10 Best AI Tools for Students in 2025 (+ Which to Use When)
The complete guide to AI tools that actually help students. From flashcards to essays to tutoring - here are the top 10 AI tools every student needs.
Updated for 2025 • Honest reviews • All tested by real students
What Makes a Great AI Tool for Students?
Actually Free
Not "free trial" - truly free with no hidden costs
Easy to Use
No tech skills required, works instantly
Proven Results
Actually helps you learn and get better grades
Top 10 AI Tools for Students
Scholarly - All-in-One AI Study Platform
Best for: Everything - flashcards, quizzes, essays, tutoring, notes
Scholarly is the only platform with EVERY AI study tool you need in one place. Create flashcards from PDFs in 30 seconds, generate practice quizzes, chat with an AI tutor, and write essays with intelligent autocomplete. 2.3M+ students use Scholarly daily.
✅ Pros:
- • All study tools in one platform
- • 100% free forever
- • Press ⌘J for instant AI help anywhere
- • Works on any device
- • No credit card required
⚠️ Cons:
- • So many features it can be overwhelming at first
- • Premium plan needed for fastest AI responses
ChatGPT - General AI Assistant
Best for: Quick questions and explanations
ChatGPT is the most well-known AI chatbot. Great for explaining concepts and answering questions, but lacks study-specific features like flashcard generation or quiz creation. You'll need multiple tools to cover everything Scholarly does.
✅ Very conversational and easy to use
✅ Good at explaining concepts
❌ No flashcard or quiz generation
❌ $20/month for GPT-4
Quizlet - Flashcard Platform
Best for: Pre-made flashcard sets
Quizlet has millions of pre-made flashcard sets. Good if someone already made cards for your class, but you'll still need to manually create cards from your own materials. Scholarly does this automatically from PDFs.
✅ Huge library of existing flashcard sets
✅ Simple interface
❌ No AI to auto-create from YOUR materials
❌ $35.99/year for Plus features
Grammarly - Writing Assistant
Best for: Grammar and spell checking
Grammarly catches grammar errors and suggests improvements. Great for polishing essays, but doesn't help with actual writing or content generation like Scholarly's AI writing assistant does.
✅ Excellent grammar checking
✅ Browser extension
❌ $12/month for Premium
❌ Doesn't help with content generation
Notion AI - Note-Taking with AI
Best for: Organized note-taking
Notion is great for organizing notes, and their AI can summarize and expand text. However, it's not built for students specifically - no flashcards, quizzes, or study features. Better as a supplement to Scholarly.
✅ Powerful organization
✅ AI writing features
❌ $10/month for AI features
❌ Steep learning curve
Wolfram Alpha - Computational Knowledge
Best for: Complex math and science calculations
Wolfram Alpha is excellent for advanced math, physics, and chemistry calculations. Shows step-by-step solutions. However, it's limited to STEM subjects and doesn't help with studying other topics.
✅ Highly accurate calculations
✅ Step-by-step solutions
❌ Only for math/science
❌ $7.25/month for Pro
Anki - Spaced Repetition Flashcards
Best for: Long-term memorization (med school, languages)
Anki uses scientifically-proven spaced repetition. Popular with medical students. However, you have to manually create every flashcard or hope someone shared a deck. Scholarly auto-generates Anki-compatible cards from PDFs.
✅ Best spaced repetition algorithm
✅ Free on most platforms
❌ Very dated interface
❌ Manual card creation is tedious
Claude - AI Chat Assistant
Best for: Long document analysis
Claude (by Anthropic) is great at analyzing long documents and providing detailed explanations. Can upload PDFs and ask questions. However, like ChatGPT, lacks study-specific features. Scholarly integrates Claude plus adds flashcards, quizzes, etc.
✅ Excellent at reading long documents
✅ Very thoughtful responses
❌ $20/month for Pro
❌ No study tools (flashcards, quizzes)
Photomath - Math Problem Solver
Best for: Quick math homework help
Photomath lets you take a picture of a math problem and see the solution. Great for quick homework help, but only works for math and doesn't help you study for exams. Scholarly's AI can solve math AND create practice problems.
✅ Super easy - just take a photo
✅ Step-by-step solutions
❌ Only for math problems
❌ Doesn't help with studying/prep
Google Gemini - Google's AI
Best for: Real-time web search integration
Google Gemini is integrated with Google search, so it can find current information. Good for research, but like other general AI chatbots, lacks student-specific features. Can't create flashcards or quizzes.
✅ Integrated with Google
✅ Free to use
❌ No study tools
❌ Not designed for students
Quick Comparison: Which Tool to Use When
| Tool | Flashcards | Quizzes | AI Tutor | Writing | Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scholarly | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| ChatGPT | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | Partial | GPT-3.5 only |
| Quizlet | Manual | Partial | ❌ | ❌ | Basic only |
| Notion AI | ❌ | ❌ | Partial | ✅ | ❌ |
Verdict: Scholarly is the only tool that does everything. Other tools require juggling multiple subscriptions.
Our Honest Recommendation
If you can only use ONE AI tool for studying, make it Scholarly. It's the only platform with flashcards, quizzes, AI tutoring, and writing help all in one place. 100% free, works on any device, and has everything you need to ace your classes.
You can supplement with specialized tools like Anki for advanced spaced repetition or Wolfram Alpha for complex STEM calculations, but Scholarly should be your main study platform.
No credit card • 2.3M+ students • 100% free forever
Ready to Study Smarter with AI?
Join 2.3M+ students using the best AI study platform.
Free
A simple yet powerful version of Scholarly ready for all students.
500 Autocomplete words per day
Write notes alongside AI.
5 Daily AI Assistant messages
Learn alongside an AI tutor.
1 Daily research reports
AI-powered research assistance.
1 file upload daily
Upload PDFs, videos, and flashcard images.
Only 7 flashcards per day in Study Mode
Practice with spaced repetition.
Up to 10 Pages for PDF to Flashcards
Generate flashcards from PDF pages.
10MB file upload limit
Upload PDFs and videos up to 10MB.
1 AI podcast per day
Turn your materials into podcast conversations.
$0
Free for everyone
Ultimate
Most PopularFor students who wish to take their learning experience to the next level.
Unlimited PDF & Video Uploads
No daily limits on document processing.
Unlimited Autocomplete
Write notes alongside AI.
Unlimited Scholarly Assistant sessions
Learn alongside an AI tutor.
50 Daily research reports
AI-powered research assistance.
Unlimited Quizzes
Practice unlimited flashcards per day.
Unlimited PDF to Flashcards
Pick unlimited pages to convert to flashcards.
Export to Anki
Export your AI generated flashcards to Anki.
300MB file upload limit
Upload PDFs and videos up to 300MB.
30 AI podcasts per day
Turn your materials into podcast conversations.
$12
Per month with annual subscription discount; $144 billed up front. $20 if billed monthly.
For Educators or Schools
Educators should contact us for special pricing. We also offer bulk discounts for schools or educational institutions. Please reach out to us at [email protected].