Claude vs Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) (2026): Which AI Tool Is Better?

Both are popular AI chat assistants. Here is how Claude and Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) stack up on price, strengths and weaknesses, and which one we would pick.

Claude

Anthropic's assistant for long-form writing, research, documents and code

8.8 /10

Pricing: Free plan, paid from $20/mo

Pros

Strong at long-form, natural-sounding prose and editing
Skills and MCP connectors on every plan, including Free
Artifacts, file creation and Claude Docs/Slides for finished documents
Terms assign output ownership to you

Cons

No image, video or audio generation
Free plan is limited to Sonnet and Haiku with 5 projects
Usage limits are session/weekly based and can run out mid-project
Max plans are expensive at $100+ per month

Visit Claude ↗

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)

Google's source-grounded notebook that turns documents into audio and video overviews

8.4 /10

Pricing: Free plan, paid from $4.99/mo

Pros

Answers stay grounded in the sources you upload
Generous free plan: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, 3 audio and 3 video overviews a day
Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, slide decks, infographics, mind maps and reports
Syncs with the Gemini app; code execution on higher tiers

Cons

Output styles are fixed and hard to brand or edit
Cinematic video overviews and the highest limits need AI Pro or Ultra
Renamed in July 2026, and plan limits changed again in September
Only as good as the sources you feed it

Visit Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) ↗

Claude vs Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) at a glance

	Claude	Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Editor score	8.8 / 10	8.4 / 10
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starting price	$20/mo	$4.99/mo
Reader upvotes	0	0
Best for	chatbot, anthropic, writing	research, google, audio-overviews
Model choice	No	No
Commercial use	Yes	Yes
No watermark (free)	No	No
API	Yes	No
Official MCP server	No	No
MCP client	Yes	No
Agent Skills	Yes	No
Brand kit	No	No
Teams	Yes	Yes
Content Credentials	No	No
Mobile app	Yes	No
20+ languages	No	No
Makes	Blog posts & articles, Ad & marketing copy, Emails & newsletters, Scripts & outlines	Podcasts, YouTube & long video, Presentations & docs, Blog posts & articles
AI models inside	1	1

Our pick

Claude edges it with a score of 8.8 versus 8.4. Claude is the better fit if you value: strong at long-form, natural-sounding prose and editing, skills and mcp connectors on every plan, including free. Choose Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) instead if you need: answers stay grounded in the sources you upload, generous free plan: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each, 3 audio and 3 video overviews a day.