Medly AI vs Gizmo

Gizmo turns your own notes, slides and videos into flashcards and quizzes. Medly gives you exam-style GCSE and A-Level questions and marks every answer you write. Both use AI, but they're built for different jobs.

The short answer

Choose Medly if you want to practise exam questions and have each answer marked against your exam board's specification. Choose Gizmo if what you mainly need is to memorise facts from notes you already have, in any subject.

How Medly and Gizmo differ

We checked Gizmo's details on its own website on 7 November 2026. Gizmo doesn't publish its prices there. You can verify Gizmo's details on its home page and in its guides to Gizmo Unlimited, starting a practice test and what happens during a practice test.

What Gizmo does well

Gizmo is quick at turning what you already have into something to revise from. Upload a PDF, a set of slides, a lecture recording or a YouTube video and it makes flashcards, then uses spaced repetition to bring each card back at intervals. You can scan photos of handwritten notes, import decks from Quizlet and Anki, or choose from over a million public decks.

It has an AI Tutor that explains answers step by step. Its practice tests mark written answers against a mark scheme, with partial marks, and can be set to a course such as GCSE, A-level or BTEC. Because it works in any subject, it's useful for courses Medly doesn't cover.

Where Medly is different

Questions written for your exam

Gizmo's questions come from whatever you upload. Medly's are written to exam board specifications and checked by teachers and examiners, across more than 14 question types, from multiple choice to 6-mark extended responses and essays.

That matters because exams test more than recall. In AQA's GCSE Biology, for example, about 40% of the marks are for knowledge and understanding, and about 60% for applying that knowledge and analysing information. Flashcards help most with the first part. Writing full answers is how you practise the rest.

Every answer marked

Each answer you write on Medly comes back annotated, showing which marking points you hit, where marks were lost and what to change. The marking is tied to the specification points and assessment objectives for your board, and every result feeds a mastery score for that topic, so Medly can suggest what to practise next. If you're stuck, the AI tutor can work through the question with you, and it remembers what you've covered before.

Handwritten answers, marked

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. Gizmo uses handwriting differently: it scans photos of handwritten notes into flashcards.

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. Gizmo's practice tests are generated by AI from your course and run on a timer.

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

Gizmo's free plan includes 15 Hearts, which you lose for wrong answers in Memorise mode and which refill over time, and 5 AI Tutor sessions a day. Gizmo Unlimited is billed weekly or yearly at a price shown in the app, with a discount for eligible students.

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 Gizmo better for GCSE revision?

It depends what you're revising for. If you want to practise exam questions written to your board's specification and have every answer marked, Medly is built for that. If you want flashcards made from your own notes, in any subject, Gizmo is.

Can Gizmo mark GCSE answers?

Gizmo's practice tests mark written answers against a mark scheme, with partial marks, and can be set to a course such as GCSE. Medly marks every answer to its own exam-style questions, and papers you upload, with annotations showing where each mark was won or lost.

Can I practise handwritten answers on Medly?

Yes. Write on the built-in canvas with a pen, eraser and text tools. Handwriting recognition reads your answer and Medly marks it.

Is Gizmo free?

Gizmo has a free plan with 15 Hearts and 5 AI Tutor sessions a day. Gizmo Unlimited is billed weekly or yearly at a price shown in the app. Medly's free plan includes 5 marked questions a day, and full access costs £24.99 a month or £180 a year.

Other comparisons

• Medly AI vs Knowt
• Medly AI vs Quizlet
• Medly AI vs Physics & Maths Tutor (PMT)
• Medly AI vs Save My Exams

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From Paul and Kavi at Medly