The study guide generator that goes source → outline → guide
Upload a PDF, paste your notes, or pick a topic. Scholarly's study guide generator outlines the material, fills in each section with key terms, summaries, and review questions, and hands you an exam-ready guide in seconds.
Free to start · No credit card · 70+ languages
Three steps to a study guide
From raw material to a structured, exam-focused guide in seconds.
Step 1: Add Your Material
PDF, lecture notes, textbook chapter, or just a topic — anything works as input.
Step 2: AI Generates
Sections, definitions, summaries, and review questions — laid out for fast, exam-focused study.
Step 3: Study Smarter
Export to PDF, drill review questions, or generate flashcards from the same source.
What you get in every study guide
Clear sections
Organized by topic with proper headings and hierarchy.
Key terms
Important vocabulary with concise definitions.
Summaries
High-level recaps after each section.
Review questions
Test yourself before the test does.
From Source to Outline to Finished Guide
Updated June 2026
The generator follows the same process a good student follows by hand — it just compresses hours of structuring into seconds. Here is what happens between hitting generate and getting your guide:
Start with any source
A PDF chapter, lecture recording, YouTube video, slide deck, pasted notes, a website — or just a topic name if you have no materials yet. The richer the source, the deeper the guide.
The AI outlines the material
Before writing anything, the AI maps the source's structure: the major topics, how they're ordered, and which subtopics belong under each. This outline becomes the guide's section hierarchy, so the guide follows your course's logic instead of a generic template.
Each section is filled in
Every outline section gets key terms with definitions, a plain-language summary, and review questions — all written from the source itself, so the guide covers what your class covers and nothing it doesn't.
Refine, export, convert
Edit any section, delete what you've mastered, or expand what's thin. Then export to PDF, or convert the same source into flashcards, a quiz, or a timed practice test.
Which Study Guide Format Should You Generate?
The default output is an outline-style guide — sections, terms, summaries, review questions — which suits most courses. But the right format depends on the exam. For terminology-heavy subjects (anatomy, law, languages), edit the guide to lead with the key-terms glossary and drill it as flashcards. For concept-heavy subjects (physics, economics, philosophy), keep the summaries and review questions front and center, since those exams test relationships rather than definitions.
When the exam format is question-based, convert the guide's source into an AI-generated quiz and study by answering instead of re-reading. And the night before the exam, condense the whole guide to a single page with the cheat sheet maker — same source, one-page format.
Two related pages go deeper on specific angles: our AI study guide maker guide covers what belongs inside a great AI-built study guide and how to keep it alive across a semester, while the study guide maker's templates and manual + AI approach is for students who want to design the structure themselves before the AI fills it in.
Generate Study Guides for Any Subject
The study guide generator works across every academic discipline. STEM students get equations, derivations, and worked-example references. Med students get high-yield USMLE/NBME terminology with mechanism-of-action notes. Law students get case names, statute numbers, and elements of each cause of action. Languages students get vocabulary and conjugation tables. Whatever you're studying, Scholarly knows what belongs in a study guide for it.
For each topic the AI picks the testable material — the things professors actually ask about — and filters out anecdote and tangent. You spend less time hunting for what to study, and more time actually learning it.
Pair Your Study Guide with Active Recall
Reading a study guide once is a start, but active recall is what locks knowledge in. Once Scholarly generates your guide, you can convert it into flashcards or generate a practice test from the same source — same content, different study modality.
A workflow many students settle into: generate the guide on Monday, quiz yourself on each section with the AI quiz generator midweek, and take a full timed run with the practice test generator the weekend before the exam. Each step reuses the same uploaded source — no re-entering material.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I generate a study guide?
Upload a PDF, paste your lecture notes or textbook chapter, or just type a topic. Scholarly's AI structures the content into sections, key terms, summaries, and review questions in seconds.
What's included in the generated guide?
Section headings organized by topic, key term definitions, mid-section summaries, and end-of-section review questions. You can edit any of it before studying.
Can I generate one for any subject?
Yes — STEM, med, law, history, languages, CS, business, economics. The AI adapts the structure to whatever discipline you're studying.
How long are the guides?
Length matches your source. A 10-page lecture handout produces a focused 2-3 page guide; a full textbook chapter can produce 10+ pages.
Can I download or print it?
Yes, every study guide exports as a PDF you can download or print.
Does it work for AP and college-level material?
Yes. Many students use it for AP courses, undergraduate exams, and graduate-level content. Adjust the depth via your input — a textbook chapter produces a deeper guide than a single slide deck.
Is the study guide generator free?
Yes — generating study guides is free with daily AI creation limits, and no credit card is needed to sign up. Ultimate adds higher creation limits and longer source documents.
What inputs does the study guide generator accept?
PDFs (textbook chapters, handouts), lecture recordings and audio files, YouTube videos, slide decks, websites, pasted notes, and plain topic names. Audio and video sources are transcribed first, then the guide is generated from the transcript.
Study guide generator vs study guide maker — what's the difference?
Same underlying AI, different working style. The generator is one-pass: add a source, get a finished guide, done. The study guide maker page is for students who want more control — it covers study guide templates and a manual + AI hybrid approach where you design the structure and let AI fill in the sections. If you're not sure, start with the generator; you can always restructure afterwards.
Keep exploring
More Scholarly study tools
AI Study Guide Maker
Build study guides for any course.
AI Study Guide
AI-driven study guides on demand.
Study Notes Generator
Organized study notes from any source.
Cheat Sheet Maker
Condense your study guide to one page.
Practice Test Generator
Generate practice exams to drill yourself.
PDF to Flashcards
Make flashcards from your study guide source.
Sign up to Generate Your First Study Guide
Free to start. No card required.
Free
- 3 AI Chat messages per day
- 3 AI creations per day
- 1 file upload per day (8MB)
- 5 quiz questions per day
- 1 exam attempt per day
- 15 voice minutes per day
- 32-page PDF to flashcards
- 500 autocomplete words per day
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, make a podcast, create a video lecture or infographic, build slides, make a mind map or study guide, or process a recording.
Ultimate
$144 billed yearly
Everything in Free, plus:
- Unlimited normal chat & autocomplete
- Unlimited premium model messages
- Unlimited AI creations
- Unlimited file uploads (up to 300MB)
- Unlimited study sessions
- Unlimited exams & quizzes
- 1000-page PDF to flashcards
- Export to Anki
- Priority support
Pricing in USD. Local currency available in app.
Compare plans
Feature
Free
Ultimate
3/day
Unlimited
—
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3/day total
Unlimited
Uses AI creations
Unlimited
1/day (8MB)
Unlimited (300MB)
32 pages
1000 pages
5/day
Unlimited
1/day
Unlimited
15 min/day
1 hr/day
500 words/day
Unlimited
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What students say
Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.
Briana
Student
This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
Student
I am currently preparing for a test that covers a substantial amount of material, and I've found that not having to physically write out my flashcards has been incredibly beneficia...
Isabelle
Student
Scholarly is great for students. I am enrolled in online university and my classes are all PDF based. All I do is upload the PDF and it creates flashcards decks for me. The greate...
Alexandra
Student
Your questions, answered
Is Scholarly free to use?
Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with daily limits: AI Chat messages, 3 AI creations per day, research reports, file uploads, quizzes, practice exams, and manual flashcard creation. Upgrade to Ultimate when you want unlimited AI creations and higher limits.
What uses my daily AI creation?
Generating flashcards, improving a flashcard deck, making a podcast, creating a video lecture or infographic, building slides, making a mind map or study guide, or processing a recording each use the same daily free AI creation allowance. AI Chat messages, uploads, quizzes, and exams have their own separate daily limits.
Can I cancel anytime?
Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.
Do you offer discounts for educators?
Yes, we offer special pricing for educators and educational institutions. Contact us at hello@scholarly.so for details.
What happens when I hit a free plan limit?
You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost — limits only apply to new daily actions like AI Chat messages, uploads, quiz questions, and new AI creations. Limits reset every day.
For Educators or Schools
Contact us for special pricing at hello@scholarly.so.