The best spaced repetition apps

1. PrismoBest overall: spaced repetition without making cards
2. AnkiBest free option if you write your own cards
3. RemNoteBest for students with notes and PDFs
4. MochiBest simple, cross-platform Anki alternative
5. BrainscapeBest for ready-made exam decks
6. RecallBest for articles and videos you save
7. SuperMemoBest for algorithm enthusiasts on Windows
8. QuizletBest if your class already uses it

How we judged them

Most lists of spaced repetition apps rank flashcard apps by features. But if you've heard of spaced repetition, you probably know the method works. The question is which app you'll still be using in three months. So for each app I asked four questions:

1. Who writes the cards? Writing good cards is slow, and it's the step most people quit on.
2. Are reviews scheduled by your answers? Real spaced repetition brings back what you miss sooner and what you know later, not on a fixed list.
3. Which algorithm, and do you have to tune it? SM-2, FSRS or the app's own, and whether it works well without settings.
4. Where can you study, and what does it cost? Phone, computer or web, and what the free plan actually includes.

Facts about each app come from its own website, help pages and app store listings, checked on October 14, 2026, with links below. I use Prismo every day, since I build it; for the others I relied on their documentation, and I say so where something isn't documented. I left out apps where spaced repetition is a small side feature, and apps that only resurface highlights without testing you.

SM-2 vs FSRS, in one minute

Many spaced repetition apps use one of two families of scheduling algorithms. SM-2 is the classic, created by Piotr Wozniak for SuperMemo in 1987: each right answer multiplies the gap before the next review by a per-card "ease" factor, and a miss starts the card over. It's simple and predictable, and many apps still use a version of it, Prismo included. FSRS, the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, is newer: it estimates how likely you are to remember each card, schedules the review for when that chance drops to a level you choose (90% by default in Anki), and fits itself to your own review history. Anki's manual says FSRS needs fewer reviews than Anki's SM-2-based default for the same retention; how many fewer depends on your own review history.

If you review thousands of cards a day, FSRS can save real time. For most people, the algorithm matters less than two other things: having questions worth reviewing, and opening the app every day. Our spaced repetition guide walks through both algorithms step by step.

The comparison table

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Prices change; follow each app's link below for the current numbers. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.

1. Prismo: the best spaced repetition app overall

Best for adults who want spaced repetition for what they read, watch and hear, without making flashcards.

Prismo is the app I make, and it's first because it removes the step where most people give up on spaced repetition: writing the cards. After a chapter, an episode, a lecture or a conversation, you write or dictate a few lines in your own words, or add a photo of a page or a PDF. That's the only work you do. Prismo does the rest:

1. It keeps the ideas worth keeping. It pulls them out of your note and files them under topics, adding to what you already know, so your notes grow into one connected library.
2. It writes the questions. Five kinds: multiple choice, true or false, fill in the blank, short answer, and questions that connect two ideas. You never write or edit a card.
3. It schedules every review by your answers. Right answers wait longer, misses come back sooner, from about a day up to several months. A few minutes a day keeps everything you've added.

Why that makes it the best overall: spaced repetition only works on cards you actually have, and reviews you actually do. Flashcard apps leave the first part to you, one card at a time, or to an AI you prompt one note or document at a time. Prismo turns every note into questions as soon as you save it, and because you start by putting an idea in your own words, every note is already a round of recall. Scheduling is automatic, with an algorithm based on SM-2, so there's nothing to tune.

How Prismo works · Prismo vs Anki · How spaced repetition works

2. Anki: best free option if you write your own cards

Best for people who want full control over their cards and schedule, and don't mind making every card.

Anki is the reference flashcard app for spaced repetition, used by medical students and language learners for years. You write cards (or download shared decks), and Anki schedules each one from how well you answered. By default it uses its own variant of SM-2; since version 23.10 you can switch on FSRS in the deck options, with a desired retention of 90% by default. It's free on Windows, Mac and Linux (current version 26.09.3), on Android through AnkiDroid, and on the web through AnkiWeb; the iPhone app, AnkiMobile, is a one-time $24.99.

Choose it if you need to memorize many precise facts, like vocabulary or medical details, want to tune every setting, or study mostly on a computer. Watch out for: you write every card for your own material, and turning a chapter or a lecture into good cards takes real time. The interface and settings also take some learning. Anki · Anki manual: FSRS

Compared with Prismo: Same principle, but in Anki you write every card for your own material, or download someone else's deck. In Prismo you write a few lines and the questions are made for you. More in Prismo vs Anki.

3. RemNote: best for students with notes and PDFs

Best for students who want notes, PDFs and flashcards in one place, on any device.

RemNote is a note-taking app with spaced repetition inside it. Any line of your notes can become a card with a short bit of syntax, you can read and annotate PDFs, and you can ask AI to generate cards from a PDF or your notes, which spends AI credits. You choose the scheduler: SM-2 or FSRS, set per folder or document if you like.

Choose it if you study from lecture notes, PDFs and textbooks and want everything linked together. Watch out for: it's a whole note-taking system with its own conventions, which is a lot to learn if you only want a review app. The free plan has unlimited notes and flashcards but 3 annotated PDFs and 250 AI credits a month; Pro is $8 a month billed yearly ($96), Pro with AI $18 a month billed yearly ($216). RemNote pricing

Compared with Prismo: RemNote is a study system you build and organize yourself; Prismo asks for a few lines and does the organizing and the questions.

4. Mochi: best simple, cross-platform Anki alternative

Best for people who like Anki's idea but want a cleaner app for writing their own cards.

Mochi is a notes-and-flashcards app from an independent developer. You write notes and cards in Markdown, link cards and notes together, and review with spaced repetition. Its default scheduler moves each card's interval up or down by fixed multipliers; FSRS is an option in the review settings. It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, the web, iPhone and Android, and imports Anki decks with their review history. An AI allowance can make cards and rewrite text: 5,000 tokens a month on the free plan, 500,000 on Pro.

Choose it if you write your own cards and want a tidy, modern editor, or you're moving from Anki and want to keep your history. Watch out for: the free plan has no sync, so your cards stay on the device where you made them; sync needs Pro, at $5 a month billed yearly. Mochi pricing · Mochi and FSRS

Compared with Prismo: Mochi makes writing cards pleasant; Prismo means you don't write them at all.

5. Brainscape: best for ready-made exam decks

Best for people preparing for a standard exam, like the MCAT, NCLEX or the bar, who want expert-made decks.

Brainscape asks you to rate your confidence in each card from 1 to 5, and its algorithm uses those ratings to decide when the card comes back: low ratings sooner, high ratings later. Brainscape doesn't publish the exact formula. You can create your own cards, study millions of community cards, or study expert-made collections for exams, languages and certifications. AI can draft cards from your notes, PDFs or images; the free plan includes a limited amount, Pro is unlimited.

Choose it if a good deck for your exam already exists and you'd rather study than build one. Watch out for: full access to the expert content, images on cards and private decks are on Pro: $19.99 a month, $59.94 every six months, $95.88 a year, or $199.99 once for lifetime access. Brainscape pricing

Compared with Prismo: Brainscape is strongest when someone else has already written the deck; Prismo makes the questions from what you learned yourself.

6. Recall: best for articles and videos you save

Best for people who learn mostly from the web and want an AI library of everything they've saved.

Recall (recall.it, formerly getrecall.ai) saves articles, YouTube videos, podcasts and PDFs, summarizes them and links related items. On the paid plan, you can ask it to generate questions about any saved item, and it schedules them with its own spaced repetition stages, from about a day to about three months; a miss sends a card back to the learning stage.

Choose it if most of what you want to keep comes from articles and videos you save in a browser. Watch out for: quizzes and spaced repetition aren't in the free plan, and questions are generated item by item when you ask. Plus is $10 a month billed yearly. Recall pricing

Compared with Prismo: Recall shines with web content you save; Prismo works for anything you can put into words, and writes the questions without being asked.

7. SuperMemo: best for algorithm enthusiasts on Windows

Best for spaced repetition enthusiasts on Windows who want the most advanced scheduling and incremental reading.

SuperMemo is where spaced repetition software started: Piotr Wozniak wrote SM-2 for it in 1987. The name now covers two products. SuperMemo for Windows is the original desktop program; version 20, a one-time $68 purchase, runs five algorithms side by side (SM-20, SM-19, FSRS, SM-15 and SM-2) and gives more weight to whichever predicts your memory best. It also offers incremental reading, a way to import articles and PDFs and gradually turn them into cards. The SuperMemo app for iPhone, Android and the web, from SuperMemo World, is mainly a language-learning course catalog, though you can also create your own cards there.

Choose it if you're fascinated by memory algorithms, use Windows, and are ready to invest time learning a powerful, unusual program. Watch out for: the Windows program takes real time to learn and has no Mac version, and the mobile app is built around language courses rather than your own material. SuperMemo 20 for Windows · SuperMemo app

Compared with Prismo: SuperMemo gives you every dial; Prismo has none to set, and writes the questions for you.

8. Quizlet: best if your class already uses it

Best for students whose teachers or classmates already share Quizlet sets.

Quizlet is one of the best-known flashcard sites, with a huge library of shared study sets and AI help (Smart Assist) to draft sets from your notes or files. It added real spaced repetition to Flashcards: after each card you rate it Repeat, Hard, Okay or Easy, and Quizlet decides when you see it again, about a day later for Okay and four or more days for Easy. You can set how many new cards you get per day.

Choose it if your class lives on Quizlet and you study at a computer. Watch out for: spaced repetition is currently only on the Quizlet website, not in the mobile apps, and study modes like Learn and Test are part of the paid Plus plans. Quizlet help: spaced repetition

Compared with Prismo: Quizlet's spaced repetition runs on the website, on sets you or your class make; Prismo schedules every review on your phone, from what you learned yourself.

Also worth knowing

• Kern (iPhone): type the title of a book you've finished and it builds a deck about the book's ideas, then brings the cards back with spaced repetition. Books only, and very new.
• Readwise: brings your Kindle highlights back every day; its Mastery feature turns a highlight into a card that you write yourself. See Prismo vs Readwise.
• Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) and ChatGPT: both can quiz you on your documents or notes, but neither keeps a review schedule based on your answers. Our review schedule calculator gives you the dates if you go that route.

Which one should you choose?

• You want spaced repetition for what you read, watch and learn, without making cards: Prismo. This is the right choice for most people.
• You'll write your own cards and want it free: Anki, or Mochi if you'd like a simpler editor.
• You're a student with lecture notes, PDFs and textbooks: RemNote.
• You're preparing for a standard exam and want a ready-made deck: Brainscape, or Anki with a shared deck.
• You learn mostly from articles and YouTube: Recall.
• You want to experiment with the most advanced algorithms on Windows: SuperMemo.
• Your class already shares Quizlet sets: Quizlet, on the website.

Whichever app you pick, the method matters more than the software: test yourself instead of rereading, and come back on schedule. Our guides on spaced repetition and active recall explain why it works, and our comparison of the best apps to remember what you read covers readers specifically.

Changes to this page

• October 14, 2026: first version. All prices and features checked on the apps' own sites, help pages and store listings that day.