The Best Chegg Alternative for Students
Chegg costs $20+/month for textbook solutions. Scholarly uses AI to explain any concept, summarize any PDF, and generate study materials — for free.
Scholarly vs Chegg: Feature Comparison
An honest look at how the two platforms compare.
| Feature | Scholarly | Chegg |
|---|---|---|
| AI homework help | Add-on | |
| Free plan | ||
| Monthly cost | $0 / Free | $19.95+/month |
| Textbook solutions | AI-generated | Pre-written |
| PDF summarization | ||
| Generate flashcards | ||
| Math solver | Add-on | |
| Lab report help | ||
| Study schedule generator | ||
| Cancellation hassle |
Where Chegg Still Shines
Chegg is a great tool with real strengths worth acknowledging.
Verified Textbook Solutions
Chegg has decades of human-written, expert-verified solutions to specific textbook problems. If you need a known answer to a known problem, that's their core competency.
Tutor Marketplace
Chegg has a built-in marketplace of human tutors for live 1-on-1 help. Useful when you genuinely need synchronous human guidance.
Why Students Switch to Scholarly
AI Chat for Any Subject
Ask any question, upload any material, get explained answers — without paying for an answer-only subscription.
Generate Study Materials
Beyond answers: flashcards, summaries, study schedules, lab reports, formula sheets. A complete study system, not just a homework answer key.
Free Plan Available
Scholarly's free plan includes core study tools. Premium plans are available when you need higher limits.
Works on Your Materials
Upload your professor's PDFs and lectures. Chegg only knows public textbooks — Scholarly knows your specific course.
How Scholarly Works
Step 1: Add Your Content
Upload PDFs, paste notes, add images, or link YouTube videos. Any study material works.
Step 2: AI Generates Cards
Our AI reads your material and creates comprehensive flashcards with accurate questions and answers.
Step 3: Study & Export
Study with spaced repetition in Scholarly, or export to Anki, Quizlet, or PDF. Your cards, your choice.
Scholarly vs Chegg: A Closer Look
Chegg built its business on textbook solution manuals. If you have a problem from a popular textbook, Chegg's library probably has the worked answer. That's still real value — for a specific use case.
But study has changed. Most students aren't just solving the back-of-the-book exercises — they're trying to understand professor-specific material, summarize PDFs, prep for exams, and study efficiently. None of that is Chegg's strength.
Scholarly is built for the modern student workflow. Upload your actual materials, ask questions, generate flashcards, build a study schedule — all in one tool, on a free plan. For most students, the $19.95/month Chegg subscription is solving yesterday's problem.
Related Pages
Scholarly vs CourseHero
How Scholarly compares to CourseHero.
Scholarly vs Quizlet
Quizlet alternative for AI flashcards.
AI Homework Help
Get free homework help with AI.
Math Solver
Solve any math problem step-by-step.
Lab Report Writer
Write better lab reports faster.
PDF Summarizer
Summarize any PDF in seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Scholarly really free compared to Chegg?
Yes. Scholarly has a generous free plan, while Chegg charges $19.95/month for full access. Scholarly's premium plans exist but most features work on the free tier.
Can Scholarly solve textbook problems like Chegg?
Yes. Upload the problem (or the textbook) and Scholarly's AI walks through the solution step by step. Unlike Chegg's static solution manuals, Scholarly explains the reasoning.
Is Scholarly more accurate than Chegg?
Chegg's verified solutions are written by humans, which is reliable for specific textbook problems. Scholarly uses frontier AI models, which are excellent for explanation and adapting to your exact question — but always double-check important answers.
Can I use Scholarly without a subscription?
Absolutely. The free plan includes AI chat, flashcard generation, PDF summaries, study schedule creation, and more. Upgrade only if you hit usage limits.
Ready to Try a Better Way to Study?
Join students who create flashcards in seconds, not hours.
Free
- 3 AI Chat messages per day
- 1 AI creation per day
- 1 file upload per day (8MB)
- 10 quiz questions per day
- 1 exam attempt per day
- 8-page PDF to flashcards
- 500 autocomplete words per day
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, make a podcast, create a video lecture, build slides, or process a recording.
Ultimate
$144 billed yearly
Everything in Free, plus:
- Unlimited AI Chat messages & autocomplete
- Unlimited AI creations
- Unlimited file uploads (up to 300MB)
- Unlimited study sessions
- Unlimited exams & quizzes
- 1,000-page PDF to flashcards
- Export to Anki
- Priority support
Pricing in USD. Local currency available in app.
Compare plans
Feature
Free
Ultimate
AI Chat
3 messages/day
Unlimited
AI Creations
1/day total
Unlimited
Creation Tools
Flashcards, deck edits, podcasts, videos, slides, recordings
All unlimited
File Uploads
1/day (8MB)
Unlimited (300MB)
PDF to Flashcards
8 pages
1,000 pages
Practice Questions
10/day
Unlimited
Practice Exams
1/day
Unlimited
Autocomplete
500 words/day
Unlimited
Export to Anki
—
Included
Support
Standard
Priority
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, one AI creation per day, 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, building slides, or processing a recording each use the same daily free creation. 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.