What You Get with NotebookLM's Free Plan in 2026

NotebookLM's free version gives you 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, and 3 Audio Overviews per day. Google keeps this plan free with no time limit. You just need a Google account.

The free tier handles light research and small projects well enough. But if you work with lots of documents, need offline access, or prefer keeping your data off Google's servers, tools like Elephas give you more flexibility without the caps.

NotebookLM Free vs Plus: Full Plan Comparison

Google restructured NotebookLM into four distinct tiers in late 2025: Free, Plus, Pro, and Ultra. Each tier maps to a different Google subscription, and the limits scale up significantly as you move through them.

The free plan covers notebook creation, source uploads, document chat, and Audio Overview generation. Everything runs on Google's Gemini AI models in your browser, and all core features (Deep Research, Audio/Video Overviews, Slide Decks) are available on every tier.

​NotebookLM Plus sits between the free tier and Pro. It doubles the generation limits compared to the free plan, raises sources to 100 per notebook, and gives you early access to new features. Plus is available through qualifying Google Workspace plans (starting at $14 per user/month for Workspace Standard).

NotebookLM Pro is bundled with Google AI Pro (formerly Google One AI Premium) at $19.99 per month. You can't buy it separately. The subscription also includes Gemini Advanced, AI features in Gmail and Docs, and 2TB of Google cloud storage. 

US students aged 18 and older get a 50% discount at $9.99 per month for the first year. Pro gives you 5X the generation limits, higher Gemini model access, and priority access to new features.

NotebookLM Ultra comes with Google AI Ultra at $249.99 per month. It gives 50X the generation limits, the highest Gemini model access, and the ability to remove watermarks from Slide Decks and Infographics.

What the $19.99/month Google AI Pro bundle actually includes beyond NotebookLM Pro:

• Gemini Advanced access across all Google apps
• AI-powered features inside Gmail, Docs, and Sheets
• 2TB of Google cloud storage (worth about $10/month on its own)
• One-month free trial available for new subscribers
• Student discount: $9.99/month for US students 18+ (first year)

The free plan works for testing and occasional use. Plus adds breathing room for regular users. Pro removes friction for daily professional work. Ultra is built for organizations and power users running large-scale research.

How Many Sources Can You Add on the Free Plan?

The free plan allows up to 50 sources per notebook across a maximum of 100 notebooks. Each source can hold up to 500,000 words or 200MB in file size.

NotebookLM accepts a wide range of source types. Here's what you can upload and what to know about each:

• Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets pull in directly from your Drive
• ​PDFs and .docx files upload locally (copy-protected PDFs will fail)
• Plain text and Markdown files work without issues
• Web page URLs import text content only; images, embedded videos, and nested pages get skipped
• ​YouTube video URLs must be public with captions enabled, or the import fails
• Audio files support 20+ formats including MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, and OPUS (must contain clear speech, no music-only files)
• Images are supported as standalone sources
• Google Drive URLs link directly from your cloud storage
• Copy-pasted text lets you manually add content without a file

Paywalled pages and sites that block web scraping won't import at all.

Fifty sources per notebook is enough if you're researching a single topic or organizing reference material for a writing project. It gets tight when you're building a knowledge base from hundreds of documents (research papers, meeting recordings, legal files) because you start choosing which sources to keep and which to drop.

How Many Audio Overviews Can You Create for Free?

You get 3 Audio Overviews per day on the free plan. Audio Overviews convert your uploaded sources into podcast-style discussions between two AI hosts. They summarize key topics, break down complex ideas in conversational language, and can turn a 100-page document into a roughly 15-minute audio discussion.

The paid tiers increase this: Plus gives you roughly 6 per day (2X), Pro gives 20 per day (5X), and Ultra gives 200 per day (50X).

There's also an Interactive mode that lets you participate in the conversation while it's happening. You select "Join" while listening, then ask questions by voice or text. The AI hosts respond based on your source material and then pick up where they left off.

Key details about Interactive mode that are easy to miss:

• It only works on newly generated Audio Overviews, not previously saved ones
• English is the only supported language for Interactive mode right now
• You may experience slight delays after joining or after asking a question
• Voice and transcribed interactions aren't stored or shared by Google
• The mobile app may have limited Interactive mode support

Audio Overviews themselves are available in over 50 languages, but the Interactive feature stays English-only for now.

The daily limit resets on a rolling 24-hour basis. If you hit your cap at 2 PM, you can't generate another overview until 2 PM the next day. There's no midnight reset.

Three per day is plenty for casual use. If you regularly turn research into audio for commutes or workouts, you'll burn through those three fast. Plus bumps the limit to 20 per day.

What Are the Main Limitations of the Free Version?

Source and audio caps get the most attention, but the free plan has structural constraints that affect how useful the tool actually is.

On the usage side, 50 chat queries per day means heavy research sessions can get cut short. Three Audio Overviews per day limits how much content you can convert to audio. And 10 Deep Research sessions per month restricts complex, multi-step research tasks.

Beyond the daily caps, there are bigger structural issues that apply to all NotebookLM plans, not just the free tier:

• No offline mode exists on any plan. Every action requires an active internet connection, so you can't work on a plane, in a cafe with bad Wi-Fi, or anywhere without reliable connectivity.
• Google's Gemini is the only available AI model. You can't bring your own API keys,switch to OpenAI or Claude, or run a local model for privacy.
• Integrations only cover Google's ecosystem (Drive, Docs, Slides, Sheets). Apple Notes, Obsidian, Notion, and other tools require manual export and re-upload.
• Response customization (adjusting AI style, tone, or length) is locked behind the Plus plan.
• All documents are stored and processed on Google's servers. Google says it doesn't train AI on your data, but your content still passes through their infrastructure.

These constraints are manageable for someone exploring a single research topic. For anyone dealing with larger document sets, needing offline capability, or wanting to keep data off external servers, other tools handle those needs better.

Tips to Get More From the Free Version

You can stretch the free plan with some adjustments. The main idea is to reduce the number of source slots you use without losing the information you need.

• Merge related documents into one Google Doc with tabs or sections before uploading. Ten files on the same topic become one source slot instead of ten.
• Delete finished project notebooks to free up space. You have 100 total, so rotation keeps things open.
• Reserve your 3 daily Audio Overviews for the densest material. Use text-based chat for simpler documents where you can skim the answers.
• Ask specific questions instead of broad ones. Targeted prompts produce better answers and use fewer of your 50 daily chat queries.
• Combine multiple related web pages into a single copy-pasted text source rather than adding each URL separately.

These workarounds help, but they add management overhead that the tool is supposed to remove. If you spend more time reorganizing sources to stay under limits than actually doing research, it might be time to look at tools without those caps.

What Is Elephas and How Does It Compare?

Elephas is an AI knowledge assistant built for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It takes a local-first approach to document AI, as opposed to cloud-based tools like NotebookLM.

You add documents to Elephas, and it can index them directly on your device through in-built local LLM models. From there, you chat with your knowledge base, get answers with source citations, and access everything across all your Mac applications.

NotebookLM runs in your browser and stores everything on Google's servers. Elephas can run natively on your Apple devices and keeps all data on your machine. Elephas also offers a one-time purchase option, so there are no recurring monthly fees.

NotebookLM Free vs Elephas: Core Differences

These two tools solve similar problems but make very different tradeoffs. Here's how they compare on the things that matter most for daily use:

• Source limits: NotebookLM caps you at 50 per notebook. Elephas has no source caps on paid plans, so you can index as many documents as your device storage allows.
• Offline access: NotebookLM needs internet for everything. Elephas works fully offline using built-in local AI models, or you can get more through Ollama.
• Data privacy: NotebookLM uploads your documents to Google's servers. Elephas indexes and stores everything locally on your Mac, and your data doesn't leave your device unless you choose a cloud AI model.
• Platform: NotebookLM is browser-based with a mobile app. Elephas has native apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad with cross-device iCloud sync.
• AI models: NotebookLM uses only Gemini. Elephas lets you pick from OpenAI (GPT), Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Groq, or fully offline local LLMs, all connected through your own API keys.
• Pricing: NotebookLM Plus requires $19.99/month, bundled with Google AI Pro. Elephas offers lifetime purchase options starting at $299 with no recurring fees, and a monthly plan starting from $9.99.

Features Elephas Has That NotebookLM Lacks

NotebookLM connects to Google apps only. Elephas integrates directly with a much wider set of tools, pulling content in without manual exports:

• Apple Notes (auto-sync with real-time updates)
• Obsidian (vault import with link and tag preservation)
• Notion (page and database import with hierarchy intact)
• DEVONthink (database access with deep linking)
• Slack (channel history and thread import on Pro+)
• Zoom (recording import with automatic transcription)

NotebookLM has no automation capabilities. Elephas includes AI agents that handle multi-step tasks like automated document processing, email response workflows, content generation pipelines, and research synthesis.

On file formats, NotebookLM supports about 10 types (PDFs, Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, web URLs, YouTube links, audio files, images, Markdown, and .docx). Elephas supports 20+ formats, adding:

• Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx)
• CSV, TSV, Rich Text (.rtf)
• Zoom recordings with transcription
• Code files in various programming languages
• Jupyter notebooks

Elephas also works across every Mac application. You can access your knowledge base from any window on your Mac, not just a browser tab.

On pricing, NotebookLM Plus requires an ongoing $19.99/month subscription. Elephas offers lifetime plans at $299 (Standard), $349 (Pro), and $399 (Pro+). You pay once and own it, or you can get started with $9.99/month or even try Elephas for free.

NotebookLM Free vs Elephas: Side-by-Side Comparison

NotebookLM works well for quick research with a small number of sources, especially if you're already in Google's ecosystem. Elephas fits better if you need unlimited documents, local data storage, offline access, or Apple ecosystem integration.

Which One Should You Pick?

NotebookLM free makes sense if:

• You work with fewer than 50 sources per project
• 3 Audio Overviews and 50 chat queries per day cover your needs
• You're comfortable with Google storing and processing your documents
• You always have a reliable internet connection
• You primarily work within Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets

Elephas makes more sense if:

• You work with large document collections and don't want source caps
• You want all data stored on your device, not on external servers
• You need offline access with local AI models
• You'd rather pay once ($299+) than subscribe monthly ($19.99/mo)
• Your notes live in Apple Notes, Obsidian, Notion, or DEVONthink
• You want to choose between multiple AI providers or run fully local models

Final Thoughts

NotebookLM's free version handles basic research and light document work. The 100 notebooks and 50 sources per notebook are enough for small projects, and Audio Overviews are genuinely useful for turning dense material into something you can listen to.

The limits become real when your needs grow. More documents, daily use, offline requirements, or privacy concerns all push past what the free plan offers. The paid tiers help with some of this but lock you into a monthly subscription and Google's ecosystem.

Elephas goes a different direction: local processing, no source caps on paid plans, lifetime pricing, and the option to choose your own AI models. If you use Apple devices and want your data to stay on your machine, try both and see which one fits your workflow.

You can try Elephas for free