NotebookLM vs. Gamma for slides: Which tool wins?
⏱️ Read time: ~2.5 min
During one of my recent AI Deep Dives on Slides with Gamma, one of the participants - Amir - asked a great question: "How does NotebookLM's new slides feature compare to Gamma?"
At the time, I hadn't tested it yet. NotebookLM had just rolled out both an infographic and a slides feature a few days before our session, and I wanted to give it a proper look before weighing in.
So I did. And here's what I found.
What I Tested: NotebookLM Slides vs. Gamma
I ran NotebookLM's slides feature through its paces, using a mix of sources in a notebook to see how it handled deck creation.
Here's what stood out.
What I liked:
Slides built from your sources: You can generate a deck based on all the sources in a notebook or just the ones you select. A simple, well-crafted prompt is enough. Then you tick a few boxes: level of detail, tone (report-style or presentation support), and off it goes.
Speed: Depending on the number of sources I decided to include, it took anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes.
Solid storylines: I was impressed by how it structured the narrative. The flow made sense and felt cohesive.
What's missing (and, at this stage, that's a dealbreaker for client work):
No branding control: You can't add your own colors, fonts, or logo. Also, the slides look a bit bland.
Hallucinated images: NotebookLM adds pictures of people that aren't real and aren't from your sources. That's a credibility risk you can't afford in professional settings. In my case, it tool client feedback and added totally random images.
No image customization: You can't control the style of images or upload your own.
No editing: This is the biggest drawback. In the current beta version, I can't make edits to the deck once it's generated. If something's off, I have to reprompt the entire thing.
Slide limit: I wasn't able to generate more than 15 slides, which is limiting for longer presentations.
My Take on When to Use Each Tool
NotebookLM slides are great for visualizing content for your own learning or brainstorming storylines. It's a helpful feature, but right now it feels more like a gimmick than a tool I'd use for anything customer-facing.
Gamma gives me full control over branding, slide layouts, images, and editing. With the right prompts, I can generate a solid outline using Claude (my current favorite) based on my own materials, then bring it into Gamma for a polished, professional deck.
I'm hearing that Gemini Pro has more flexibility, but since I use the Gemini LLMs through my multi-LLM platform Langdock rather than a separate subscription, I can't comment on that firsthand.
So for now, NotebookLM's slides feature is a nice-to-have, not a must-have. Gamma still wins for client work.
My Educated Guess?
We're going to see a lot of movement and evolution in this space in the coming months. Creating beautiful slides is no longer as much of a headache as it used to be and it will become even easier in the coming months.
Key Takeaway:
NotebookLM's slides feature is excellent for internal brainstorming and learning, but if you need branding, editing flexibility, and full creative control, Gamma is still your best bet.
Have fun experimenting,
Elena
P.S.: I'm planning a free Deep Dive in January on how to create solid outlines and turn them into polished slide decks. Reply if you'd like early access.
