rekkaKalash Shah
NotebookLM Video Overviews vs Rekka for turning a PDF into a video
If you want to turn a PDF into a narrated video, you'll probably try Google's NotebookLM first. It's free to start, it reads almost any file, and Video Overviews is built for exactly this. We make Rekka, which does the same job differently, so take this with that in mind. We've tried to be fair, and everything about Google's product below comes from Google's own pages as of November 2026.
In July 2026 Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook, and old notebooklm.google links now redirect to notebook.google. Most people still call it NotebookLM, so this post does too.
The short version
| NotebookLM Video Overviews | Rekka | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Narrated slides with generated visuals (Explainer, Short), or a Cinematic video on top tiers | A hand-drawn explainer, with each line drawn as it's spoken |
| Inputs | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs and Slides, URLs, YouTube, audio and more, up to 50 sources per notebook on free | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages, text and photos of pages, up to 30 pages |
| Steering | A prompt, plus an editable script outline ("producer notes") before it renders | Chat about the topic, audience and depth before it renders |
| Visual styles | Presets such as Classic, Whiteboard and Anime, or a custom style | Whiteboard, chalkboard, crayon |
| Time to render | Google says it can take more than 30 minutes | Around 5 to 10 minutes |
| Length | Short is about 60 seconds; Explainer runs longer | Chaptered, so a long document becomes a long video |
| Sharing | Download, or share the whole notebook | mp4 download, or a public link to just the video |
| API | None for video overviews (the enterprise API covers audio only) | REST API and MCP server |
| Price | Free, with higher quotas on paid Google AI plans | 1 free video, then from $5/month for 26 videos |
Where NotebookLM is the better pick
It's free, and it's already open in your browser. If you study from PDFs and want a quick visual summary for yourself, the free tier is hard to beat. Rekka gives you one free video, then you pay.
It takes many sources at once. A notebook can hold dozens of sources, and the video draws on all of them. Rekka reads up to 30 pages per video.
It speaks more languages. Google lists about 80 languages for the Explainer format.
You can edit the script outline. The producer notes step lets you see and change the outline before it renders. With Rekka you steer in chat before rendering. Neither tool lets you edit the finished video.
Where Rekka is the better pick
It draws instead of showing slides. Google's own launch post describes Video Overviews as narrated slides. Rekka draws each part of the explanation on screen at the moment the narration reaches it, the way a teacher works at a whiteboard. That's the main reason to choose it, because viewers watch each idea build up while it's being explained.
The video is yours to publish. You get an mp4 you can put in a course, a slide deck, an LMS or on YouTube, and you can use it commercially. You can also share a public link to just the video. NotebookLM's sharing works at the notebook level, and public links aren't available on Workspace Enterprise or Education accounts.
Long documents become long videos. Rekka plans a big document into chapters and renders each one, so a 30-page manual can become a walkthrough several minutes long. Before anything renders, it shows you how many credits it will use.
It's faster. Rekka videos usually take 5 to 10 minutes. Google warns that Video Overviews can take more than half an hour.
It has an API. If you want videos generated from a docs pipeline, a course platform or an AI agent, Rekka has a REST API and an MCP server. Google doesn't offer an API for Video Overviews.
Which one should you use?
- Studying for yourself, many sources, no budget: NotebookLM.
- Making something other people will watch (a lesson, a training video, an explainer for clients or a course) and you want it to look drawn, not like a slideshow: Rekka.
- Generating videos automatically from documents: Rekka, since it's the one with an API.
The quickest way to decide is to run the same PDF through both. Rekka's first video is free, so you can try it on your PDF and compare.
Sources, checked November 10, 2026: Google's Video Overviews help page, supported sources, the Video Overviews launch post, the Cinematic Video Overviews post and the Gemini Notebook rename. Rekka details are from our pricing page and FAQ.