15 Free Tools and Sites for Students, Described and Linked

Start hereA reading list, a hard topic, a reference list, a revision plan, a form for student aid. Each has a tool or an official site behind it. Here are 15, grouped by what they help with, each described in the words of its own site.

Here are 15 tools and sites that can help with reading, learning, research, writing, revision and paying for study. Many are run by non-profits, universities or governments, and each card links the tool’s own site.

Each card says “free” only where the tool’s own page says so. Plans and features can change, so check the site before you rely on one.

01Books and reading

Four places to find books, texts and quick background reading.

1. Your public library, through the Libby app

Libby lets you borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your local library on your phone or computer.

Libby’s help pages say you can borrow free ebooks, digital audiobooks and magazines from your library, and all you need is a library card. When you first open it, you search for your library. Loans are returned automatically on their due date, so there are no late fees to worry about.

For example, a set novel for English may be waiting as an ebook or audiobook. No trip out needed.

Try this: get a library card if you need one. Then search Libby for the books on your reading list. OverDrive, which makes Libby, notes that sending books to a Kindle works with U.S. libraries only.

2. Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is a free online library of older books, mostly classics.

It describes itself as an online library of more than 75,000 free eBooks. Its focus is on older works whose U.S. copyright has expired, so you will find classics there, not this year’s textbooks.

For example, a century-old play or novel on your syllabus is likely to be there to read or download.

Watch for: where you live, because public domain rules differ between countries. Project Gutenberg says it follows U.S. copyright law, and that not every work in the public domain in the US is in the public domain in other countries.

3. The Internet Archive and Open Library

The Internet Archive is a digital library open to anyone, and Open Library is its book catalogue.

The Internet Archive says that, like a paper library, it gives free access to researchers, people with print disabilities and the general public. It began in 1996 by archiving the internet itself, which is what its Wayback Machine shows: older copies of web pages.

Open Library is an open source book catalogue run by the Internet Archive. It says it is free and open to anyone, though some features, such as borrowing a book, need an account.

For example, if a web page you cited last term has gone, the Wayback Machine may still hold an older copy.

Try this: when a link in your notes stops working, paste it into the Wayback Machine.

4. Wikipedia, as a starting point

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia anyone can edit, handy for background and for finding sources to read next.

It describes itself as a free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. A Wikipedia essay page, which says it is not a policy, notes that citing Wikipedia in research papers may be considered unacceptable. The same page suggests citing the source a Wikipedia article gives, after looking it up yourself.

For example, read the article to get your bearings, then follow its footnotes to the sources you will cite.

Try this: for any fact you plan to use, open the footnote behind it. Our page on checking something online before you share it has a simple routine for that.

02Learning a subject

Five places to learn a subject or work through maths, from first lessons to university courses.

5. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a non-profit with free courses and practice in school and early university subjects.

It says it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. It describes itself as a free tool for students, teachers and parents, with more than 840 free courses for school and early college.

For example, if a topic went past too fast in class, a short lesson and some practice questions can fill the gap.

Try this: pick one topic you found hard this week and do its practice questions before rereading your notes.

6. OpenStax

OpenStax publishes free textbooks that you can read online or download.

It describes itself as a non-profit education initiative of Rice University that makes free, peer-reviewed materials. It says every textbook in its library is free to read online or download as a PDF. It says its model, from the start, has been peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks at no cost to students.

For example, a first-year economics or biology course may have an OpenStax book that covers the same ground.

Try this: before you buy a textbook, ask your teacher whether an OpenStax book would do.

7. MIT OpenCourseWare

MIT OpenCourseWare shares the course materials of thousands of MIT classes, open to anyone.

It describes itself as a free and open collection of material from thousands of MIT courses, with more than 2,500 courses online. There are no start or end dates and no need to create an account. MIT does not offer credit or certification to users of OpenCourseWare, so it is for learning, not for a qualification.

For example, an MIT course on your topic may give you a second set of lecture notes and problem sets.

Watch for: the Creative Commons licence if you reuse anything. Its materials are shared under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence. Its summary, which it says is “not a substitute for” the licence, says: “You must give appropriate credit” and “You may not use the material for commercial purposes.” If you remix or build on the material, it adds, “you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.”

8. Desmos

Desmos is a free online graphing calculator and set of maths tools.

Desmos Studio says its free suite of maths tools, including its Graphing Calculator, is used by more than 75 million people a year. It also says it partners with most U.S. state-level assessments and digital college entrance exams, so you may meet the same calculator in a test.

For example, changing one number in an equation and watching the graph move can show what that number does.

Try this: when a graph question confuses you, sketch your guess first, then check it in Desmos.

9. GeoGebra

GeoGebra is maths software for geometry, algebra, graphs, statistics and calculus.

It describes itself as maths software for all levels that brings geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics and calculus together. It joined the BYJU’S group in 2021, and says its apps, classroom resources and other features will stay free to the public.

For example, moving one point of a shape and watching its measurements change can make a geometry rule easier to see.

Try this: search GeoGebra’s community resources for your topic before building a diagram from scratch.

03Research and writing

Four tools for finding papers, keeping track of sources and writing up.

10. Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar

Both search engines look for research papers, books and theses rather than ordinary web pages.

Google Scholar says it lets you search across articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions from many disciplines and sources. Asked on its help page whether you can read an article’s full text for free, it answers “Maybe”. It suggests checking the version links and your library. Semantic Scholar, from the research institute Ai2, says it offers free, AI-driven search tools and indexes over 200 million papers.

For example, opening “All versions” under a Google Scholar result can turn up a copy you can read.

Try this: once you find a paper, use our page on how to read a study without a science degree to judge it.

11. Zotero

Zotero is a free tool that saves your sources and builds your citations and bibliography.

It describes itself as a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organise, annotate, cite and share research. It says it creates references inside Word, LibreOffice and Google Docs, and supports over 9,000 citation styles. Zotero is open source and developed by an independent non-profit organisation.

For example, save each article as you find it, and the reference list builds itself when you write the essay.

Watch for: a reference created by any tool can still carry a mistake, such as a missing page number. Check each one against the source before you hand in.

12. Purdue OWL

The Purdue Online Writing Lab explains grammar, essay writing and citation styles such as APA, MLA and Chicago.

Purdue University’s writing lab says it provides its writing resources and instructional material as a free service at Purdue. It says students, members of the community and users worldwide will find information to help with many writing projects.

For example, the guide for your style can show how to format each kind of source you cite.

Try this: keep the guide for your required style open while you write the reference list, not only at the end.

13. LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a free, open source office suite for writing, spreadsheets and slides.

It says it provides access to its office tools at no cost to you. Its six tools include Writer for documents, Calc for spreadsheets and Impress for presentations. LibreOffice is free and open source software, and a project of the not-for-profit organisation The Document Foundation.

For example, a laptop without a paid office package can still open and edit essays, spreadsheets and slides.

Watch for: the file format your school asks for. Save a copy in that format before you submit.

04Revising and paying for study

One tool for revision and the official sites for student aid.

14. Anki

Anki is a flashcard program that schedules each card for review when you are most likely to forget it.

Anki says you rate how well you recalled each card, and it schedules the next review for when you are most likely to forget it. Its site says the computer version and AnkiDroid for Android are free, while iOS app purchases help fund Anki’s development.

For example, put each new term from class on a card. Anki brings it back over the coming days and weeks.

Try this: make cards that ask a question rather than show a fact. Why spaced revision helps is covered in our page on how to study for an exam.

15. Official student-aid sites

Government student-aid sites explain the aid on offer, including loans, and how to apply.

In the US, Federal Student Aid says you apply for college, career school or graduate school aid with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It says you must apply for aid every year. It says you never have to pay for help with federal student aid. Sites that charge a fee for FAFSA help are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, it adds.

In England, GOV.UK’s student finance pages explain Tuition Fee Loans and Maintenance Loans. They say any loan you borrow needs to be paid back, but not until you have finished or left your course and earn over a certain amount. It adds that some students can get extra help, which usually does not need to be paid back. Students from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland follow a different process. GOV.UK says student finance is changing for courses that start on or after 1 January 2027.

For example, a site that charges to “help” with a form the government provides for free is worth closing.

Watch for: look-alike sites. Start from the official address, studentaid.gov or gov.uk/student-finance, rather than a link in an unexpected message. For your own situation, ask your school’s financial aid office.

05Already covered on our site

These topics have their own pages, so here they get one line each.

• How to learn and remember: the research is in how to learn faster and how to remember what you read.
• AI tools: chat assistants and other AI tools are grouped by what they do in AI tools by what they do.
• Government data and records: official sites for statistics, archives and records are in free public websites worth knowing.

06Where to learn more

• Our page on 7 areas worth learning about, with a starting point for each.
• Our guide to spotting a fake quote or an invented source, useful before you cite anything.
• Federal Student Aid (U.S. Department of Education): grants, loans and the FAFSA form.
• GOV.UK student finance (UK government): loans and extra help for students from England.
• The Purdue OWL (Purdue University): writing and citation guides.

07Quick answers

08Use this

09Quick quiz

How we checked this · Last checked November 2026

• Every card was read on the tool's own site on 12 November 2026, and "free" appears only where that site says so.
• Google Scholar's pages describe what it searches but do not call the search itself free, and GOV.UK does not call student finance free (its loans are paid back), so the title says "tools and sites".
• The page gives no prices or plan details. Counts such as Project Gutenberg's book total and Khan Academy's courses are each site's own figure.
• How spaced revision works, AI tools and official data sites have their own pages, so they get one line and a link here.

How we check every article →