Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
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Short answer: NotebookLM, which Google’s own pages now call Gemini Notebook, has a free Standard tier. The paid tiers (Plus, Pro, Ultra) are not a separate NotebookLM subscription: they come with a Google AI plan or a qualifying Google Workspace license. This page lays Google’s published limits side by side so a researcher can see which tier a literature set actually needs. Everything below was read on Google’s pages on 2026-11-07; Google states that limits are subject to change.
Is NotebookLM free?
Yes. Google’s “Upgrade NotebookLM” help page lists a free Standard tier, available with a personal Gmail sign-up or with a qualifying Google Workspace or Workspace for Education license (Google NotebookLM Help, read 2026-11-07). Paid tiers raise the number of notebooks and the number of sources per notebook.
What is NotebookLM Plus, and is it still a separate product?
“NotebookLM Plus” now means the Plus tier, which Google ties to the Google AI Plus plan. Google’s plan listing names the product Gemini Notebook and links to notebook.google; it shows Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra as plans, not a standalone NotebookLM subscription (Google AI plans, read 2026-11-07). Google’s upgrade page lists these routes:
- Standard: free.
- Plus: the Google AI Plus plan.
- Pro: the Google AI Pro plan, or a qualifying Workspace license.
- Ultra (20 TB) and Ultra (30 TB): the Google AI Ultra plan, or a qualifying Workspace license.
- Enterprise: “Gemini Notebook for Enterprise” through Google Cloud, with access granted by a Cloud administrator.
Plan limits compared
These are the notebook and source limits on Google’s upgrade page, with the caveat that Google says they are subject to change.
| Tier | Notebooks per user | Sources per notebook |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (free) | 100 | 50 |
| Plus | 200 | 100 |
| Pro | 500 | 300 |
| Ultra (20 TB) | 500 | 500 |
| Ultra (30 TB) | 500 | 600 |
What the limits mean for a research corpus
The source cap is the figure that matters for literature work, because each notebook holds one corpus. A 60-paper review does not fit one Standard notebook (50 sources) but fits a Plus notebook (100); a 250-paper corpus needs Pro (300) or above. Google also states that “Sharing a notebook does not change the source limit for any collaborator”, so a free-tier collaborator does not gain extra capacity from a colleague’s paid plan. For how sources are used in practice, see our guide to NotebookLM for research workflows.
How much does it cost?
Standard is free. Google’s AI plans page lists US prices for Google AI Pro at $19.99 per month, or $199.99 annually, and for Google AI Ultra at $99.99 per month, billed monthly only (read 2026-11-07). Prices and plan names change, so treat these as the figures on that date. This page states no price for Google AI Plus. Google’s upgrade page lists no per-feature limits for chat or audio output.
Is there a NotebookLM student discount?
Google’s AI plans page lists a student offer: Google AI Pro free for one year, or $8.99 per month for Google AI Pro plus YouTube Premium (listed against $35.98 per month bought separately). The offer is described as valid for up to four years, requires SheerID verification, and is not available on school-issued accounts. These are the terms as shown on 2026-11-07; offers change. Separately, a school or university can provide access through a Workspace for Education license, which Google lists as a route to the Standard tier and to paid tiers where the license qualifies.
How do I upgrade or cancel?
After upgrading, Google says a distinct badge appears next to your user profile image. Cancellation is not handled inside NotebookLM: Google’s upgrade page points to its Google One and Workspace plan-management help for changing or ending a plan. If your tier comes from a Workspace license, your Workspace administrator controls it.
Strengths and limits of the tiers
- Strength: the free tier carries a published, sizeable cap (100 notebooks, 50 sources each), enough for a single paper set or a course reading list.
- Strength: institutional licenses can supply paid tiers without personal billing.
- Limit: all caps are subject to change, and sharing does not lift a collaborator’s source limit.
- Limit: the paid tier is bundled with a wider Google AI plan, so the price reflects more than NotebookLM.
Alternatives
If a source cap or plan bundle does not suit your workflow, our guide to chat-with-PDF tools for researchers covers what this class of tool does and where it fails. Reference managers also hold large libraries without a source-per-notebook cap; see reference managers for macOS researchers and, for review projects, building a Zotero systematic review library.
Frequently asked questions
What are the limits of NotebookLM?
On Google’s upgrade page, notebooks per user and sources per notebook are 100 and 50 (Standard), 200 and 100 (Plus), 500 and 300 (Pro), 500 and 500 (Ultra 20 TB), and 500 and 600 (Ultra 30 TB), read 2026-11-07 and subject to change.
How do I cancel my NotebookLM subscription?
There is no separate NotebookLM subscription: the paid tiers come from a Google AI plan or a Workspace license, so you change or end the plan through Google One or your Workspace administrator, as Google’s upgrade page directs.
Is there a YouTube extension for NotebookLM?
Google’s upgrade and plan pages do not describe a YouTube extension, so this page makes no claim about one. The only YouTube item on those pages is the student bundle that adds YouTube Premium to Google AI Pro.
How much does Google Drive cost?
The pages read here list the Ultra tiers by storage (20 TB and 30 TB) but give no standalone Google Drive price; storage pricing is set in Google One.
Sources
- Upgrade NotebookLM, Google NotebookLM Help, read 2026-11-07.
- Google AI plans, Google One, read 2026-11-07.
