What's the best app to organize self-taught studying?

If you are learning something on your own, tudy supplies the structure a classroom normally provides: a subject for everything you study, topics for the skills inside it, deadlines you set yourself, a timer that records your real hours, and a streak that shows when you skip. It does not teach content. The Free plan covers 5 subjects, and Pro adds Talk to tudy, a chat that can help you design a study plan.

The self-taught problem

Teaching yourself is different from taking a course. There is no syllabus unless you write one. There is no one to tell you what to study next, no grade to show whether it is working, and no deadline that moves unless you move it. Your sources are spread out: a book, a YouTube series, documentation, a side project, maybe a forum. And you probably have a job or a degree taking most of your energy.

What goes wrong is predictable. Enthusiasm in week one, drift in week three, and a vague sense in week ten that you have been learning “a lot” without knowing how much, or whether it is adding up. Without feedback, the plan becomes the first thing to give.

Write your own syllabus

A subject for each thing you are learning. “Python,” “Music theory,” “Personal finance.” Each gets a color and its own tasks, notebooks, flashcards and timer. See Subjects.

Topics for the skills inside. In Python: “Functions,” “Data structures,” “Testing.” In music theory: “Scales,” “Chords,” “Ear training.” Tag tasks and timer sessions with a topic, and the stats show whether you have spent the whole month in the fun part and skipped the hard part. The Free plan gives 2 topics per subject; Pro is unlimited.

Tasks as your own deadlines. “Finish the chapter on recursion by Friday” and “Build a small project using what I learned by Sunday” are real tasks with real dates. Deadlines you set yourself only work if they show up, and tudy shows them in a sorted list and on the Calendar, sends a notification the day before, and marks overdue ones in red. Break big goals into subtasks so progress is visible.

Measure what you actually do

With no teacher, the numbers are the feedback. The focus timer (Pomodoro or stopwatch) belongs to a subject and, optionally, a topic. The stats show hours by subject and topic, per day, week or month, with a comparison to the previous period. On Pro, the Insights tab adds a heat map of the last few months, average focus by day of the week, and personal records. See Stats.

Time you studied without the app can be logged manually. It counts toward your streak but does not earn XP, which keeps the XP honest.

A streak without a teacher

The streak counts consecutive days you did something: completed a task, ran the timer for a minute, or finished a flashcard round of 3+ cards. Sunday is a rest day that does not break it, and a few consistent days earn streak freezes (up to 2) that cover a missed day. That is a more forgiving system than a plain daily streak, which suits adults with unpredictable schedules. XP comes from tasks and focus time, and a monthly challenge gives you an exclusive badge when you hit the goal. If you know someone else learning, add them as a friend and compare on the weekly leaderboard. See Streaks.

A mentor on call (Pro)

Pro includes Talk to tudy, a chat with the tudy mascot. Tell it what you want to learn, how much time you have and when you want to be done, and it can propose a plan: tasks with dates, flashcards and calendar events. Nothing is added until you tap Confirm. It also explains concepts and can quiz you. You get 7 messages a day, and what it remembers about you is visible and deletable in Settings. It is not a replacement for a good book or course, and it does not read files. See Talk to tudy.

Using it on your phone

tudy is a web app. Open it in your browser and add it to your home screen, and it opens full screen with its own icon. Notifications on iPhone only work after you add it to the home screen. See Install on your phone.

What tudy does not do

• No content, courses or recommendations.
• No import from online course platforms or other apps.
• Flashcards are simple rounds, not spaced repetition, and the Free plan allows 1 deck.
• No offline mode.
• No Google Calendar sync. Pro can export an .ics file.

Pricing

Free covers a lot of self-directed learning. Pro is $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year, card only, about $2.50 a month on the yearly plan.

Getting started

Choose the one thing you most want to learn this month, create a subject, write down this week’s goal as a task, and run a 25-minute timer session today.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use tudy if I am not a student?

Yes. At sign-up there is an option for people who just want to get organized, and you can create subjects for anything you are learning, like programming, guitar or investing.

How does tudy help without a teacher or deadlines?

You create the deadlines as tasks, the focus timer records the hours you actually put in, and the streak and XP make skipped days visible. Pro adds Talk to tudy, a chat that helps you build a plan.

Does tudy teach me the material?

No. tudy has no courses or content. You bring the books, videos and projects, and it organizes the studying.

Keep reading

• What's the best app to organize and finish online courses?
• What's the best app to organize studying a language?
• Is there an AI that builds my study plan and organizes my tasks?
• Is there a Pomodoro timer that tracks each subject?
• How do I track how long I study each subject?