Top Free Tools & Apps for College Students: Tools

Find digital workshops on test preparation, essay drafting, stress management techniques, understanding plagiarism, and more.

App for mind mapping, a proven great way to visually organize and structure your notes and project outlines.

Mind mapping tool for Android, MacOS, and iOS.

Student planner that syncs across multiple devices; tracks assignments, projects, and tests; and has due date reminders. Available for Apple, Android, Mac, Windows, Chromebook, and Kindle.

Suite of integrated tools for your courses, like mind maps, flashcards, notes, flow charts, quizzes, and slides.

Manages and prioritizes tasks and sub-tasks in groups, and can delegate and share tasks.

A simple to do list app to manage your tasks, projects, and team's work.

Helps organize and prioritize group projects with boards, lists, and cards. Compatible with Apple and Android.

Create your class schedule, get reminders, set study timers, and track your study history.

Converts all of your tabs into one list to cut down on clutter. Great for organizing necessary tabs for different classes.

This University of Minnesota tool can help you determine how much time you have to complete various aspects of your research and writing, given your starting date and due date. Calculate by research subject.

Apple timer app that lets you break up your studying and tasks into increments and allow for breaks to stay focused.

A simple time-tracking tool that helps you manage your time better.

Tracks and analyzes your sleep cycle and habits and wakes you up at the perfect time during your sleep cycle, so you're mentally at your best for class.

Learn about getting more out of your classes, taking better notes, reading more effectively, building the optimal study environment, defeating procrastination, writing better papers, etc.

Study tool that uses flashcards, games, and quizzes.

Find or create digital flashcards in a variety of subjects. There are standardized test prep flashcards, as well.

Free Chegg service to create your own flashcards or use existing ones.

Tool that uses interactive application instead of memorization to supplement STEM classes.

Has literature study guides with glossaries, themes, and quizzes, like an online Cliff Notes. This CANNOT substitute reading an assigned text, but can immensely help to understand it.

Online study guides for Shakespeare, literature, and other subjects like psychology, math, history, etc. Again, this does NOT substitute reading a book, and might not be allowed as a source. It is only intended for study assistance.

Citation Machine is a free site that automatically produces MLA, APA, Turabian or Chicago Style Citations for a variety of sources (but not bibliographies). Users can copy and paste citations into Microsoft Word. Citation Machine is developed by David Warlick, an educator.

Imports your research directly from your browser, keeps your research organized in your library, and generates citations and bibliographies.

Collects and organizes your research, creates citations and bibliographies, shares research, and syncs across devices.

Professional and artistic high-quality slide templates.

Design a slide presentation with professional and artistic templates using Canva's software.

Scans documents into PDFs using your mobile device camera, automatically recognizes text, and digitizes hand-written notes.

Corrects your grammar and spelling, and even checks your tone and style. Can be added as an extension to Chrome, Safari, and FireFox.

Using your HCC login, you can access the full dictionary, plus etymologies, timelines, and a historical thesaurus.

Music scientifically designed to help you study and concentrate.

Calculators, computations, and answers for every subject using algorithms and AI technology.

An application that guides you through calculations. You can enter the formula and check if your solution is the same as the one offered.

A personal safety app with voice activation, SOS, recording, fake calling, and shareable GPS tracking. Some features are only available with a premium account.

Be responsible! Calculate your BAC to know how long until you're sober and how you're currently impaired. Remember, the driving limit is under 0.08%.

Create word processor documents, spreadsheets, slides, and forms.

You may have to click "sign in" if you're taken to the Microsoft website; you can then sign in with your HCC credentials. From here, you can download Office 365 to your computer or device. You can also download individual apps:

If you're local to Hillsborough County, you can apply for a library card online and get digital access to all of their services. It's not just books— they have comics, graphic novels, music, movies, and more.

Find repositories, open access textbooks, and public domain images and multimedia. (This means they are free to read and use without paying.)
Note: If any of your required materials are open access, your instructor should inform you and provide the source location.