NotebookLM alternative for studying

Mnema vs NotebookLM for studying

NotebookLM, now called Gemini Notebook, is great for understanding your material: ask questions across your sources and get answers that point back to them. Mnema is built for remembering it: flashcards and quiz questions that tell you how far to trust them, checked against their source, kept in decks and reviewed with spaced repetition until the exam.

Written by Yevhen Maltsev, who builds Mnema. Every Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) fact was checked on its own pages on 1 October 2026 and links there.

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Cardiac Cycle: Cardiology Exam Questions

Made from lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, a 12 minute lecture recording

What are the two pumps in the heart and their respective circulations?
The heart has two pumps working side by side: the right side receives oxygen-poor blood from the body and sends it through the lungs (pulmonary circulation), while the left side receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the whole body (systemic circulation).
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 0:28
What is the role of the sinoatrial (SA) node in the heart?
The SA node is the natural pacemaker of the heart; it initiates the electrical impulse by slowly depolarizing on its own, causing both atria to contract together.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 1:52
At what rate can the AV node pace the heart?
The AV node can pace the heart at around 40 to 60 beats per minute.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 3:43
What does a wider QRS complex on an ECG indicate about ventricular conduction?
A wider QRS suggests that the impulse is traveling through the ventricles by a slower route, for example, because one of the bundle branches is blocked.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 4:49
What causes the first heart sound (lub) during the cardiac cycle?
The first heart sound (lub) is caused by the closing of the mitral and tricuspid valves at the start of ventricular systole.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 7:50
What does the time interval between the 'lub' and 'dub' heart sounds represent?
The time between 'lub' and 'dub' represents ventricular systole, the phase when the ventricles contract to pump blood.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 8:17
How does the parasympathetic nervous system affect heart rate at rest?
Parasympathetic fibers of the vagus nerve release acetylcholine at the SA node, slowing the heart rate. At rest, the vagus nerve is dominant, causing the resting heart rate to be slower than the intrinsic rate of the SA node.
Source: lecture-cardiac-cycle.wav, around 10:28

Side by side

Checked 1 October 2026	Mnema	Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM)
Price	Free during invite-only early access: nothing is on sale yet. Planned: a Free plan with 200 AI credits every 30 days; Plus $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year; Pro $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year. Web search, photos of notes and automatic diagram labels come with Plus and Pro.	Free with a Google account. Since 2 September 2026 the free limit is compute based: it refreshes every 5 hours up to a weekly limit. Google AI Plus ($4.99 a month) doubles it, AI Pro ($19.99 a month) quadruples it, and Ultra starts at $99.99 a month.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (usage limits)Source: Google AI plans (US)
Sign up today	Invite-only early access for now: request access, and an invitation lets you sign up.	Open to everyone with a Google account above the age of consent; some features are for over 18s only.Source: Gemini Notebook Help
How far to trust an AI card	Each card is labelled “From source”, “Source + AI” (naming what the AI added, such as an example) or “General knowledge”.	A label like this is not described in Google's flashcards help.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Checks each card against its source	A second AI pass reads each card against its passage; cards the source does not support are dropped or labelled general knowledge, and a high-stakes fact needs a top-tier source or a second one. Each card shows the result, such as “Checked against the source” or “Not double-checked yet”.	A separate check of each card against its source is not described.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Searches the web for you	On Plus and Pro: give it a topic and it searches the open web, keeps the pages it judges reliable and cites the page each card came from.	Fast Research adds web pages to a notebook from a query, and Deep Research browses up to hundreds of sites into a report; flashcards are then made from the notebook.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (sources)
Before it writes and before you save	Asks in the chat what it needs first (for a topic: what the cards are for, the focus and the card shape; for your file: which deck), then shows every card with its passage on one page to approve.	You pick how many, how hard and an optional prompt, and the set appears in the notebook; asking about your goal or approving each card first is not described.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Change a draft by chatting	Type “make the backs shorter” or “add two cards on dosing” and the draft waiting for review changes; the review marks what changed.	Not described: since September 2026 you can add or edit questions by hand.Source: Google blog, 15 September 2026
Where an AI card came from	Before you save, every card made from your material or the web shows its trust label, the exact passage, and the file with its page, slide or rough time (“around 12:30”), or the web page. In study your PDF, slides or Word file opens inside Mnema at the card's page or slide, runs to its sentence and highlights it (a picture from a PDF is outlined); a web page opens at the passage in browsers that support it, and Mnema plays your recording from about that moment. Mnema keeps the file while its cards exist, if your storage has room; it turns slides and Word files into a PDF on its own server, for cards made from 3 October 2026 on.	Flashcards have an Explain button, and chat answers cite the passages they used; a source on each flashcard is not described.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)Source: Gemini Notebook Help (chat)
AI cards from your material	From PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text or Markdown files, pasted notes, lecture audio up to 60 minutes, or just a topic; photos of notes on Plus and Pro.	From a notebook's sources: PDFs, Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs and Slides, web pages, YouTube videos, audio, images, ebooks or pasted text, up to 50 sources a notebook on the free plan.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (sources)Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Lecture recordings	Upload a recording up to 60 minutes (MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG or WebM); the app does not record. Each card names roughly when it was said (“around 12:30”), and study plays the recording from that moment. Audio costs 8 credits a minute, so the planned 200 free credits cover about 25 minutes.	The phone apps can record a lecture into a notebook (rolling out since 15 September 2026), and audio files up to 200 MB work as sources. A card linking to its moment is not described.Source: Google blog, 15 September 2026 Source: Gemini Notebook Help (sources)
Hide the labels on a diagram	On Plus and Pro the AI finds a diagram's labels and hides them, one card per label; adjust any mask or draw your own. Anki image occlusion notes import too.	Not described in Google's flashcards help.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Quizzes	Type-in, multiple choice and multiple response questions from the same material, with the same label, passage and check as cards.	Quizzes from your sources with a hint and an explanation; short answer, multiple select and fill in the blank were announced on 15 September 2026 as coming soon.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)Source: Google blog, 15 September 2026
Ask questions about your material	The assistant answers from the files attached to that chat and quotes them; it does not search all your decks or earlier chats.	What it is built for: chat across all of a notebook's sources, with answers that cite the passages they used.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (chat)
Spaced repetition	A simplified FSRS 6 with default parameters and a retention target per deck. No optimiser for your own reviews and no same-day learning steps: the next review is at least a day away. Cram decks for the night before.	A review schedule is not described. Flashcards remember your “Got it” and “Missed it” marks, and the chat can tell you where to focus next.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)Source: Google blog, 15 September 2026
Study reminders	By push or email, at most one a day at the hour you usually study: cards due, your streak and goal, drafts waiting. On an iPhone, push needs Mnema on the Home Screen.	Not described; the notices described are about usage limits.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (usage limits)
Apps and offline	In the browser on a laptop, tablet or phone, and you can add it to your Home Screen. Needs a connection: no native app and no offline study.	Web, Android and iOS apps. Audio Overviews download for offline listening; offline flashcards are not described.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (mobile app)
Bring your Anki decks	.apkg and .colpkg up to 200 MB, with media, cloze and image occlusion notes. Studied cards keep their schedule (FSRS as it was, SM-2 converted), each card of a note its own, and the review history comes along, marked as imported so it never counts toward your streak or points. Image occlusion notes start as new cards.	Not described: Anki packages are not among its source types.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (sources)
Export	An Anki package (.apkg) of a deck, a quiz (as cards) or all your decks, with cloze, type-in and image occlusion cards, pictures and sounds; tick “Include my review progress” and due dates and review history go along. CSV or plain text too, with media in a ZIP if you want it.	Flashcards download as a CSV file.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (flashcards and quizzes)
Shared decks	A public library of decks and quizzes to search, import and rate, still small in early access.	Share a notebook with anyone by link, and browse featured notebooks from publishers and authors; a library of shared flashcard decks is not described.Source: Gemini Notebook Help (public notebooks)

NotebookLM and Gemini Notebook are trademarks of Google LLC. Mnema is not affiliated with Google.

See NotebookLM next to Mnema, Anki, Quizlet and RemNote in the full comparison

Where Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM) is better

Free with a Google account and open to everyone, with apps for Android and iOS.
Better for understanding a pile of sources: chat across a whole notebook, with answers that cite the passages they used.
Takes almost any source, YouTube videos, Google Docs and web links included, and Deep Research browses up to hundreds of sites into a report.
More than flashcards: reports, mind maps, audio and video overviews from the same sources, and the phone app records your lectures.

Where Mnema is different

Built for remembering until the exam: cards live in decks and come back on a spaced repetition schedule (a simplified FSRS 6), with reminders and cram decks for the night before.
It tells you how far to trust each AI card: from your source, source plus AI (and what the AI added), or general knowledge.
A second check reads every card against its passage. Cards the source does not support are dropped or labelled general knowledge.
It asks what you need first, then shows every card with its passage for you to approve before anything is saved.
The source comes back in study: flip a card to read its passage, open your PDF, slides or Word file at the card's sentence, highlighted, or play your lecture from that moment.
Already have Anki decks? Import them with their schedules and review history, pictures and image occlusion notes included, and take them back to Anki as a package whenever you like.
Diagrams: on Plus and Pro it hides a picture's labels for you and quizzes you on them one at a time.

Which should you pick?

Pick NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook, if you mostly want to ask questions across a pile of sources, get summaries and audio or video overviews, and make a quick set of flashcards for today.

Pick Mnema if you want flashcards and quizzes you will keep reviewing until the exam, and want to know how far to trust each one before you keep it.

Plenty of students do both: understand the material in Gemini Notebook, then remember it in a flashcard app. Gemini Notebook can download flashcards as a CSV file, and Mnema imports CSV files.

Questions

Is NotebookLM the same as Gemini Notebook?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook; many people still search for it as NotebookLM.

Does NotebookLM have spaced repetition?

Google's help page for its flashcards and quizzes does not describe a review schedule, as of 1 October 2026; its flashcards remember which ones you got and which you missed. Mnema schedules every card with a simplified FSRS 6 scheduler and can remind you when cards are due.

Can I move NotebookLM flashcards into Mnema?

Gemini Notebook can download flashcards as a CSV file, and Mnema imports CSV files as an editable deck.

Who wrote this comparison?

Yevhen Maltsev, who builds Mnema. We tried to be fair and checked every Gemini Notebook fact on Google's own help pages and blog. The same facts, next to Anki, Quizlet and RemNote, are on the full comparison page. If anything is out of date, email hello@mnema.me and we will fix it.

Make cards you can check

Before you save, each AI card shows its passage and its page, slide, time or web page, says how far to trust it, and says whether a second check found it in the source.

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