Which kind of flashcard app fits you
Flashcard apps differ less in the cards than in how they schedule reviews, where your decks live and what the free plan leaves out. A rough map of the apps in this list:
| Kind | Examples | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Open source spaced repetition | Anki, AnkiDroid, Mnemosyne | Large decks, full control over scheduling, no subscription |
| Local-first app with a paid sync | Mochi | Studying offline on one device, Markdown cards |
| Notes and cards in one place | RemNote, the Spaced Repetition plugin for Obsidian | Turning lecture notes into cards without copying |
| Hosted study sites | Brainscape, Knowt | Studying in the browser and on the phone, sharing decks |
| Phone-first app | Noji | Short daily reviews on iOS or Android |
| No app at all | Our flashcard maker | A quick deck to flip, shuffle or print, kept in your browser |
If you want one app on every device without paying, the Anki family is the common choice: the computer version is free for Windows, Mac and Linux, AnkiWeb sync is free and AnkiDroid is free on Android. The iPhone app AnkiMobile is the exception: the App Store lists it at $24.99 as a one-time purchase.
Free limits compared
From the official pricing pages and docs on the date in the table. An empty cell means the page states nothing about it.
| App | Free plan | Main limit | Paid plan named on the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anki | Computer version, AnkiWeb sync, AnkiDroid | AnkiMobile for iOS is paid | AnkiMobile, $24.99 once |
| Brainscape | Unlimited flashcards you make or import | 2,500 pre-loaded flashcards; images, sounds, reverse cards and unlimited shared content are Pro | Pro, $7.99 a month |
| Mochi | Unlimited cards, decks and offline use | No sync between devices; monthly AI and dictionary quotas | Pro, $5 a month |
| RemNote | Unlimited notes, flashcards and synced devices | 3 annotated PDFs or files, 5 image occlusion images, 250 AI credits a month | Pro, $8 a month or $96 a year |
| Knowt | Unlimited file creation, unlimited learn mode | Ad-free use and AI summaries are paid | Ultra, $12.99 a month billed yearly |
| Noji | Free version with the essential features | Images and unlimited daily learning are Premium | |
| Mnemosyne | Free and open source | Project website suspended when we checked |
Mochi's free plan is generous for one device but keeps everything local-only, with no sync, and its monthly quotas (for example 200 text-to-speech characters) reset on the first of each month. RemNote's free plan also caps uploads at 20 files a day of up to 8MB.
Spaced repetition and moving your decks
Spaced repetition shows a card again right before you are likely to forget it, and each answer moves the next review further out or closer. Our spaced repetition guide explains the method and how to write cards that work with it. On the official pages, Anki says it schedules the next review for when you're most likely to forget, AnkiDroid names the FSRS algorithm, and the Obsidian plugin lets you pick FSRS or SM-2.
Decks are easier to move than many people expect:
- Anki imports plain text files with fields separated by commas, semicolons or tabs, so a spreadsheet saved as CSV becomes a deck.
- AnkiDroid imports Anki .apkg files but not text files directly; its manual sends you through Anki on a computer for CSV.
- Mochi imports Anki .apkg files including review history, CSV and Markdown.
- Knowt says Quizlet flashcards can be imported with 2 clicks, and Brainscape lets you import existing flashcards on the free plan.
Our flashcard maker exports any deck as CSV, which is the simplest way to start a deck in the browser and carry it into Anki or Mochi later.
Where your cards are stored
Hosted study sites keep your decks on their servers, and some make shared content the default. Brainscape lists make your content private as a Pro feature, so check who can see a deck before you put personal notes on it. Knowt's free plan includes live collaboration and storage, and its paid Ultra plan is the one that removes ads.
The local apps work the other way round. Mochi stores free-plan data on your device, Anki and AnkiDroid sync only when you set up AnkiWeb, and the F-Droid listing notes that AnkiDroid's analytics are opt-in and off by default. The Obsidian plugin keeps cards inside your own notes; see our list of free note-taking apps for the note app itself. Our flashcard maker never uploads your cards: they stay in your browser unless you export them.
Make the study sessions count
The app only schedules reviews; the routine around it is yours. A few habits that pair well with flashcards:
- Write cards from your own notes. The Cornell note-taking method leaves a cue column that turns straight into card fronts.
- Keep reviews short and daily. A focus timer with 25 minute sessions and short breaks keeps a long deck from turning into a marathon, and the printable study planner holds the schedule.
- Hear the answer. For vocabulary, paste the back of a card into text to speech to hear it read aloud with your device's voices.
- Type faster when you make cards. If writing a big deck feels slow, the typing speed test shows your WPM and accuracy.
Frequently asked questions
Is Anki free?
The computer version is free for Windows, Mac and Linux, and the AnkiWeb service that syncs your cards across devices is free too. AnkiDroid for Android is free and built by contributors. AnkiMobile for iPhone and iPad is a paid app, listed at $24.99 as a one-time purchase in the App Store.
Which flashcard apps are open source?
Anki is licensed under the GNU AGPL, version 3 or later, and AnkiDroid's repository names GPL-3.0 for the app. Mnemosyne uses the AGPLv3 with an extra term that keeps the Mnemosyne name visible in derived works. The Spaced Repetition plugin for Obsidian is released under the MIT license.
Can I move my Anki decks to another app?
Mochi imports Anki .apkg files including review history, as well as CSV and Markdown. AnkiDroid opens .apkg files from Anki on a computer. Anki itself imports plain text files with fields separated by commas, semicolons or tabs, so a CSV export from another app can become an Anki deck.
Which free flashcard apps work offline?
Mochi's free plan includes unlimited offline use on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, with data stored on your device and no sync. RemNote says it offers offline access and syncs when you reconnect. The paid AnkiMobile app stores media on the device so you can study without a connection.
What do the paid plans add?
Brainscape Pro ($7.99 a month) adds unlimited content made by others, images, sounds, reverse cards and private content. Mochi Pro ($5 a month) adds sync and cloud storage, RemNote Pro ($8 a month) removes the caps on PDFs and image occlusion, and Knowt Ultra ($12.99 a month billed yearly) removes ads and adds AI summaries. Noji Premium adds images and unlimited daily learning.