Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) Alternatives for iPhone

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) has its own iPhone app, and for many people it is the right tool. An alternative makes sense if you want a mind map on your phone, a quick summary of one link without building a notebook, or no Google sign-in. As of November 2026 the main options are SumAI, ChatGPT, Claude, the Gemini app, Recall and AI study apps such as Turbo AI and Knowt.

SumAI is our app. We have tried to describe every tool here fairly, from its own documentation as of November 2026; tell us if we got something wrong. Contact details are on the support page.

What does Gemini Notebook do well?

Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on 16 July 2026 and says it remains a standalone product. You add sources to a notebook, then ask questions and generate study material from them. It is strong in three areas:

• Many sources, cited answers. A notebook can hold PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio and more, and chat answers carry in-line citations to those sources.
• Audio and Video Overviews. The iPhone app includes both, along with flashcards, quizzes, infographics and slide decks.
• A generous free tier. Gemini Notebook is free with a Google Account on the web, Android and iPhone, with 100 notebooks of up to 50 sources each before any paid plan (limits subject to change). Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month in the US as of November 2026, raises them.

Good fit if you read across many documents and want answers with citations. Look elsewhere if a reason in the next section applies to you.

Why look for a Gemini Notebook alternative on iPhone?

These reasons come from Google’s own pages, mainly its help page for the mobile app.

1. Some outputs are not in the iPhone app yet. Google says generating mind maps, notes, reports and data tables is not yet available in the app and may be added over time. They exist on the web.
2. The phone accepts fewer source types. The app supports only PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio and copied text. The web version also takes Google Docs and Slides, Word files, images and more.
3. A Google Account is required.
4. It is built around notebooks. That suits research across sources. For the summary of a single link, a one-step summarizer is a shorter path.

How did we compare the alternatives?

We read each vendor’s website, help pages and US App Store listing on 12 November 2026 and checked five things: platforms, inputs, outputs, price and stated limits. Nothing was speed-tested or scored, and the order below is not a ranking. Prices are US prices and they change, so check before you subscribe.

How do the alternatives compare at a glance?

App	What you can give it on iPhone	What it makes	Starting price (US)
Gemini Notebook	PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio, copied text	Cited chat, Audio and Video Overviews, flashcards, quizzes	Free with a Google Account
SumAI	One PDF, article or YouTube video at a time	Summary, chat, mind map, quiz, flashcards	Free download; Premium $2.99 a week or $29.99 a year
Recall	YouTube videos, podcasts, articles, PDFs	Summaries; chat and quizzes on paid plans	Free: 10 AI summaries a month
ChatGPT	PDFs and other files in a chat	Chat answers, study mode, flashcards	Free plan; Plus $20 a month
Claude	PDFs up to 1,000 pages, documents, images	Chat answers	Free plan; Pro $20 a month
Gemini app	PDFs and other files, photos	Chat answers, quizzes, flashcards, study guides	Free with a Google Account

Best if you want a quick summary of one source

SumAI

SumAI summarizes a PDF with selectable text, a web article, or a YouTube video with captions. It returns a summary in one of five styles, with an Ask AI chat, a mind map, a quiz and flashcards, and for videos key moments with tappable timestamps. Summaries can be written in 60+ languages. SumAI is free to download, with optional Premium at $2.99 a week or $29.99 a year (US App Store price, November 2026).

What SumAI does not do, and Gemini Notebook does:

• Multi-source notebooks. SumAI works on one source at a time.
• Audio and Video Overviews. SumAI’s Listen feature reads a summary aloud. It does not create a podcast-style overview or a video.
• Android and web. SumAI is an iPhone and iPad app.

Who SumAI suits:

• Good fit if you want a quick summary of one PDF, article or video, a mind map on your phone, or no sign-in.
• Look elsewhere if you need cited answers drawn from many documents, or Android or web access. Gemini Notebook is the better choice there (see SumAI vs Gemini Notebook).

Recall

Recall saves and summarizes YouTube videos, podcasts, articles and PDFs and links them in a knowledge graph. The free plan includes 10 AI summaries a month. Chat, quizzes with spaced repetition and Listen Mode are listed under paid plans, from $10 a month billed yearly (vendor’s site, November 2026). Recall runs on iPhone, Android and the web, and requires an account.

• Good fit if you want a long-term library that links what you read and watch, with scheduled review.
• Look elsewhere if you would rather not create an account.

Best if you already use a general AI assistant

ChatGPT

In the ChatGPT iPhone app you can attach a PDF and ask for a summary or ask questions. OpenAI’s help pages describe a study mode, available on every plan, that accepts PDFs, and built-in flashcards that are saved to your library. Free users are limited to 3 file uploads a day, and Plus is $20 a month (vendor’s site, November 2026).

• Good fit if you already use ChatGPT and want flashcards or a guided study session from a file.
• Look elsewhere if you want mind maps, audio overviews or page citations, which the help pages we read do not describe.

Claude

The Claude iPhone app accepts PDFs of up to 1,000 pages, other documents and images. Anthropic says Claude analyzes both text and visual elements in PDFs of 100 pages or fewer, and text only in longer ones. There is a free plan, and Pro is $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually (vendor’s site, November 2026).

• Good fit if you want to talk through long PDFs, including the charts in shorter ones.
• Look elsewhere if you want built-in flashcards, quizzes or mind maps: we could not confirm any in Anthropic’s help pages.

Gemini app

Google’s Gemini app accepts uploaded files, including PDFs, and can turn them into quizzes, flashcards and study guides when you ask. Google lists quizzes, flashcards and audio overviews as available without a paid plan.

• Good fit if you like Google’s tools but prefer a chat to a notebook.
• Look elsewhere if you want to avoid a Google sign-in, which the Gemini app also requires.

Best if you record lectures

These five apps turn course material into notes, flashcards and quizzes or practice tests, and each takes lecture recordings. None lists a mind map on the pages we read. Prices are US App Store prices, November 2026, unless marked.

• Turbo AI (formerly TurboLearn AI) takes PDFs, slides, websites, YouTube links and lecture recordings. Its site describes a free tier, and we found no pricing page there; the App Store lists Unlimited at $9.99 for one week. Good fit if you also study from YouTube links. Look elsewhere if you want prices published on a website.
• Coconote, owned by Quizlet, takes audio, video, documents, PDFs and links, on iPhone, Apple Watch, Android and the web. It is free to start, and Coconote Pro purchases run from $9.99 to $152.99 (billing periods not shown). Good fit if you record on several devices. Look elsewhere if your iPhone cannot run iOS 26, which the app requires.
• Knowt takes PDFs, images, videos, slides, audio and YouTube, and records classes live. Basic is free, and Ultra is $24.99 a month or $95.99 a year (vendor’s site). Good fit if flashcards and practice tests are the goal. Look elsewhere if you want free AI file summaries, which its plans page lists under Ultra.
• Mindgrasp takes PDFs, DOCX, audio and video files, article links, and YouTube and Vimeo links. Its listing says a subscription is required, with a free trial, and plans start at $12.99 a month. Good fit if you want one subscription for files, links and recordings. Look elsewhere if you want to start without a trial.
• StudyFetch takes PDFs, PowerPoints, videos, YouTube links and lecture recordings. It is free to start, and Premium is $19.99 a month. Good fit if you want an AI tutor with your flashcards. Look elsewhere if you need to know the free limits in advance: we could not find them on its site.

Which Gemini Notebook alternative fits you?

• Stay with Gemini Notebook if you work across many sources and want citations or Audio Overviews.
• Pick SumAI if you want a summary, mind map, quiz and flashcards from one PDF, article or video on your iPhone, with no account (download).
• Use ChatGPT, Claude or the Gemini app if you already rely on one and mostly want to talk through a document.
• Pick Recall if you want a library that keeps growing.
• Pick a study app if recording lectures is the main job.

Whichever you choose, AI answers can be wrong in the details, so check what you will rely on against the document. How to chat with a PDF on iPhone shows how.