Flashcard authoring

AI Flashcard Builder

Build a flashcard deck with an AI assistant in your corner: type a card and the AI suggests the answer, type a topic and it drafts a starter set.

AI suggests answers as you type Q/A and cloze cards Export to Anki
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Free to start · No credit card · Export to Anki

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How it works

Build a deck in three steps

Start from a blank deck or a topic prompt, author with AI in your corner, then study smart.

01

Step 1: Start a Deck

Open the builder, name your deck, and pick a subject. You can start from blank or seed the deck with a topic prompt and let the AI draft openers.

02

Step 2: Author With AI

Type a question and accept the AI-suggested answer. Or type a concept and let the AI propose three cards. Edit anything. You decide what stays.

03

Step 3: Study Smart

Drill with spaced repetition, track mastery per card, share with classmates, and export to Anki or PDF.

Overview

What is an AI Flashcard Builder?

A flashcard builder is the editor where you actually author your deck — the place where you write questions, edit answers, organise cards into sections, and tag the ones you want to drill harder. Compared to a one-shot "PDF to flashcards" generator, a builder is meant for ongoing use: it's where you live while a deck grows from blank to exam-ready.

Scholarly's builder is AI-assisted at every step. Type a question, leave the back blank, and the AI proposes an answer using your subject and any source material you've attached. Type "draft 5 cards on the Krebs cycle" in a topic prompt and the AI generates a starter block you can edit, keep, or discard. Drag in a PDF mid-deck and the AI suggests cards from it without overwriting what you've already written. The AI never auto-publishes — every card lands in a "review me" state until you accept it.

The result is a deck that's truly yours, built far faster than typing every card by hand. Because the AI drafts while you curate, the finished deck tends to be better organised, more comprehensive, and easier to study from than one built either purely by hand or purely by one-shot generation.

Why Scholarly

Flashcard Builder Features

Author faster with AI, organise everything with tags, and study the way you already do.

Suggest-The-Answer

Write the question. The AI proposes the answer in the same style as the cards you've already written. Hit tab to accept or edit in place.

Topic Drafting

Ask the AI to draft "3 cards on covalent bonds" or "5 cards on the equal-protection clause" and it generates editable starter cards you can keep or trash.

Sections and Tags

Organise cards by chapter, exam, or difficulty. Drill a single tag during a focused session, or shuffle everything for cumulative review.

Source Attachment

Attach a PDF, slide deck, or pasted notes to the deck. The AI uses your source for context so its suggestions match your professor's terminology.

Cloze and Image Cards

Build classic Q/A cards, or cloze deletions for fill-in-the-blank practice.

Progress Tracking

See which cards you've mastered and which are still due. Focus your time on the cards that actually need work.

See it in action

What a Built Deck Looks Like

A semester-long organic chemistry deck might contain 600 cards split across 12 sections (one per chapter), with a mix of definition cards and mechanism cards (cloze deletion) for named reactions. The builder keeps everything in one place — you don't need separate decks per chapter.

Biology - Chapter 4

Front

What is the function of the mitochondrial matrix?

Back

The matrix is the site of the Krebs cycle and contains the enzymes, mtDNA, and ribosomes needed to run it. It surrounds the inner membrane where the electron transport chain operates.

Org Chem - Cloze

Front

An SN2 reaction proceeds via a {{c1::backside}} attack and results in {{c2::inversion}} of stereochemistry.

Back

backside / inversion

Con Law - Cases

Front

What test did the Court adopt in Lemon v. Kurtzman?

Back

The Lemon test: a law must (1) have a secular legislative purpose, (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and (3) not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.

Comparison

Flashcard Builder vs Anki, Quizlet, and Plain Notes

Anki and Quizlet each do one half well. Scholarly's builder sits in between — and adds AI on top.

Anki

Unbeatable spaced-repetition algorithm for the studying side.

Authoring feels like 2008 — building cloze cards is fiddly.

No AI to help write or suggest answers.

Quizlet

Friendly, fast builder that's easy to pick up.

Built for vocab lists, not deep multi-section course decks.

Limited cloze and image-occlusion support.

Best for students
Scholarly Flashcard Builder

As fast to type in as Quizlet, with the depth Anki users need.

AI suggests answers and drafts starter cards as you write.

Q/A and cloze cards built in.

Study with the built-in SRS or export to Anki — your call.

Anki is the gold standard for the studying side of flashcards — its spaced-repetition algorithm is unbeatable. But Anki's authoring experience is famously rough: the desktop app feels like 2008, building cloze cards is fiddly, and there's no AI to help write the answer. Many students end up using Anki to study but doing the actual authoring somewhere else.

Quizlet's builder is friendlier but is built for memorising vocabulary lists, not for deep multi-section decks across a full course. The AI flashcard builder in Scholarly sits in between: it's as fast to type in as Quizlet, supports the fill-in-the-blank cloze cards Anki users rely on, and adds AI assistance so you spend less time staring at a blinking cursor. When the deck is done, export to Anki for spaced-repetition study or keep studying inside Scholarly with the built-in SRS — your call.

Who it's for

Common Use Cases

Med students building a permanent deck

Author a multi-thousand-card deck that lives with you through medical school. AI suggestions speed authoring; tags keep the deck navigable.

Law students outlining cases

Build rule-statement cards as you read each case. AI drafts the rule from your case brief; you edit to match your professor's framing.

Language learners

Build vocabulary decks with cloze deletions for grammar patterns. AI suggests example sentences in your target language.

Self-learners and bootcampers

Build CS, design, or trade-certification decks from scratch. AI fills in textbook-style answers so you spend time on the concepts that are harder to look up.

Tips

Best Practices for Building Better Decks

Write one fact per card. The biggest failure mode in flashcard authoring is cards that try to test three things at once ("List all four causes of WWI"). Break it into four cards. Active recall on small atomic facts is dramatically more effective than retrieving a bundle.

Use the AI for the boring half. Definitions, formula re-arrangements, and "explain X in one sentence" cards are exactly where AI suggestions are great. Save your manual effort for the cards that need your professor's specific framing, your own mnemonics, and the connections only you have made.

Tag aggressively. A 600-card deck without tags is unstudyable. Tag by chapter, by exam, by difficulty, and by "needs work". Then during a study session, pick the tag that matches what you're prepping for.

Edit AI suggestions before accepting. AI-generated answers are usually close but use slightly different vocabulary than your professor. A 5-second edit to match your class terminology pays off when the test question uses that exact word.

Workflow

How the Builder Fits Into Your Workflow

Most students mix the builder with one of Scholarly's one-shot generators. Generate a starter deck from a PDF or lecture, then use the flashcard builder to refine, add cards the AI missed, and reorganise into sections you'll actually use. The PDF to flashcards tool is great for textbook chapters; the lecture to flashcards tool handles slide decks and AI Meeting Notes; the notes to flashcards tool handles your handwritten or typed notes. For the full overview of how AI flashcards work in Scholarly, see our flashcards feature page.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How is a flashcard builder different from a generator?

A generator turns one source (PDF, video, lecture) into a deck in one shot. A builder is the ongoing editor where you author, refine, and grow a deck over time. Most students start with a generator and then live in the builder for the rest of the semester.

Can I add my own cards to a built deck?

Yes — that's the entire point. The AI helps draft cards and suggest answers, but you author and accept every card. Add, edit, reorder, tag, and delete cards freely.

Does the AI just generate, or does it help me write?

Both. Type a question and the AI proposes the answer. Type a topic and the AI drafts 3-5 starter cards. Paste in a source and the AI suggests cards from it. Every suggestion is editable before you accept.

Can I build cloze cards?

Yes. The builder supports classic Q/A cards and plain-text cloze cards (fill-in-the-blank), where a key term in the sentence is hidden for you to recall.

Can I export my deck to Anki?

Yes. Paid plans can export the deck as an Anki .apkg file or as a PDF for printing.

Is the flashcard builder free to use?

Yes. Free users can build flashcard decks with AI assistance. Paid plans unlock longer decks, more AI suggestions, and Anki/PDF export.

Does the builder support spaced repetition?

Yes — Scholarly has a built-in SRS based on the SM-2 algorithm (same family as Anki). Cards you struggle with come back sooner; cards you've mastered space out over weeks.

Can I share my deck with classmates?

Yes. Share the deck with a public link and anyone with the link can view and study it. Real-time co-editing is not available.

Keep exploring

More Scholarly study tools

PDF to Flashcards

Generate a starter deck from a PDF.

Notes to Flashcards

Turn your notes into a starter deck.

Lecture to Flashcards

Slides and AI Meeting Notes to flashcards.

AI Quiz Generator

Quiz yourself on the deck you built.

AI Study Guide Generator

Full study guides for any subject.

Study Help

All Scholarly study tools.

AI Flashcard Maker

Generate flashcards from PDFs, notes, slides, images, websites, or YouTube.

Get started

Build Your Flashcard Deck Today

Join students building better study materials with AI. Start free, and go Premium for longer decks and more AI suggestions.

Start building freeExplore flashcards

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.

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AI chat

Premium and Laureate include unlimited AI chat. GPT 5.6 Sol and Claude Opus 5 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, Sonnet and Kimi use 2, and Frontier models Sol and Opus 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.