A free Anki alternative for iPhone

AnkiMobile costs $24.99 up front. Azri is free, opens your Anki decks and schedules reviews with spaced repetition (FSRS). Here’s an honest look at where each app is the better choice

See the comparison Import your Anki decks
Free on iPhone & iPad Imports .apkg and CSV Prices checked 19 October 2026

Azri vs AnkiMobile at a glance

AnkiMobile is the official Anki app for iPhone, written by Anki’s lead developer. Azri is an independent flashcard app for iPhone and iPad. Both can schedule with FSRS, but they’re built for different people.

Azri compared with AnkiMobile on iPhone. Prices are from the US App Store on 19 October 2026: see AnkiMobile on the App Store.
Feature Azri AnkiMobile
Price Free. Optional Pro is $19.99 a year with a 3-day free trial, or $2.99 a week. $24.99, paid once. €29.99 in France, £24.99 in the UK.
Free plan Unlimited decks, manual cards, imports and reviews. No ads. No free version on iPhone. Anki on computers, AnkiDroid and AnkiWeb are free.
Platforms iPhone and iPad, plus a web app with Pro. No Android. iPhone and iPad. Anki itself also runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and the web.
Scheduler Spaced repetition (FSRS), on from the start with nothing to configure. FSRS or the older SM-2 algorithm. You switch FSRS on in the deck options, with many settings to tune.
Sync Cloud sync across iPhone, iPad and the web app with Pro. On the free plan, cards stay on your device. Free AnkiWeb sync with Anki on every platform.
Importing Anki decks .apkg and CSV, free and unlimited. Brings the text of two fields per note. Cards start as new. Opens .apkg and .colpkg files in full, with media, note types and review history.
Card types Front and back, optional reverse cards, math (LaTeX). Photo and audio cards with Pro. Any note type: cloze deletions, custom templates, HTML and CSS.
Making cards Type them, or generate them from text, photos and PDFs with Pro. Claude and ChatGPT can save cards through the Azri Connector. Type them, or add them in Anki on a computer and sync. No built-in card generation.
Shared decks Share any deck with a link. A large library of free shared decks on AnkiWeb.

Anki® and AnkiMobile are made by Anki’s own developers. Azri is independent, isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the Anki project, and doesn’t sync with AnkiWeb.

Which one should you use?

Anki is excellent. It’s free on most platforms and more flexible than almost any other flashcard tool. Whether AnkiMobile’s price is worth it depends on how you study.

Stay with Anki if

  • You rely on cloze deletions, custom card templates or add-ons.
  • Your decks are full of images or audio. Azri imports only the text of an .apkg for now.
  • You want years of review history to carry over.
  • You also study on Android, Windows or Linux.
  • You want free sync across all your devices.

Azri is a good fit if

  • You study mostly on iPhone and iPad.
  • You’d rather not pay $24.99 before you know an app suits you.
  • You want FSRS working from day one, without deck options to learn.
  • You make cards from lecture notes, photos or PDFs (Pro).
  • You want a calm, simple app for daily review.

Switching from Anki: what comes with you

Export a deck from Anki as an .apkg file and import it into Azri. Here’s what to expect before you do.

Your card text comes over

For each note you choose a question field and an answer field. Their text arrives in Azri, and LaTeX or MathJax math still renders when you study.

Every card starts as new

Azri doesn’t import Anki’s review history or intervals. Your cards start fresh, and spaced repetition (FSRS) adapts to you from the first review.

Images, audio and formatting stay behind

Azri imports plain text from .apkg files for now. Bold, colours and line breaks are removed, tags aren’t imported, and cards that were only an image are skipped.

One card per note

Note types that make two cards, like Basic (and reversed card), arrive as one. Cloze deletions aren’t supported, so the {{c1::…}} markers stay in the text.

Read the step-by-step import guide

Questions about Azri and Anki

Is Azri affiliated with Anki?
No. Azri is an independent app made by a solo developer. It used to be called Simple Anki, but it has never been part of the Anki project, and it doesn’t sync with AnkiWeb. Anki and AnkiMobile are made by Anki’s own developers.
Is there a free version of AnkiMobile?
No. AnkiMobile costs $24.99 on the US App Store (checked 19 October 2026), paid once. Its developers say the sales fund both the computer and mobile versions of Anki. Anki for computers, AnkiDroid on Android and AnkiWeb in a browser are free.
Can I import my Anki decks into Azri?
Yes. Azri opens .apkg deck packages and CSV files on the free plan, with no limits. It brings over the text of two fields per note, and every card starts as a new card. Review history, images and audio aren’t imported yet. The import guide walks through it step by step.
Does Azri use FSRS like Anki?
Yes. Azri schedules every review with spaced repetition (FSRS), the modern algorithm Anki also offers. In Anki you switch it on in the deck options. In Azri it’s on from the start, with nothing to set up.
Can I move my cards back to Anki later?
Yes. Open any deck in Azri, tap the ⋯ menu and choose Export CSV. The file has Front and Back columns, which Anki can import as Basic notes.
Does Azri work on Android?
No. Azri is for iPhone and iPad, plus a web app with Pro. If you need Android, AnkiDroid is free.

Try Azri with your own deck.

Azri is free, so the simplest test is a real one: export a deck from Anki, import it and do a review session.

Download Azri on the App Store How to import Anki decks