The Short Answer
If you want one free app that works for every language and every device, start with Anki. It is free on Android and the web, it schedules every review for you, and you can put any audio on any card. It is also the least friendly app on this list.
If you would rather not build cards at all, pick an app made for one language. Pleco for Chinese, Kanji Study or renshuu for Japanese, ConjuGato for Spanish verbs. They come with the words, the audio and the schedule already done.
If you already read and watch things in your new language, Clozemaster and DuoCards are the two to try first. Both teach words inside real sentences.
The rest of this page is the evidence: 32 apps, what each one is for, what it costs today, and where it falls short.
How We Checked
Every app below was looked up on the US App Store or Google Play on 2026-09-27. We read the rating, the number of reviews, the date of the last update and the in-app price list. Apple often shows several prices for the same plan (intro offers, old tiers), so where an app lists more than one we give the range as listed.
"Speaks the word" and "schedules reviews" are taken from each developer's own listing. We did not test the algorithms, and we say "per its listing" where that matters.
Every store page was checked with a script that rejects dead or abandoned listings. All 32 passed. Six popular apps did not, and they are named at the end.
All 32 Apps at a Glance
Any Language, Your Own Cards
These are the general flashcard apps. You bring the words; they bring the schedule. They suit anyone learning a language that no dedicated app covers well, or anyone learning two at once.
1. Anki - free, powerful, unfriendly
AnkiDroid is rated 4.8 from about 165,000 reviews and was last updated in May 2026. It is free and open source, and it now offers FSRS, a scheduler that learns from your own answers (how FSRS compares with the older SM-2). The iPhone app, AnkiMobile, costs $24.99 once (checked 2026-09-27), but its last update was 2025-09-08. The limit: setup takes an evening, and the default cards look like 2006.
2. Quizlet - the easy default
Quizlet has 1.1 million ratings at 4.8 and millions of ready-made language sets. It reads cards aloud and, per its listing, resurfaces what you need to review. Quizlet Plus is $9.99 a month or $44.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the best study modes sit behind Plus, and shared sets are full of mistakes.
3. Brainscape - confidence ratings instead of buttons
Brainscape (4.8, 21,418 ratings) asks you to rate each card from 1 to 5 and repeats the weak ones more. You can add audio to cards. Pro is $19.99 a month, $59.99 to $95.99 a year, or $199.99 for life (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: a five-point self-rating is cruder than a scheduler that measures your answers.
4. Noji - Anki's ideas, cleaner design
Noji, formerly AnkiPro, is rated 4.6 from 13,912 reviews. It uses spaced repetition and has a web version. Premium is listed at $4.99 to $19.99 a month or $74.99 for life (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: despite the old name, it does not sync with real Anki.
5. AlgoApp - speaks every card for you
AlgoApp, formerly AnkiApp, is rated 4.7 from 20,013 reviews. Type a word in your own language and it translates it; every card is read aloud in dozens of languages; it supports FSRS. Unlimited is $9.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $149.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the free tier caps how much you can add.
6. Mochi - plain text, fast
Mochi (4.7, 173 ratings) turns markdown notes into cards and lets you drop audio onto any card. It is free; Pro is $5 a month billed yearly (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: there are no language courses at all, so you build everything.
7. Flashcards Deluxe - pay once, five sides per card
Flashcards Deluxe (4.5, 336 ratings) costs $4.99 once, with no subscription (checked 2026-09-27). A card can have five sides: word, meaning, pronunciation, example, note. It speaks offline and can play decks as an audio slideshow. The limit: it feels like a spreadsheet.
8. Mindomax - cards made from your own material
Mindomax makes cards from text, photos, PDFs and audio files with AI, adds pronunciation in 14 languages, and schedules reviews around how you answer. It runs on iPhone, iPad and the web. The free plan has one box with unlimited cards; Premium is $0 until 2028 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it launched in late 2025 and has no App Store ratings yet, there is no Android app, and you cannot record your own voice or have your pronunciation scored.
Vocabulary First, Many Languages
These apps are built for words, not for any subject you like. Most come with word lists sorted by how common each word is.
9. Clozemaster - words inside real sentences
Clozemaster (4.8, 2,031 ratings) hides one word in a real sentence and asks you to fill it in, across 50+ languages, with listening and speaking modes. Pro is $8.99 to $12.99 a month or $69.99 to $79.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it is made for A2 to C1 learners and is hard on day one.
10. DuoCards - save words from what you watch
DuoCards (4.7, 1,386 ratings) saves words from videos, subtitles and articles into spaced-repetition cards, with pronunciation feedback. It lists nine Premium prices from $19.99 to $162.99 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: that price list is hard to read before you buy.
11. Lexilize - the Android favourite
Lexilize Flashcards is rated 4.7 from about 38,000 reviews on Google Play and was updated in June 2026. It is free with in-app upgrades (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: there is no iPhone version in the US store.
12. Memrise - native speakers on video
Memrise (4.8, 217,047 ratings) now teaches with short videos of native speakers in 139+ languages. It is $24.99 a month or $61.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it is a course now, and your own decks are an afterthought. We compared the two in Anki vs Memrise.
13. Drops - five-minute word games
Drops (4.7, 71,602 ratings) teaches illustrated words in 55+ languages with professional voice artists. Premium is listed at $9.99 to $99.99 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: you cannot make your own cards, and its listing does not mention review scheduling.
14. Words - Learn Languages Fast
Words (4.6, 1,072 ratings) gives every word and example a pronunciation and works offline. Premium is listed at $13.99 to $129.99 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it is mainly for English and German.
15. Iori Flashcards - a game on top of your decks
Iori (4.7, 726 ratings) mixes ready courses with your own decks and adds scores and streaks. It is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it is a year old, and the listing says little about audio.
16. Vocabuo - image, sentence and sound for every word
Vocabuo (4.8, 259 ratings) covers English, Spanish, French, Swedish, Italian and German, sorted by frequency and by CEFR level. It is $9.99 a month or $44.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: six languages only.
17. Gold List - the slow method, digitised
Gold List (4.7, 248 ratings) brings back words only after a long gap and drops the ones you remember. It is $9.99 a month or $29.99 to $49.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: slow by design, which is wrong for an exam next week.
18. Lingvist - most common words first
Lingvist (4.6, 3,697 ratings) teaches 16 languages in order of frequency, with audio on every sentence and a speech check. Plans run $9.99 to $49.99 a month (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: its last update was in April.
19. LanGeek - cheapest yearly plan here
LanGeek (4.9, 515 ratings) has CEFR word lists with audio for English, Spanish, French and German, and works offline. It is $19.99 a year or $44.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: four languages.
20. VocApp - a word a day, spoken back
VocApp (4.5, 1,640 ratings) sends a daily word with examples and scores your pronunciation with AI. It is $9.99 to $15.99 a month (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: its listing says the content needs a subscription.
21. Karteto - 100+ languages
Karteto (4.3, 470 ratings) covers more languages than anything else here and adds audio stories. It is $24.99 a month or $95.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the highest yearly price and the lowest rating on this list.
One Language, Done Deeply
A general app treats Chinese like French. These do not. If you are learning one of these languages, one of them will likely save you months (see also our Japanese flashcard guide and Spanish vocabulary apps).
22. Pleco - Chinese dictionary with flashcards
Pleco (4.7, 1,917 ratings) is the standard Chinese dictionary app, with Mandarin and Cantonese audio. Its flashcard system is a $9.99 add-on, or part of the $29.99 Basic Bundle (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: flashcards cost extra, and the design is plain.
23. Hanly - Chinese characters, piece by piece
Hanly (4.9, 379 ratings) breaks each character into parts with stories and mnemonics, then schedules reviews. Premium is $5.99 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: it teaches characters, not sentences.
24. Laoshi - Chinese with tone scoring
Laoshi (4.6, 716 ratings) scores your pronunciation and your tone separately, character by character, and has decks for major textbooks and HSK. It is $8.99 to $19.99 a month or $179.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the full price list runs to ten entries.
25. Kanji Study - Japanese through real words
Kanji Study (4.7, 7,183 ratings) teaches kanji through 5,000+ JLPT words, reads every word aloud and checks your stroke order. All levels cost $29.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the design feels built for Android first.
26. renshuu - the generous free Japanese app
renshuu (4.9, 1,409 ratings) has an unlimited free version with no ads and 15,000 native-recorded audio files. Pro is $3.99 to $6.99 a month (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: busy screens, and its last update was in February.
27. Infinite Korean - beginner words, one price
Infinite Korean (4.8, 2,701 ratings) teaches words with text, audio and icons, schedules reviews and works offline. The full unlock is $4.99 to $9.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: beginner vocabulary only.
28. ConjuGato - Spanish verbs only
ConjuGato (4.9, 4,094 ratings) drills conjugations: you say or think the answer, then check it. Audio on every answer and spaced repetition. Pro is $9.99 once (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: verbs and nothing else.
29. Learn Spanish with flashcards!
This app (4.7, 1,356 ratings) has 4,500 Spanish words in 40 topics and works offline. The full version is listed at $1.49 to $16.49 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the free version stops after a daily limit.
Hear It, Say It: Audio-First Apps
This is where the older version of this page began, and it still matters. In eight experiments, MacLeod and colleagues (2010) found that words read aloud are remembered better than words read silently. Forrin and MacLeod (2018) went further: saying a word yourself works best, hearing your own recording comes next, then hearing someone else, then silence. More on this in our piece on the production effect.
30. MosaLingua - record yourself next to a native speaker
MosaLingua (4.6, 1,837 ratings) has a native recording on every card, lets you record yourself and compare, and schedules reviews. Premium is $7.49 to $9.49 a month or $49.99 to $71.90 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: nothing scores your pronunciation; your ear is the judge.
31. Audio Flashcards App - no screen needed
Audio Flashcards (4.6, 59 ratings) lets you record the question and the answer in your own voice, then plays the deck hands-free on a schedule. It is free; removing ads costs $2.99 to $5.99 (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: a very small user base.
32. Migaku - cards from subtitles
Migaku (4.4, 365 ratings) turns a word in a YouTube subtitle into a card with native audio and the sentence, in one click. It is $14 a month or $136.99 a year (checked 2026-09-27). The limit: the lowest rating here, and it needs its browser extension to shine.
Pay Once or Pay Every Year
Most of these apps sell a subscription. A few still let you pay once and keep the app. The spread is wide: from $4.99 to almost $300 for the same promise of "lifetime" (prices checked 2026-09-27).
What it costs to own each app outright: the lowest one-time price each lists on the US App Store. Prices checked 2026-09-27; Memrise's is a listed offer, and Pleco's is its Basic Bundle. Chart by Mindomax.
Checked and Left Out
Every app below still appears in other lists. We cut each one because its store listing has not been updated in more than a year.
Speechling (iPhone): last updated 2021-05-05. This was the first app on the old version of this page.
AnkiMobile: last updated 2025-09-08. It still works and costs $24.99 once (checked 2026-09-27), so we mention it under Anki.
Vocabulary Miner: last updated 2025-02-10.
Learn Korean by Drops: last updated 2024-12-20. The main Drops app covers Korean and is current.
Innovative Language 101: last updated 2025-08-01.
Kanji Garden: last updated 2020-12-16.
Which One Should You Pick?
You learn one big language (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish): take the dedicated app for it. The words, audio and order are already done.
You learn a smaller language, or two at once: Anki, AlgoApp or Mochi, and build your own cards.
You already read and watch in the language: Clozemaster, DuoCards or Migaku.
You want to speak, not just recognise: MosaLingua, or record yourself in Audio Flashcards.
You want to turn your textbook, notes or class audio into cards without typing: that is what Mindomax does.
For flashcard apps beyond languages, see our full flashcard app comparison, and for English words specifically, our vocabulary apps list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free flashcard app for language learning?
Anki is the strongest free option: free on Android and the web, with spaced repetition and any audio you add. renshuu is the most generous free app for Japanese, and Clozemaster has a usable free tier for 50+ languages.
Is Anki good for learning a language?
Yes, if you are willing to build or import decks. It has no courses, but its scheduling is among the best available. Apps like AlgoApp or Noji are easier alternatives that work the same way.
Are flashcards enough to learn a language?
No. Flashcards are the best tool for keeping words once you have met them. You still need to listen, read and speak. The apps that pull words from real sentences, such as Clozemaster, DuoCards and Migaku, sit closest to that.
Do I need audio on my flashcards?
It helps. Research on the production effect shows that saying a word aloud makes it more memorable than reading it silently. At minimum, pick an app that speaks the word so you learn its sound with its spelling.
How many new words should I add a day?
Ten to twenty new words a day is a common, sustainable pace. Every new word creates reviews in the following days, so a heavy week of new cards becomes a heavy month of reviews.
The Bottom Line
The best flashcard app for language learning is the one built for your language, or, if none is, a general app with a good scheduler and sound on every card. If you want your own notes and recordings turned into cards for you, you can try Mindomax for free.
