Image by Author | Ideogram
# Introduction
As AI research and productivity tools continue to evolve, NotebookLM by Google has emerged as an assistant for synthesizing information from user-uploaded documents. However, its limitations in customization, data privacy, and feature scope have led many users to seek alternative solutions. Fortunately, several alternatives offer unique capabilities, from deeper AI integrations to enhanced collaboration features.
In this article, we explore the top alternatives to NotebookLM and what sets them apart. By the end, you’ll be better equipped to choose a research assistant that matches your style.
# 1. NousWise
Website: NousWise
An AI-powered tool designed to help users learn through personalized questions and concise explanations. It emphasizes active recall and spaced repetition.
Key Features:
- Unlimited uploads: Add as many documents as you want, including PDFs, images, tables, graphs, and more, as it supports a wide variety of formats.
- Verified answers: Reads through your content and gives answers with detailed citations so you can always check where the information came from.
- Private and secure: Keeps your data safe and private, accessible only to you unless you choose to share it.
- Context-aware search: Learns from all your notes over time, so each search is sharper and more personalized, like having a long-term memory.
Limitations:
- Freemium constraints: The free tier is limited and higher tiers are subscription-based.
- Maturing ecosystem: As a newer tool, it may lack integrations, community plugins, or the long-term stability that established platforms provide.
# 2. ElevenLabs
Website: ElevenLabs
A leading AI voice synthesis platform offering hyper-realistic voice generation. It’s widely used for audiobooks, video narration, and voice cloning.
Key Features:
- High-quality TTS: Uses state-of-the-art AI models to create natural, conversational narrations with two AI co-hosts to mimic a real podcast.
- Voice cloning: Instantly replicate your voice from just minutes of audio, or opt for professional-grade cloning with over 30 minutes of recording.
- Developer-friendly API/SDK: Provides SDKs and APIs (Python, TypeScript, etc.) for integrating voice features into your apps or services.
Limitations:
- Studio project limits: Limited to 3 projects, where each can have up to 500 chapters. Each chapter can contain up to 400 paragraphs, with a maximum of 5,000 characters per paragraph.
- Privacy concerns: Handling voice data, especially cloning, raises data consent and security questions, so users must review terms carefully.
# 3. NoteGPT
Website: NoteGPT
A productivity tool that leverages GPT to summarize, organize, and generate notes from content sources. It’s useful for turning long videos or documents into concise study material.
Key Features:
- Content Summarization: Summarizes PDFs, videos, articles, PPTs, and images into concise notes, mind maps, and presentations.
- Visual outputs: Automatically converts summarized content into visually structured mind maps, slide decks, podcasts, and infographics.
- YouTube tools: Extracts transcripts, segments them, answers questions, and produces summaries with support for batch summarization and translation.
Limitations:
- Bias and accuracy: Outputs might emphasize certain points disproportionately and may misinterpret nuanced discussions.
- Privacy shortfalls: May or may not be up to GDPR compliance, and so cautious investigation is advised for EU users.
# 4. Notion
Website: Notion
An all-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. It’s highly customizable and popular among teams and solo users alike.
Key Features:
- All-in-One Workspace: Notion combines notes, tasks, wikis, databases, calendars, and forms into a single highly flexible and collaborative workspace.
- Notion Mail: Email client integrated with Gmail that provides auto-labeling, templated replies, and meeting scheduling functionality.
- Notion Calendar: Syncs with Google and Apple iCloud, links events to pages and databases, and enables unified time management directly within Notion.
- Automations & Templates: Supports automations in databases, no-code page layouts with forms and grids, and provides thousands of community and official templates.
Limitations:
- Free plan constraints: Limited to 1,000 blocks for shared workspaces, 5 MB file attachments, 7 days of version history, and max 10 guest collaborators.
- Offline support limitations: Offline access exists but is unreliable and can prevent full editing capabilities when disconnected.
# 5. Evernote
Website: Evernote
A classic note-taking app that helps users capture ideas, organize documents, and manage tasks. It’s known for its web clipping and multi-device syncing features.
Key Features:
- Multimedia Note Capture: Supports text, images, PDF files, audio recordings, handwritten notes, and web clippings via a browser clipper.
- Cross-Platform Sync: Accessible on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and web, with offline access and real-time sync.
- Web Clipper: Its browser extension captures full articles, PDFs, images, and selected text directly into Evernote for later reference.
- Tasks & Reminders: Inline checklists, to-do lists, deadlines, and Google Calendar integration for workflow management.
Limitations:
- Reduced monthly uploads: Free users have tight limits on monthly upload volume and note size, restricting heavy usage.
- Cloud risk: While Evernote uses encryption (SSL, AES-256), storing sensitive information still poses a risk.
# 6. Obsidian
Website: Obsidian
A markdown-based note-taking app focused on linking thoughts and knowledge management. Power users favor it for building personal knowledge bases (PKMs).
Key Features:
- Local-first markdown storage: Stores notes in plain-text markdown files on your device, ensuring full control and offline access.
- Cross-platform Availability: Available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with optional end-to-end encrypted sync and version history.
- Highly extensible plugins/themes: Provides thousands of community and core plugins and hundreds of themes to customize functionality and appearance.
- Internal Linking & Graph View: You can create bidirectional links between notes and visualize connections using an interactive graph.
Limitations:
- Performance issues: Large vaults can cause slowness in note operations like creation, renaming, and deletion.
- Steep learning curve: It heavily depends on Markdown syntax and customization via plugins and themes, which can overwhelm newcomers.
# What to Consider When Choosing an Alternative
When evaluating alternatives, consider the following factors:
| Criteria | Why It Matters |
| Data Privacy | Is your data stored locally or in the cloud? |
| File Format Support | Can it handle PDFs, Word docs, and text files? |
| Integration | Does it work with your current tools (e.g., Notion, Word)? |
| Usability | Is the interface clean and easy to navigate? |
| Cost | Is there a free plan, or does it fit your budget? |
# Conclusion
NotebookLM is a great tool, but it is not the only one that can help you learn, organize, and manage information. Depending on what you need, such as listening to content, creating mind maps, storing notes offline, or working with multiple file types, other platforms may suit you better.
NousWise, ElevenLabs, NoteGPT, Notion, Evernote, and Obsidian all have different strengths. It’s a good idea to try a few and see which one feels right for your way of working. The right tool can make learning easier and help you save time.
Jayita Gulati is a machine learning enthusiast and technical writer driven by her passion for building machine learning models. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Liverpool.
