Knowt vs Quizlet: free study modes or the bigger library?
TL;DR: Knowt gives away the study modes Quizlet now charges for. Learn mode, practice tests, and spaced repetition are free on Knowt, and it imports your Quizlet sets in a couple of clicks. Quizlet has the bigger set library and the class tools, and its paid plans cost less than Knowt's. But Learn sits behind Quizlet Plus, and the cheaper plan caps it at 20 rounds a month. If you won't pay and you study alone, use Knowt. If your class runs on Quizlet, stay there. I checked every price below on October 21, 2026.
A disclosure first: I built Imprimo, a flashcard app that competes with both of these, so I have a side. I bring it up where spaced repetition comes in and otherwise leave it out. My guess is that most people searching "Knowt vs Quizlet" just hit Quizlet's paywall and want to know if the free option is good enough. If that's you, below is what each app costs today and what you give up by switching. Prices link to each company's own pages so you can check them yourself.
The short answer
Knowt is the better deal for most students who study alone and don't want to pay. Quizlet is the better fit if you study through a class, need a set someone already made, or are going to pay for a plan anyway. Their study tools are similar. What differs is which of them you pay for.
What each one is
Quizlet is the incumbent. It has been around since 2005 and is built on a huge library of sets made by students and teachers. You find a set, then study it with flashcards, Learn, practice tests, and games on the web, iOS, or Android. In recent years Quizlet moved Learn behind its paid Quizlet Plus plans.
Knowt markets itself as a free Quizlet replacement. It does flashcards, notes, AI study guides, and practice tests, and runs on the web, iOS, and Android, with a Chrome extension for importing. Its homepage counts more than 8 million users. As far as I can tell, Knowt's main strategy is to give away the features Quizlet charges for and make money on AI tools instead.
Knowt vs Quizlet at a glance
| Knowt | Quizlet | |
|---|---|---|
| Learn mode | Free, unlimited | Plus only; 20 rounds a month on the $35.99 plan |
| Practice tests | Free | 3 a month on Plus, full access on Plus Unlimited |
| Spaced repetition | Yes, on web and app | Yes, website only |
| Paid plan | Ultra: $149.99/yr or $24.99/mo | Plus $35.99/yr, Plus Unlimited $44.99/yr |
| What paying adds | No ads, AI summaries, AI voice tutor, AP/SAT/ACT prep | No ads, more Learn and practice tests, textbook solutions |
| Set library | Its own, plus anything you import | Very large, built up since 2005 |
| Quizlet import | Yes, with images and formatting | Not needed |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Best for | Studying alone for free | Classes, shared sets, paying for less |
Sources: Knowt plans, Knowt Learn mode, Quizlet upgrade page, Quizlet Learn help. Checked October 21, 2026.
Where Knowt wins
Knowt wins on price for anyone who won't pay, and on how easy it is to leave Quizlet.
The study modes are free. Knowt's Learn mode page says Learn is free for every set, as many times as you want. Its homepage lists practice tests, matching, and spaced repetition as free too. Quizlet works the other way. Its help center says Learn is for Plus subscribers, and free users get a sample session. Even the $35.99 Plus plan only includes 20 rounds of Learn questions and 3 practice tests a month. If you're studying for three classes at once, 20 rounds won't last the month.
Switching is nearly free. Your sets are probably the main thing keeping you on Quizlet. Knowt imports Quizlet sets with images and formatting, through its Chrome extension or a manual import. Once your sets are in Knowt, you can study them with every free mode above.
More AI for free. Knowt makes flashcards, study guides, and practice tests from your notes, and its homepage says the study guide generator is free for all students. The heavier AI features are in Knowt Ultra: summaries of PDFs, videos, images, slides, and recorded lectures, plus an AI voice tutor. The free plan shows ads, and Ultra removes them.
Where Quizlet wins
Quizlet wins on its library, on class use, and, oddly, on price if you're going to pay.
The library. For a common course, someone has probably already made the set on Quizlet. Knowt has its own library and you can import Quizlet sets, but you still have to find them on Quizlet first. If you mostly study other people's sets, Quizlet is quicker.
Classes. If your teacher runs a Quizlet class, stay put. Quizlet's help center says students in a class get free access to Learn and Test for the sets added to that class. That takes away the main reason to switch, at least for those sets.
It's cheaper if you pay. Quizlet Plus Unlimited costs $44.99 a year and has no cap on Learn rounds. Knowt Ultra costs $149.99 a year, or $24.99 a month. They sell different things, though. Knowt's study modes are already free, so Ultra is mostly AI tools and no ads. Quizlet's paid plans unlock the study modes themselves. If all you want is unlimited Learn and you're happy to pay, Quizlet costs under a third as much.
Spaced repetition: both have it now
Both apps now have a spaced repetition mode. You flip a card, rate how well you remembered it, and the app decides when you see it again. Neither company says which algorithm it uses.
Quizlet added it to Flashcards. Its spaced repetition help page lists four ratings. A card you rate Okay usually comes back in about a day, and one you rate Easy in four days or more. You can set how many new cards you see per day, and Quizlet can send a daily reminder at 10 a.m. The help page also says it only works on the Quizlet website, so you can't use it in the iOS or Android app.
Knowt's version uses Again, Hard, Good, and Easy, and it works on the web and in the app. Knowt's help article says you can set new cards per day and edit the interval behind each rating. Knowt doesn't explain how it schedules cards, but being able to edit those intervals makes me think it uses fixed steps and doesn't learn from your review history.
Either way, both are a real improvement over Learn-style sessions, which are built to get you through a set in one sitting. For a quiz next week, either app's version is fine. The algorithm matters more when the exam is months away. A modern scheduler like FSRS, which is open source, estimates how likely you are to remember each card and adjusts to your review history. That usually means fewer reviews for the same recall. I explain the difference in FSRS vs SM-2.
Exam prep on that timescale is what I built Imprimo for. It runs FSRS from your first review, makes cards from your own PDFs, notes, web links, YouTube videos, and scanned pages, and lets you review offline on iPhone and iPad. It has no shared set library and no Android app, and it's a subscription, so it doesn't replace Knowt or Quizlet as a free option. Look at it if the scheduler is what you care about.
Which one should you use?
Go down this list and stop at the first line that fits you:
- You won't pay for a study app: Knowt.
- Your sets are the only thing keeping you on Quizlet: Knowt. Import them.
- You keep hitting Quizlet's Learn limit: Knowt, or Quizlet Plus Unlimited if you'd rather stay.
- Your teacher assigns sets through a Quizlet class: Quizlet. Learn and Test are free for those sets.
- You need a set for a common course today: Quizlet.
- You'll pay and want unlimited study modes for the least money: Quizlet Plus Unlimited.
- You want AI summaries of lectures, PDFs, and videos: Knowt Ultra.
- You're studying for an exam months away and want FSRS on iPhone: Imprimo, or see free flashcard apps with real spaced repetition.
The bottom line
Knowt vs Quizlet mostly comes down to the paywall. Knowt gives you Learn, practice tests, and spaced repetition for free. Quizlet charges for Learn but has the bigger library, free Learn for class sets, and the cheaper paid plan. If you study on your own and don't want to pay, start with Knowt and import your Quizlet sets. Both companies have changed their plans before, so check the pricing pages linked above before you pay for either.
Related reading
- Knowt vs Imprimo: free Quizlet swap or FSRS built for recall?
- Quizlet Learn mode alternative: what to use now Learn is paid
- Free sites like Quizlet: 6 genuinely free options
- Best Quizlet alternatives in 2026
- Quizlet vs Imprimo: which flashcard app fits how you study
- Gizmo vs Quizlet: gamified AI cards or a pre-made set library?
