Source-grounded research notebook from Google, formerly NotebookLM
Workup Desk vs Gemini Notebook
Comparison last verified November 2, 2026. Facts about Gemini Notebook come from the public sources listed at the end of this page.
The short answer
Gemini Notebook and Workup Desk share one idea. You gather the sources for one question in one place, and the answers stay grounded in those sources. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026, and your notebooks now also appear in the Gemini app. Inside Gemini Notebook, Google says chat answers come only from your sources, with citations you can click to check the quoted passage.
Workup Desk applies that idea to one patient. The workspace holds the referral, previous letters, laboratory and imaging results, ECG reports, medication lists and your visit notes. You draft clinical documents from them, such as an assessment with history, findings, differential diagnosis and plan, a referral letter, a handover summary or a patient summary. You edit each draft and export it to PDF or Word for the record.
Gemini Notebook is free to start, more polished and far broader. It turns sources into audio and video overviews, mind maps, flashcards and slide decks, and it takes web pages and YouTube videos as sources. Google's Workspace privacy page says Gemini Notebook is not covered by Google's Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA. If you study guidelines and papers, use Gemini Notebook. If your team needs a workspace per patient that produces clinical documents, that is what Workup Desk is for.
Compare them side by side
| Gemini Notebook | Workup Desk | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Anyone with a Google account. Google's own examples run from students to business owners | Doctors who assess patients: primary care physicians, outpatient specialists and hospital doctors, alone or as a team |
| Unit of work | A notebook per topic, question or project | One workspace per patient, holding that patient's documents and your notes |
| Sources it takes | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, CSV, text and Markdown files, images, audio, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, web pages and YouTube transcripts. Up to 50 sources per notebook on the free plan | The patient's documents as PDF, Word, Excel and PNG files, plus notes you type |
| Answers | Grounded only in your sources inside Gemini Notebook, with inline citations to the quoted passage. In the Gemini app, answers may also use web search and other tools | Answers from that patient's sources, naming the document each answer comes from |
| What it produces | Audio and video overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards, quizzes, infographics, slide decks and data tables | Drafts you edit: a clinical assessment, a referral letter, a discharge or handover summary, a patient summary |
| Sharing | Share a notebook by email as viewer or editor, or by public link. A personal Gmail account can share with up to 50 people | An organization account with owner, admin and member roles. You share each workspace as viewer or editor, and organizations can sign in with SAML |
| Patient data | Google says Gemini Notebook in Workspace is not covered by its HIPAA BAA and does not yet support ISO, SOC or FedRAMP. Google Cloud lists a separate Gemini Notebook Enterprise under its BAA | We keep data in your organization's account and check the permissions on each workspace on the server. Add identifiable patient data once the data processing agreement for your jurisdiction is in place |
| Price | Free with a Google account. Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra raise the limits, up to 600 sources per notebook | One paid plan, with billing through Stripe. Early access is by invitation from the waitlist |
Choose Gemini Notebook if
- You want to study guidelines, papers or a textbook and listen to them or quiz yourself on them
- You want a free tool today that also takes web pages and YouTube videos as sources
- Your organization runs Google Cloud and has set up Gemini Notebook Enterprise under its own agreements
Choose Workup Desk if
- You assess patients and want one workspace per patient holding the referral, letters, results and your notes
- You need an assessment, a referral letter or a handover summary that you edit and export into the record
- Your practice or department wants organization roles, per-patient sharing and single sign-on instead of personal accounts
Try it on one patient's documents
Open a workspace, add the referral, letters and results, and draft the assessment from them. Early access is by invitation.
Common questions
Is NotebookLM now called Gemini Notebook?
Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. The product stays standalone and the old address redirects. Notebooks now also appear in the Gemini app, and renames, sources and custom instructions sync between the two.
Can I put patient records into Gemini Notebook?
Check your contracts first. As of November 2, 2026, Google's Workspace privacy page says Gemini Notebook does not support ISO, SOC or FedRAMP compliance and is not covered by Google's Business Associate Agreement for HIPAA. Google Cloud's HIPAA page lists a separate product, Gemini Notebook Enterprise, among its covered services. Follow your organization's data protection rules whichever tool you use.
How is Workup Desk different if both answer from sources?
The unit and the outputs differ. Workup Desk keeps one workspace per patient and drafts clinical documents from it, with document type, purpose, audience, tone and length as settings. Gemini Notebook keeps one notebook per topic and produces study material. Workup Desk also runs as an organization account with roles and per-workspace sharing.
Does Google train its models on what I add to Gemini Notebook?
Google says the files you add and your chats in Gemini Notebook are not used directly to train its foundation models unless you give feedback. For qualifying Workspace editions, Google says human reviewers do not see uploads, queries or responses, and that Google does not use them to train generative AI models.