The Best Apps for College Students (Plus Other Must-Have Resources)

College students have a lot to manage in 2024.

Many students are balancing school and work at the same time, while also trying to plan their careers, navigate a rapidly shifting economy and job market, pick up new technologies that are still being developed—oh, and somehow have a social life, too. And don’t forget self-care! 

It can be overwhelming, and sometimes the best solution is to put down the phone and get outside in nature. 

But your phone can also be one of your best tools to manage college life, as long as you have the right set of apps installed. 

Here are the 10 best apps for college students in 2024, along with other resources you might find useful on your journey. 

Apps for managing your coursework

These are the best apps for college students who want to optimize their classwork. Use these for studying, collaborating, and staying organized until the day you graduate.

Perplexity.AI 

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free, premium options available 

We could easily put ChatGPT on this list, but odds are, you’re already using that. 

Perplexity is like ChatGPT’s nerdy little brother. You still speak to it as you would any AI tool, but the answers you get back are clearly cited, making Perplexity one of the most powerful research apps for college students. 

We know that many AI tools have a tendency to “hallucinate” and provide information—this applies to Perplexity as well. But the citations make it much easier to fact-check and dive deeper into any subject.

My Study Life

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free, premium options available 

This app helps college students stay on top of their schedule, manage their homework due dates, and prepare for exams. 

Upload your course schedule and important due dates, and My Study Life will create an organized calendar for you, complete with to-do lists and automatic reminders. 

It also integrates across all of your devices, so you can keep an eye on your busy schedule no matter where you are.

Notability

Desktop | Apple Products (Not available for Android)
Cost: Free, premium options available 

For many college students, the notes you take have a direct impact on your GPA. 

Notability takes handwritten notes to the next level, letting you use your desktop Mac, iPhone, or iPad to capture notes with a stylus (works with Apple Pencil or Logitech crayon.) 

With Notability, you scan in or upload PDFs and textbooks, then mark them up just as you would on paper. You can add audio notes to documents, or easily share notes with others. (You definitely will be that friend in your study group with Notability.) 

Notability also gives you lots of templates to get you started (including some very cute calendar designs and stickers).

Quizlet

Desktop | Mobile Apps
Cost: Free to sign up 

This is the best app for college students who find studying alone in the library to be a bore. 

With Quizlet, you can design your own flashcards and other study tools, or play brainy games with other students in the Quizlet community. 

They’ve also got clever AI-chatbot that acts as an on-demand tutor. You tell the bot what you’re working on, and it will give you questions and help you explore your answers (whether you get them right or not!).

Apps and resources for managing your money

Managing your money is one of the most intimidating parts of moving out and living on your own. 

These apps and resources are hand-picked to make it easier to stay on top of all your money stuff.

To begin, check out our Ultimate College Student Budget Guide, plus the template that goes with it: 

Beyond that, we have an entire series around How to Make Money in College. Check out these other resources:

Monarch Money

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: $99 per year (30-day free trial, on sale for 50% off)

We highly suggest sticking with our free college student budget template , but if you want to get really serious about managing your money, Monarch Money is the best app to invest in. 

You can connect the app or desktop version to your bank accounts and track all your money in one dashboard. Organize those transactions into different categories, and you’ll soon have a deep understanding of where your money is going—that’s key to financial health for the long-term. 

You may have heard of another app similar to this, called Mint, which was recently absorbed by CreditKarma, part of the Intuit suite of business tools. You can try out Intuit if you like—I’ve used it in the past to run my freelance business, and, well… I recommend checking out Monarch.

Right now, Monarch is offering 50% off with the promo code MINT50, plus a 30-day free trial.

SplitWise

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free, premium options 

Splitting expenses is awkward. 

Going out for a group meal, sharing groceries with your roommate, dividing up the internet bill, paying for a date—it’s all uncomfortable, and the math often leaves some people footing the bill for others. 

Splitwise fixes this problem. 

Upload any shared expenses into the app, and it does all the math for you. It works well for sharing expenses with your first roommates, going on group vacations, or just sharing meals and coffees with friends over time. 

When you want to settle up, you can pay each other back right through the app using Venmo or other payment platforms.

UNiDAYS

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free

Where would we be without student discounts? 

That little piece of plastic in your wallet can get you all sorts of deals, and UNiDAYS helps you find the best of the best. 

The best part about the UNiDAYS platform is that it organizes coupons based on category. So when you need a new pair of shoes or want to upgrade your laptop, you can log in and look in the respective categories to find discounts. 

There are also deals you can get in-store in your local area, as well as lots of online student discounts to peruse.

Career apps for college students

Whether you’re looking for an on-campus job or planning your career move after you graduate, you’ll want these apps and resources in your back pocket. 

Let’s start with some of the top career-related resources we have right here: 

QUADJOBS

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free

Trying to balance school and work is no easy task, and many job platforms don’t make it easy to find jobs that will work with your course schedule.

That’s where QUADJOBS comes in. This platform helps you find jobs near your campus, remote jobs that have flexible schedules, or companies that are happy to work with students. 

Many of the jobs are on-demand as well, like tutoring gigs, dogwalking opportunities, babysitting jobs, or office temp work. You can apply, accept the job, and even get paid right through the app. 

Handshake

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free

Handshake is one of the best apps for college students, because unlike most job platforms, it’s designed with soon-to-be grads in mind. 

You can browse job listings based on your degree, area of study, or desired career path, connect with employers who are looking to hire students, and plug into your own alumni network to find work. 

Handshake has built-in messaging, so you can connect directly with potential employers, and it operates as a social network, so it’s a great place to get career advice and make a name for yourself.

Tallo

Desktop | iOS version | Android version
Cost: Free

Wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of constantly hunting for jobs or internships, you could sit back and let these opportunities come to you? 

That’s the idea behind Tallo, where you can receive job postings, scholarship listings, or internship opportunities tailored for whatever you want to do in life.

Once you sign up for Tallo, you fill out a profile and let the app know what your career or education goals are. Then you’ll receive automatic, curated opportunities that you can explore within the app. 

Tallo is also an excellent place to look for career-related events like job fairs or conferences where you can network and potentially find your next role.

The years after graduating from high school will be full of challenges that can feel overwhelming. The apps in this list will take the pressure off when it comes to coursework, money, and your future career. 

If you have an app that’s helping you get through college, we’d love to hear about it. Post it in the comments , and we’ll add it to the article. 

Speaking of which, be sure to come back and check on this article, when we update it to include the best apps for college students in 2025.