Comparisons / Best free AI tools for students

Best free AI tools for students

Choosing a tool for studying on a budget? Here is how Gemini, NotebookLM and ChatGPT compare on price, free tier and what each is best at. Prices come from each vendor's pricing page; the check date is shown under each source.

	Gemini	NotebookLM	ChatGPT
Paid entry plan	Google AI Pro $19.99/mo ✓ checked	Included with Google AI Pro $19.99/mo ✓ checked	Plus $20/mo ✓ checked
Free tier	Yes: Flash-Lite model only, 32K-token context; compute-based limit that refreshes every 5 hours up to a weekly cap	Yes: 100 notebooks, 50 sources each; compute-based usage limit refreshing every 5 hours (fixed 50 chats/day replaced Sept 2026)	Yes: Unlimited everyday text chats (abuse limits apply); limited image creation, voice and deep research; 3 file uploads/day
Best for	Google Workspace users, research, generous free tier	Studying your own documents, audio overviews	General-purpose chat, quick answers, images, custom GPTs
Category	AI assistants	Research	AI assistants
Pricing source	one.google.com checked 2026-10-22	one.google.com checked 2026-10-22	openai.com checked 2026-10-22
	Visit Gemini →	Visit NotebookLM →	Visit ChatGPT →

How to choose

Pick Gemini if you need: google Workspace users, research, generous free tier. You can start on the free tier.
Pick NotebookLM if you need: studying your own documents, audio overviews. You can start on the free tier.
Pick ChatGPT if you need: general-purpose chat, quick answers, images, custom GPTs. You can start on the free tier.

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“Verified” means the listed price appeared on the vendor's pricing page during our automated check. “Unconfirmed” means the page could not be read automatically (often a bot block or a price that renders with JavaScript); confirm on the vendor page before buying. Plans and regional pricing change. Some links are affiliate links (disclosure).