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NotebookLM vs Raycast AI

A feature-by-feature comparison of NotebookLM and Raycast AI across 7 capability categories.

First tool

Try NotebookLM (opens in a new tab)

Second tool

Try Raycast AI (opens in a new tab)

Modalities — NotebookLM Wins

Modalities: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Text Input	Yes, requires free plan. Chat with a notebook to get answers grounded in your uploaded sources.	Yes, requires pro plan. AI chat in the Raycast launcher accepts text prompts.
Image Upload / Vision	Yes, requires free plan. Help documents Gemini Notebook working across text, graphs, and images, and accepting Google Slides and other visual sources.	Partial. Screen capture and file context. General image upload was not separately documented.
Image Generation	Yes, requires plus plan. Studio can produce infographics and slide decks from sources. Google AI Plus/Pro raise those generation limits; it is not a general art model.	Unknown. Whether image gen models are in the 32+ model list was not checked.
Voice Mode	Partial. Audio Overviews have an Interactive Mode (beta, English) where you can join the hosts. That is not a full duplex voice chat with the notebook.	Unknown. Voice input was not confirmed on the AI page.
Video Understanding	Yes, requires free plan. Public YouTube URLs are a supported source type. Video Overviews are a separate studio output with plan limits.	No. Not a video analysis product.
Video Generation	No. Not a video generation product.	No. Not a video generation product.
File Upload (PDF, DOCX)	Yes, requires free plan. PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides, ePub, copied text, and Drive sources are documented. Pro raises the per-notebook source cap (up to 300).	Yes, requires pro plan. PDF, CSV, and file context in AI chat.
Code Execution	Yes, requires pro plan. A secure cloud computer can write and run code in the notebook. Google says Ultra and some Workspace tiers have it now; Pro on the web is rolling out.	Unknown. Whether AI runs code locally was not confirmed.
Audio Input	Yes, requires free plan. Audio files are a documented source type. Audio Overviews are generated output, not just playback of uploads.	Unknown. Speech input was not checked.
Canvas / Artifact Editor	Yes, requires free plan. Studio transforms sources into study guides, briefings, mind maps, slides, and reports — a dedicated output canvas beside chat.	Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (no vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no.
Screen Sharing / Computer Use	No. No computer-use / screen-control product. You add sources, you do not hand over the desktop.	Partial. Screen context for AI queries. Not live screen sharing to others.

Memory & Context — Tie

Memory & Context: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Persistent Memory	Partial. Sources and chats persist inside a notebook. There is no global cross-notebook user-memory profile like ChatGPT Memory.	Partial. Chat history in Raycast. No cross-device cloud memory advertised.
Large Context Window	Unknown. Google publishes source-count limits, not a token window for Gemini Notebook chat.	Unknown. Depends on the selected model (32+ providers).
Custom Instructions	Unknown. A global custom-instructions setting was not confirmed in the help articles checked.	Partial. Extensions and prompts customize behavior. No global system profile documented.
Conversation History	Yes, requires free plan. Notebooks persist. Cross-app sync keeps the same notebook in the Gemini app and the standalone product.	Yes, requires pro plan. AI chat history persists in Raycast.

Integrations — Tie

Integrations: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Web Search / Browsing	Yes, requires free plan. Discover sources via Fast Research (web or Drive) and Gemini Deep Research inside Notebook, which can browse many sites and import the report.	Yes, requires pro plan. Web search with inline references in AI chat.
Plugins / Extensions	No. No third-party plugin marketplace. Sources and Google apps are the integration surface.	Yes, requires pro plan. Raycast extensions and AI Extensions ecosystem.
API Access	No. Gemini Notebook is a consumer/Workspace product. There is no public NotebookLM generate API documented in the help center.	No. Consumer launcher, not a public inference API.
Zapier Integration	Unknown. No first-party Gemini Notebook Zapier app was checked.	Unknown. Zapier was not checked.
Custom GPTs / Bots	No. You do not publish Custom GPT-style bots. A notebook is a private (or shared) source collection.	Partial. Custom AI Extensions act like specialized bots.
Real-time Collaboration	Partial. Notebooks can be shared. Upgrade help says sharing does not change another collaborator’s source limit. Live multiplayer cursor editing is not documented.	No. Single-user launcher.
Live Social Data Integration	No. Not a live social-firehose product. You can add public web/YouTube URLs as sources.	No. No social firehose.
Live Citation Mapping	Yes, requires free plan. Chat answers include in-line citations back to the notebook sources.	Partial. Web search shows inline reference links.

Developer — Raycast AI Wins

Developer: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Function Calling	Partial. The secure cloud computer can produce files (CSV, JSON, code). That is not a developer tool-calling API for third-party functions.	Yes, requires pro plan. AI Extensions invoke app actions and tools.
Streaming Responses	Unknown. Chat streams in the UI, but token streaming is not documented as a product guarantee.	Yes, requires pro plan. AI responses stream in the launcher.
Fine-Tuning	No. You ground on sources. There is no custom-weight training product.	No. Routes to third-party models; does not fine-tune.
Embeddings API	No. Not an embeddings API. Retrieval stays inside the notebook.	No. Not an embeddings product.
Structured Output (JSON)	Partial. Cloud-computer outputs can include CSV and JSON. Everyday chat is cited prose, not a JSON-schema API.	Unknown. JSON mode depends on the selected model.
Reasoning / Thinking Mode	Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (yes vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no.	Unknown. Overlapping columns disagreed (yes vs partial); left unverified rather than copying a no.
Local Execution	No. The new “cloud computer” is hosted by Google, not a local runtime.	Yes, requires pro plan. Ollama local models run on-device.
Open Weights	No. Closed Gemini models.	Partial. Ollama routes to open-weight local models.
Multi-Agent Orchestration	Partial. Deep Research is an agentic researcher. It is not a general multi-agent SDK.	No. Single chat session, not multi-agent.

Platforms — NotebookLM Wins

Platforms: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Web App	Yes, requires free plan. Standalone app at notebooklm.google.com / notebooklm.google.	No. Native macOS app, not a web chat.
iOS App	Yes, requires free plan. Google AI Pro help lists Gemini Notebook on web, iOS, and Android.	No. No iOS app for Raycast AI.
Android App	Yes, requires free plan. Official Android app help: phones and tablets, Android 10+, Audio Overviews, share-to-notebook from the device.	No. No Android app.
Desktop App	No. Desktop use is the browser. No native Gemini Notebook desktop client is documented.	Yes, requires pro plan. Raycast is a macOS desktop launcher with built-in AI.
Chrome Extension	Unknown. Not documented as a Chrome Web Store extension in the help articles checked.	No. No Chrome extension.

Privacy — Tie

Privacy: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
GDPR Compliant	Unknown. Needs a current Google DPA read for Gemini Notebook specifically.	Unknown. Privacy policy was not re-read.
Opt Out of Data Training	Unknown. Workspace/admin controls exist at Google generally; a Notebook-specific training opt-out was not checked here.	Yes, requires pro plan. Raycast states it does not train on your data.
Enterprise Privacy Mode	Yes, requires enterprise plan. Workspace business and Education accounts can use Gemini Notebook when an admin enables it. Ultra Access / AI Expanded Access get the cloud computer first.	Partial. Team plans exist. Enterprise DPA not read.

Workspaces — NotebookLM Wins

Workspaces: NotebookLM compared with Raycast AI
Feature	NotebookLM	Raycast AI
Projects / Folders	Yes, requires free plan. Each notebook is a project with its own sources. Auto-label kicks in at 5+ sources.	Partial. Extensions and snippets organize workflows, not chat project folders.