Cognito vs Medly AI: A full comparison for GCSE and A-Level students

Cognito and Medly AI both help students prepare for exams, but they cover different parts of the picture. Cognito is a full study platform: animated video lessons, exam-board-mapped notes and built-in quizzes, flashcards and exam questions that help you retain what you've learned. Medly AI is an AI-powered exam practice platform focused on personalised marking and adaptive practice.

Cognito is designed to be an all-in-one platform that supports you from learning the content, to remembering it, to knowing how to apply it in your exams. So when you sign up, you can add all of your subjects to your dashboard, ready to go, as you can see below.

Each subject is broken down into sections and subtopics, all mapped precisely to your specification. That means you only ever learn what you actually need to know for your paper, and you can see at a glance what's left to cover.

Each topic has a short video lesson and/or beautifully designed revision notes, and some have a little cheat sheet that summarises everything on one page. It's good for last-minute revision, or printing out and sticking on the wall.

Once you've learned a topic, you can build your own quiz mixing any set of topics you've covered. Cognito uses spaced repetition and interleaving to decide what to bring back and when, adapting to how you're doing. These are the two study techniques with the strongest evidence base in cognitive science.

And when you're ready for exam-style practice, you can work through real exam questions with typed answers. Then either self-mark against the mark scheme point by point, or use AI marking to check your answer against the examiner's points.

A feature-by-feature summary of how the two platforms compare.

Medly AI is an AI-powered exam preparation platform covering GCSE, A-Level, IGCSE, IB, AP and SAT across the main UK and international exam boards. The core of the product is an AI tutor that adapts to your responses, thousands of exam questions across a wide range of types, and AI marking that gives annotated feedback on written answers. Medly also includes a handwriting canvas, a Flexible Marking feature for any exam paper, and Medly Mocks: free nationwide mock exams with grade boundaries. Free tier plus a paid subscription.

Strengths. Medly's AI tutor guides you through content adaptively, adjusting explanations based on how you respond. That kind of one-to-one dialogue is a genuine differentiator for students who learn well by asking follow-up questions. Medly Mocks give you the closest thing to a real exam experience outside of school, and they're free.

Where it's less strong. There's no video content; teaching happens through AI dialogue and text-based Learn Mode, which suits some students more than others. The subject range is focused on core exam subjects rather than a broad humanities-and-languages spread. And the monthly price is on the higher end for exam-prep platforms.

Honestly, the best move is to find what works for you, and it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Plenty of students end up using one platform for one subject and something else for another.

What's great is that both have free content you can try. Cognito's videos and notes are free across every subject on the platform, with weekly caps on flashcards and exam questions. Medly AI has a free tier with Medly Mondays and limited daily premium AI, plus the free Medly Mocks.

Broadly, Cognito will be a better fit if you want video teaching, notes and active recall in one place across multiple subjects at a single low price. Medly AI is worth a look if you like learning by dialogue and want an AI tutor that adapts to your responses.