Caddie vs NotebookLM
NotebookLM (Google's research notebook, now also called Gemini Notebook) is built for studying a set of sources: upload documents, links and videos, ask questions with citations, and generate Audio Overviews and study aids. Caddie is built for your own work: it makes notes from your meetings and from YouTube or X videos, turns any note into a narrated explainer with visuals, and keeps everything beside your tasks and calendar. Pick NotebookLM for research over many documents; Caddie for notes you'll act on.
Caddie vs NotebookLM at a glance
| Caddie | NotebookLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 13.3+); notes, tasks and calendar in any browser; iPhone in beta | Web, iPhone, Android |
| Price | Free while in beta, then $10 a month for everything | Free; more with Google AI plans |
| Free plan | Everything, while in beta | 100 notebooks, 50 sources each |
| Meeting notes | Records on your Mac, no bot on the call; live transcript in the notch; notes when the call ends | No |
| Meeting promises become tasks | Yes: every promise becomes a task on your day; Linear issues created live on the call | No |
| Dictation in any app | Yes: hold fn in any app; learns names from your notes and calendar; English and Hinglish | No |
| Notes | Yes: notes that sort themselves, search, journal; imports from Notion, Obsidian, Evernote, Apple Notes | Notebooks of sources, with notes and chat |
| Tasks and calendar | Yes: tasks and Google Calendar in one day view, with a Planner that plans your morning | No |
| Booking links | Yes | No |
| AI agents | Yes: agents with routines, running on your own Claude Code or Codex | Chat over your sources |
| MCP server for agents | Yes: usecaddie.app/mcp | Not listed |
Which should you choose?
Choose NotebookLM if
- You research across many PDFs, docs and links at once.
- You want quizzes, flashcards and audio overviews to study.
- You're on Windows, Android or a Chromebook.
Choose Caddie if
- Your material is meetings and videos you want as notes.
- You want visuals with the narration, on a page you can share.
- Notes should turn into tasks on your calendar.
- You're on a Mac.
What goes in?
NotebookLM takes uploaded sources: PDFs, docs, websites, YouTube videos with captions. Caddie makes notes from what you already have: calls it records with no bot, YouTube and X links, your own notes.
Audio Overviews vs explainers
NotebookLM's Audio Overviews are a spoken conversation about your sources. Caddie's explainers narrate one note with a visual drawn for each idea, and play on the note's shared page.
What happens after?
In NotebookLM you read, ask and study. In Caddie a note's promises become tasks, and your agents can read the notes through Caddie's MCP server.
How much do Caddie and NotebookLM cost?
NotebookLM is free with limits (100 notebooks, 50 sources each), with more through Google's AI plans. Caddie is free while in beta, then $10 a month for everything; explainer narration after your first one uses your own ElevenLabs key.
Questions people ask
Is Caddie a NotebookLM alternative?
For notes from videos and meetings, and narrated explainers, yes. For research across dozens of uploaded documents, NotebookLM is stronger.
Can Caddie make audio overviews?
It makes narrated explainers of a note, with visuals. They're shorter and visual rather than a two-host conversation.
Does Caddie work with YouTube?
Yes: paste a YouTube or X link for notes chapter by chapter, with a transcript that follows the video.