Ankivs
Memrise
Memrise: If you want built-in vocabulary content and native speaker video rather than building your own decks
Anki
Free open source spaced repetition flashcard app, free everywhere except iOS where it is a paid one-time purchase
As of 1 September 2026, Anki is free to use. A spaced repetition flashcard system used heavily by medical, language and exam students, open source and free on desktop, Windows, Mac, Linux, and free on Android through AnkiDroid. Softwr lists it under Education. Anki is made by Ankitects Pty Ltd, available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS.
Overview
What Anki does
Anki schedules flashcard reviews using a spaced repetition algorithm that increases the interval between reviews as a card is recalled correctly and resets it when a card is forgotten, a method with a long evidence base in memory research. Cards can hold text, images, audio and cloze deletions, and users build their own decks or download shared decks covering everything from anatomy to vocabulary. The distinguishing commercial fact is the platform pricing split, and it is unusual enough to be the entire point of the entry. The desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux are free and open source, and AnkiDroid, the Android app, is also free and open source, built by a separate volunteer team under the same file format. AnkiMobile, the iOS app, is not free; it is a one-time purchase, commonly priced around $24.99 to $29.99, sold directly by the Anki project rather than through a subscription. The developer states explicitly that AnkiMobile sales fund ongoing development of the free desktop and sync infrastructure that every platform depends on, making Apple users the ones who pay for a project everyone else uses free. Buyers are self-directed learners with a genuine memorisation need, most visibly medical students, who use enormous shared decks running to tens of thousands of cards, and language learners building custom vocabulary decks. The trade-off against Memrise or Duolingo is entirely about control versus convenience: Anki has no content of its own and a steeper interface, but it is free, open, exportable, and its scheduling algorithm can be tuned in detail.
What people use it for
- A medical student using a large shared deck to memorise anatomy or pharmacology facts on a fixed exam timeline
- A language learner building custom vocabulary decks with audio and images tailored to their own study material
- A self-directed learner who wants full control over the scheduling algorithm and does not want a subscription
- An iPhone-only user deciding whether the one-time AnkiMobile price is worth it versus using the free web interface instead
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Anki.
- The interface is functional rather than polished, and new users often find the initial setup, deck creation and add-on ecosystem confusing compared with a guided app like Memrise.
- iOS users pay a one-time fee of around $24.99 to $29.99 for AnkiMobile while every other platform is free, which is an unusual asymmetry that surprises new users comparing app store prices before they understand it funds development.
- Anki has no content of its own; a new user gets an empty deck and either has to build cards manually or trust the quality of a community-shared deck of unknown accuracy.
- The default scheduling algorithm requires understanding concepts like ease factor and interval to tune effectively, and default settings are not optimal for every subject or workload.
- Shared decks, especially large medical school decks, can carry factual errors or become outdated, and there is no editorial review process verifying their accuracy.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Anki
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- AnkivsPhotomath
Photomath: If your study need is maths problem solving rather than memorisation
Pricing
What Anki costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Anki
Free
- Desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux are free and open source
- AnkiDroid on Android is free and open source, built by a separate volunteer team
- AnkiMobile on iOS is a one-time purchase, commonly $24.99 to $29.99, funding development
- Free AnkiWeb account for sync and shared deck downloads across all platforms
Capabilities
Features
Spaced repetition scheduling
Configurable algorithm that increases review intervals for recalled cards and resets forgotten ones
Cross-platform sync
Free AnkiWeb account syncs decks and review history across desktop, Android and iOS
Shared deck library
Community decks covering medical, language and general knowledge subjects, free to download
Custom card types
Cloze deletion, image occlusion and custom templates for different study needs
Add-ons
Desktop plugin ecosystem for statistics, custom scheduling and interface changes
Open file format
Decks are stored in an open format that can be exported and used outside Anki
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Why is the iOS app not free when everything else is?
AnkiMobile is a paid one-time purchase, commonly around $24.99 to $29.99, that the developer states directly funds ongoing development of the free desktop apps, AnkiWeb sync and infrastructure used by every platform.
Is Anki really free on Android?
Yes. AnkiDroid, the Android app, is free and open source, built and maintained by a separate volunteer development team from the desktop project.
Do I need to pay for sync?
No. AnkiWeb, used to sync decks and review history across devices, is free.
Keep looking
Where to go from Anki
- Anki alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Anki pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Anki badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Education softwareThe full category
- Best Education softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Education software for
Compare Anki with
- Memrise
- Elevate
- Photomath
- Stellarium
- Busuu
- Lumosity
- Open edX
- Replit AI Agent
- Miro Education
- Skoolur
- Wooclap
- Blackboard
- Gaggle
- Gimkit
- Jackrabbit Class
- Lightspeed Systems
- Lumosity
- Open edX
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Anki, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Anki
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