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Free Quizlet alternatives: study sites like Quizlet

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The best free study websites like Quizlet compared: Anki, Knowt, Brainscape and PDFQuizGenerator, with what each is good at and how to move your sets.

Quizlet made flashcards easy, but many of its study modes now sit behind a subscription. If you are looking for study websites like Quizlet that are free to use, there are good options, and most of them can take your existing Quizlet sets. Features and prices change often, so check each product's own website for its current plans.

What to look for

  1. Is the free tier usable? Can you study every card, or only a few rounds a day?
  2. Spaced repetition. Does it schedule reviews so you see cards just before you forget them?
  3. Importing. Can you bring your Quizlet sets across without retyping them?
  4. Making cards. Can it write cards from your notes, or do you type every one?
  5. Phone and offline. Can you review on the bus with no signal?

Anki: the free choice for serious memorisation

Anki is free on Windows, Mac, Linux, the web (AnkiWeb) and Android (AnkiDroid); the iPhone app, AnkiMobile, is a one-off purchase that funds development. Its spaced repetition is the reason medical students and language learners swear by it. It looks plain and takes an hour to get used to, but nothing else is as good for large decks you need to remember for months.

To move a set across, export it from Quizlet (… → Export → Copy text) and paste it into our Quizlet to Anki converter, which downloads a file Anki imports in one step.

Knowt and Brainscape

Knowt feels the closest to Quizlet, with learn and test modes, and can import Quizlet sets. Brainscape uses its own confidence-based repetition and has a large library of ready-made decks, with the full feature set on a paid plan. Both are worth trying if you want something that looks and feels like Quizlet.

PDFQuizGenerator: when you are starting from notes

The slow part of flashcards is making them. PDFQuizGenerator writes the cards for you: drop in a PDF of lecture notes or a textbook chapter, or paste notes, and you get up to 50 questions with answers and explanations in about 20 seconds. It is free with no sign-up, and your PDF is read on your device rather than uploaded.

You can study the cards on the site as flip cards or a quiz, or send them wherever you study: to Anki, to Quizlet, Kahoot or Google Forms. It does not store decks long term (share links last 30 days), so pair it with Anki or Quizlet for reviewing over months.

A simple free setup

  1. Make cards from each lecture's PDF or notes with PDFQuizGenerator.
  2. Export them to Anki, one deck per course.
  3. Move your old Quizlet sets across with the converter.
  4. Do your Anki reviews every day; it takes minutes once it is a habit.

That gets you Quizlet's convenience, Anki's scheduling and no subscription. For why this works, read Study with active recall.

Try it with your own PDF. Free, no sign-up, and your file never leaves your device.

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