A private NotebookLM alternative for your family's documents
RHRob HudsonOctober 15, 2026(Updated October 18, 2026)4 min read
The insurance company is on the phone and needs a policy number. You know it is somewhere in the forty PDFs from your dad's estate. If you have used Google's NotebookLM, you know it could find that number in seconds. You may also have stopped before uploading his will and his bank statements to it.
That pause is reasonable. Below is what NotebookLM does well and how Archevi handles the same job for a family, including the parts that do leave Canada.
What NotebookLM gets right
NotebookLM (Google now calls it Gemini Notebook) answers questions using only the sources you upload, and it shows you where each answer came from. For paperwork that matters, that is the right design. A confident guess about a beneficiary or a renewal date is worse than no answer at all.
Google's help page says notebook content is not used to directly train its foundation models unless you give feedback, and that feedback from personal accounts is reviewed by trained teams after it is disconnected from your Google Account. You can read Google's privacy terms for Gemini Notebook here.
Why family paperwork is different
NotebookLM is a research tool. One person gathers sources for a project, asks questions, and moves on. Family paperwork works on a different clock. It belongs to a whole household and keeps arriving for decades. The questions tend to come at bad moments: a claim, a border crossing, a hospital visit, a death in the family.
A notebook in one person's Google account does not help your sister when she is the co-executor and you are on a plane. It also sends your documents to the model as they are, names and account numbers included.
How Archevi handles the private part
Archevi is a family knowledge base. Here is what happens to your documents, plainly:
Your documents and account details are stored in Canada, on servers in Toronto, and so are the backups.
Before the AI model that writes your answer sees anything, personal details such as names and SINs are swapped for placeholders. The real values are put back when the answer reaches you.
Some processing happens outside Canada. To search your documents and write answers, Archevi sends pieces of text to AI providers in the United States. We do not claim otherwise.
Your documents are never used to train AI models.
Anonymizing adds a second or two to each answer. We think that is worth it.
Every answer cites the document and the page it came from, so you can open the original and check before you read a policy number to someone on the phone.
Managed or local: pick the one that fits
If your rule is that nothing leaves your own computer, use a local tool. AnythingLLM and Open Notebook can both run on your own machine. The tradeoff is upkeep: keeping them running and backed up is your job. Sharing with a spouse or sibling also means sharing that computer.
Archevi is the managed option. We run the servers and take care of backups. You invite family members with their own logins, and you decide what each person can see, so a teenager does not see the same folders as the parent handling Grandma's estate.
Frequently asked questions
Is Archevi a private alternative to NotebookLM?
For family documents, yes. Like NotebookLM, it answers questions from your own files and cites its sources. It is built for a household, with a login for each family member. Your documents are stored in Canada, and personal details are anonymized before the AI that writes your answer sees them.
Does Archevi run on my own computer?
No. Archevi is a hosted service. If you need every step to happen on your own device, a local tool such as AnythingLLM or Open Notebook is a better fit.
Does my data stay in Canada?
Your documents and backups are stored in Canada. Some processing happens in the United States: pieces of text are sent to AI providers there to search your documents and write answers. Personal details are anonymized before the AI model that writes your answer sees them.
Will my documents be used to train AI models?
No. Your documents are never used to train AI models.
How do I know an answer is right?
Every answer points to the document and page it came from. Open the source and check it, especially before you act on a number or a date.
Can my whole family use it?
Yes. You invite family members by email, each with their own login, and choose what each member can see.
How much does Archevi cost?
There is a free plan. Current plans and prices are on the pricing page.
If your family's paperwork lives in a drawer and one person's memory, see how Archevi works.
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