Prismo vs Anki: the Anki alternative that writes the cards for you
Anki is one of the best memory tools ever made. It also asks you to write every card yourself. If that's the part you dread, here is an honest comparison.
Choose Prismo if you want spaced repetition for what you read, watch and learn, but never get around to making cards. You write a few lines, and Prismo writes and schedules the questions. Stay with Anki if you rely on shared decks, need precise control over cards and scheduling, or study mostly on a computer.
Why people look for an Anki alternative
Anki works. Its spaced repetition is proven, it is free on most platforms, and its community has built thousands of shared decks and add-ons. The reasons people leave are rarely about the algorithm. They are about everything around it:
- Making cards takes a long time. A good card needs to be short, precise and unambiguous. Turning one chapter of a book into good cards can take longer than reading it.
- Reviews pile up. Add cards for a few enthusiastic weeks, skip a few days, and you return to hundreds of due cards. Many people quit right there.
- It doesn't fit ideas well. Anki shines for facts with one right answer, like a word or a date. Ideas from a book or a meeting are harder to squeeze into a front and a back.
- The learning curve. Note types, card templates, deck options and scheduler settings are powerful, but a lot to learn before you see any benefit.
Prismo vs Anki at a glance
| Prismo | Anki | |
|---|---|---|
| How you add knowledge | Write or dictate a few lines in your own words, or add a photo or PDF | Create each card yourself, or download a shared deck |
| Who writes the questions | AI, from your notes. You pick what to keep. | You do |
| Question types | Multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank, and more | Basic, reverse, cloze, typing, image occlusion, custom templates |
| Scheduling | Automatic spaced repetition based on SM-2 | FSRS or the classic SM-2-based scheduler, highly configurable |
| Organization | Automatic topics, search and a visual knowledge map | Decks and tags that you manage |
| Shared content | None. Everything comes from your own notes. | Thousands of shared decks |
| Motivation | Streaks, levels and 50+ achievements | Statistics; more via add-ons |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Android | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, iPad, web |
| Price | Optional Premium subscription; prices are shown in the app | Free, except the iOS app ($24.99 one-time) |
| Best for | Readers, lifelong learners, people who won't make cards | Medical and language students, exact memorization, power users |
Anki details checked on October 2, 2026. Tell us if something changed and we'll update this page.
How Prismo replaces card-making
In Prismo, the unit is not a card but a note about what you learned. A typical note is three to five lines written after reading a chapter, finishing a course module or listening to a podcast. You can type it, dictate it, or add a photo of a page or a PDF.
Prismo's Brain Sync reads the note and suggests clear pieces of knowledge, each filed under a topic. You untick anything you don't want, and can edit any of them later. From those pieces, Prismo writes quiz questions and brings them back over days and weeks with spaced repetition, so a single note becomes something you review a handful of times until it sticks.
Siege of Toulon (1793): Napoleon was only 24 and that's how he started getting noticed. Crowned himself Emperor on Dec 2, 1804, at Notre-Dame, didn't let the pope do it.
Who placed the crown on Napoleon's head in 1804?
A. Pope Pius VII · B. Napoleon himself · C. Joséphine
The trade-off is control. You do not decide the exact wording of every question or tweak the scheduler, and AI-written questions are occasionally not as sharp as a card you crafted yourself. For most people who were not making cards at all, that trade is worth it: a slightly imperfect review beats no review.
Which one should you use?
Prismo is a better fit if…
- You learn from books, courses, podcasts or work, and want to keep the ideas
- You have tried Anki but stopped because making cards took too long
- You mostly learn on your phone
- You want your notes organized for you
Stay with Anki if…
- You use shared decks, for example for medical school or a language
- You need exact control over card wording, formats and scheduling
- You study mostly on a computer
- You rely on add-ons or image occlusion
You can also use both: Anki for high-volume drilling, Prismo for the ideas you would never take the time to turn into cards.
Switching from Anki
There is no deck import, because Prismo is built around your own notes rather than existing cards. The easiest way to start is to keep your Anki decks for now, and write your next three things you learn in Prismo: a chapter, an article and a conversation. After a week of short daily quizzes you will know whether the approach works for you.
Your Prismo library can be exported at any time, so you are never locked in.
