Guide
How to choose an AI quiz generator
Eight criteria to decide with your own notes in front of you, and a table of six tools checked on each official site on September 23, 2026.
By Michel Rodrigues, who makes CanQuiz. Data checked on September 23, 2026.
Before comparing: what you will feed it and what comes after
Nearly all of these tools write questions from a text. Where they differ is everything around that: what material they accept, what kinds of question they write, what happens when you get one wrong and what you can do with the quiz afterwards. So it pays to start from your own situation rather than from each tool's feature list.
A disclosure: the person writing this guide makes CanQuiz, one of the tools in the table. That is why the table does not score or rank anything, every cell comes from the tool's official site and links to it, and anything that could not be checked says "not stated" instead of guessing.
The eight criteria
What material it accepts
Pasted text, PDFs, photos, slides, Word files, a web page or a YouTube video. Think about the format your notes are in today. If you study from photos of a textbook, it needs to read images; if from recorded lectures, video or audio.
What kinds of question it writes
One correct answer, several correct answers, true or false, short or open answers. Practise in your exam's format: options for a multiple-choice exam, open answers with marking for an essay exam.
Whether it explains each answer
A question that only says "wrong" teaches little. Explaining why the right option is right, and why the others are not, is what turns a mistake into something learnt.
What it does with your mistakes
Redoing only what you missed, and coming back to it another day, pays off most. Check whether the tool does this for you or leaves you to keep track.
Whether it shares without an account
If you study in a group, it matters that others can open the quiz from a link without signing up. Every extra step means someone will not open it.
Whether you can take the quiz with you
Exporting to an open format (JSON, CSV, text for Anki) lets you switch tools without losing the work. Without export, the quiz only lives there.
What it does with your material
Read the privacy policy: whether your notes are used to train models, how long they are kept and where they are processed. With course or work material, this matters more than it seems.
Limits and price
Most have a no-cost tier of use with limits, plus paid plans. Look for the limit that clashes with the way you study (quizzes per month, file size, number of sources), not just the price.
Six tools, criterion by criterion
Taken from each tool's official site on September 23, 2026. These things change often: before deciding, open the sources for the row. "Not stated" means it does not appear on the pages checked, not that it does not exist.
| Tool | What it accepts | Questions | Feedback and review | Sharing and export | Price and limits (as shown from Spain) | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanQuiz | Text, PDF, photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF), a web link, a YouTube video or a topic. Up to 5 files at once. It does not read Word, PowerPoint or audio: paste the text or export to PDF. | One correct answer, several correct answers, true or false, open answers marked by the AI, and coding exercises. | Every question comes with its explanation. Redo only the ones you missed, and spaced repetition (in beta). | Private until you share it; the link opens without an account. Exports to JSON, CSV and text for Anki. | No paid plan today. AI included: 20 generations a month; with your own API key that cap goes away. | |
| ChatGPT | Text, PDFs and other files and images, with more or fewer uploads depending on the plan. | Whatever you ask for in the chat. It has interactive quizzes inside the conversation. | In study mode it can quiz you one question at a time and explain what you missed. | A link to the conversation. From a personal account, anyone with the link can open it; from a business account, only members of that workspace. | No-cost use with limits. Go, €8/month; Plus, €23/month. | |
| Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | PDF, Word, PowerPoint, text, web pages, public YouTube videos with captions, images, audio and Google Docs or Slides. | Quizzes and flashcards, with a choice of difficulty. The question types are not specified. | A hint on each question; "explain" explains a mistake with citations to your sources. At the end, review or retake; with flashcards, only the ones you missed. | Share by link. Flashcards download as CSV. | No-cost use with a Google account, up to 50 sources per notebook; more with a Google AI plan. | |
| Knowt | PDF, PowerPoint, video (YouTube too), images, audio and lecture recording. | Multiple-choice practice tests from your notes. Learn mode adds written answers and true or false. | Retake the test or take a new one; Learn mode and spaced repetition. | Public link, private (only for the people you share with) or password; they can study it but not edit it. Whether an account is needed is not stated. | Basic at no cost. Ultra, US$24.99/month or US$149.99/year, with the AI summaries of PDFs, video, images and PowerPoint. | |
| Quizgecko | PDF, PowerPoint, Word, text, a URL, public YouTube videos and photos of textbook pages. | Multiple choice, select all that apply, true or false, fill in the blank, matching and short answer. | Real-time grading, a Mastery Score and spaced repetition. | Link, embed on a website, PDF, printable worksheet and LMS export, depending on the plan. | No-cost plan with limits. Plus, €15/month; Ultra, €26/month (paying monthly). | |
| Quizlet | .docx, .pdf and .pptx files, Google Drive or pasted text; photos of notes from its mobile app. | Practice tests with multiple-choice and written questions. | Learn mode: 20 rounds a month on Plus, unlimited on Plus Unlimited. | Public sets are shared by link. With "Study with friends", someone without an account can do one session. | Account at no cost with limited access to practice tests. Plus, €35.99 a year, with 3 practice tests a month; Plus Unlimited, €44.99 a year. |
|
Rows in alphabetical order, with CanQuiz first only because of the alphabet. The table does not score or recommend: it compares what each tool publishes about itself.
The CanQuiz row comes from the app's code and its pricing page, not from an outside source.
Quizlet, Knowt and Quizgecko are trademarks of their respective owners; ChatGPT of OpenAI; Gemini, NotebookLM, Google Docs, Slides and YouTube of Google LLC. CanQuiz is not affiliated with any of them and names them only to compare public information.
What to look at for your situation
Drawn from the table, without recommending any tool: where to look depending on how you study.
If you study from YouTube videos
According to the table, CanQuiz, Gemini Notebook, Knowt and Quizgecko accept YouTube. Check whether the video needs captions: Gemini Notebook only imports public videos that have them. How it works in CanQuiz: quiz from a YouTube video.
If your notes are in PowerPoint or Word
Gemini Notebook, Quizgecko and Quizlet read both formats, and Knowt reads PowerPoint. In CanQuiz you export them to PDF or paste the text.
If the quiz is for a group
Look at the sharing column: whether the others will need to create an account to open it, and whether you can pass the quiz on as a file. In CanQuiz the file opens without an account; its JSON format is documented.
If your exam is multiple choice with negative marking
Look for your exam's format (number of options, several correct answers) and practise with it. To see how much each wrong answer costs, use the score calculator.
If you already use ChatGPT or Gemini
You can ask it for the quiz directly. If you want its answer to become a quiz that marks itself and can be retaken, this instruction opens it in CanQuiz with no account.
A ten-minute test before you decide
The table says what each tool promises. This shows how it handles your material.
Use the same material in all of them
A topic you know well, a few pages long. That way you quickly see which tool makes things up.
Look for errors
Check five random questions: that the marked answer is right, that the wrong options are believable and that the question does not give itself away.
Get some wrong on purpose
Answer two questions wrongly and see what happens: whether it explains the mistake and whether it lets you redo just those.
Try to take it out
Open the link in a private window, signed out, and export the quiz if you can. That tells you whether your work gets locked in.
Why explanations and redoing mistakes matter so much: the active recall guide explains it, with the studies linked.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI quiz generator?
It depends on your material and your exam. This guide does not rank tools because it is written by the maker of one of them. What helps is checking what each accepts, what questions it writes and what happens with your mistakes, then trying two or three on the same topic.
Why not just use ChatGPT?
You can, and it writes good questions if you give it the material. What is usually missing is what comes after: marking without seeing the answers first, redoing only the ones you missed and coming back another day. Many tools exist to cover that part, not just to generate.
Do these tools make mistakes?
Yes, all of them can. An AI can mark the wrong answer as correct or invent a fact that is not in your material. Check the questions against the source, especially before an exam, and fix or delete the bad ones.
Do they all read my PDFs?
All six mention PDFs on their pages. Size and page limits differ from one to the next. If your PDF is a scan, also check that the tool reads images, because its text cannot be selected.
Why is the table dated?
Because prices, limits and features change often. Each fact was checked on the tool's official site on 23 September 2026, and each row links to its sources so you can see how things stand today.
What does CanQuiz do, and what doesn't it do?
It exports the quiz to JSON, CSV and text for Anki, does open answers marked by the AI and coding exercises, lets you redo only the questions you missed, and its links open without an account. It does not read Word, PowerPoint or audio directly: you paste the text or turn it into a PDF. How each of the others handles this is in the table.
Run the ten-minute test on CanQuiz too
Paste the same topic or upload the same PDF and look at the questions, the explanations and what happens when you get one wrong.
AI comes with the account, no API key.