Poly vs Anki: which flashcard app fits you?
An honest comparison of Poly and Anki for iPhone learners, covering price, setup, scheduling, audio, imports, and long-term value.
Choose Poly when you want powerful spaced repetition in a calm iPhone app, without spending time configuring your study system. Choose Anki when deep customization, add-ons, and a mature desktop workflow matter more than simplicity.
iPhone-first learners who want focused reviews, built-in audio study, editable AI generation, and clear progress with minimal setup.
Power users who want extensive card templates, add-ons, large shared-deck ecosystems, and detailed desktop control.
At a glance
| Compare | Poly | Anki |
|---|---|---|
| Core flashcards | Free, with unlimited decks and cards | Free on desktop and AnkiWeb |
| iPhone price | Free core; Pro Lifetime is €4.99 once | $24.99 one-time purchase in the US App Store |
| Scheduling | FSRS plus a focused Smart Review queue | FSRS and SM-2 with extensive configuration |
| Audio workflow | Timed transcripts, sentence mining, speaking, and dictation | Audio media supported inside cards |
| AI creation | Editable deck generation with controlled monthly allowances | Not a core first-party AnkiMobile feature |
| Setup style | Opinionated and ready to study | Flexible, powerful, and more configurable |
The biggest difference is time spent managing the tool
Anki earned its reputation through flexibility. You can tune scheduling, card templates, fields, add-ons, and study behaviour in detail. That control is valuable when you enjoy building a precise system.
Poly starts from a different idea: flashcards should disappear behind the work of remembering. Smart Review builds a useful session from due cards, weak memories, mistakes, and the time you have. You decide what matters; Poly handles the queue.
Poly offers stronger iPhone value for most focused learners
AnkiMobile costs $24.99 in the US App Store. Poly keeps unlimited decks, cards, Smart Review, study modes, audio lessons, imports, backups, and basic stats free. Poly Pro adds iCloud sync and advanced study intelligence for €4.99 once.
Currencies differ, and store prices can change, but the shape of the choice is clear: Poly lets iPhone users begin with a complete free study workflow and keeps its lifetime upgrade small.
Audio and language study feel native in Poly
Anki can store audio on cards and supports powerful media-based templates. Poly goes further as a guided workflow: import audio, follow a timed transcript, replay exact lines, save a sentence with its source sound, then practise recall, dictation, and speaking.
That matters beyond vocabulary lists. It turns podcasts, lessons, meetings, and real speech into material you can remember without stitching together several tools.
What Poly can import—and what it cannot promise
Poly imports Anki and CSV material, so existing cards do not need to stay trapped in a previous workflow. Highly customized Anki templates, add-ons, or unusual scheduling setups may not map one-for-one. Keep Anki if those custom behaviours are central to how you study.
Want flashcards without the overhead?
See how Poly keeps serious scheduling, flexible creation, audio, AI, and progress focused on one outcome: remembering.