The 8 Best Study Apps for Students in 2026 (Compared)

The best study app in 2026 depends on what you have to study. If you need to revise your own classes and don't know where to start, Hekko turns each lecture into a cheat sheet, quizzes and flashcards, then tells you what to review each day. If you have a huge amount to learn by heart (medicine, law, languages), Anki is still unbeatable, and free. If you want flashcards other people have already made, Quizlet or Knowt. If you study from PDFs and readings, NotebookLM.

Full disclosure: Hekko is our product. That's exactly why every price below comes from each tool's own pricing page, and why every app, Hekko included, gets its limitations listed.

TL;DR

The honest answer for 2026: the apps that work make you test yourself, not reread. To revise your classes without spending hours preparing material: Hekko. To memorize over months: Anki or RemNote. For ready-made flashcards: Quizlet or Knowt, the latter for free.

• Best for revising your own classes: Hekko
• Best for long-term memorization: Anki
• Biggest flashcard library: Quizlet
• Best free Quizlet alternative: Knowt
• Best for taking notes and studying in one place: RemNote
• Best for readings and PDFs: NotebookLM
• Simplest spaced repetition: Brainscape
• All-in-one app with a study planner: Vaia (formerly StudySmarter)

Comparison table

Prices checked on each tool's own pricing page on 21 September 2026, in US dollars, list prices before promotions. Prices change: check before you pay.

What makes a good study app?

A good study app makes you test yourself, at the right time. That's it. Two of the best-established effects in the psychology of learning show this: the testing effect (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006), you remember what you try to recall better than what you reread, and the spacing effect, you remember better when you review in several spaced-out sessions than all at once (see our guide on spaced repetition).

To compare apps, look at:

• Where the material comes from: do you have to create your cards, or does the app make them from your classes?
• Does it test you: quizzes, flashcards, mock exams?
• Does it tell you when to review: spaced repetition, a daily session, reminders?
• Free tier: is it usable for a whole semester?

The 8 apps, one by one

1. Hekko: best for revising your own classes

Hekko solves the problem that stalls most students: before you can study, you have to make the material. You record the lecture or import your documents (PDFs, slides, photos), and you get notes, a one-page cheat sheet, quizzes (10, 25 or 50 questions, three difficulty levels) and two-sided flashcards you can edit. Then the "Review" session brings each course back at the right time, after 1, 3, 7, 16 and then 35 days, and a streak helps you keep up the pace. Subscribers can also ask Hekko for a mock exam graded out of 20. Web, iOS and Android.

Pros

• ✓ No material to prepare: cheat sheet, quizzes and flashcards come from your lecture
• ✓ A daily session that picks what to review for you
• ✓ Quizzes and flashcards in the language of your choice

Cons

• ✗ Free plan capped at 2 courses a month
• ✗ No public library, and no export to Anki

• Free tier: 2 full courses a month, each with notes, cheat sheet, quizzes and flashcards.
• Price: $7.99/month billed yearly ($95.88), or $13.99/month.
• Verdict: the fastest way to go from "I had class" to "I'm testing myself on it."

2. Anki: best for long-term memorization

Anki is the open-source flashcard app that medical students use by the thousands of cards. Its spaced-repetition algorithm shows you each card just before you forget it.

Pros

• ✓ Free on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android
• ✓ The most advanced spaced repetition on the market
• ✓ Huge catalog of shared decks

Cons

• ✗ Cards are created by hand
• ✗ The iPhone app costs $24.99

• Free tier: complete, except on iPhone and iPad.
• Price: AnkiMobile $24.99, one-time purchase.
• Verdict: unbeatable if you have a lot to learn by heart and the time to make your cards.

3. Quizlet: biggest flashcard library

Quizlet is the go-to for millions of students: someone has probably already made the flashcard set for your class. Learn mode, Test mode and games.

Pros

• ✓ Millions of ready-to-use flashcard sets
• ✓ Simple and pleasant to use

Cons

• ✗ Learn and Test modes limited on the free plan
• ✗ Even Quizlet Plus caps tests (3 a month)

• Free tier: unlimited flashcards; Learn and Test limited.
• Price: Plus $35.99/year or $7.99/month; Plus Unlimited $44.99/year.
• Verdict: handy for standard classes, less so for your own classes.

4. Knowt: best free Quizlet alternative

Knowt takes Quizlet's modes, but for free: unlimited learning, practice tests and spaced repetition. The subscription adds AI summaries, including for recorded lectures.

Pros

• ✓ Free, unlimited study modes
• ✓ Millions of shared resources

Cons

• ✗ AI and lecture note-taking are Ultra-only ($24.99/month)
• ✗ Content heavily geared toward US exams

• Free tier: very generous, with ads.
• Price: Ultra $149.99/year or $24.99/month.
• Verdict: the best free choice if you already have your flashcards.

5. RemNote: best for taking notes and studying in one place

RemNote turns your notes into flashcards as you write and schedules them with spaced repetition. The Pro with AI plan generates quizzes and cards from PDFs and adds a lecture recorder.

Pros

• ✓ Notes and spaced repetition in the same tool
• ✓ Generous free tier

Cons

• ✗ Learning curve
• ✗ Full AI features cost $18/month

• Free tier: unlimited notes and flashcards, 250 AI credits a month.
• Price: Pro $8/month, Pro with AI $18/month (billed yearly).
• Verdict: ideal if you want a single tool and you like systems.

6. NotebookLM: best for studying from PDFs

NotebookLM, from Google (renamed Gemini Notebook), lets you import PDFs, slides and readings, then generates flashcards, quizzes, mind maps and audio summaries, with answers that cite your sources.

Pros

• ✓ Very generous free tier
• ✓ Answers cited from your own documents

Cons

• ✗ No reviews scheduled over time
• ✗ Doesn't record live lectures

• Free tier: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 questions a day.
• Price: higher limits with Google AI plans.
• Verdict: excellent for understanding your readings; pair it with something else to memorize.

7. Brainscape: simplest spaced repetition

Brainscape asks you to rate your confidence from 1 to 5 on each card and schedules what comes next. Simpler than Anki, and spaced repetition is free.

Pros

• ✓ Free, easy-to-understand spaced repetition
• ✓ AI card generation

Cons

• ✗ Images, audio and private cards are Pro-only
• ✗ AI generation capped on the free plan

• Free tier: unlimited cards and spaced repetition.
• Price: Pro $7.99/month.
• Verdict: a good Anki for beginners.

8. Vaia (formerly StudySmarter): all-in-one app with a study planner

Vaia, the new name of StudySmarter, brings together flashcards, notes, a study planner and mock exams, with AI that creates flashcards from your slides.

Pros

• ✓ Built-in study planner
• ✓ Large content library

Cons

• ✗ Premium pricing isn't shown publicly
• ✗ Lots of features, busy interface

• Free tier: yes, with ads.
• Price: Premium, price shown in the app.
• Verdict: worth a look if you want your planner and flashcards in one place.

What's the best way to study with an app?

Test yourself, then come back to what you miss, at longer and longer intervals. In practice: a quiz or flashcards the day after the lecture, then a few days later, then the following week. Rereading or highlighting your notes gives a feeling of mastery, but you retain much less. Our guide on how to revise effectively walks through the method.

Is there a free app for studying?

Yes. Anki (desktop and Android) and Knowt are free for good, and so is NotebookLM for working from PDFs. Hekko gives you 2 full courses a month, with quizzes and flashcards, to try it on your real classes. Quizlet is still usable for free, but its study modes are limited.

How long should you study each day?

20 to 30 minutes every day beats five hours the night before. The spacing effect favors short, regular sessions: that's why study apps offer a daily session. And if the exam is tomorrow, here's how to revise the night before an exam.

How do you choose the right one?

1. You first need to make your study material → Hekko
2. You have thousands of things to learn by heart → Anki
3. Your class is a standard one → Quizlet or Knowt
4. You want one tool to take notes and study → RemNote
5. Your material is PDFs → NotebookLM
6. You're new to spaced repetition → Brainscape

To go further: the best quiz apps for studying and the best flashcard apps.

How we built this comparison

Each app was compared on the four criteria above, from its public features and its own pricing page, checked on 21 September 2026. We don't earn any commission from the tools listed. If a price or a feature has changed, write to us and we'll update the article.