NotebookLM
Your own notes into quizzes, flashcards, mind maps and audio
- Free plan
- Free with a Google account
- The catch
- It only answers from the files you upload — useless for general questions.
Notes and revision
Open NotebookLMAI and study tools 36 tested
Free tools for notes, projects and research. Each one gets a straight verdict, what the free plan really gives, and the catch.
Starter stacks
Tools that work well together, picked for a job. Start with one of these instead of trying all 35.
First-year survival kitNotes, flashcards and maths help for your first semester.Tools: Notion, Anki, NotebookLM, DesmosShip a project this weekendCode, database and a live link you can put on your resume.Tools: VS Code, GitHub, Supabase, VercelResearch paper kitFind papers, keep citations straight, write in LaTeX.Tools: Google Scholar, Zotero, Overleaf, PerplexityExam week kitTurn your notes into quizzes and check your working.Tools: NotebookLM, Anki, Wolfram Alpha, Excalidraw
Every tool, with a verdict
Showing all 35. Pick a task above to narrow it down.
Excalidraw
Hand-drawn diagrams for DBMS, OS and system design
- Free plan
- Free, open source
- The catch
- Shared links are public to anyone who has them.
Notes and revisionSlides and posters
Open Excalidraw
LocalSend
Phone to laptop transfers over Wi-Fi, no cloud
- Free plan
- Free, open source
- The catch
- Both devices must be on the same network.
PDFs and files
Open LocalSend
Upscayl
Sharpen low-res images offline
- Free plan
- Free, open source
- The catch
- Slow on machines without a decent GPU.
PDFs and files
Open UpscaylPerplexity
Answers with a source link on every claim
- Free plan
- Free tier with limits
- The catch
- Sources can be blogs, not papers. Open them before citing.
Research and citeAI assistant
Open Perplexity
Stirling PDF
Merge, split, compress, convert PDFs
- Free plan
- Open source, self-host or hosted
- The catch
- Use the local/self-hosted version for anything with personal details.
PDFs and files
Open Stirling PDFGamma
Builds a deck from an outline in about a minute.
- Free plan
- Free credits, then limited
- The catch
- Feed it a topic and everyone's deck looks identical. Feed it your own outline.
Slides and posters
Open Gamma
GitHub Student Developer Pack
Free paid-tier tools for students with a college email
- Free plan
- Free
- The catch
- Needs student verification; worth an afternoon
Build and hostCode
Open GitHub Student Developer Pack
Anki
Spaced repetition flashcards, the serious one
- Free plan
- Free
- The catch
- Desktop and Android free; iOS app is paid
Notes and revision
Open Anki
Obsidian
Local markdown notes that stay yours
- Free plan
- Free
Notes and revision
Open Obsidian
Notion
Notes, trackers and semester dashboards
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- Free personal plan; student plan needs verification
Notes and revision
Open Notion
Zotero
Reference manager with one-click citations
- Free plan
- Free
- The catch
- Use with Google Scholar's Cite button
Research and cite
Open Zotero
Overleaf
LaTeX in the browser for reports and resumes
- Free plan
- Free plan
Research and cite
Open OverleafWolfram Alpha
Step-by-step maths
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- Steps are behind Pro for many problems
Notes and revision
Open Wolfram Alpha
Desmos
Graphing calculator that actually explains shapes
- Free plan
- Free
Notes and revision
Open Desmos
Mermaid Live
Diagrams from text, good for flowcharts in reports
- Free plan
- Free
Notes and revisionSlides and posters
Open Mermaid Live
draw.io
ER diagrams and architecture, exports anywhere
- Free plan
- Free
Notes and revisionSlides and posters
Open draw.io
Google Scholar
Papers, plus the Cite button for APA/IEEE
- Free plan
- Free
- The catch
- The fastest legitimate citation fix
Research and cite
Open Google ScholarChatGPT
General assistant, study mode, voice, file uploads
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- Check what's on the free plan before promising it in a Reel
AI assistant
Open ChatGPTClaude
Long documents, code explanations, writing
- Free plan
- Free plan
AI assistant
Open Claude
Google Gemini
Tied into Drive, Docs and NotebookLM
- Free plan
- Free plan
AI assistant
Open Google Gemini
GitHub Copilot
Code completion; free for verified students via the Student Pack
- Free plan
- Free plan
Code
Open GitHub CopilotGoogle Colab
Free notebooks with a GPU
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- Free GPU time is limited and can disconnect
Code
Open Google ColabHugging Face Spaces
Host a demo of your ML project for free
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- A live demo link beats a GitHub repo on a resume
Build and host
Open Hugging Face SpacesGitHub
Where your projects live
- Free plan
- Free
- The catch
- An empty GitHub is worse than none; pin three real repos
Build and host
Open GitHub
Vercel
Deploy a site or app in minutes
- Free plan
- Free plan
Build and host
Open Vercel
Netlify Drop
Drag an HTML file, get a live URL
- Free plan
- Free plan
- The catch
- Fastest way to put a portfolio online
Build and host
Open Netlify Drop
Cloudflare Pages
Free static hosting with a generous tier
- Free plan
- Free plan
Build and host
Open Cloudflare Pages
Supabase
Postgres, auth and storage for student projects
- Free plan
- Free plan
Build and host
Open SupabaseMongoDB Atlas
Free shared cluster for projects
- Free plan
- Free plan
Build and host
Open MongoDB Atlas
Replit
Code and host from the browser, good on a weak laptop
- Free plan
- Free plan
CodeBuild and host
Open Replit
Figma
UI design; education plan for students
- Free plan
- Free plan
Slides and posters
Open Figma
Canva
Posters, resumes, presentations
- Free plan
- Free plan
Slides and posters
Open Canva
Postman
Test and document APIs
- Free plan
- Free plan
Code
Open Postman
VS Code
The editor most jobs expect you to know
- Free plan
- Free
Code
Open VS CodeNo tool matches that. Try a shorter word, or see every tool.
Don't fall for these
Things students get tricked into. We tested them so you don't have to.
'Free pro version' AI aggregator sites
Sites promising free Pro access to paid AI models.
- Why
- Usually resold or stolen accounts. Never sign in, never pay, never recommend.
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