particular channels, or need to turn what you watch into blog posts, social posts and newsletters.
Many people use both: TubeOnAI to get through video and audio quickly, Gemini Notebook to dig into documents. If you are looking for other tools that work like NotebookLM, see our list of NotebookLM alternatives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is NotebookLM still available?
Yes. It is now called Gemini Notebook. Google renamed it in July 2026, and it still offers a free version.
Is TubeOnAI an alternative to NotebookLM?
Partly. They overlap on summarizing YouTube videos, web pages and documents and on chatting with your content. TubeOnAI is the better fit for video and audio and for repurposing; Gemini Notebook is the better fit for researching many documents at once.
Can Gemini Notebook summarize a YouTube video without captions?
No. Google’s help pages say only public YouTube videos with captions (uploaded or auto-generated) can be added, and videos without speech are not supported. TubeOnAI can summarize YouTube videos that have no transcript.
