What Is the Best Free Flashcards App? Anki vs Quizlet vs Lingocard

The best free flashcards app depends on how you study. Anki gives you the most control over spaced repetition, Quizlet has the biggest library of ready-made sets, and Lingocard is built for languages, with audio on every card, free frequency dictionaries and offline study. All three let you start learning without paying.

If you're learning a language with flashcards, these are the three names that come up again and again. All three use spaced repetition in some form. The differences are in audio, ready-made content, offline use and which features sit behind a paywall. This guide compares them plainly, so you can pick the one you'll actually open every day.

What is the best free flashcards app for language learning?

For languages, the best free option is the one that pairs spaced repetition with audio and ready-made word lists, so you spend your time studying instead of building decks. None of the three is "the" answer for everyone. Anki suits people who like control, Quizlet suits people who want shared sets and classroom games, and Lingocard suits language learners who want everything in one place.

Anki vs Quizlet vs Lingocard: how do they compare?

Here's the short version of each:

• Anki: free and open source on computers and on Android (AnkiDroid), with an extremely configurable spaced repetition engine. Anki was first released in 2006, and its name is the Japanese word for memorization. It rewards people who enjoy tinkering, but setting it up and building decks can feel steep for beginners.
• Quizlet: a friendly interface, a free plan and a huge library of study sets made by other users, plus popular classroom tools. Full Learn sessions, ad-free study and offline study on mobile are part of the paid Quizlet Plus subscription.
• Lingocard: built for languages from the ground up, with audio on every card, ready-made frequency dictionaries for 67 languages, offline study, cloud sync and automatic spaced repetition.

Our guide to flashcards for learning a foreign language explains the method itself in detail.

Which app has the best spaced repetition?

The best one depends on how much control you want. Anki has the most configurable scheduler: since version 23.10 (2023), it offers FSRS, a modern algorithm, as an alternative to its classic SM-2 schedule, and you can fine-tune the intervals yourself.

Quizlet's Learn mode uses spaced repetition techniques and adapts as you make progress, but full Learn sessions require Quizlet Plus. Lingocard uses three simple buttons (Hard, Good and Studied), so the cards you find hard come back sooner and the ones you know drift further apart, automatically.

If you want to set everything yourself, Anki wins. If you want spaced repetition that works out of the box, an automatic system is easier to stick with. Our guide on what a spaced repetition system is explains how the schedule works.

Do they have audio and text-to-speech?

Audio matters a lot for languages, and this is where the apps differ most:

• Quizlet includes audio on many sets, so you can hear words pronounced.
• Anki reads cards aloud only if you add a text-to-speech field to your card template. It then uses your device's own voices, and on Linux you need an add-on.
• Lingocard reads every card aloud. Its audio player can play a whole deck, alternating the foreign word and its translation, with adjustable repetitions and pauses.

That last option lets you learn hands-free, the way you'd listen to music while you commute or do chores.

Can you study offline and on any device?

Yes, with some differences. Anki works offline and syncs your progress across computer and phone through AnkiWeb. Quizlet works in the browser and in its apps, but offline study on mobile is listed among its paid features. Lingocard keeps your material and results on your phone, so you can study on a plane or with no signal, and it syncs to the cloud, so you can switch devices and pick up where you left off.

If offline study matters to you, check that the free plan of whichever app you choose actually covers it.

What about frequency dictionaries and ready-made decks?

Beginners make the fastest progress by starting with the most common words, and ready-made content saves hours. Anki and Quizlet rely mostly on decks shared by other users, so quality and accuracy vary from set to set.

Lingocard comes with free frequency dictionaries for 67 languages, so you start with the words you're most likely to hear and read. You can see the format for yourself in the free list of The 100 Most Common French Words with Pronunciation. If you'd rather build your own material, you can add cards one by one in any of the three apps, and with Premium, Lingocard can turn a whole word list or text file into a deck.

How much do they cost?

All three have a genuinely free way to study, so the real question is which of the features you need are free:

• Anki is free on computers and on Android. The official iPhone app, AnkiMobile, is a paid one-time purchase that helps fund development.
• Quizlet has a free plan with ads. Quizlet Plus is a paid subscription that unlocks full Learn sessions, ad-free study and offline study.
• Lingocard has a free Basic plan with the core features, including frequency dictionaries, audio and spaced repetition. Premium adds extras such as importing word lists and texts.

Plans and prices change over time, so check each app's current plans before you commit.

Can teachers build decks for students?

Yes, and this is a common reason schools pick one tool over another. Quizlet is widely used in classrooms and offers teacher features, some of them in its paid plans. Anki decks can be exported and shared, so a teacher can send a set for students to import.

Lingocard's language teaching tools let a teacher build lessons that become flashcard decks with native audio, send them to students and see in real time what each student remembers.

So which free flashcards app should you choose?

The best flashcards app is the one you'll open every day. In short:

• Choose Anki if you want maximum control and love to tinker.
• Choose Quizlet if you want the largest library of shared sets and classroom games.
• Choose Lingocard if you want audio, frequency dictionaries, offline study and automatic spaced repetition in one languages-first app.

To try the last option, open the free flashcards app and start with the most common words. Whether you want to learn English online or any of 67 languages, everything is on the Lingocard platform.