# better-vault > better-vault is a free, open-source alternative to Google NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook): you add your sources, chat with them with cited answers, and turn them into study and work material, using your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Google API key or local models through Ollama and LM Studio. Everything stays on your device, in your browser or the desktop app. ## Key facts - Open source under the MIT license; free to use and self-host. - An alternative to Google NotebookLM (renamed Gemini Notebook in 2026). - Providers: OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini) with the user's own API key, or local models through Ollama and LM Studio. - Chat answers cite numbered passages from the user's sources; Web mode uses the provider's built-in web search. - Studio tools: Report, Flashcards, Quiz, Data table, Mind map (plus 11 diagram kinds), Slide deck, Infographic, Anatomy, Whiteboard. - Sources: PDF, Markdown and text files, web pages and pasted text. - Local-first: notebooks are stored on the device (IndexedDB in the browser, SQLite in the desktop app); no account, no server database. - No audio or video overviews. - Runs on your own machine (npm run dev) or your own server; there is no hosted service. Source code: https://github.com/better-vault/better-vault. - Built with Next.js 16 and the Vercel AI SDK. ## Get started - [What is better-vault?](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs): An open-source, bring-your-own-model alternative to Google NotebookLM that keeps your notebooks on your own device, in the browser or the desktop app. - [Get started](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/quickstart): Install better-vault as a desktop app or run it from source, connect an AI model, and make your first notebook with sources, cited answers and study material. - [Desktop app](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/desktop): Install the better-vault desktop app for macOS, Windows or Linux. It has the same interface as the web app, keeps notebooks in a local file and updates itself. - [Providers and models](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/providers): Use better-vault with OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Ollama or LM Studio, with your own API key, your ChatGPT plan or a local model on your computer. - [Privacy and your data](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/privacy): better-vault is local-first. Notebooks, sources, chats and keys stay in your browser or in a file on your computer, and nothing is ever kept on a server. - [Self-hosting](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/self-hosting): Deploy your own copy of the better-vault web app on any Node.js host or on Vercel, with optional environment variables that harden public deployments. ## Using better-vault - [Notebooks](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/notebooks): A notebook is a workspace with its own sources, chats and Studio outputs. Learn how to create, switch between, rename and delete notebooks in better-vault. - [Sources](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/sources): Add PDFs, Markdown and text files, web pages or pasted text to a notebook in better-vault, then choose which of those sources the chat and the Studio use. - [Chat and citations](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/chat): Ask questions about your sources in better-vault and get answers with numbered citations, or switch to Web mode to let the model search the internet for you. ## Studio - [The Studio](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio): better-vault's Studio turns your sources into reports, flashcards, quizzes, data tables, mind maps, slide decks, infographics, Anatomy figures and whiteboards. - [Report](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/report): Write a briefing doc, study guide, blog post or a format of your own from your sources in better-vault, with citations, a table of contents and Word export. - [Flashcards](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/flashcards): Make flip cards from your sources in better-vault to test yourself, study them in the app with shuffle and tallies, or export them to Anki as a CSV file. - [Quiz](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/quiz): Generate a multiple-choice quiz from your sources in better-vault, with a hint for each question, an explanation of each answer and a score at the end. - [Data table](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/data-table): Collect the facts in your sources into a table whose columns the model chooses, for comparing items or listing dates, then export it to Excel or to CSV. - [Mind map](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/mind-map): Draw an interactive mind map of your sources in better-vault, or a flowchart, timeline, Gantt chart or one of eight other diagram kinds, rendered as SVG. - [Slide deck](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/slide-deck): Build a presentation from your sources, as a detailed deck to read or presenter slides with speaker notes, present it full screen, or export it to PowerPoint. - [Infographic](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/infographic): Create a one-page infographic that summarizes your sources, drawn by your provider's image model from a cited brief, in the orientation and style you pick. - [Anatomy](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/anatomy): Anatomy draws an interactive isometric figure of a real object whose working explains your sources: point at a part, step through it, or take it apart. - [Whiteboard](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/studio/whiteboard): A hand-drawn style board in better-vault for your own diagrams, or for drawing over a mind map, Anatomy figure or infographic. It needs no model and no sources. ## Project - [better-vault vs NotebookLM](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/comparison): How better-vault compares with Google NotebookLM (Gemini Notebook) on AI models, privacy, price, features, desktop apps and self-hosting, and when to pick each. - [FAQ](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/faq): Answers to common questions about better-vault, the open-source NotebookLM alternative: its price, AI models, local AI, data storage, the desktop app and more. - [Roadmap](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/roadmap): What better-vault has shipped and what comes next: the desktop app, a notebook guide, notes, more source types, deep research and editing Studio outputs. - [Architecture](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/contributing): How better-vault is built, the decisions behind it and where the code lives, for people and AI coding agents who want to contribute to the web or desktop app. - [Add a Studio tool](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/contributing/studio-tool): Create a new Studio tool in better-vault: a definition, a server prompt and output schema, an options dialog and a viewer, registered on client and server. - [Add a provider](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/contributing/provider): Add a new AI provider to better-vault: list it in the model catalog, then give it a model factory, an optional web-search tool and a way to list models. - [Translations](https://www.better-vault.dev/docs/contributing/translations): Translate the better-vault interface into a new language with i18next: copy the English files, register the language, and check that no keys are missing. ## Optional - [Full documentation in one file](https://www.better-vault.dev/llms-full.txt): every docs page as Markdown. - [Source code on GitHub](https://github.com/better-vault/better-vault): README, AGENTS.md and CHANGELOG.md.