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HippoKit vs Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026. It is a source-grounded workspace you study inside. HippoKit builds one kit — slides, an ebook, a quiz, flashcards and audio — that you hand to someone else. Here is the honest comparison.
Gemini Notebook facts last checked against Google's own pages: 1 October 2026.
TL;DR
Use Gemini Notebook when the job is to understand a pile of sources: read them, ask questions with citations, and generate study outputs — audio and video overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards, quizzes, slide decks — traceable to the source. Its free tier is generous, and it does more output types than HippoKit.
Use HippoKit when the job is to hand a finished kit to other people: flashcards, a quiz, an ebook, an audience-themed slide deck and narrated audio generated together from one source, exported as files, or shared as a course link that shows who enrolled and who finished.
Many people use both: Gemini Notebook to research, HippoKit for the deliverable.
At a glance
| Capability | HippoKit | Gemini Notebook |
|---|---|---|
Free sample calibration before generating | Taste Test: react to free samples, then generate in that style. | No sample loop — difficulty is set upfront (easy / medium / hard); regenerating consumes daily quota. |
Start from a topic Gemini Notebook searches the web or Drive for sources (Fast Research, Deep Research), then works from them. | Yes — it finds sources first | |
Input: document upload Gemini Notebook paid plans raise the cap to 100, 300, 500 or 600 sources. | PDF on Free; Word and PowerPoint on paid plans | 50 sources per notebook on the free tier |
Flashcards | Yes, with rated review and a schedule per card | |
Quiz with explanations | ||
Ebook with table of contents + PDF export | Reports and study guides | |
Slide decks | Themed for the audience you name (Plus and up) | Two formats; style set by prompt |
Editable PowerPoint (.pptx) export | Plus and up | |
Audio Different styles: Gemini Notebook is conversational; HippoKit is a narrated lesson. | Narrated lesson, MP3 (Plus and up) | Four formats, including a two-host deep dive |
Source citations in answers Gemini Notebook is source-grounded; this is its strongest single feature. | ||
Mind maps, video overviews, infographics | ||
All formats generated together as one kit Gemini Notebook may auto-create some outputs when you first add sources. | Outputs are generated one type at a time | |
Edit after generating | Inline edit; chat revision on Plus and up | Slides can be revised; quizzes and flashcards edited |
Course link with learner enrolment and completion list Gemini Notebook shares the notebook itself or individual outputs by link; neither gives you a list of who completed what. | ||
Open a shared item without an account Per Google Help: shared artifacts open for anyone with the link; a shared notebook needs a Google sign-in. | Individual outputs: yes. A whole notebook: Google account required | |
Free tier | 60 credits / month (flashcards, quizzes, ebooks) | Most outputs, with daily limits |
Paid entry (US$, monthly) | $12.99 Plus | Google AI Plus (see Google for price) |
Paid entry (US$, annual) | $10.79/mo Plus annual | See Google for annual pricing |
Highest self-serve tier | $99.00/mo Studio | $199.99/mo Google AI Ultra (checked 1 October 2026) |
Gemini Notebook limits and prices are from Google's help centre and subscriptions page, checked 1 October 2026. They change often — verify on Google's limits page and subscriptions page before you buy.
Output formats
Gemini Notebook has the broader output surface: audio overviews in four formats, video overviews, mind maps, infographics, data tables, reports, flashcards, quizzes and slide decks. Its slide decks download as PowerPoint or PDF and individual slides can be revised; quizzes and flashcards can be edited.
HippoKit produces five formats — flashcards, a quiz, an ebook, an audience-themed slide deck and narrated audio — and generates them together as one kit from one source, so they agree with each other. Slides and audio are on Plus and up; the Free plan covers flashcards, quizzes and ebooks.
On slides the two are closer than they used to be: both export editable PowerPoint. HippoKit themes the deck for the audience you name, and the deck arrives with the matching quiz, flashcards, ebook and audio.
Workflow
Gemini Notebook's workflow is built around sources. You create a notebook and add PDFs, links or Google Docs — or give it a topic and let it find sources for you — then chat and generate outputs against them, one output type at a time. The unit of work is the notebook.
HippoKit's workflow ends in a deliverable. Type a topic or upload a document (PDF on Free; Word and PowerPoint on paid plans), say who it is for, and the kit assembles — 1–5 minutes. You can preview free samples first and steer them before spending credits. The unit of work is the kit.
Pricing
Gemini Notebook comes with a Google account. The standard free tier allows 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 3 Audio Overviews a day, 50 chats a day, and 10 each of reports, flashcards and quizzes a day. Paid Google AI plans raise the limits: Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month, and Google AI Ultra is offered at $99.99 and $199.99 a month.
HippoKit Plus is $12.99/mo monthly or $10.79/mo billed annually (150 credits/month). Premium is $34.99/mo monthly or $28.99/mo annually (500 credits/month). Studio is $99.00/mo or $81.99/mo annually (1500 credits/month). Enterprise is custom. The free tier is 60 credits per month for flashcards, quizzes and ebooks — roughly 60 flashcard sets or 30 quizzes. Slides and audio are on Plus and up.
Gemini Notebook's free tier does more than HippoKit's, and a Google AI plan covers far more than notebooks. HippoKit's case is not price. It is the packaged kit, the audience theme, the exports, and the course link with a completion list.
Sharing with learners
Gemini Notebook shares a whole notebook — with named people or by public link, and viewers sign in with a Google account — or an individual output by link, which opens without signing in. What you share is a workspace or a single output; neither comes with a list of who went through it.
HippoKit shares the kit. A public kit page opens without an account. A course link asks learners to enrol with an email, and the owner sees who started and who finished. That is a lightweight alternative to an LMS; it is not SCORM and does not connect to one. Each format also exports as a file: PDF, and on paid plans PowerPoint for slides and MP3 for audio.
Training and L&D fit
The product was adopted across the L&D community under its old name: Phil Hardman, Connie Malamed (The eLearning Coach), CommLab India and others have published how-to guides for instructional designers. Free, source-grounded and citation-traceable are attributes training teams value.
HippoKit is for the hand-over moment: a themed deck, the matching quiz and flashcards, an ebook handout, audio, and a link that tells you who finished. It does not replace Articulate, iSpring or any SCORM-publish tool.
Who Gemini Notebook is best for
- Researchers and analysts working from large source piles who need citation-traceable answers.
- Students who want many output types on a generous free tier.
- Anyone already working in Google Workspace and the Gemini app.
- People who want mind maps, video overviews or infographics, which HippoKit does not make.
Who HippoKit is best for
- Independent trainers and facilitators who hand a kit to a group and want to see who finished.
- Tutors and coaches packaging their material as one kit for learners, with a list of who went through each format.
- People studying for a certification who want flashcards they can rate and reschedule, a quiz, an ebook and audio from one source.
- Anyone whose unit of work is the deliverable, not the workspace.
The honest verdict
If the job is research, use Gemini Notebook. If the job is handing a finished kit to other people, use HippoKit. If it is both, use both.
Gemini Notebook does more output types, grounds answers in citations, and costs less. HippoKit's case is narrower and specific: five formats generated together as one kit, themed for an audience, exportable as files, and shareable as a course link with a per-format completion list.
FAQ
Is Gemini Notebook the same as NotebookLM?
Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026. It is the same product with the same notebooks, now tied more closely to the Gemini app.
What is the difference between HippoKit and Gemini Notebook?
Gemini Notebook is a source-grounded workspace: you add sources to a notebook, ask questions with citations, and generate outputs inside that notebook. HippoKit is a kit generator: you type a topic or upload a PDF, Word or PowerPoint file and get flashcards, a quiz, an ebook, an audience-themed slide deck and narrated audio as one kit you can export or hand to learners. The unit of work differs: a notebook you study in, or a kit you hand over.
Does Gemini Notebook produce slide decks?
Yes. It offers two deck formats, lets you describe the style in the prompt, lets you revise individual slides, and downloads as PowerPoint (.pptx) or PDF. HippoKit also exports editable PowerPoint, on paid plans. The difference is that a HippoKit deck is themed for the audience you name and ships together with the matching quiz, flashcards, ebook and audio.
Is Gemini Notebook free?
Yes, with daily limits. As of 1 October 2026, the standard free tier allows 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 3 Audio Overviews a day, 50 chats a day, and 10 each of reports, flashcards and quizzes a day. Paid Google AI plans raise those limits: Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month and Google AI Ultra is offered at $99.99 and $199.99 a month. Check Google for current prices.
Can I use both HippoKit and Gemini Notebook together?
Yes. A common workflow is to use Gemini Notebook for source-grounded research with citations, then bring the material into HippoKit to produce the kit you give to learners or stakeholders, with a link that shows who finished.
Does HippoKit replace Articulate or other LMS authoring tools?
No. HippoKit is upstream of Articulate, iSpring, and other SCORM-publish tools. It produces the first-draft multi-format content; if you need SCORM or xAPI export to your LMS, refine the output in your existing authoring tool. HippoKit does not export SCORM.
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Try HippoKit on a topic you're shipping this week.
Type a topic and get a kit back in 1–5 minutes: flashcards, a quiz and an ebook on Free; slides and audio on Plus. No credit card required.