A NotebookLM alternative built for transcripts
NotebookLM helps you understand your sources. Pepys turns audio and video into an accurate, speaker-labeled, timestamped transcript you can edit, own, and export – with AI chat on top, so you give up nothing.
60 min free · no card required · we never train on your audio
Is Pepys a good NotebookLM alternative?
NotebookLM is a Google research assistant that answers questions and builds overviews from your sources. Pepys is a transcription tool: it turns audio and video into an accurate, speaker-labeled, timestamped transcript you edit, own, and export to SRT, VTT, DOCX, PDF, or JSON – with AI chat built in. Your first 60 minutes are free, no card.
NotebookLM is a research and notebook assistant. You add sources – PDFs, Google Docs, web pages, YouTube, even audio files – and Gemini grounds itself in them to answer questions, write summaries, and spin up Audio Overviews, mind maps, and study guides. It's genuinely great when the job is understanding a corpus and asking it questions. But the thing it hands back is a notebook of insights, not a transcript you own.
Pepys is built around the transcript itself. Upload a recording or paste a link and you get a clean, speaker-labeled, timestamped transcript you can edit – rename Speaker 1 to a real name, fix a word, jump to a moment – then export to TXT, Markdown, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT, or open JSON. AI summaries and chat-with-the-transcript are built in, so you keep the research layer NotebookLM is loved for and also walk away with the captions, quotes, and document you actually needed. We never train on your audio, and credits never expire. Start with 60 minutes free, no card.
Pepys vs NotebookLM, side by side
NotebookLM vs Pepys, head to head
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| Feature | Pepys | NotebookLM |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A transcription tool – audio/video to an editable transcript | A source-grounded research & notebook assistant |
| Primary output | A speaker-labeled, timestamped transcript you own | Answers, summaries & overviews grounded in your sources |
| Speaker labels you can rename | Yes – Speaker 1, 2… renamed inline to real names | – |
| Timestamps on the transcript | Yes – jump to and quote any moment | – |
| Subtitle / caption export (SRT, VTT) | Yes – SRT and VTT for video captions | – |
| Transcript & document exports | TXT, Markdown, DOCX, PDF, SRT, VTT, JSON | Notes and reports you save to Google Docs |
| Developer JSON export | Yes – open, Whisper-compatible JSON | – |
| Paste a link to transcribe | Yes – YouTube, TikTok, podcasts, and more | Add a YouTube source for research; not a transcript export |
| Built-in AI summaries & chat | Yes – summaries, chapters, and chat with the transcript | Yes – question-answering & overviews over your sources |
| Languages | 99+, auto-detected | Audio Overviews in 80+ languages |
| Pricing model | Pay-as-you-go – buy credits once, they never expire | Free tier; higher limits via a Google One / Workspace plan |
| Free to start | 60 minutes free, no card | Free tier with usage limits |
| Trains AI on your data? | Never – we don't train on your audio or text | – |
Why people switch to Pepys
You walk away with a transcript you own – an editable, speaker-labeled, timestamped document, not just notebook answers grounded in your sources.
Export the formats real work needs: SRT and VTT captions for video, DOCX and PDF for documents, and open JSON for developers.
Rename speakers and fix wording inline, with timestamps to jump to and quote any moment exactly.
You keep the AI layer – summaries and chat-with-the-transcript are built in – so you give up nothing NotebookLM is loved for.
Any language – 99+ detected automatically
- English
- 中文
- Español
- العربية
- हिन्दी
- Français
- 日本語
- Português
- Русский
- Deutsch
- 한국어
- Italiano
- বাংলা
- Türkçe
- فارسی
- Tiếng Việt
- தமிழ்
- Polski
- ไทย
- Українська
- Nederlands
- עברית
- Ελληνικά
- తెలుగు
- Bahasa Indonesia
- اردو
- Svenska
- मराठी
- Română
- Magyar
- Čeština
- ગુજરાતી
- Kiswahili
- ქართული
- Tagalog
- አማርኛ
Common questions about NotebookLM and Pepys
Is Pepys better than NotebookLM?
It depends on the job. For getting a transcript you own and export – speaker-labeled, timestamped, as SRT, DOCX, or JSON – yes, because NotebookLM is a research notebook, not a transcription tool. But if your goal is to ask questions across a whole set of sources, NotebookLM is excellent at that and Pepys doesn't try to replace it.
Is NotebookLM a transcription tool?
Not really – NotebookLM is a Google research and notebook assistant. You add sources, including audio, and it answers questions and builds summaries and overviews grounded in them. Pepys is built to produce the transcript itself: a speaker-labeled, timestamped document you can edit, own, and export.
Can I get subtitles (SRT/VTT) for a video?
Yes – Pepys exports SRT and VTT caption files directly, so you can caption a video right away. NotebookLM's exports are notebook-shaped – notes and reports you save to Google Docs – and it doesn't publicly offer subtitle files.
Do I lose the AI research features if I switch to Pepys?
No. Pepys has AI summaries, chapters, and chat-with-the-transcript built in, so you can ask questions about your recording the way you would in NotebookLM – and still walk away with the editable, exportable transcript itself.
Can I paste a YouTube link?
Yes. Paste a YouTube, TikTok, or podcast link and Pepys returns a clean, speaker-labeled, timestamped transcript you can export. NotebookLM can take a YouTube link as a research source, but that's for asking questions, not for exporting a transcript.
Is it free to try?
Yes. Your first 60 minutes are free with no card required, so you can see the transcript, speaker labels, and exports before you pay – and credits you buy later never expire.
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Pay as you go – credits never expire, nothing to cancel. Compare the transcript against NotebookLM with 60 free minutes.