// I want to solve · Students

📚 Students: study with AI (the right way)

Use AI to explain, quiz you, organise notes and practise languages rather than write for you; know your school’s AI rules and the free perks available to students.

6 steps5 alternatives3 stacks · 1 problemschecked 2026-10-22

How to do it

01Check your school’s and course’s AI rules first: where it is allowed and whether you must disclose it
02Use AI as a tutor, not a ghostwriter: ask for step-by-step explanations, practice questions and feedback on your own answers
03Create a NotebookLM notebook per course, upload lecture notes and generate revision outlines and quizzes
04Languages: practise speaking and get writing feedback from AI; compare translations with DeepL
05Coding: verified students can use GitHub Copilot for free and apply for the GitHub Student Developer Pack
06Check every fact, formula and citation from AI against the textbook or source

What it costs

Free start

Free tiers of Doubao, Kimi, DeepSeek, Gemini and ChatGPT; NotebookLM is free; students get Copilot free

Individual paid

Only if needed, an $8–20/mo plan (ChatGPT Go $8, Plus $20; Google AI Pro $19.99); watch for student deals

School

Many schools provide institutional AI accounts; ask IT or the library

Prices change; the vendor’s official page wins. Subscriptions compared · API prices

Alternatives: which to pick

Option	Choose it when
NotebookLM	Revise and quiz from your own notes
豆包 / Kimi	Chinese explanations, free
ChatGPT / Gemini	English material and speaking practice
DeepTutor	Open-source tutor agent
GitHub Copilot（学生免费）	Learning to code

✓ Good fit

Understanding concepts, practice, revision, languages, learning to code

✗ Not a good fit

Exams, or assignments where AI is not allowed

Ready-made stacks

All stacks

Student learning stack Explain, practice, note-taking and exam review in one line. 4 tools Personal knowledge base Capture notes, web pages and PDFs into a searchable second brain that AI can answer from. 3 tools Low-cost indie developer Ship products with free models and open-source tools as much as possible. 4 tools

Software that helps

All software

NotebookLM AI notes & knowledge management Google's source-grounded notebook for Q&A, summaries and audio overviews. Closed / commercial Freemium WebiOSAndroid ChatGPT AI apps & chat clients26.1007.21159（Homebrew 当前） OpenAI's general assistant for chat, writing, images, coding and web search. Closed / commercial Freemium WebiOSAndroid Google Gemini AI apps & chat clients Google's AI assistant, tightly integrated with Search, Gmail, Docs and other Google services. Closed / commercial Freemium WebiOSAndroid 豆包 AI apps & chat clients ByteDance's all-round assistant for chat, writing, images and voice. Closed / commercial Free WebiOSAndroid Kimi AI apps & chat clients Moonshot AI's assistant, known for long context, web search and agentic office work. Closed / commercial Freemium WebiOSAndroid DeepTutor AI apps & chat clients ★ 42k Agent-native personalized tutoring. Open source Web Grammarly AI writing & presentations Real-time AI writing and grammar assistant across apps. Closed / commercial Freemium WebChrome扩展macOS QuillBot AI writing & presentations AI writing tool for paraphrasing, proofreading and polishing. Closed / commercial Freemium WebChrome扩展 DeepL AI writing & presentations High-quality AI translation for text, documents and speech. Closed / commercial Freemium WebWindowsmacOS Speechify Speech recognition & synthesis Reads books, PDFs and web pages aloud in natural voices. Closed / commercial Freemium WebiOSAndroid Obsidian AI notes & knowledge management Local Markdown notes and personal knowledge base; plugins connect AI and agents. Closed / commercial Freemium macOSWindowsLinux GitHub Copilot Coding agents & AI IDEscopilot-chat 0.48.1 GitHub's AI pair programmer with completions, chat, coding agent and code review. Closed / commercial Freemium VS CodeJetBrainsCLI

Problems & solutions

All problems

How-toFree AI tools for studentsStudents can use most AI without paying: free tiers of major assistants, NotebookLM and local open models; for coding, GitHub student verification unlocks Copilot for free.

Needs in this scenario

IND-04Student and research perks

Individual developers & researchers · People search for: github student pack copilot; research credits ai
IND-07Structured learning path plus free compute and required software

Individual developers & researchers · People search for: llm learning roadmap; mcp tutorial; rag tutorial
IND-01Verifiable free tiers and their change history

Individual developers & researchers · People search for: free llm api 2026; gemini free tier limits

Official references

Compiled from official documentation on 2026-10-22; not reproduced in our own environment. Follow the official docs if they differ.