Anki Alternative

The Anki alternative that doesn't ask you to start over.

Bring your decks, your reviews, your FSRS schedule. Space imports your .apkg file and picks up where Anki left off, on every device you own.

Import my decks Download Space

Free forever on iPhone. No $25 unlock. Your history transfers in 30 seconds.

You didn't fall out of love with spaced repetition. You fell out of love with the friction.

$25 to study on your phone

AnkiMobile costs $24.99 to even open on iOS. You already paid for the iPhone. You already pay for the time. Charging again to review on the bus feels like a tax on consistency.

An interface from another decade

Anki's desktop UI was designed when iPhones still had home buttons. It works, but every tap reminds you it wasn't built for the way you study now: on the couch, between meetings, in the gym, on a tablet with a stylus.

The add-on dependency

Image occlusion, better stats, cleaner card editor. You stitched Anki together from add-ons, and every Anki update breaks at least one of them. Customizing a tool shouldn't feel like maintaining a server.

You still type every card by hand

You paste a textbook chapter into a doc, then spend an hour turning it into cards. Other tools do that part in seconds now. Your time is the expensive resource, not the cards.

Anki vs. Space: an honest comparison.

Anki is a great tool. It just isn't great at everything. Here's where each one wins.

Price on iPhone
Anki $24.99 one-time
Space Free
Price on Android, Mac, Windows, Linux
Anki Free
Space Free
FSRS-6 algorithm
Anki Yes (since 2024)
Space Yes
Sync across devices
Anki Free with AnkiWeb
Space Free, built in
Native mobile apps
Anki iOS, Android
Space iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux
Open source
Anki Yes
Space No
Add-on ecosystem
Anki Huge (1000+)
Space Limited
Power-user customization
Anki Deep
Space Moderate
Community decks
Anki AnkiWeb, AnKing
Space Marketplace with 10,000+ decks
AI card generation from PDF, URL, photo
Anki No
Space Yes (7 free per month)
AI explanations and chat per card
Anki No
Space Yes
Math and LaTeX editor
Anki Add-on required
Space Built in
Drawing and image occlusion
Anki Add-on required
Space Built in
Deck collaboration with roles
Anki No
Space Yes
Imports .apkg with review history
Anki Native
Space Yes, full FSRS history preserved
AnKing decks supported
Anki Native
Space Yes (via .apkg import)

What you get on day one with Space.

Native apps on every screen

Real iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux builds. Not a wrapped web view. Reviews work offline, sync resumes automatically, and your streak doesn't care which device you grab.

AI cards from anything

Drop in a PDF, a URL, an EPUB, or a photo of your notes. Space generates clean cards in seconds. You keep the ones that fit, edit the rest. Seven generations are free every month.

Math and LaTeX, built in

A formula editor with a symbol palette and LaTeX support, no add-on, no plugin. There is also an AI tab for "turn this English sentence into the right formula."

A marketplace, not a wiki

Browse 10,000+ decks with previews, ratings, and clear pricing. Subscribe to a deck and get updates from the author. AnKing-style med decks live next to language and design decks.

Drawing and occlusion without setup

Pinch-to-zoom drawing canvas, pen presets, and image occlusion are part of the editor. The first card you make can already have a hidden region.

Share a deck like a doc

Invite a study partner as Owner, Editor, or Viewer. Edits sync. Reviews stay private. Group projects stop living in screenshots.

Switch in three steps. Keep every review you've ever logged.

01

Export from Anki

In Anki desktop, choose File then Export and pick .apkg. Tick "Include scheduling information." That file holds your cards and your FSRS history.

02

Import into Space

Open Space, tap Import, select the .apkg. Your decks, subdecks, media, and review history land intact. This usually takes under a minute.

03

Start your next review

Today's queue is already waiting, with the same intervals Anki would have shown you. Nothing resets. Nothing reschedules.

Your learning history transfers. Your time investment isn't lost. If anything looks off, every import is reversible.

From people who left Anki and didn't look back.

"I was the person with 14 Anki add-ons and a folder of backups. The thing that finally moved me was reviewing on the iPad without paying $25 again. My USMLE deck imported in 40 seconds."

— Mara K., Medical Student

"I'd been making Mandarin cards by hand for two years. Space generated 80 cards from a PDF chapter in one go. I edited a third of them and kept moving. That night I actually wanted to study."

— Julian R., Language Learner

"The drawing canvas and the LaTeX editor are what kept me. I teach physics, and I'd been duct-taping three Anki add-ons together. Now I open one app and the formulas just work."

— Eve S., High School Teacher

Switching questions, answered.

Will I lose my Anki learning history?
No. Space imports .apkg files with full scheduling data, including FSRS state. Your intervals, ease, and review counts move over. Today’s queue today.
Are AnKing decks supported?
Yes. AnKing, AnkiHub exports, Step decks, and other large medical decks import as standard .apkg files. Image occlusion cards come across with their masks intact.
Is Space really free?
Yes. Reviews, sync, native apps, and .apkg import are free on every platform, including iPhone. The Pro plan adds higher AI limits and advanced features. The free tier includes 7 AI generations per month.
What about my Anki add-ons?
Most of what people install add-ons for is built into Space already: image occlusion, a real stats view, a LaTeX editor, a drawing canvas, AI explanations. Deep customization add-ons (custom card templates, niche workflows) don’t transfer. If a specific add-on is critical to you, tell us and we’ll be honest about whether Space covers it.
Does Space support FSRS?
Yes. Space runs FSRS-6 on-device, the same algorithm family Anki adopted. Both apps will give you scientifically grounded scheduling. The difference is the experience around the algorithm, not the algorithm itself.
Can I sync between devices?
Yes, automatically. Open Space on your iPhone and your Mac, and the same card you reviewed at lunch picks up at your desk. Sync is offline-tolerant: study on a plane, sync when you land.
Why should I switch if Anki works fine for me?
Maybe you shouldn’t. If you’re happy in Anki, you’ve earned that setup. People usually switch for one of three reasons: they want native mobile apps without paying $25, they want AI to do the boring half of card creation, or they want one tool instead of seven add-ons. If none of those is you, stay where you are. We mean that.

Bring your decks. Keep your streak.

Import your .apkg file in under a minute. Review on every device you own, starting today.

Download Space See how the import works