Life & fun · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Tired of Anki? I built a modern app for learning words with examples
Tl;dr: I built an alternative iOS/macOS app to Anki/Quizlet for learning vocabulary. You can write, collect and review example sentences with which you learn words more effectively than by just reviewing their definitions. A few years ago I wanted to improve my writing. As part of the learning process, I also wanted to expand my vocabulary. I’d highlight unknown words as I was reading books, and I’d saved them to flashcard apps. I’d reviewed them daily and for a long time I thought I was making good progress: during reviews, I’d usually guess correctly the meaning of words. My…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Tired of Anki? I built a modern app for learning words with examples launched in 2022; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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Hi HN, I watch A LOT of educational YouTube videos but wasn't forgetting a good chunk of the details because I was only really passively watching. So I made a tool that generates quiz questions/flashcards from YouTube videos, and uses spaced repetition like Anki or Duolingo to keep it in memory. Let me know if you find it cool/useful (or terrible ) or if you want to know a bit about the details!
2024 · platoedu.org · its alternatives →
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Hi! Wanted to share the project I really wanted to have. TLDR; this app lets you create your own list of words and you get a Duolingo-like experience (kind of, still needs a lot of features) practicing those words in their context. My English is not the best but not the worst either. But I realized I can't boost it up after a certain level! In my belief, in order to truly learn a language, you need to be exposed to that language often. Vocabulary is the key factor here if you really want to improve in any language. My experience is that when I read a book to improve my English vocabulary, I…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Wordy▲231Hey HN, I'm Sándor. I built Wordy because I kept pausing Netflix to look up words in a dictionary. So I made a subtitle tool for myself, and it kind of snowballed from there. What it does: You watch short clips from real movies and TV shows, then get quizzed on the vocabulary you just heard. The app tracks every word automatically and adapts to your level. 20+ languages. How it evolved: Started as an iOS app for interactive streaming subtitles. Then I added curated video clips with quizzes. Then vocabulary tracking, spaced repetition, and personalized learning paths. Now it's iOS + Android +…
Feb 2026 · wordy.info · its alternatives →
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Blarma▲81Build vocabulary - learn words & languages with techniques
2022 · blarma.com · its alternatives →
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1000 Words▲256Learn the most common 1000 words of popular languages
2020 · mostcommonwords.co · its alternatives →
- 7YT
Hey HN, this is my first product launch. I built You2Anki along my language learning journey to aid my vocabulary from any content I want. Most tools I tried weren’t particularly made for language acquisition. You2Anki was designed with that focus in mind. Simple, intuitive and distraction-free. I hope it helps you!
2025 · you2anki.com · its alternatives →
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Hey HN, it’s been 8 years since I posted on here about the launch of my Japanese dictionary app Nihongo [0] and I’m finally back with a new app: Nihongo Lessons! Think of Nihongo Lessons as the textbook to Nihongo’s dictionary. It’s an app for learning Japanese, specifically made for learners who are serious about becoming fluent, and want a guided set of content that will help them efficiently acquire vocabulary and grammar. The project came about when Adam Shapiro of Japanese Level Up (Jalup) [1] announced last April that he was shutting Jalup down. As a fan of Adam’s work I was bummed to…
2022 · lessons.nihongo-app.com · its alternatives →
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I’ve been tinkering with Ricotta for about a year now and I'm happy to announce it’s ready to for others to use officially. Largely the time has been spent making the project a framework to spin up newer projects quickly which I can share details around if anyone is interested. The app was born out of my frustration with Duolingo drilling me on words I knew. I moved on to creating custom Anki cards and found myself spending ages creating decks. It’s free, uses spaced repetition under the hood, and focuses on helping you learn what you want to without a course structure. I'd love to hear your…
2025 · ricotta.affineur.io · its alternatives →
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I'm a long time lurker that recently quit my job to work on my own projects, a lot due to the inspiration from Hacker News. Now I have published my first serious project, an app for learning how to write Japanese characters. It's the app I always wanted but couldn't find when I was studying. It tries to be simple to use, you just start the quiz and go with the flow. There's no need to plan and manage your studies, and it uses spaced repetition for better retention. There's a promo page with more details up at http://www.kanjibyhand.com. It's only for Android so far. The free version includes…
2012 · kanjibyhand.com. · its alternatives →
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VocApp▲86Learn foreign words via notifications & flashcards
2021 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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2011 · wordstash.com · its alternatives →
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Memorai 🧠▲90AI memory assistant for Anki – remember everything you read
2020 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →
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Train vocabulary & repetition for +13 languages
2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Learn a New Word Everyday with Flashcards
2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →