Best Apps To Study For GRE: 7 Powerful Tools To Boost Your Score Fast – Most People Only Use 2 Of These (And Miss Out On Easy Points)

So, What’s Actually The Best Way To Study For The GRE?

So, you’re looking for the best apps to study for GRE and actually see your score go up, not just feel “busy” studying. Honestly, your core setup should be a good flashcard app plus a practice test app, and for flashcards, Flashrecall is the one I’d start with. It lets you turn your GRE vocab, math formulas, and notes into smart flashcards in seconds, then uses spaced repetition so you review them right before you’re about to forget. Compared to other apps, it’s faster to make cards (photos, PDFs, YouTube links, text, whatever) and way easier to actually stick with because it reminds you when to study. You can grab it here and start free:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

The Core Setup: What You Actually Need For GRE Prep

Alright, let’s keep this simple. You don’t need 20 apps. For most people, the best apps to study for GRE fall into these buckets:

1. Flashcards & memory – vocab, formulas, concepts

2. Full practice tests – realistic exam experience

3. Question banks & drills – targeted practice

4. Explanations & lessons – when you’re stuck

5. Planning & habit tracking – so you actually stay consistent

You can mix and match, but I’ll walk through the best options in each category and how they compare, plus where Flashrecall fits in.

1. Flashrecall – Best App For GRE Vocab & Concept Memorization

If you’re serious about GRE vocab and formulas, Flashrecall should be your daily driver.

Why Flashrecall Works So Well For GRE

• Instant flashcard creation
• Take a photo of your vocab list, textbook page, or handwritten notes
• Import PDFs, text, audio, or even YouTube links
• Or just type or paste questions and answers

Flashrecall turns all that into flashcards automatically, so you’re not wasting hours manually typing.

• Built-in spaced repetition (no setup needed)

It automatically schedules reviews for you using spaced repetition. You just open the app and it shows you what to review today. No calendars, no planning, no “did I review this enough?” guessing.

• Active recall by default

Every card is designed around question → answer, so you’re constantly testing yourself, not just rereading. That’s exactly what you need for GRE vocab, formulas, and tricky concepts.

• Study reminders so you don’t fall off

You can set gentle reminders so the app nudges you to study a bit each day. Super helpful when you’re juggling work or school.

• Works offline

On the train, in a café with bad Wi‑Fi, wherever – you can still review your cards.

• Chat with your flashcards

Stuck on a concept? You can chat with the flashcard to go deeper, ask for more examples, or get a simpler explanation. Great for math concepts or confusing reading passages.

• Great for literally everything GRE
• Vocab
• Math formulas & shortcuts
• Geometry rules
• Common argument patterns for AWA
• Reading comprehension strategies
• Fast, modern, and easy to use

No clunky menus, no “power user” learning curve. Just open, review, done.

• Free to start, iPhone & iPad

You can install it here:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

How Flashrecall Compares To Other Flashcard Apps

A lot of people search “best apps to study for GRE” and end up on generic flashcard apps like Anki or Quizlet. Here’s the quick comparison:

• Anki
• Super powerful, but honestly kind of painful on mobile if you’re not a tech person
• Card creation can be slow and clunky
• Sync and add-ons can be confusing
• Great if you want to tweak every tiny setting, not great if you just want to study
• Quizlet
• Easy to use, lots of premade decks (but quality varies a lot)
• Spaced repetition features are more limited and sometimes paywalled
• Less focused on serious exam prep and more on casual school stuff
• Flashrecall
• Much faster to create cards (photos, PDFs, YouTube links, audio, text)
• Spaced repetition is built-in and automatic
• Lets you chat with your cards when you’re confused
• Designed with exams like GRE in mind, not just random class quizzes

If you want something that actually helps you remember GRE content without making flashcard creation a second job, Flashrecall’s the better pick.

2. Official ETS GRE Prep App – Best For Realistic Practice

If you’re taking the GRE, you should definitely use the official ETS materials in some form.

Why It’s Good

• Made by the people who write the exam
• Gives you a feel for the exact style of questions
• Great for full-length practice tests and realistic timing

Where It’s Weak

• Not great for vocab drilling
• Limited for explaining why you got something wrong in a way that really sticks
• No spaced repetition for memorization

So the move here is:

Use ETS for practice tests, then take everything you got wrong or found tricky and turn it into Flashrecall cards. That way, you don’t just move on and forget – you actually learn from your mistakes.

3. Magoosh GRE – Best For Video Lessons + Question Bank

Magoosh is super popular for GRE prep, and for good reason.

What It Does Well

• Huge question bank with detailed explanations
• Video lessons for both Quant and Verbal
• Good for people who want a structured “course-like” experience

Where Flashcards Come In

Magoosh has its own vocab app, but it’s pretty limited compared to a dedicated flashcard system like Flashrecall. The sweet setup is:

• Use Magoosh for:
• Learning concepts
• Practicing questions
• Watching explanations
• Use Flashrecall for:
• Saving every new vocab word you see
• Capturing math tricks and shortcuts
• Remembering explanations from questions you got wrong

You can literally screenshot or copy key points from Magoosh and drop them into Flashrecall as cards. Then spaced repetition handles the rest.

4. Manhattan Prep / Kaplan Apps – Good For Extra Practice

Manhattan Prep and Kaplan both have GRE apps and resources with:

• Practice questions
• Strategy tips
• Sometimes mini-quizzes or drills

They’re solid if you like their teaching style or already have their books.

But again, they don’t really solve the “how do I remember all this?” problem. That’s where having a separate flashcard app like Flashrecall is clutch. Think of these as content sources, and Flashrecall as your memory engine.

5. Vocabulary Apps – But Use Them Smartly

You’ll also see a ton of generic vocab apps when you search “best apps to study for GRE”:

• Word of the day apps
• General English vocab boosters
• Random GRE vocab lists

These can be fun, but they’re not always efficient. The problem is:

• You don’t control the order or priority
• There’s often no proper spaced repetition
• Words don’t connect back to the context where you saw them

A better approach:

1. When you see a word in a GRE question or passage,

2. Add it to Flashrecall with:

• The word
• A short definition in your own words
• A sample sentence (ideally from a GRE-like context)

3. Let spaced repetition handle the review schedule

That way, your vocab deck is personalized to the words you actually encounter and struggle with, not just random lists.

6. Note Apps + Flashrecall Combo – For AWA And Strategies

Don’t sleep on the Analytical Writing section (AWA). You don’t really need a dedicated AWA app, but here’s a nice setup:

• Use any note app (Apple Notes, Notion, etc.) to:
• Save argument structures
• Collect sample intros and conclusions
• Jot down common logical fallacies and patterns
• Then turn the key patterns into Flashrecall cards, like:
• “Q: What’s a common flaw in GRE argument prompts?

A: They often assume correlation = causation, ignore alternative explanations, or rely on weak samples.”

Review these regularly so on test day, you instantly recognize patterns and don’t waste brainpower reinventing the wheel.

7. Habit & Focus Apps – Optional, But Helpful

If staying consistent is your main issue, a simple habit or focus app can help:

• Habit trackers (Streaks, Habitify, etc.) to mark “GRE study” daily
• Focus timers (Forest, Focus To-Do) for 25–50 minute study blocks

But honestly, Flashrecall already helps with consistency because:

• It reminds you to study
• Reviews are bite-sized – you can knock out a session in 10–15 minutes
• It feels satisfying to clear your “due” cards for the day

So for a lot of people, that’s enough to keep the habit going.

How To Combine These Apps Into A Simple GRE Study System

Here’s a clean setup you can follow:

Daily (15–45 minutes)

1. Flashrecall

• Review your due cards (vocab, formulas, concepts)
• Add new cards from questions you got wrong or new words you found

2. Question Practice (ETS / Magoosh / Manhattan / Kaplan)

• Do a small set of questions (e.g., 10–20)
• For every mistake or “lucky guess,” create a Flashrecall card:
• The key idea
• Why the wrong answers were wrong
• Any shortcut or pattern you learned

Weekly

• Do a timed section or mini mock test using ETS or another prep app
• Afterward, spend time turning your mistakes into Flashrecall cards
• Review your performance and adjust what you focus on next week

Why This Works

• You’re not just “doing questions” — you’re learning from them
• Flashrecall makes sure you don’t forget what you learned
• Over time, your deck becomes a custom GRE brain, built from your actual weak spots

Final Thoughts: If You Only Download One App Today…

If you’re overwhelmed by all the options for “best apps to study for GRE,” start simple:

• Get a practice app (ETS or Magoosh)
• Get a memory app – that’s Flashrecall

Use the practice app to expose weaknesses, and Flashrecall to lock in what you learn so it actually sticks.

You can grab Flashrecall here (free to start, iPhone & iPad):

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Set it up once, add a few vocab words and formulas, and start reviewing daily. Your future GRE score will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the fastest way to create flashcards?

Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.

Is there a free flashcard app?

Yes. Flashrecall is free and lets you create flashcards from images, text, prompts, audio, PDFs, and YouTube videos.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

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