Gemini Notebook or Perplexity?
Research in your own documents against research on the open web. Two different tasks — and two different answers to the privacy questions.
Last updated: · 79 listings · 0 verified
Not fully reviewed yet
We read both vendors’ privacy documents – DPA, sub-processors, server location, training, deletion periods, certifications – and compared them below with source and date. Export options and plan prices come from the pricing and help pages we checked; third-party figures are marked as such. What you won’t find here: a rating or a winner – for that, someone has to use both tools.
Do you represent one of these vendors? A review turns this page into the full comparison – here’s how.
 Gemini Notebook Documents reviewed |  Perplexity Documents reviewed | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Writing & Research | Writing & Research |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid plans | Free plan + paid plans |
| Into PowerPoint | PPTX file (Free) Slide Decks download as .pptx; editability not stated by Google (third party Codia, May 2026: some text rasterized, charts flat images); revision quotas; over-18 only Editability of PPTX unverified Vendor help center ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 | PPTX file (Pro) (third-party source, provisional) created presentations can be downloaded as PPTX; Pro has a limited number of 'Create files and apps' queries per 30 days, Free has none Vendor help confirms presentations on paid plans but not the PPTX format; editability unknown Third-party source (provisional) ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Into Google Slides | Google Slides listed – route not documented Google Slides export not mentioned in help article or March 2026 update Not an explicit 'cannot' Vendor help center ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 | not documented |
| Builds from a document | yes – Free plan and up decks generated from notebook sources; files: pdf, docx, txt, md, csv, pptx, epub, images, audio; Google Docs/Slides (≤100 slides)/Sheets; web and YouTube URLs; up to 500k words or 200 MB per source; Free up to 50 sources Vendor help center ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 | not documented not documented whether decks are built from uploaded files |
| Starting paid plan | Google AI Plus: USD 4.99 per month, month-to-month Annual billing not shown; billing cycle assumed monthly from '/month' Vendor page ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 | Pro: USD 20 per month, month-to-month (third-party source, provisional) No vendor page read shows the Pro price Third-party source (provisional) ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Cheapest plan with PowerPoint output | Free: free Quota limits apply Vendor page ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 | Pro: USD 20 per month, month-to-month (third-party source, provisional) No vendor page read shows the Pro price Third-party source (provisional) ↗ · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Vendor headquarters | United States | United States |
| Self-hostable | no | no |
| Server location | Global (multiple regions) | United States |
| Verified on | pending | pending |
Privacy documents compared
What the vendors commit to in their published documents – every answer with evidence. Not a certification and not legal advice; what counts is the contract you sign.
| Question | Gemini Notebook | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|
| Data processing agreement (DPA) available | yes Cloud Data Processing Addendum for Workspace customers; Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM, renamed Jul 16, 2026) is a Core Service, incl. from Business Starter up. Not for personal Google accounts. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | yes DPA public, as of Aug 13, 2026; applies only to Enterprise and API, not Free/Pro. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Server location disclosed | no Per the admin help, Workspace data regions do not apply to data processed and cached by Gemini Notebook; no EU option. DPA: processing possible worldwide. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | no No hosting region documented; privacy notice mentions only transfers to the USA. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Sub-processors listed publicly | yes Public Workspace sub-processor list (third parties and Google group companies with location), last modified Jul 23, 2026. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | unclear DPA refers to a list in the Trust Center; content and date not viewable. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Training on customer data: default and opt-out, by plan | not used – every plan Workspace and personal accounts: not used for training (except feedback you submit). Source · Oct 6, 2026 | business plans only Enterprise: excluded. Free/Pro: used for training – opt out in settings. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| EU representative appointed (Art. 27 GDPR) | no No Art. 27 EU representative needed: the contracting party for Workspace in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is Google Cloud EMEA Limited, Dublin (EEA). Source · Oct 6, 2026 | yes VeraSafe Ireland Ltd., Cork, explicitly designated as Art. 27 EU representative. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers outside the EU | yes CDPA incorporates EU SCCs (controller-to-processor, processor-to-processor, among others) for transfers to third countries. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | yes SCCs for transfers from the EEA; DPA includes Module 2 (controller-to-processor). Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Deletion periods documented | yes Workspace: customer data deleted within max. 180 days after contract end (CDPA Sec. 6.2). No period found for personal accounts. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | yes All personal data deleted within 30 days after contract end; uploads after 7 days. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
| Independent certification (ISO 27001, SOC 2) | yes Gemini Notebook (Workspace) is in scope of ISO 27001/27017/27018 and SOC 1/2/3; the admin help additionally lists ISO 27701 and BSI C5:2020. Source · Oct 6, 2026 | yes SOC 2 Type 2 stated, without scope or date; ISO 27001 not documented. Source · Sep 19, 2026 |
What else you need to check
Until the review is done, these are the questions that make the difference – the same for both tools.
| Data processing agreement | Available, and from which plan? Usually not on the free plan. |
|---|---|
| Server location | Stated or selectable? A promise is not a setting. |
| Training on your slides and prompts | Excluded by default, opt-out only, or not at all? |
| Export | Editable PPTX or Google Slides, or only PDF and a share link? |
| Pricing in detail | What does the plan you actually need cost – and what happens when you exceed it? |
| Billing | Company invoice with VAT, or credit card only? |
Full checklists: GDPR questions · Buying checklist
This comparison doesn’t replace your own evaluation for your use case. What a rating means is explained in our methodology; what it doesn’t mean, in the disclaimer. Found something wrong? Please report it – we correct it free of charge.