The best AI tools for summarizing textbooks
Notedly is our top pick for turning textbook chapters into study notes in standard, Cornell or outline format. Gemini Notebook is best for studying a whole textbook alongside your other sources, and AskYourPDF suits asking questions of a long PDF with page citations.
On this page
The list
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1. Notedly Our product
Best for Turning textbook chapters into study notes (standard, Cornell or outline), alongside your lectures
Paste text free: 1 summary with no account, then 10,000 words/month. PDF upload on Premium, $9.99/month or $49.99/year
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2. Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Best for Studying a whole textbook alongside your other class sources in one notebook
Free. Up to 50 sources per notebook, each up to 500,000 words or 200 MB[1][2]
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3. AskYourPDF
Best for Asking questions of a long textbook PDF, with answers cited to the page
Free: 1 document a day, up to 100 pages. Premium from $11.99/month billed yearly (2,500 pages)[3][4]
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4. Quizgecko
Best for Quizzes, flashcards and a mind map from the same chapter PDF
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5. Genspark
Best for Long PDFs, including scanned ones, summarized in one go
Free credits to start, no credit card needed[7]
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6. Samuraize
Best for One free summary a day at a chosen level of detail
Free: 1 summary a day, PDFs up to 100 pages. Paid plans listed as coming soon[8]
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7. StudyFetch
Best for An AI tutor and flashcards built from your uploaded course files
Free to start. Premium $19.99/month or $96/year (US App Store)[9][10]
Why Notedly is our top pick
- Notes, not just a summary. Standard, Cornell or outline notes, in the format your class uses.
- Chapter by chapter. Paste a chapter on any plan, or upload the PDF on Premium, and keep each chapter's notes in one place for the exam.
- The whole course in one account. The same account summarizes web readings and YouTube lectures, and takes live lecture notes on Premium Plus.
- Free to try. One summary with no account, then 10,000 words a month free. Premium is $9.99 a month or $49.99 a year.
How to summarize a textbook chapter
- Copy the chapter's text, or have the PDF ready if you're on Premium.
- Paste it into Notedly, or upload the PDF, and pick a note style.
- Read your notes, then go back to the textbook for figures, examples and anything you'll be tested on in detail.
How we compiled this list
We checked each tool's own site, help center or App Store listing (sources below) for what a student needs from a textbook summarizer: notes you can study from, how much of a book it takes in at once, a real way to try it free, and the cost of a semester. Notedly is our product.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI tool for summarizing a textbook?
For turning chapters into notes you can study from, we recommend Notedly: paste a chapter or upload the PDF on Premium and get standard, Cornell or outline notes. To study a whole book alongside your other class sources, Gemini Notebook is a strong free option.
Can I summarize a textbook for free?
Yes, a chapter at a time. Notedly's first summary needs no account, and a free account includes 10,000 words a month of pasted text, which is about one long chapter. Several other tools have daily free limits, listed above.
Can AI summarize a textbook PDF?
Yes. On Notedly Premium ($9.99 a month or $49.99 a year) you can upload PDFs and get notes from them, with 500,000 words a month. On the free plan, paste the chapter's text instead.
Can I use the Notedly Chrome extension on a textbook?
The extension is for quick reads. It summarizes the text you highlight or the part of the page on your screen, and the first part of a PDF, up to about 1,300 words at a time. For a full chapter, paste it into notedly.ai or upload the PDF on Premium.