Head-to-head · profiles checked Oct 1, 2026
Pick ChatGPT for an all-round assistant with web search, images, voice and code, and NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) for answers and study aids built from your own documents. ChatGPT Plus is $20/mo; NotebookLM is free for up to 50 sources per notebook, and Google shows no USD price for its higher tiers.
We wrote this from our own profiles of both tools, ChatGPT verified 2026-09-30 and NotebookLM verified 2026-10-01, built from official vendor pages; it uses no third-party benchmarks and no vendor paid for placement.
Pick ChatGPT if you want one assistant for writing, web search, images, voice, data analysis and code, with Plus at $20/mo and published team prices. Pick NotebookLM, now called Gemini Notebook, if your work starts from a pile of documents and you want answers, Audio Overviews, Flashcards and Slides built only from those sources; the free tier takes up to 50 sources per notebook and paid tiers raise that to 100, 300 or 600. The price gap is not measurable: Google's plans page shows no USD prices for Plus, Pro or Ultra, and ChatGPT's Go price is not confirmed either. We ran no benchmark, so we make no claim about answer quality.
Based on our ChatGPT profile verified 2026-09-30 and our NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) profile verified 2026-10-01; no benchmark was run, and Google's USD prices for Plus, Pro and Ultra could not be found.
If you only want the answer, this is the table. Everything below is the evidence from the two documented profiles.
| You want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Draft or rewrite a document | ChatGPT | ChatGPT lists drafting and editing text; NotebookLM generates Reports from your sources rather than free drafting. |
| Get answers only from documents you upload | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM answers using only the sources in a notebook; ChatGPT also draws on the web and its own training. |
| Turn class notes into flashcards and an audio recap | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM lists Flashcards and Audio Overviews built from uploaded notes and slides. |
| Review dozens or hundreds of papers in one place | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM takes 50 to 600 sources per notebook depending on plan; ChatGPT states no equivalent limit. |
| Look up current information on the web | ChatGPT | ChatGPT has web search with citations on all plans; NotebookLM's Source Discovery finds material to add to a notebook. |
| Run a cited deep research report | Either | ChatGPT has deep research capped by plan; NotebookLM lists Source Discovery and Deep Research. |
| Analyze a spreadsheet or make a chart | ChatGPT | ChatGPT lists data analysis with tables, charts and code; NotebookLM lists no spreadsheet analysis. |
| Generate images or talk by voice | ChatGPT | ChatGPT has image generation and voice conversations; neither is listed for NotebookLM. |
| Make a video or slide explainer from training material | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM lists Video Overviews and Slides generated from sources. |
| Publish a public Q&A notebook from help docs | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | NotebookLM supports public notebooks on consumer accounts only; ChatGPT has no equivalent in our profile. |
| Give a team a shared workspace with SSO | ChatGPT | ChatGPT Business and Enterprise list admin controls, SAML SSO and SCIM; NotebookLM offers Workspace access with organization data kept private. |
| Plan | Tool | Price | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Free | ChatGPT | $0 | Unlimited everyday text chat subject to safeguards; separate caps on uploads, images, voice |
| ChatGPT Go | ChatGPT | Not confirmed (US price) | Higher limits than Free; may include ads |
| ChatGPT Plus | ChatGPT | $20/mo | May include message caps during high demand |
| ChatGPT Pro | ChatGPT | $100, $200 or $500/mo | Allowances vary by tier |
| ChatGPT Business Standard | ChatGPT | $25/seat/mo ($20 annual) | Minimum 2 seats |
| ChatGPT Business Premium | ChatGPT | $125/seat/mo ($100 annual) | 5x more usage than Standard |
| ChatGPT Enterprise | ChatGPT | Custom (sales) | Depends on agreement |
| NotebookLM (free) | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | $0 | Standard usage limits; up to 50 sources per notebook |
| NotebookLM in Google AI Plus | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not stated (no USD price) | Double the standard usage limits; up to 100 sources |
| NotebookLM in Google AI Pro | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not stated (no USD price) | Four times the standard limits; up to 300 sources |
| NotebookLM in Google AI Ultra | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Not stated (no USD price) | 5-20X higher than Pro; up to 600 sources |
| NotebookLM Business / Education / Enterprise | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Custom (via Google Workspace or Google Cloud) | Organization data stays private; no public sharing |
USD as published on each vendor's pricing page, checked Oct 1, 2026. ChatGPT pricing in full · Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) pricing in full
| ChatGPT | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Messages / rate limits | Free: unlimited everyday text chat subject to safeguards; other tools capped by plan and demand | Standard limits on Free; Plus has double, Pro four times, Ultra 5-20X higher than Pro |
| Context / file size | Free Library storage of 500 MB; context length not stated | 50 sources per notebook on Free, 100 Plus, 300 Pro, 600 Ultra; file size limits not stated |
| Seats / team | Business needs 2 seats minimum; Enterprise via sales | Business, Education and Enterprise via Google Workspace or Google Cloud; seat limits not stated |
| Feature | ChatGPT | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Yes | Not stated |
| Voice | Yes | Not stated |
| File upload | Yes | Yes (uploaded sources) |
| Web search | Yes | Source Discovery and Deep Research |
| Audio / video summaries | Not stated | Audio Overviews and Video Overviews |
| Flashcards and slides | Not stated | Yes |
| Agents / tools | Codex and ChatGPT Work | Not stated |
| API | Yes, separate product billed by usage | Not confirmed |
| Mobile apps | Yes | Yes |
| ChatGPT | Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Training on your data | Consumer chats may be used unless you opt out or use temporary chat; Business, Enterprise, Edu and API not by default | Individual use not used for training unless you submit feedback; organization data never used |
| Retention | Temporary chats may be kept up to 30 days for safety; consumer default not verified | Not stated |
| Business controls | SAML SSO, SCIM, role-based access, DPA, SOC 2 | Data private to the organization or school; public sharing off for organization accounts |
Taken from each vendor's published policy pages at the time of our check. Policies change; the source links are at the bottom.
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for writing, research, analysis, image generation and coding help.
Free stops at: Unlimited everyday text chats subject to abuse-prevention safeguards, Separate usage limits for file uploads,…
Free · paid from $20/mo US · checked Sep 30
Google's AI research partner that answers questions and creates summaries, audio and slides grounded in your own sources.
Free stops at: Standard limits for chat and generation of Slides, Audio Overviews and other artifacts, Up to 50 sources per …
Verified notebook.google (opens Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) website in a new tab)
Free plan available US price unconfirmed
NotebookLM is built around that job: it answers only from the sources you add and generates Audio Overviews, Flashcards, Reports and Slides from them. ChatGPT also analyzes uploaded files, but its free plan caps uploads and the profile lists no per-notebook source limit. Google's help center notes that citations are not always shown, so check answers against your sources.
Both have a free tier. ChatGPT Free gives unlimited everyday text chat subject to safeguards, with separate caps on uploads, image generation, voice and deep research. NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook, is free with standard usage limits and up to 50 sources per notebook.
We cannot rank them on paid price. ChatGPT Plus is $20/mo and Go is not confirmed in US dollars. Google's plans page shows no USD price for the Google AI Plus, Pro or Ultra tiers that raise NotebookLM's limits.
Yes. Our profile describes Gemini Notebook as the product previously called NotebookLM, and it runs on Google's Gemini models. Searches for NotebookLM lead to the same tool.
ChatGPT consumer conversations may be used to improve models unless you turn that off or use temporary chat; Business, Enterprise, Edu and API are not used by default. For NotebookLM, Google says individual use does not train on your data unless you submit feedback, and organization or school data is never used. Retention periods are not stated for NotebookLM.
ChatGPT has a separate OpenAI API billed by usage, and no ChatGPT plan includes it. The NotebookLM pages we checked state no API, so we list it as not confirmed.
Only official vendor pages. No third-party benchmarks, forum threads or press were used. How we review.
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