Most Quizlet vs Knowt comparisons are affiliate pages. This one is written by someone who builds a competing app, so factor that in. I've stuck to things you can verify and been specific about where both of them beat what I make.
The quick version: Knowt wins on price, because it gives away most of what Quizlet now charges for and it imports your Quizlet sets. Quizlet wins on library size and polish. And both are built around decks of terms, which matters more than it sounds if your exam is on your own lecturer's slides.
At a glance
| Quizlet | Knowt | The Study Mill | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Sets, flashcards, Match. Learn and Test capped | Flashcards, all study modes, spaced repetition | 2 classes |
| Paid | Plus around US$7.99/mo or US$35.99/yr | Ultra around US$12.49/mo billed yearly | Pro A$7.99/mo or A$49/yr |
| Student discount | No | No | Half price with a .edu email |
| Builds from your files | On Plus | Yes, free | Yes, it's the core |
| Shared library | Enormous | Large, imports Quizlet | None |
| Audio study | No | No | Walk & Learn |
Quizlet: the biggest library, the most paywalled
Quizlet's real advantage is scale. If you're in an intro course thousands of people have taken, someone has already made the deck. For standard material like anatomy terms or language vocab, that's often the fastest way to start studying anything.
What changed is the free plan. Learn and Test are capped, practice tests and the AI tools need Plus, and there are ads. Plus isn't expensive on its own. It stings because it's a paywall on the basic act of studying, on a product people chose because it was free. There's also still no student discount, which is a strange choice for a company whose users are students.
Quizlet wins if you want a ready-made deck for a common course and don't mind paying.
Knowt: more or less the free Quizlet
Knowt set out to be the answer to that paywall and mostly is. Flashcards, learn mode, matching, practice tests and spaced repetition are free, and it imports your Quizlet sets so switching costs nothing. It also generates cards from PDFs, videos and slides.
The catch is the AI tutor, Kai, which is capped on free. Unlimited AI is on Ultra, which costs more than Quizlet Plus. Odd for the budget option.
Knowt wins if you have a Quizlet library and want the study modes without paying. For most people asking this question, that's the answer.
The blind spot they share
Both are deck apps. The basic unit is a term and its definition, and the workflow assumes you typed it or someone else did. That's fine for vocab. It's a poor fit for how most uni courses assess you:
- Your exam follows your lecturer's framing and emphasis, not the generic version of the topic.
- Shared decks vary wildly in quality, and a confidently wrong card is worse than none.
- Term and definition pairs don't test the "explain why" and "apply this to a case" questions that carry the marks.
- Neither one explains anything at 2am when you're stuck.
Where The Study Mill fits
Different starting point. You upload the actual week (slides, PDF, notes or a recording) and get short lessons, flashcards, a quiz where you write answers that get marked, a tutor, and Walk & Learn audio. Everything is built from what you uploaded.
The honest limitation: there's no shared library. If you want someone else's deck for a common course, use Quizlet.
So which one?
- Pre-made deck for a common course: Quizlet.
- Escaping the paywall with sets to bring: Knowt.
- Exam is on your lecturer's specific material: The Study Mill.
- Memorising thousands of facts over years: Anki.
Nothing stops you using two. Plenty of students keep Quizlet for shared vocab and use something else for their actual lectures.
Try it on your own lecture
The comparison that settles it is your own material. Upload one lecture and see what comes out in about a minute.
More: the best free Quizlet alternatives · Knowt alternatives
Quizlet and Knowt pricing and features are as published in 2026 and change often. Check their own pages before you decide.