Medly AI vs Cognito

Cognito teaches through short video lessons, with free notes and with quizzes, flashcards and exam questions from KS3 to A-Level. Medly gives you exam-style GCSE and A-Level questions and marks every answer you write, typed or handwritten.

The short answer

Choose Medly if you want to practise exam questions, including handwritten answers, and have every one marked against your exam board's specification. Choose Cognito if you learn best from short videos, want free notes, or want unlimited typed practice at a lower monthly price.

How Medly and Cognito differ

We checked Cognito's details on its own website on 7 and 8 November 2026, using standard prices and leaving out time-limited offers. Cognito doesn't publish an annual price. You can verify its details on its home page, FAQ, post on its GCSE science courses and comparison with Up Learn, which gives the Pro price.

What Cognito does well

Cognito explains topics in short, focused video episodes, and its notes and videos are free. It has more than 300 courses across 15 subjects and 10 exam boards, covering the sciences, maths, English, humanities and languages. Its courses run from KS3 through GCSE, IGCSE and A-Level to IB, SQA National 5, entrance exams and US AP, and its A-Level courses cover Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and English. Its videos are also on YouTube, and it says it's trusted by more than a million students.

Alongside the videos come quizzes, flashcards and exam practice, scheduled with spaced repetition and interleaving that adapt to how you're doing, plus personalised recommendations. Its AI marks typed exam answers against the mark scheme and tells you what you missed. All of this is free up to a weekly limit, and Cognito Pro removes the limits.

Where Medly is different

Handwritten answers, marked

Cognito's exam answers are typed. You'll sit most of your exams on paper, so Medly lets you practise that way. Write your answer on the built-in canvas with a pen, eraser and text tools, and handwriting recognition reads it so it can be marked. If you've done a past paper on paper, Upload & Mark lets you upload it and have that marked too.

Questions written for your exam

Medly's thousands of questions are written to exam board specifications and checked by teachers and examiners, across more than 14 types, from multiple choice to 6-mark extended responses and essays. Each answer comes back annotated, showing which marking points you hit, where marks were lost and what to change, tied to the specification points and assessment objectives for your board. Every result feeds a mastery score for that topic, so Medly can suggest what to practise next.

An AI tutor alongside the questions

Cognito teaches through its videos and notes. On Medly, when you're stuck on a question, the AI tutor can work through it with you, and it remembers what you've covered before.

Mocks run like the real thing

Medly Mocks are free mock exams set by examiners and sat by students across the country at the same time. They come with grade boundaries, a results day and a percentile showing where you sit in the cohort. Cognito offers exam-style questions and past papers.

Does Medly raise marks?

In a randomised controlled trial in GCSE science, students using Medly for 30 minutes a week for four weeks scored 22% higher on the post-test than classmates revising the same topic in their usual way, adjusted for where they started. That's 2.56 more marks out of 35 across 644 students, an effect size of 0.33.

The trial was designed, randomised and analysed by WhatWorked Education with Professor Steve Higgins of Durham University. You can read our summary of the trial or the paper on arXiv.

Price

Cognito's notes and videos are free, and its quizzes, flashcards and exam practice are free up to a weekly limit. Cognito Pro, which removes those limits, costs £9.99 a month. Cognito doesn't publish an annual price.

Medly's free plan includes 5 marked questions, 20 AI tutor messages and 1 uploaded paper a day, with lessons, notes, textbooks and flashcards that have no daily limit. Medly Mondays unlock unlimited practice in one subject from 9am on Monday to 9am on Tuesday. You don't need a card to sign up. Full access costs £24.99 a month or £180 a year and covers every subject on Medly.

Frequently asked questions

Is Medly or Cognito better for GCSE revision?

It depends how you like to revise. If you learn best from short videos and want free notes, Cognito is built for that. If you want exam practice with every answer marked, including handwritten ones, and examiner-set mocks, Medly is.

Does Cognito cover A-Levels?

Yes. Cognito's A-Level courses cover Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and English. Medly covers GCSE, A-Level, IGCSE, IB, AP and SAT.

Can I practise handwritten answers on Cognito?

Cognito's exam answers are typed. On Medly, you can write on the built-in canvas, and handwriting recognition reads your answer so it can be marked.

Can I upload exam papers to Medly for marking?

Yes. Upload & Mark lets you upload a past paper you've done on paper and have it marked.

Other comparisons

• Medly AI vs Tassomai
• Medly AI vs Up Learn
• Medly AI vs Physics & Maths Tutor (PMT)
• Medly AI vs Save My Exams
• Medly AI vs Quizlet

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From Paul and Kavi at Medly