LunaNotes vs NotebookLM

Both turn your sources into answers and study material. NotebookLM is built around asking questions of a set of sources; LunaNotes is built around notes you keep, study and come back to, with a Chrome extension beside the YouTube player. Compared as of October 2026.

Try LunaNotes Free Visit NotebookLM

An AI notes app for learning. Makes structured, editable notes from YouTube videos, PDFs and documents, with timestamps back to the video. Turns notes into flashcards with spaced-repetition review, diagrams, and answers with numbered sources. One library across all your courses.

NotebookLM

Google's AI research notebook (now called Gemini Notebook). You add up to 50 sources per notebook on the free plan, then chat with them and generate Audio Overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards and quizzes, with citations back to the sources.

Introduction

NotebookLM is very good at one thing: you give it a pile of sources and it answers questions about them, with citations. It is free with a Google account, it takes PDFs, Docs, web pages, audio and public YouTube videos, and its Audio Overviews turn your sources into a podcast-style conversation. If you want to interrogate a set of papers, it is hard to beat. LunaNotes starts from a different place: the note. When you study a YouTube lecture, you get a structured note you can edit, with timestamps that jump back to the moment each point came from. It lives in one library with your other courses, so you can search and chat across everything you have studied, not just one notebook at a time. The other difference is where you work. LunaNotes' Chrome extension opens a notes panel beside the YouTube player, so you can take or generate notes while the lecture plays. And flashcards are built for remembering: cards come back on a spaced-repetition schedule, you can quiz yourself, and you can export to Anki.

Quick comparison

Feature	LunaNotes	NotebookLM
Notes beside the YouTube player
Spaced-repetition review
AI audio overviews
AI chat with content

Feature Comparison

Getting content in

Feature		NotebookLM
Notes from a YouTube link Turn a YouTube video into structured notes from its link, without downloading the file
Notes beside the YouTube player A browser extension panel on youtube.com for taking notes while the video plays
Notes from PDFs and documents Generate structured notes from uploaded PDF, Word and text files
Save web pages Save pages into a library or collections to read and search later		limited

Notes and studying

Feature		NotebookLM
Video timestamps Ability to link notes to specific moments in videos
Rich text editing Support for formatting, media embedding, and organization within notes		basic
Flashcard generation Ability to create flashcards from content for spaced repetition learning
Spaced-repetition review A daily review queue that brings cards or highlights back on a schedule
Quiz mode Interactive quiz mode for flashcard sets with score tracking
Anki export Export flashcards directly to Anki for spaced repetition study
Diagram generation AI-powered creation of diagrams and visual representations from content		partial

AI

Feature		NotebookLM
AI chat with content Ability to chat with AI about your content
AI audio overviews A generated podcast-style audio discussion of your sources
Semantic search AI-powered search that understands meaning, not just keywords		partial

Access

Feature		NotebookLM
Browser extension Browser extension for quick capture and access
Native mobile apps Dedicated iOS and Android apps

Pricing and limits, as of October 2026

NotebookLM is free with a Google account: 100 notebooks and 50 sources per notebook. Google AI Plus raises that to 200 notebooks and 100 sources, Pro to 500 notebooks and 300 sources, and Ultra to 500–600 sources per notebook (Google's help center, "subject to change"). A YouTube source can be any length up to 500,000 words of captions.

LunaNotes has a Free plan with no credit card, and paid plans billed weekly, monthly or yearly; see pricing for current plans. AI features use a monthly allowance that grows with the plan; writing, organizing and reviewing notes do not.

Plans change. Check each product's pricing page before you decide.

Pros and cons

LunaNotes Advantages

Chrome extension: notes beside the YouTube player while the lecture plays
Editable notes with timestamps that jump back into the video
Spaced-repetition flashcard review, quizzes and Anki export
One library across all your courses, searchable and chat-able together
Editable diagrams: concept maps, flowcharts and mind maps

NotebookLM Advantages

Free with a Google account, with generous source limits
Audio Overviews turn sources into a podcast-style conversation
Answers cite the exact passage in your sources
Takes Google Docs and Slides directly
Native iOS and Android apps

Which one to pick

Pick NotebookLM to question a fixed set of sources, especially research papers, or if you want Audio Overviews. Pick LunaNotes if you learn from YouTube lectures and courses and want notes you keep, flashcards that come back when you're about to forget, and a panel beside the video while you watch.

Frequently asked questions

Is NotebookLM now called Gemini Notebook?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. Existing notebooks and links kept working. We use both names on this page because many people still search for NotebookLM.

Can NotebookLM use YouTube videos?

Yes, public YouTube videos with captions. NotebookLM imports the transcript text only. LunaNotes also works from the transcript, and keeps timestamps in the note so you can jump back to the moment in the video.

Does NotebookLM have flashcards?

Yes. Google added flashcards and quizzes in September 2025. LunaNotes' flashcards add a spaced-repetition review schedule and Anki export.

Is LunaNotes affiliated with Google or NotebookLM?

No. NotebookLM and Gemini are trademarks of Google LLC. This comparison is written by LunaNotes from Google's public help pages as of October 2026.

Conclusion

NotebookLM is an excellent free tool for asking questions of your sources. The difference shows up over a whole course: LunaNotes keeps an editable, timestamped note for every lecture, brings the flashcards back on a schedule, and sits beside the video in Chrome while you watch. If you learn from long YouTube lectures or online courses, try LunaNotes' Free plan with the Chrome extension on your next lecture.

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What our users say

Trusted by thousands of learners worldwide

I am amazed by experiencing it. It is so helpfull for my office work as well as personal work.

George Watkins

It simple, easy to use and effective.

Chuc Thanh

Permite tomar notas mientras se ve un vídeo en YouTube y las vincula al momento exacto del vídeo. También permite hacer una captura de pantalla con anotaciones durante el vídeo. ¡MUY RECOMENDADA!

Cecilio Sánchez

Love it, simple to use and easy. It auto pauses the video when I start typing, which is cool.

Best Ibitoye Rotimi

I love this :) Please don't add too much complicated stuff that clutters the note section, I want it to be simple as is.

Ky Nam Nguyen

Excelente!

Mario Garrote Filho

Simple awesome. Nothing can be simpler then this and works beautifully. I appreciate the idea and the team who coded this. Amazing

Vivek Sharma

The best extension in webstore. So many functions available here You can customize your notes with powerful and easy-to-use editor.

Kanhaiya Kumar singh

Perfecta para agregar muchas notas en cada vídeo y saber en que tiempo del vídeo se creo la nota

Christopher Flores

Great great extension for learning and taking notes on u2bee!

董公卿

Very useful tool. I'm using it for the last couple weeks and I'm loving it so far. Makes learning on YouTube a great experience.

Bhai

Super eficiente me encantó <3

Derian Rosado

Muy buena para tomar notas a la par de tutoriales de código.

Moisés Luna

This extension works pretty well 10/10

Serudda Oficial

Me sirve mucho cuando estoy estudiando con videos de youtube, para destacar momentos importantes de los videos que miro. Es una app muy útil y recomendable.

Luciano Gomez