Ace
Disclosure: we make Ace. Knowt details below come from its own website (knowt.com) as of October 26, 2026; features change, so check there too. Knowt is a trademark of its owner; Ace is not affiliated with it.
Short answer: Knowt does a lot: AI notes from lectures, summaries, flashcards, a learn mode and practice tests. Ace does one thing in depth: practice questions from your own material, with every answer checked against your file and the backing sentence shown under it. Ace also goes beyond flashcard-style formats with put-in-order questions, diagram labelling from your own slides and formula simulations, and lets you play any set against a friend in a live duel.
What do Ace and Knowt have in common?
Both take the material you already have, such as PDFs, PowerPoint slides and YouTube lectures, and turn it into something you can practise with. Both are built around active recall rather than rereading, which is the right foundation: Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that students who practised recalling a passage remembered far more of it a week later than students who reread it.
The difference is shape. Knowt is a toolkit with many study modes around your notes. Ace is a practice engine: every feature exists to get you answering questions from your lecture, and to make those questions trustworthy.
Where is Ace different from Knowt?
| Ace | |
|---|---|
| Checking | Every answer checked against your file; questions that fail are dropped before you see them |
| Proof on every question | The sentence from your material that backs the answer, shown under it |
| Beyond flashcards | Put the steps in order, label a diagram taken from your own slides, and simulations where you set the value for formula topics |
| Scope | Pick the chapters you're being examined on before questions are written |
| Studying with a friend | Live two-player duels on the same questions, taking turns against a clock, with points for speed |
| Habit | Streaks, a study calendar and a streak widget for your iPhone Home Screen |
Why do checked answers matter?
When you revise, you're by definition not sure of the answer yet. That makes you the worst-placed person to catch a generated question that's slightly off: a definition worded differently from your lecturer's, a number from a different textbook, or a detail your course never covered. Learn the wrong version and you'll answer it confidently in the exam.
Ace treats this as the main job. Questions are written only from the file you upload, every answer is checked against it, and anything that can't be backed by your material is thrown away. Under each answer you see the sentence it came from, so a miss turns straight into a re-read of the exact line, in your lecturer's words. More on how Ace writes and checks questions, and on why AI study answers need checking.
Which question types go past flashcards?
A flashcard asks "what is X?". Plenty of exam questions don't look like that:
- Processes. Put the stages of mitosis, the steps of a legal test or a clinical protocol in order. Ordering forces you to recall the whole sequence, not one fact.
- Diagrams. Label the part on a diagram taken straight from your own lecture slides, the same picture you'll have studied, not a generic one.
- Formulas. For formula topics, an interactive simulation where you set the value until you hit the target, which tests whether you understand the relationship and not just the equation.
- Type the answer. Recall with no options to lean on.
Which types appear depends on what your material contains. Our posts on how to study biology and whether simulations help you learn go deeper on why the format matters.
And then there's the social side. Revising with someone keeps you going when solo revision stalls. In Ace, any set can become a live duel: invite a friend with a link or code and take turns on the same questions. See how duels work, or try Ace with your own lecture: your first study set is free.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good Knowt alternative for exam practice?
If you want practice questions you can trust, Ace builds them only from your file, checks every answer against it and shows the source sentence under each one. It also adds ordering, diagram and simulation questions, and live duels with a friend.
Can Ace make notes or summaries like Knowt?
No. Ace doesn't write notes, summaries or explanations. It turns your material into practice; your lecture does the teaching.
What files does Ace accept?
PDF, PowerPoint, Word, ePub, plain text and YouTube lecture links. It doesn't read photos or handwriting.
Can I use Knowt and Ace together?
Yes. Some students take notes in one tool and do their exam practice in Ace from the same lecture file.
