Turn your PDFs, reports, lecture notes, Word docs, slides, or a typed topic into a one-page visual mind map — central concept, branching sub-topics, and labeled relationships, grounded in your own material. Built for students, professionals, researchers, and teams.
Stop re-reading dense chapters, reports, or papers. See how every concept connects on a single page.
See the connections
A mind map shows a central concept with branching sub-topics and labeled relationships — so you grasp how ideas fit together, not just a list of facts.
Built from your material
Combine up to 10 sources (20 on Laureate) — PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoint, text files, Google Drive documents, or a typed prompt — into one map. Synthesize multiple chapters at once.
Grounded, not made up
The map is extracted from your actual uploaded sources, not a model's generic knowledge — so it covers exactly your syllabus, paper, or report and your wording.
How it works
How it works
Three steps from your source material to a finished, saveable mind map.
01
1. Add your sources
Upload PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoint, or text files — or pick from your library or Google Drive (up to 10 sources, or 20 on Laureate). Or skip the file and just type a study prompt like "Mind map the Krebs cycle with inputs, outputs, and key steps".
02
2. Choose a style
Pick one of 3 color styles — Editorial, Bold & Vibrant, or Warm — and optionally add custom instructions (up to 500 characters) to shape the layout, emphasis, or label length. Premium users can also choose the AI model.
03
3. Generate and save
Click Generate Mind Map. Scholarly processes your sources asynchronously — usually under a minute — and saves the result as an SVG image in your workspace, ready to view full-page, share, or download on a paid plan.
3 color styles
Pick a color style
Every style uses the same layout: the central topic in the middle, branch cards on both sides, each with its connector word, label, and sub-topic chips. The style sets the paper and accent colors.
Editorial
Default
Warm cream paper with brand-blue accents — a quiet, print-like page.
Bold & Vibrant
Free
Bright white paper with hot coral accents — high contrast for screens and slides.
Warm
Free
Butter-yellow paper with deep amber accents — a softer page for long reading.
Every label is typeset text, never drawn by an image model, so maps read cleanly in any language, including right-to-left Arabic and Hebrew and Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Free users get the default model; premium users can pick from additional AI models in the customization panel.
What you get
Everything in a Scholarly mind map
More than a picture — a grounded study artifact that lives in your workspace.
Multiple input sources
Combine PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoint, text files, and Google Drive documents in a single map — up to 10 sources (20 on Laureate), with hybrid input like two PDFs plus a prompt.
3 color styles
Editorial, Bold & Vibrant, or Warm — the same branch layout in three paper and accent palettes, with every label set as real text.
Custom instructions
Refine layout, emphasis, or label length in plain text (up to 500 characters) — for example, "emphasize the enzymes" or "keep labels short".
Multi-language
Generate maps in your preferred language, set once in your assistant preferences and applied to every map you create.
Grounded generation
Concepts and relationships are extracted from your actual uploaded sources, not generic AI knowledge — so the map matches your course, research, or work documents.
Saved to your workspace
Each map becomes an image component on a page in your workspace with one click — open it, view full-page, or keep it alongside your other study material.
More model choices
Free users get the default AI model; Premium users unlock additional AI model options and ongoing generation.
Central concept + branches
Every map has one central concept with branching sub-concepts and labeled relationships, so the structure of the topic is clear at a glance.
Interactive viewer
Open the map in your workspace and use zoom and pan to explore dense maps, or view it full-page for review.
Download and export
On paid plans, download your mind map as a PNG or SVG, export it as a PowerPoint (.pptx) slide, or save it to Google Slides with Google Drive connected — so it drops straight into the deck you are building. Viewing and sharing with a link are free for everyone.
Hybrid sources
Mix and match up to 10 inputs in one request (20 on Laureate) — combine two chapters and a topic prompt, or a slide deck and your notes.
One-page summary
Dense chapters condensed into a single visual page you can take in at once — perfect for last-minute review.
Best for
Great for every subject
From cell biology to compilers — mind maps adapt to the structure of your material.
Biology
Map cellular processes, photosynthesis, or enzyme pathways with labeled steps and inputs/outputs branching from the core concept.
History
Lay out historical events with branching timelines, causes, and relationships between key figures and movements.
Chemistry
Visualize reaction mechanisms, molecular structures, and bonding relationships, with a connector word like "forms" or "requires" on each branch.
Literature
Organize character relationships, plot themes, and narrative connections around one central topic, with sub-topics on every branch.
Computer science
Map algorithms, data structures, or system architectures with clear hierarchical branching.
Honest comparison
Mind Maps vs other map tools
Scholarly has a few ways to map and visualize concepts. Here's when to use each one.
Concept Map Generator
Best for a fast, free text outline. A public browser tool that turns a typed topic into a concept map — no login needed to try it.
Outputs raw Mermaid, markdown, or structured text you can copy or download.
Includes a complexity slider (basic to comprehensive).
Plain text only — no visual rendering and not grounded in your uploaded files.
Infographic Generator
Best for visual summary posters. A one-page visual summary of your sources, with its own set of styles.
Same source picker, customization, and expanded model selection.
Great for a poster-style recap of a whole chapter.
A general summary — it isn't built around nodes, branches, and relationships the way a mind map is.
Best for structure
Mind Maps
Best for seeing how concepts connect. Renders a grounded, one-page visual map from your own PDFs, Office files, or a prompt.
Central concept with branching sub-concepts and labeled relationships, in 3 color styles with typeset labels.
Saved into your workspace as an image you can view full-page and share — or, on paid plans, download as PNG or SVG and export to PowerPoint or Google Slides.
Free to start, up to 10 combined sources (20 on Laureate), with expanded model selection and higher limits.
Get started
Pick the right entry point
This page is the overview. If you know how you want to start, jump straight to the matching tool.
Scholarly doesn't just call a model once. Each feature is run by an autonomous AI agent that reads your material, reasons across multiple models, and can research the web and run code — then hands back a finished, cited artifact.
Multiple models
Agents route each step to the model that does it best, instead of relying on a single one.
Live web research
When your sources aren't enough, agents search the web and cite what they find.
Runs code in a sandbox
Each agent gets its own sandbox to compute, transform data, and build your artifact.
Grounded in your sources
Every output is built from the PDFs, notes, and lectures you upload — not guesswork.
You can use PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, and text files — uploaded directly, pulled from your Scholarly library, or imported from Google Drive. This works for textbooks and lecture notes as well as research papers, work reports, meeting docs, and business plans. You can also skip files entirely and type a prompt, and combine up to 10 sources in a single map on Premium, or 20 on Laureate (1 on the Free plan), including a mix of files and a prompt.
How long does it take to generate a mind map?
Generation runs asynchronously and typically completes in under a minute, depending on how much source material you include. Because it runs in the background, you can't preview the map before it's created.
What does the finished mind map look like?
Each map is a one-page SVG image with a central concept and branching sub-concepts connected by labeled relationships, in the color style you chose, with every label set as real text. It's saved as an image component on a page in your workspace, where students, professionals, and teams can open it, view it full-page, or share it — and paid plans can download it as PNG or SVG, or export it as a PowerPoint slide or to Google Slides to drop into a deck or report.
What color styles are available?
There are 3 color styles: Editorial (warm cream paper, brand-blue accents), Bold & Vibrant (bright white paper, hot coral accents), and Warm (butter-yellow paper, deep amber accents). All three share the same layout, and every label is typeset text in your map's language, including right-to-left scripts and Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.
Can I customize the output?
Yes. Alongside the color style, you can add custom instructions in plain text (up to 500 characters) to steer the layout, emphasis, or label length — for example, asking it to focus on a particular section or keep labels concise. Note that some instructions may be overridden by the chosen AI model. Custom Designs lets you save your own design profile — standing instructions and reference images — that's applied to every mind map you generate.
Is the mind map generator free?
Yes, it's free to start. The free plan uses the default AI model and includes one lifetime AI Creation Credit so you can try it out. Paid plans unlock additional AI model options and ongoing generation.
Can I edit the map after it's generated?
The output is a single static SVG image, so you can't drag nodes or rewire connections after generation like an editable graph. If a map misses the mark, you generate a new one with different sources, a different style, or new custom instructions — each generation creates a new artifact rather than replacing the old one.
How is this different from the Concept Map Generator?
The Concept Map Generator is a fast, free public browser tool that outputs plain text, markdown, or Mermaid from a typed topic — handy for a quick outline. Mind Maps instead render an interactive visual artifact grounded in your uploaded PDFs and files, and save it into your workspace alongside your other study material.
Can I make a mind map without uploading a file?
Yes. Just type a prompt — for example, "Mind map photosynthesis with light and dark reactions" or "Mind map our go-to-market strategy" — and Scholarly builds the map from that prompt. Students, professionals, and researchers can also combine a prompt with up to two uploaded files in the same request.
Do mind maps work with scanned or handwritten PDFs?
Yes. Scholarly can read relevant PDF pages as images, so scanned documents and clear handwriting can be used even when there is no selectable text. Image quality and legibility still affect the result.
Keep exploring
Keep exploring
More ways to visualize and study your material with Scholarly.
Free makes a lecture of about 2 minutes in 720p with the Scholarly logo, to watch in Scholarly. Premium and Laureate make lectures up to 45 minutes in 1080p that you can download as an MP4, with the logo off if you choose.
With the Scholarly logo, to watch in Scholarly. Podcasts of about 2 min.
1 free AI Creation Credit total
2 lifetime images · Beta
3 lifetime AI Chat messages
1 free file upload total (8MB)
AI Meeting Notes: 3 meetings total, no reset, up to 60 minutes, notes included
5 lifetime quiz questions
1 completed practice exam total
15 lifetime voice minutes
32-page PDF to flashcards
500 lifetime autocomplete words
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, or create a podcast, video lecture, slides, infographic, mind map, Summary, worksheet, spreadsheet, story book, timeline, SOP, flowchart, lesson plan, or outline — or run Deep Research. A meeting recorded with it comes with its transcript and AI Meeting Notes.
Pricing shown in USD by default. Local currency may be available in app or at checkout.
Compare plans
Image creation · Beta
Shared across Image Studio and chat. Separate from AI Creation Credits. Free images are lifetime and do not reset. Paid allowances reset weekly without rollover. Limits may change during beta.
Free
2 lifetime
Premium
40/week
Laureate
80/week
AI chat
Premium and Laureate include unlimited AI chat. The chat model menu is a curated selection and is smaller than the creation catalog — some models, including the Frontier tier, are reserved for credit-metered AI creations.
Free
3 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
AI Creation Credits
AI Creation Credits cover videos, slides, documents, and other AI creations. Most models use 1 credit, a few use 2, and Frontier models use 2, 3, or 4. Image Studio and chat images have a separate weekly allowance.
Free
1 total
Premium
15/week
Laureate
80/week
Podcast length
Free episodes are about 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target length up to 60 minutes.
Free
About 2 minutes
Premium
Up to 60 minutes
Laureate
Up to 60 minutes
Video lecture length
Free lectures with a length control are about 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target up to 45 minutes. Short uses its own short video format.
Free
About 2 minutes
Premium
Up to 45 minutes
Laureate
Up to 45 minutes
Video lecture resolution
Free
720p
Premium
1080p
Laureate
1080p
Download lectures as MP4
Free
—
Premium
Included
Laureate
Included
Scholarly logo on lectures
Free
Always on
Premium
Your choice
Laureate
Your choice
File uploads
Free
1 total (8MB)
Premium
Unlimited (300MB)
Laureate
Unlimited (1 GB each)
PDF to flashcards
Free
32 pages
Premium
1000 pages
Laureate
3000 pages
Sources per creation
Free
Up to 1
Premium
Up to 10
Laureate
Up to 20
Practice questions
Free
5 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Practice exams
Free
1 total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Voice mode
Free
15 min total
Premium
2 hr/day
Laureate
12 hr/day
Autocomplete
Free
500 words total
Premium
Unlimited
Laureate
Unlimited
Export to Anki
Free
—
Premium
Included
Laureate
Included
Support
Free
Standard
Premium
Priority
Laureate
Priority
Feature
Free
Premium
Laureate
Image creation · Beta
2 lifetime
40/week
80/week
AI chat
3 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
AI Creation Credits
1 total
15/week
80/week
Podcast length
About 2 minutes
Up to 60 minutes
Up to 60 minutes
Video lecture length
About 2 minutes
Up to 45 minutes
Up to 45 minutes
Video lecture resolution
720p
1080p
1080p
Download lectures as MP4
—
Included
Included
Scholarly logo on lectures
Always on
Your choice
Your choice
File uploads
1 total (8MB)
Unlimited (300MB)
Unlimited (1 GB each)
PDF to flashcards
32 pages
1000 pages
3000 pages
Sources per creation
Up to 1
Up to 10
Up to 20
Practice questions
5 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Practice exams
1 total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Voice mode
15 min total
2 hr/day
12 hr/day
Autocomplete
500 words total
Unlimited
Unlimited
Export to Anki
—
Included
Included
Support
Standard
Priority
Priority
What customers say
Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.
TD Georgas
Tutor
I have very good experience with Scholarly it summarize me scientific text in hovel academic level with citation. I use this for any therapeutic area . It is great and useful tool.
Diana
Scholarly user
Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.
Briana
Scholarly user
This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
Scholarly user
Your questions, answered
Is Scholarly free to use?
Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with lifetime allowances: 3 AI Chat messages, 500 autocomplete words, 5 quiz questions, 15 voice minutes, 1 practice exam, one free AI Creation Credit total, and 1 file upload. These allowances do not reset. Image Studio and chat also share 2 lifetime images during beta; this separate Free allowance does not reset and may change. Upgrade to Premium for 15 AI Creation Credits per week and unlimited uploads.
What uses my free AI Creation Credits?
AI Creation Credits are shared across flashcards, podcasts, videos, slides, AI Documents, Deep Research, and the Transcribe tool. The selected model determines the credit cost. Recording a meeting does not use an AI Creation Credit. Transcript and notes are included, up to 10 hours on paid plans.
Can I cancel anytime?
Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.
Can I use Scholarly with a class or school?
Yes. For a school or organization-wide rollout, contact us at hello@scholarly.so and we'll help you find the right setup.
What happens when I hit a free plan limit?
You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost — limits only apply to new actions. Most Free allowances are lifetime limits. The separate beta image allowance includes 2 lifetime images on Free with no reset, 40 per week on Premium, and 80 per week on Laureate. Limits may change during beta. Premium includes 15 AI Creation Credits per week, podcasts up to 60 minutes, video lectures up to 45 minutes, unlimited uploads, chat, autocomplete, quizzes, and exams, plus more daily voice time.