Paper vs NotebookLM
NotebookLM helps you read.
Paper helps you study.
NotebookLM is great at understanding your sources. Paper goes further — with flashcards, quizzes, spaced repetition, and a Notion-style editor so you can actually study and take notes in the same place.
NotebookLM
- ✓ Chat with your sources
- ✓ Summaries & audio overviews
- ✓ Basic flashcards & quizzes
- ✗ ~200 page limit per source
- ✗ No editor — read-only
- ✗ No spaced repetition
- ✗ Sources mix together
- ✗ No workspace organization
Paper
- ✓ Everything NotebookLM does
- ✓ No page limit — 5,000+ page PDFs
- ✓ Notion-style editor alongside sources
- ✓ Spaced repetition flashcards
- ✓ Source isolation — no mixing
- ✓ Organize by workspace & course
- ✓ Import from Notion
- ✓ Free — unlimited AI credits in beta
Feature
Paper(paper.ac)
NotebookLM
Sources & input
Upload PDFs
YouTube videos
Paste a link, get transcript + study tools
Websites
Import a web page as a source
Word docs & PowerPoint
Upload .docx, .pptx, .txt, .rtf
EPUB books
Upload .epub files directly
Notion import
Bring your existing notes with you
One-click import with pages, tables, and hierarchy
Capacity & limits
Pages per document
Maximum pages in a single uploaded PDF
No limit — tested with 5,000+ pages
~200 pages per source
Sources per notebook
How many files you can add to one project
No limit
50 sources max
Scanned PDF support
OCR for image-only or scanned documents
Automatic OCR up to 150 pages with parallel processing
Large file compression
Optimized viewing for huge PDFs
Auto-compressed for fast in-browser viewing
AI features
Chat with sources
Ask questions about your uploaded content
Summaries
Audio overview
AI-generated podcast-style summary
Short, medium, or deep (~20 min) with analogies and examples
Citations
Answers reference specific pages or timestamps
Clickable citations navigate directly to the source page
PDF table of contents
Navigate large PDFs by chapter and section
Interactive outline sidebar with page numbers
Source-range scoping
Restrict AI to a specific page range or timestamp window
Per-source scoping — e.g. only pages 12-20 of a PDF
No cross-contamination
AI only sees the sources you select — no accidental mixing between documents
Select exactly which sources the AI references per query
Sources can bleed into each other in large notebooks
Active study
Flashcards
Auto-generated from your sources
Spaced repetition
Anki-style review scheduling
Quizzes
Multiple choice + true/false, auto-graded
Quiz mode
Kahoot-style interactive quiz sessions
Workspace
Block editor
Write notes alongside your sources
Notion-style with slash commands and drag-and-drop
Read-only — no editor
Organize by workspace
Group pages into workspaces
Notebooks only — no hierarchy
Collaboration
Share workspaces with classmates
File manager
Browse all uploads across your workspace
Platform
Free to use
Free — unlimited AI credits during beta
Free with Google account
Works without Google account
Mobile-friendly
Switch to Paper — free during beta.
Everything NotebookLM does, plus flashcards, quizzes, an editor, and source isolation. No credit card. Unlimited AI credits.