Education · alternatives
Alternatives to Memrise
20 education tools sit alongside Memrise in this directory. Below is what separates each from Memrise on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 17
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Memrise starts at
- Free
Why people look past Memrise
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Memrise entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Memrise publishes a single plan, Memrise Pro at $8.99/month. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Free open source spaced repetition flashcard app, free everywhere except iOS where it is a paid one-time purchase
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee except a paid iOS app model rather than Free with a Pro subscription.
Language learning app with a community correction feature, owned by Chegg since 2022
- Sold on a Free with a Premium subscription model rather than Free with a Pro subscription.
Learn a language for free, forever
- Publishes an entry price of $12.99/month, where Memrise does not.
- 4 tiers to Memrise's 1.
Camera based maths solver that shows step by step working, owned by Google since 2022
- Sold on a Free with a Plus subscription model rather than Free with a Pro subscription.
Piano-only learning app from JoyTunes using microphone listening, no MIDI keyboard required
- Publishes an entry price of $119.99/year, where Memrise does not.
- Sold on a Per user per year or month model rather than Free with a Pro subscription.
- 2 tiers to Memrise's 1.
Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games
Priced and rated the same as Memrise on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Every Memrise alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memrise (this page) | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | |
| AnkiIf you want free, fully customisable spaced repetition without a subscription | Free | Open source, no licence fee except a paid iOS app | 1 | vs Memrise |
| BusuuIf you want structured grammar courses alongside vocabulary | Free | Free with a Premium subscription | 1 | vs Memrise |
| DuolingoIf you want a gamified, free-first approach to overall language learning | Free, then $12.99/month | - | 4 | vs Memrise |
| Photomath | Free | Free with a Plus subscription | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Simply Piano | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Memrise |
| Elevate | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Seek by iNaturalist | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Merlin Bird ID | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Stellarium | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Flowkey | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Memrise |
| Lumosity | Free | Free with a subscription | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Sky Guide | Free | Free download with Plus and Pro subscription upgrades | 3 | vs Memrise |
| Pl@ntNet | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Memrise |
| Star Walk 2 | Free | Freemium, low-cost ad-free subscription upgrade | 2 | vs Memrise |
| Yousician | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Memrise |
| Melodics | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Memrise |
| eBird | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Memrise |
| PictureThis | On request | Per year, sold via a short free trial that auto-renews | 1 | vs Memrise |
| SkySafari | On request | One-time purchase per tier | 3 | vs Memrise |
| Jackrabbit Class | $49/month | Per month by student count | 6 | vs Memrise |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Memrise badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (17)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Anki , Free
- Busuu , Free
- Duolingo , Free, then $12.99/month
- Photomath , Free
- Simply Piano , Free, then $119.99/year
- Elevate , Free
- Seek by iNaturalist , Free
- Merlin Bird ID , Free
What you would be giving up
Memrise is most often brought in for a learner who wants vocabulary tied to real spoken usage through native speaker video rather than only text flashcards, someone using a grammar-focused course elsewhere and wanting memrise purely for vocabulary retention, a traveller wanting practical phrase recognition for a specific trip rather than formal fluency, a learner comparing subscription convenience against building free custom decks in anki. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Memrise is broadly right and the question is cost, the Memrise pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Education category lists everything the directory holds, and best education tools ranks them.
Memrise runs on ios, android, web. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Memrise alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Memrise?
- 20 other education tools are listed in this directory, led by Anki, Busuu, Duolingo, Photomath. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Memrise?
- 17 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Anki, Busuu, Duolingo, Photomath, Simply Piano.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Memrise?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Memrise?
- Memrise is most often brought in for a learner who wants vocabulary tied to real spoken usage through native speaker video rather than only text flashcards, someone using a grammar-focused course elsewhere and wanting memrise purely for vocabulary retention, a traveller wanting practical phrase recognition for a specific trip rather than formal fluency, a learner comparing subscription convenience against building free custom decks in anki. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Memrise?
- None of the education tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Memrise alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Education, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Memrise against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Memrise covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every education tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Education category, 20 tools beside Memrise. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.