AI Podcast Generator · Built for learning and knowledge work

Free AI Podcast Generator for Anything You're Studying

Turn a PDF, notes, video, slide deck, or recording into a three-speaker episode. Every episode includes chapters, a navigable transcript, source citations, visual companion slides, and a synchronized video mode.

Free to start · No credit card required

Used by 170,000+ people worldwide
Scholarly AI podcast generator showing an audio player with chapters and a synced transcript
170,000+
people worldwide
70+
podcast languages
Up to 60 min
episode length on paid plans
What it is & how it works

Can I turn a PDF into a podcast for free?

Yes. A free Scholarly account includes one lifetime AI Creation Credit, and you can spend it on a podcast: upload a PDF (up to 8 MB, with the first 32 pages processed on Free) and the AI scripts a three-speaker episode from that document. Alex hosts, Sam adds context as producer, and the Guest explains the material, with chapters, a transcript, and citations back to the source pages. Free episodes are a fixed 2 minutes, which is enough to hear how your source sounds as a conversation. Premium unlocks episodes up to 60 minutes, 10 AI Creation Credits every week, and MP3 and MP4 downloads.

  • What goes in: A PDF, typed or handwritten notes, images, a website link, a YouTube video, a slide deck, a recording, or a topic you describe. Free episodes use one source; Premium combines up to 10 sources in one episode and Laureate up to 20. Free uploads are capped at 8 MB with PDFs processed up to 32 pages; Premium accepts files up to 300 MB and PDFs up to 1,000 pages.
  • What comes out: A three-speaker episode in any of 70+ languages, in a Conversational, Exam Prep, or Deep Dive style, with chapter markers, a clickable transcript, page-level citations, and a synchronized chapter-slide video mode. On a paid plan you can also export the chapter slides as a PowerPoint (.pptx) file, one slide per chapter, or save them to Google Slides when Google Drive is connected.
  • What each plan gets: Free: one lifetime AI Creation Credit and one upload, a fixed 2-minute episode, and streaming plus sharing by view link. Premium ($30/mo or $144/yr): 10 AI Creation Credits per week, episodes up to 60 minutes, MP3 and MP4 downloads, and PowerPoint export of the chapter slides. Laureate ($99/mo): 80 AI Creation Credits per week, files up to 1 GB, and PDFs up to 3,000 pages.

If you have a PDF and a browser, you can hear your first episode today for free; the paid plan is for when you want longer episodes every week or need the MP3 on your phone.

Updated September 2026

How the AI podcast generator works

Three steps from a folder of course material to an episode in your headphones.

01

Upload your material

Drop in a PDF, slide deck, recording, YouTube link, website, or your own typed notes — or just describe a topic. Scholarly reads the actual source, up to hundreds of pages per document.

02

Pick a style, AI writes & voices it

Choose Conversational, Exam Prep, or Deep Dive, add custom instructions if you want, and pick from 70+ languages. The AI scripts and voices a three-speaker conversation with Alex as host, Sam as producer, and a Guest. Generation time varies with the source, requested length, model, and service load.

03

Listen, jump, reuse

Switch between audio and synchronized chapter-slide video, use captions and the transcript, and share one link on every plan. Paid plans can download MP3 and MP4 files; then build flashcards and a quiz from the same source.

What you can feed it

One generator, every kind of study source

If it's part of your course, you can probably turn it into an episode.

PDFs & textbooks

Textbook chapters, journal articles, lab manuals, case studies — upload the file and the hosts work from the real text, not a summary of a summary.

Lecture & class notes

Typed notes, exported docs, even photos of handwritten pages. Messy structure is fine; the AI organizes the episode around the concepts, not your formatting.

YouTube videos

Paste a link to a recorded lecture or explainer video and get a tighter audio version you can replay on the bus without a screen.

Slides & presentations

PowerPoint and slide PDFs become a narrated discussion that fills in the words your professor said between the bullet points.

Recordings & audio

Upload a recording and get back a shorter, structured episode — the 50-minute ramble distilled into the 10 minutes that will be on the exam.

Websites & articles

Paste a URL — course pages, documentation, news analysis — and the hosts discuss what it actually says, with the source kept alongside the episode.

What every episode includes

Every episode is built for understanding

A generic AI podcast maker gives you an audio file. Scholarly gives you a study object you can navigate, verify, and reuse.

Three-speaker conversation

Alex hosts and asks questions, Sam adds context as producer, and the Guest explains your material in a natural discussion.

Three episode styles

Conversational for a first pass, Exam Prep for drilling likely questions, Deep Dive for the hard chapters. Custom instructions let you steer further.

70+ languages

Generate the episode in your study language or your native one — natural AI voices in over 70 languages, useful when you study in English but think in something else.

Transcript & synced captions

A full transcript sits next to the player. Click any line to jump to that moment, or toggle captions to read along in a loud room or a quiet library.

Citations to your source

Claims in the episode are backed by references to your original document, with page pointers — so you can check anything that sounds off before it ends up in your exam answer.

Video mode, sharing & downloads

Watch synchronized chapter slides and share one episode link on every plan. Paid plans can download MP3 audio or a 16:9 MP4 for offline use and publishing.

Sample episode

What a generated episode sounds like

A real-shaped example: a 28-page cardiology lecture PDF turned into an 11-minute Exam Prep episode.

00:00 · Cold open & roadmap

The hosts frame why the cardiac cycle trips students up and name the three things the exam will lean on: the phases, the valve timings, and the pressure curves. A chapter marker drops here so you can return to the overview in one tap.

01:15 · Core walkthrough

The host walks through systole and diastole phase by phase while the guest interrupts with the questions a student would actually ask — wait, which valves are open during isovolumetric contraction? Each phase gets its own chapter marker.

06:40 · Exam traps

The hosts quiz each other on the classic confusions: when the AV valves close, what the dicrotic notch means, why the pressure-volume loop is drawn the way it is — citing the page in your PDF where each answer lives.

10:05 · Rapid recap

A sixty-second summary of the whole episode, then a pointer to the flashcards and practice quiz generated from the same chapter — because listening twice is worth less than testing yourself once.

The honest case

Does listening actually help you study?

The honest answer first: listening alone will not get you a grade. Audio is recognition-friendly — it makes material feel familiar without proving you can retrieve it. If your entire study plan is podcasts on 1.5x, you will walk into the exam recognizing every question and answering few of them. We build flashcards and practice quizzes into the same product precisely because a podcast is a complement to retrieval practice, never a substitute for it.

Audio gives you another explanation of the same material. Alex, Sam, and the Guest clarify ideas, ask questions, and weigh what matters. Pause to answer their questions and connect the discussion to the source.

Audio also wins on logistics. The 25 minutes on the bus, the walk between classes, the gym — none of that time is usable for a 40-page PDF, and all of it is usable for an 11-minute chaptered episode. Priming before a lecture (listen on the way in, and the lecture lands better) and refreshing before an exam (replay the Exam Prep episode the night before) are the two patterns students actually report using.

And because every Scholarly episode is grounded in your source, the podcast is a doorway rather than a dead end: the transcript links back to the document, the same upload becomes spaced-repetition flashcards and a scoped quiz, and the AI chat already knows what's in the chapter. Listen once, then test yourself — that's the loop that moves grades.

Honest comparison

Where other AI podcast tools win, and where Scholarly wins

An honest map of the category — because the famous tool is genuinely good, and the creator tools solve a different problem entirely.

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Audio Overviews

Where it shines: Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Audio Overviews popularized AI podcasts, and they remain free, polished, and impressively natural, with Deep Dive, Brief, Critique, and Debate formats in many languages. If you want a one-off audio summary of a document and you live in the Google ecosystem, it's a genuinely fine choice.

Built as a general research notebook — broad sourcing, generous free tier, excellent voice quality.

Episode control is narrower than a dedicated tool: a format picker, a length toggle, and a steering prompt, with no voice choice, no three-speaker format, and no 60-minute episodes.

It's not a study system. Its flashcards and quizzes have no spaced-repetition schedule, no graded exam, and no export — the episode doesn't lead into retrieval practice.

Podcast creator tools (Wondercraft, Jellypod)

Where they shine: these are serious production suites for people publishing real shows — voice cloning, episode editing, intro music, RSS distribution to Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

If your goal is an audience, they're the right category and Scholarly is not.

For studying they're overkill in the wrong places: priced for creators, focused on production polish, with no grounding in your course material.

No citations, no transcript-to-source linking, no flashcards or quizzes — because none of that matters for a show, and all of it matters for an exam.

Built from your sources
Scholarly

Where it shines: an AI podcast generator that turns course material, reports, research, and team knowledge into audio you can learn and work from.

Source-grounded with citations: episodes are scripted from your actual document, and claims point back to the pages they came from.

Three styles, custom instructions, chapters, synced captions, a navigable transcript, 70+ languages, link sharing, and paid MP3 download.

The episode feeds a full study loop: the same upload becomes flashcards, a practice quiz, and an AI chat that knows the material.

The study loop

From an episode to your full study loop

A podcast is a great first pass, not a study plan. Every episode Scholarly generates is wired into the rest of the platform: the same source becomes spaced-repetition flashcards, a scoped practice quiz, and an AI chat tutor that has already read the document. Listen on the commute, drill the cards at your desk, sit the quiz before the exam — that's the loop.

FAQ

AI podcast generator — frequently asked questions

What is an AI podcast generator?

It writes and voices an audio episode from content you provide. Scholarly reads documents, notes, recordings, or videos and produces a three-speaker conversation with Alex as host, Sam as producer, and a Guest. Every episode includes chapters, a transcript, and source citations.

Is Scholarly's AI podcast generator free?

You can start free with no credit card. The Free plan includes one shared lifetime AI Creation Credit across Scholarly. It does not reset and can be used to try podcast generation. Premium includes 10 AI Creation Credits each week, support for longer source documents, and target lengths up to 60 minutes.

Can I make an AI podcast from a PDF?

Yes — this is the most common workflow. Upload a textbook chapter, journal article, or slide PDF and the hosts script the episode from the actual text. Long documents work; the generator handles hundreds of pages per source on higher plans.

Can I make a podcast from my class notes?

Yes. Paste typed notes, upload a document, or add photos of handwritten pages. The AI organizes the episode around the concepts in your notes, so messy formatting doesn't matter. There's a dedicated Notes to Podcast tool if that's your main use case.

How long can a podcast be?

Free episodes are a fixed 2 minutes. On Premium and Laureate you set a target length up to 60 minutes before generating; the target guides the script rather than guaranteeing an exact runtime, so a short chapter recap and a long deep pass are both possible from the same source. Source size scales with the plan too: PDFs are processed up to 32 pages on Free, 1,000 pages on Premium, and 3,000 pages on Laureate.

What do the voices sound like? Can I change them?

Episodes use three speaker roles: Alex hosts, Sam produces, and the Guest brings expertise using the voice selected during creation. The voices use a conversational tone and pace, and every voice is multilingual, so it follows the language you choose.

What languages does it support?

Over 70 languages. You can study a source written in English and generate the episode in Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese, or your own language — the transcript and captions follow the episode language.

Can I download the podcast?

On a paid plan, yes. Premium and Laureate can download the episode as an MP3 for podcast apps or as an MP4 of the synchronized chapter-slide video. The Free plan can stream the episode in Scholarly and share it by view link, but downloads are locked behind an upgrade prompt. Paid plans can also export the chapter slides as a PowerPoint (.pptx) file or save them to Google Slides.

How is this different from Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Audio Overviews?

Gemini Notebook's Audio Overviews are excellent for a one-off audio summary — four formats, many languages — and if that's all you need, they're a fine free option. Scholarly's differences are study-specific: a three-speaker format with guest voices, episodes up to 60 minutes, three episode styles including Exam Prep, 70+ languages, citations with page references, and a study loop — spaced-repetition flashcards, a graded quiz, and an AI chat generated from the same source as the episode.

Can it make a podcast from a YouTube video or a recording?

Yes to both. Paste a YouTube link or upload a recording, and the generator produces a shorter, structured episode from it — useful for compressing a 50-minute recording into the 10 minutes you actually need to review.

Will the podcast make things up?

The episode is scripted from your uploaded source rather than from the model's general knowledge, and claims carry citations back to the document so you can verify them. No AI system is perfect, so for high-stakes facts — drug dosages, legal rules, exam-critical numbers — click the citation and check the page. That one-click check is exactly why the citations exist.

Do I need to upload a file, or can I just give it a topic?

You can start from just a topic description and get a solid episode. That said, source-grounded episodes are consistently better for studying because they cover what your course covers — your professor's emphasis, your textbook's notation — instead of a generic overview of the subject.

Is there a free AI study podcast I can make?

Yes. Free includes one shared lifetime AI Creation Credit that can make a three-speaker episode from a PDF, notes, or a lecture. The credit does not reset. Premium adds 10 AI Creation Credits each week, longer sources, and target lengths up to 60 minutes. No credit card is required.

What is the best AI podcast generator for studying?

The best AI podcast generator for studying is the one that works from your real course material and connects audio to self-testing, not a generic topic show. Scholarly scripts episodes from your uploaded PDFs, slides, notes, and lectures with page citations, offers an Exam Prep style, and turns the same source into flashcards on a review schedule and graded quizzes. Gemini Notebook's Audio Overviews are excellent for one-off summaries; Scholarly is built around the full study loop, so listening leads into retrieval practice.

Does the episode include notes or extra research?

Yes. While the audio is generated, a research agent studies the same chapters, searches the web, and writes timestamped Producer Notes — researched context with cited, validated links pinned to the moments they refer to. You can jump the player to a note, open its sources, or send it into the episode chat. Each episode also includes a curated Related Resources list for going beyond your source.

Can I export the podcast to PowerPoint or Google Slides?

Yes, on a paid plan. Every episode has companion chapter slides, and Premium and Laureate can download them as a PowerPoint (.pptx) file with one slide per chapter. If you connect Google Drive, the same menu offers Save to Google Slides, which creates a separate copy in your Drive. The Free plan sees the export menu but is asked to upgrade before downloading; sharing a view link stays free.

How many sources can one episode use?

One source per episode on Free, up to 10 on Premium, and up to 20 on Laureate. Combining sources is useful when a topic is spread across a textbook chapter, a slide deck, and a recording: the hosts script one episode from all of them and cite each source separately.

Pricing

Start free. Upgrade when your library grows.

Free includes one shared lifetime AI Creation Credit across Scholarly, and it does not reset. Premium includes 10 AI Creation Credits each week, support for longer source documents, and target lengths up to 60 minutes. No credit card required.

Trying your first source? Start Free. Working with new material each week? Premium includes 10 AI Creation Credits a week. Need more capacity? Compare Laureate.

Pricing shown in USD by default. Local currency may be available in app or at checkout.

Compare plans

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 share one balance across every creation tool. Most models use 1 credit, a few use 2, and Frontier models use 3.

Free
1 total
Premium
10/week
Laureate
80/week

Podcast length

Free episodes are fixed at 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target length up to 60 minutes.

Free
2 minutes
Premium
Up to 60 minutes
Laureate
Up to 60 minutes

Video lecture length

Free lectures with a length control are fixed at 2 minutes. Paid plans can set a target up to 45 minutes. Short uses its own short video format.

Free
2 minutes
Premium
Up to 45 minutes
Laureate
Up to 45 minutes

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

What customers say

Scholarly has enhanced the quality of notes and questions I administer to my tutees. Insightful, to the point.

TD Georgas

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

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

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

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. Upgrade to Premium for 10 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 live audio and saving its transcript uses your file upload allowance instead; it does not use AI Creation Credits.

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. Free-plan allowances are lifetime credits and do not reset. Premium includes 10 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.