Best and Coolest AI Tools for University Students in 2025

Today's university students are expected to excel academically while managing multiple tasks — from writing essays and conducting research to preparing presentations and formatting citations.

Thankfully, AI tools can now support many of these tasks, helping students save time, stay organised, and work more efficiently.

In this guide, students will discover:

• AI tools for writing essays and reports
• AI tools for research, citations, and literature reviews
• Productivity and organisation tools for university life
• Presentation, note-taking, and study support tools
• Free and student-discounted AI tools

Read the updated version: AI tools for students in 2026

What students can do with AI (2025)

Below is a curated list of AI tools commonly used by university students in 2025 to support writing, research, productivity, and presentations.

AI tools for writing and essays

Grammarly — Writing and proofreading

Helps improve clarity, grammar, tone, and structure in academic writing.

• Grammar and spelling checks
• Academic tone suggestions
• Plagiarism detection

Writefull — Academic writing enhancement

Designed specifically for academic language, style, and structure.

Hemingway Editor — Simplifying complex writing

Improves readability by highlighting complex sentences.

QuillBot — Paraphrasing and summarisation

Useful for rephrasing text and summarising long documents.

AI tools for research and citations

Zotero — Citation management

Collect, organise, and cite academic sources in multiple styles.

Mendeley — Research paper management

Manage PDFs, annotate papers, and generate citations.

RefWorks — Reference management

Automates citations and integrates with Word and Google Docs.

Perplexity — AI-powered academic search

Speeds up literature reviews by summarising academic sources.

Elicit — Research assistant

Finds relevant papers and summarises research findings.

AI tools for productivity and organisation

Notion AI — All-in-one productivity workspace

Organise notes, tasks, projects, and group work in one place.

ChatGPT — Learning and idea generation

Explains complex concepts, summarises texts, and helps outline essays.

Scrivener — Long-form writing projects

Ideal for managing dissertations and large academic projects.

AI tools for presentations and visuals

Canva — Presentations and infographics

Create presentations, posters, and visual content using templates.

MindMeister — Mind mapping and brainstorming

Plan essays, projects, and ideas visually.

AI tools for lectures and note-taking

Otter.ai — Lecture transcription

Transcribes lectures and meetings into searchable text.

FAQs about AI tools for students

Are AI tools safe to use for academic work?

Yes. AI tools should support learning — improving clarity, organisation, and understanding — not replace original academic work.

Can universities detect AI-generated work?

Some institutions use AI-detection tools, but these are not always reliable. Students should avoid submitting fully AI-generated content and instead use AI to assist ethically.

Which AI tool is best for academic writing?

Grammarly and Writefull are particularly useful for academic writing and formal tone.

Can AI tools help with presentations?

Yes. Canva and MindMeister are popular tools for presentations and visual planning.

How do AI tools help with citations?

Tools like Zotero, Mendeley, and RefWorks automatically format citations and reference lists.

What’s the best AI tool for thesis management?

Scrivener and Notion AI help break large projects into manageable sections.

AI tools have become an essential part of modern university life, helping students manage workloads more efficiently and focus on learning rather than admin.

Using the right tools — and choosing the right student accommodation near the university — can make a real difference to academic performance and wellbeing.