Software Alternatives & Startups

fd VS NotebookLM

Compare fd VS NotebookLM and see what are their differences

fd

A simple, fast and user-friendly alternative to 'find'.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
NotebookLM

AI-first notebook by Google, available in the U.S., blends large language models and user-chosen data. Apply for access to explore intelligent insights and enhance your note-taking experience.

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Rating
0 reviews
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, fd seems to be a lot more popular than NotebookLM. While we know about 130 links to fd, we've tracked only 10 mentions of NotebookLM.

social mentions
130 vs 10
Note Taking popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
72 vs 240+

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

fd
NLM
NotebookLM
Website github.com notebook.google.com
Pricing
Open source
—
Company Startup from Germany —
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

fd 6 features
NLM
NotebookLM 4 features
  • Speed
    fd is optimized for speed and can outperform traditional tools like find due to its use of parallelism and optimized algorithms.
  • Ease of Use
    fd has a simpler and more user-friendly syntax compared to find, making it easier to learn and use.
  • Colorized Output
    fd provides colorized output by default, making it easier to differentiate between file types and enhancing readability.
  • Smart Case
    fd enables smart case detection by default, meaning searches are case-insensitive unless the pattern includes an uppercase letter.
  • Defaults to Ignoring Hidden Files
    By default, fd ignores hidden files and directories, as well as files specified in .gitignore, helping to narrow down search results to relevant files.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    fd supports multiple platforms including Linux, macOS, and Windows, making it versatile for different development environments.

Possible disadvantages

  • Dependency on Rust
    fd requires the Rust toolchain to build, which may be inconvenient for environments where installing additional dependencies is restricted.
  • Limited to Modern Features
    fd may not support some legacy systems and older versions of operating systems, limiting its applicability in certain scenarios.
  • Not as Feature-Rich
    While fd is easier to use, it doesn't have all the advanced features and fine-grained control options that find offers.
  • Compatibility
    fd’s simplified syntax and modern features may not be directly compatible with scripts or workflows that depend on find, requiring adjustments for integration.
  • Integration with Google Workspace
    NotebookLM is seamlessly integrated with Google Workspace, allowing users to efficiently embed and access documents from Google Docs, Sheets, and other Workspace apps.
  • AI-Powered Assistance
    The platform uses AI to provide smart suggestions and insights, enhancing productivity by auto-completing tasks and reducing manual effort.
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    NotebookLM supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same notebook simultaneously, similar to Google Docs.
  • Flexibility and Customizability
    Users can customize their notebooks with various widgets and functionalities to suit their specific workflow needs.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Offline Access
    NotebookLM primarily operates online, which can be a limitation for users requiring offline access to their documents and tools.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with many AI-powered and cloud-based tools, there are potential privacy concerns related to data security and the handling of personal information.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The integration of advanced features might present a steep learning curve for new users unfamiliar with Google Workspace or AI functionalities.
  • Dependence on Google Ecosystem
    Users who do not regularly use Google Workspace may find limited utility in NotebookLM due to its strong integration with Google's ecosystem.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

fd
NLM
NotebookLM

Overall verdict

  • Yes, fd (github.com) is generally considered good, particularly for its speed, ease of use, and modern features that enhance productivity over the traditional 'find' command.

Why this product is good

  • fd is a program for users who need a fast and user-friendly alternative to the traditional 'find' command. It provides a simple syntax, speed improvements by parallelizing search processes, ignores hidden files and directories by default, and offers colorized outputs, making it more intuitive and efficient for everyday use.

Recommended for

    fd is recommended for developers, system administrators, and power users who often search through directories and require a fast, efficient tool with a shorter learning curve.

Overall verdict

  • NotebookLM is a genuinely useful AI-powered research and note-taking tool from Google that excels at grounding responses in your own uploaded documents, reducing hallucinations and making it reliable for studying, research, and summarization.

Why this product is good

  • It grounds all answers in your uploaded sources, so responses cite specific documents and reduce AI hallucinations
  • Supports a wide range of source types including PDFs, Google Docs, websites, YouTube videos, and pasted text
  • The Audio Overview feature can turn your notes into a podcast-style conversation for easier learning
  • Great at summarizing, generating study guides, FAQs, timelines, and briefing documents from your materials
  • Free to use with a generous set of features backed by Google's Gemini models
  • Inline citations make it easy to verify where information comes from

Recommended for

  • Students studying from textbooks, lecture notes, and research papers
  • Researchers and academics organizing and synthesizing large volumes of source material
  • Writers and journalists managing notes and reference documents
  • Professionals who need to quickly summarize reports, contracts, or documentation
  • Anyone who wants an AI assistant that answers based on their own trusted sources rather than the open web

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

fd 3 videos + Add
NLM
NotebookLM 2 videos + Add

Discmania FD (Fairway Driver) Golf Disc Review

More videos

  • - Honda Civic FD | Review & Tips If you want to own one
  • - Regular Car Reviews: 1993 Mazda RX-7 FD

Google made a new AI note app - NotebookLM review

More videos

  • - Don't Pay for NotebookLM Plus Until You Watch This!

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
fd
NLM
NotebookLM
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
AI
100% 100%
53% 53%
47% 47%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using fd and NotebookLM. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

fd 130 mentions
NLM
NotebookLM 10 mentions
  • I Replaced a 461-Million-Downloads-a-Month Glob Package With One Rust File
    Fast-glob was the Package Killer target, but it was not the only comparison worth making. Developers often reach for fd or ripgrep when they need to locate files from a terminal. They are mature native tools with excellent defaults, so... - Source: dev.to / 26 days ago
  • I wrote an bash enumerator because I was sick of xargs
    > Find works, but the syntax is arcane. Fd is a lifesaver: https://github.com/sharkdp/fd. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Biff is a command line datetime Swiss army knife
    I know that if you want `fd` (https://github.com/sharkdp/fd) you need to `apt install fd-find` and which installs the binary `fdfind` (!). - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago

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  • Associate Cloud Engineer Certification Path
    Gemini Notebook only generates content based on your sources and will not hallucinate or provide false or unrelated information. I cannot overemphasize the importance of this platform while following through with this certification... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • How to Summarize PDFs Locally with Open-Source LLMs (No API, No Data Leaving Your Machine)
    You just need a few summaries occasionally. Standing up Ollama, a model, and an extraction pipeline to summarize five PDFs is overkill. If privacy isn't the constraint, a free web tool does it in seconds — ChatPDF and NotebookLM if you... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Tools I'm Using in 2026 (and what I've stopped using from 2025)
    Last year I was heavily into Perplexity but for most of 2026 I've actually been using NotebookLM a lot more. Perplexity is still useful for just daily news, but when I want to research, when I want to summarise, when I want to learn...... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago

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Alternatives to fd and NotebookLM

When comparing fd and NotebookLM, you can also consider the following products.