19 Free Online Study Tools Every College Student Needs

ChatGPT-5 is the latest version version and is one of the top free online study tools students currently use. It can help explain tough concepts, create practice questions and flashcards, design custom study schedules and my personal favorite – find relevant research for papers and projects. Think of it as an AI study assistant that’s available 24/7.

NOTE: Never submit AI generated text for assignments and always do your own fact checking as AI isn’t always accurate.

Pomofocus.io helps you manage your time and increase productivity by using the Pomodoro Technique – breaking tasks into focused 25 minute focused blocks followed by a short Pomodoro break (5 minutes) or a long break (30 minutes). You can add tasks you’re working on and get an estimate of how long you’ll need to complete them, view reports to see how much time you’ve focused and personalize your focus/break times, alarm and background sounds. I like how it tracks the Pomodoro number you’re on so you don’t have to – perfect if you track your study time.

Thesaurus.com helps you study smarter by making your writing stronger and more compelling. Whether you’re stuck repeating the same word or want to use a synonym, it’s a quick way to strengthen essays, discussion posts and even study notes. I also like use it as a dictionary to suggest synonyms of words I’m unfamiliar with, as sometimes I find dictionary definitions confusing if you’re unfamiliar with a new word.

Flora helps you focus by planting virtual trees that grow when you stay off your phone and die if you leave the app. Create to-do lists and daily habits and view your statistics to find opportunities to improve your time-management skills. You can also collaborate with friends to grow a shared forest together, making study time more fun and motivating.

Duolingo is a language learning app that turns studying into a game. Complete short lessons, follow friends, earn points and compete each week against others in your league. It’s fun, interactive and easy to fit into your busy college schedule. I love Duolingo and I’m currently on a 600+ day learning streak. Follow me @alixmarkin so we can cheer each other on!

Khan Academy helps you tackle tough subjects such as math, science, history and more. With fantastic YouTube tutorials, practice exercises and progress tracking, it’s easy to supplement gaps in your course material with Khan Academy lessons.

Google Workspace is the perfect-all-in-one solution for keeping everything organized in one place. With tools like Google Docs for writing, Sheets for tracking data, Slides for presentations, Drive for cloud storage and Calendar for assignment tracking makes getting your college degree a little smoother. Real-time editing and built-in sharing across all your devices make it easy to stay productive and collaborate from anywhere .

If you’re fully committed to the Apple ecosystem, Apple iWork might be perfect for you. It provides all the free, easy-to-use tools like Pages for writing papers, Numbers for organizing data, Keynote for creating standout presentations and Calendar for scheduling life and assignments in customizable colors. With sleek templates and seamless integration across Apple devices, it’s an easy way to stay organized during college.

Academic research is now a breeze thanks to Google Scholar. Find scholarly articles, research papers and academic sources in one place. Features such as citation generation, related article suggestions and advanced search filters saves you time and ensures you’re using credible information for essays, projects and research assignments.

PubMed gives you free access to millions of biomedical and life sciences studies and articles. With powerful search tools, filters and abstracts, it makes finding credible research quick and easy for writing papers, studying health topics or exploring scientific studies in depth for your dissertation.

The National Library of Medicine provides access to one of the world’s largest collections of credible health and science research. As the umbrella organization for PubMed, the NLM hosts resources on clinical trials and medical history, it offers dependable research you can count on for coursework and beyond.

Quizlet helps you study smarter by turning your notes into digital flashcards and features quizzes and games that make memorization more engaging. My favorite feature is their practice tests and quizzes which have been extremely helpful for my math classes, and once I even saw an exact Quizlet question on my exam! Quizlet is also a great way to review concepts, prepare for exams and reinforce knowledge on the go with their user-friendly app.

Study smarter with Grammarly and improve your writing in real time. It catches grammar and spelling mistakes while suggesting clearer phrasing and stronger word choices. Whether you’re drafting essays, discussion posts or emails to professors, you can think of it like a personal writing coach.

NOTE: Since Grammarly has an AI component, it’s best used as guide only – not to write your papers for you especially since most colleges have policies on submitting AI content as your own.

Notion helps you study smarter by combining organization and creativity all in one app. You can track assignments, take notes, plan projects and collaborate with classmates all in a visually appealing, highly customizable creative workspace. It can be a bit of a learning curve at first, but opening my laptop every day to my personal academic dashboard makes me want to study harder.

WolframAlpha is a powerful computational engine that provides step-by-step solutions for math and science problems. It can generate graphs, calculates statistics, analyzes data sets or visualize problems in subjects like physics, chemistry and engineering. With its ability to break down challenging topics into clear, understandable steps, WolframAlpha will save you time and help you learn more efficiently.

Notability is a versatile, all-in-one digital note-taking app that helps you stay organized and study effectively. Features like taking handwritten notes, audio recording, PDF annotation and multimedia integration makes learning new material simple and efficient in a visually effective way. While the free version is limited, it’s a great way to see if digital note taking is for you.

Stay on top of your busy schedule by turning assignments, deadlines and daily tasks into organized to-do lists with Todoist. Features like reminders, recurring tasks and project categories makes managing coursework and personal responsibilities simple and stress-free – perfect for keeping college and life on track.

StudyStack turns study materials into interactive flashcards and games. Along with quizzes and matching activities, it includes classics like Hangman, making memorization more fun and engaging. This playful approach helps your review concepts more effectively while keeping study sessions from feeling repetitive.

The Momentum Dash browser extension turns your new tab page into a personal productivity hub. You’re greeted with a clean, aesthetically pleasing dashboard featuring a to-do list, Pomodoro focus timer with calming sounds and a beautiful background image with an aspirational quote. Their simple setup keeps you organized, motivated and less likely to get sidetracked online.