The best AI tools for students are Gemini Notebook for revising from your own notes, ChatGPT for explaining topics you're stuck on, Perplexity for research with sources and Grammarly for proofreading. All 4 have free plans. Add Elicit for academic papers and Gamma for presentations. Check your school's AI policy before you use any of them for marked work.
You don't need ten subscriptions to study well with AI. These 6 tools cover revision, research, writing and presentations, and every one has a free plan.
Last checked : each pick's free plan and price on the maker's own pricing page.
One tool per job, in the order most students need them. Select a name to jump to why we picked it.
| Pick | Tool | Use it for | Score | Best for | Learn it free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini NotebookGoogle | Revise from your own notes | 8.5 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
| 2 | ChatGPTOpenAI | Get a topic explained 3 different ways | 9.0 / 10 | Good for everyone | Generative AI for Everyone |
| 3 | PerplexityPerplexity AI | Find sources for an assignment | 8.0 / 10 | Good for everyone | Maker's own tutorials |
| 4 | ElicitElicit | Search and summarise academic papers | 7.4 / 10 | Best for experts | Maker's own tutorials |
| 5 | GrammarlyGrammarly | Proofread essays and emails | 8.2 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
| 6 | GammaGamma | Draft a presentation in minutes | 8.0 / 10 | Best for beginners | Maker's own tutorials |
What each tool does for you, the catch, what is free and what costs money, from the maker's own pricing page.
Upload your lecture slides, reading list PDFs and notes, then ask it questions or turn them into a quiz. Answers point back to your own sources, so you revise what your course actually taught rather than the internet's version.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
OpenAI
Ask it to explain a concept at school level, then with an analogy, then as a worked example. Use it as a patient tutor that checks your understanding, not as an essay writer, and you'll learn faster than rereading the textbook.
Perplexity AI
Every answer comes with numbered links, which makes it a quick starting point for a literature search. Open and read each source yourself before you cite it: the summary is a map, not the territory.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Elicit
Built for research questions: it finds peer-reviewed papers and pulls out methods and findings into a table. Dissertation students save hours on the first pass of a literature review.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Grammarly
Catches spelling, grammar and unclear sentences as you type, in Google Docs, Word and email. Keep the rewrite suggestions on a short leash so your essays still sound like you.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Gamma
Paste your outline and get a designed slide deck to edit. It handles layout so you can spend the time on what you'll actually say.
No free course we'd recommend yet. You'll learn this one fastest by using it, and the maker's own tutorials are the best place to start.
Start with Gemini Notebook if you have exams coming, because it revises from your own course material. Start with ChatGPT if you mostly need explanations. Both are free, so try each on one real topic this week and keep the one you return to.
Using AI to understand, plan and proofread is usually allowed; submitting text it wrote as your own usually is not. Rules differ by school and even by module, so read your course handbook. When in doubt, ask your tutor and say how you used AI in a short note.
Knowing what AI is good and bad at makes every tool above more useful. These reviewed courses teach that, with no code.
What large language models can actually do for you and your team, without writing a line of code. Andrew Ng teaches it in 6 hours on Coursera, certificate paid.
The gentlest way in: a University of Helsinki course with no code and no maths beyond school level. It takes about 24 to 48 hours and the certificate is free.
Andrew Ng's non-technical primer on what AI is good for and how to plan around it at work. It takes 7 hours on Coursera, and the certificate is paid.
Gemini Notebook is the best free AI tool for most students, because it answers from the notes and PDFs you upload rather than from the open web. That keeps revision tied to your syllabus. ChatGPT's free plan is a close second for explanations.
Sometimes. Detection tools are unreliable, but tutors notice when an essay doesn't sound like you or cites sources that don't exist. The safer rule: use AI to learn and check your work, and write the final text yourself.
Use Elicit to find and tabulate peer-reviewed papers, then Perplexity for wider background reading. Read every paper you cite in full: both tools summarise, and summaries miss caveats your examiner will expect you to know.
No. Every pick on this page has a free plan, listed beside it. Pay only if you hit a limit every week, and check for student discounts on the maker's pricing page first.
Chat assistants can invent references that look real. Tools that link their sources, such as Perplexity and Elicit, are safer, but open every link before you cite it. A made-up reference in marked work is treated as misconduct at most universities.
Learn what these tools are good and bad at, so you can judge their answers. Elements of AI is free, and Generative AI for Everyone is on Coursera, with the certificate price shown when you enrol. Neither needs any coding.
If you only try 2 AI tools for students, pick Gemini Notebook for revision and ChatGPT for explanations, and use them to understand your work rather than write it.
Answers with sources, and study partners for your own notes.
The general-purpose AI you talk to. Most people should start here.
Tools that tidy, rewrite and check what you write.
Presentations, posters and graphics without a designer.
Script, voice, edit and package videos faster, without handing over your style.
Write, design and automate the admin that eats your week, for under the cost of one lunch a month.
Plan lessons, adapt resources and make slides faster, so evenings go back to marking or rest.
Copy, creative, research and reporting: the AI tools a small marketing team gets the most from.
Coding assistants, research and local models: the AI stack that makes a working developer faster.
Edit, check, research and hear your work, while the words stay yours.
Every course we link is free to start and reviewed. Browse the catalogue to find one at your level.
