Best Flashcard Apps for Students: Anki vs. RemNote vs. Quizlet (2025)

If you've read our guide on how to study for exams, you know that spaced repetition is one of the most powerful learning techniques available. But knowing about spaced repetition and actually implementing it are two different things. That's where flashcard apps come in—they automate the scheduling so you can focus on learning.

The problem? There are dozens of flashcard apps out there, and they're not all equal. Some are designed for casual learners who want to cram vocabulary the night before a quiz. Others are built for serious students who need to retain thousands of concepts over months or years.

This guide compares the three most popular flashcard apps for students: Quizlet, Anki, and RemNote. We'll look at how each one actually works, what makes them different, and—most importantly—which one is right for your studying needs.

The Science Behind Spaced Repetition

Before we dive into specific apps, let's understand why spaced repetition is so powerful in the first place.

In 1885, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered something fundamental about human memory: we forget information predictably over time. He called this the "forgetting curve." Without any reinforcement, you'll forget about 50% of new information within an hour, and about 90% within a week.

But here's the interesting part: every time you successfully retrieve a memory, you make it stronger and more durable. The memory doesn't just return to its original strength—it becomes more resistant to forgetting than it was before.

Spaced repetition exploits this principle. Instead of cramming all your reviews into one session, you space them out over increasing intervals. You might review a card after one day, then three days, then a week, then two weeks, then a month. Each successful retrieval makes the memory stronger and pushes the next review further into the future.

This is why spaced repetition is so efficient. You're reviewing information right when you're about to forget it—the moment when retrieval is most difficult and therefore most beneficial for long-term retention. This concept, called "desirable difficulties," was identified by researchers Robert and Elizabeth Bjork. Memories are strengthened most when retrieval requires effort.

Modern spaced repetition algorithms, starting with Piotr Woźniak's SuperMemo in the 1980s, have refined this approach using mathematical models that predict when you're likely to forget each individual piece of information. The apps we're comparing today all use variations of these algorithms—though with significant differences in sophistication and optimization.

The key takeaway: spaced repetition isn't just "studying with flashcards." It's a scientifically-backed system that works with your brain's natural memory patterns to maximize retention while minimizing study time.

The spaced repetition principle - within four reviews, you'll stop forgetting new information.

What Makes a Good Flashcard App?

Not all flashcard apps are created equal. Here's what actually matters when you're choosing a spaced repetition system for serious studying:

A Sophisticated Spaced Repetition Algorithm

This is the foundation. The app should automatically schedule reviews at optimal intervals based on how well you know each card. It should track your performance on individual cards and adjust their scheduling accordingly. Cards you find difficult should appear more frequently; cards you know well should appear less often.

The quality of this algorithm makes a massive difference. A good algorithm means you spend less time reviewing while maintaining the same (or better) retention. A poor algorithm means you're either reviewing too often (wasting time) or not often enough (forgetting material).

Efficient Card Creation

You need to be able to turn lecture content into flashcards quickly. The easier this process, the more likely you'll actually do it consistently. Some apps integrate with note-taking, others require manual card creation. This workflow difference significantly impacts whether you'll stick with the system.

Long-Term Scalability

You're not just studying for one exam. Over the course of your degree, you might create thousands or tens of thousands of cards (I made ~7000 in just one year). The app needs to handle this scale without becoming unwieldy. It also needs to keep working efficiently as your review queue grows.

Study Workflow Integration

The best flashcard app is one that fits naturally into how you actually study—from capturing information in lectures to reviewing before exams. An app might have a perfect algorithm, but if it's so cumbersome to use that you stop using it, it's worthless.

With that framework, let's compare the three major options.

Quizlet: The Beginner-Friendly Option

Best for: Students who want something simple and don't need long-term retention

Quizlet is the most popular flashcard app overall, with over 60 million active users. But it's designed for a different use case than Anki or RemNote. It's casual, social, and optimized for short-term studying.

Quizlet: Flashcards, lite mode

How Quizlet Works

Quizlet offers spaced repetition through its Memory Score and Scheduled Review features, which track your answers and provide a personalized score representing how well you've memorized the material, then recommend when to review to prevent forgetting.

However, there's a crucial limitation: Quizlet's algorithm is based on principles of spaced repetition but isn't very sensitive to time changes over longer periods because it was trained on data heavily biased toward time ranges of under a couple days. The system works if you're studying for an exam next week, but it's not optimized for long-term retention over months or years.

The Simplicity Advantage

Quizlet is incredibly easy to use. You can create a set of flashcards in minutes and start studying immediately. The interface is clean and intuitive. There are millions of pre-made sets you can use or modify—just search for your textbook or course, and you'll likely find something.

Quizlet also offers multiple study modes beyond traditional flashcards:

• Learn mode: Adapts to your performance and focuses on terms you're struggling with
• Test mode: Generates practice tests automatically
• Match: A timed game where you match terms to definitions
• Gravity: An arcade-style game for memorization

This variety can make studying feel less monotonous, which matters for maintaining motivation.

Pricing Breakdown

• Free tier: Basic flashcards, access to all study modes, can create unlimited sets
• Quizlet Plus / Quizlet Plus Unlimited ($35.99-44.99/year): Ad-free, offline access, custom images, advanced study modes
• Teacher plans: Additional features for classroom use

For most students, the free tier is sufficient.

Quizlet's pricing: Lots of useful features at a reasonable cost.

Mobile Experience

The mobile apps (iOS and Android) are excellent—smooth, fast, and feature-complete. You can easily study on your phone during commute time or between classes.

Real Use Case: A Day with Quizlet

You're taking Spanish 101. Your exam is in 10 days, covering 200 vocabulary words. You create a Quizlet set (or find one someone already made for your textbook). Each day, you spend 15 minutes going through the cards in Learn mode, which adapts to show you words you're struggling with more frequently.

Three days before the exam, you switch to Test mode to practice with multiple choice and written questions. The night before, you use Match to do a final quick review of terms you keep forgetting.

This works well because your goal is short-term: pass the exam in 10 days. You don't necessarily need to remember these words a year from now.

The Downsides

The majority of Quizlet users only study a set on a single day, and 95% study a set over four days at most—too few for spaced repetition algorithms to be truly effective. The platform acknowledges this reality and optimizes for cramming rather than long-term learning.

Some advanced features require a premium subscription, and the quality of shared decks can vary significantly since they're user-generated. You also have less control over the scheduling algorithm compared to Anki or RemNote.

If your goal is to remember material for years (like in medical school or language learning where vocabulary builds on itself), Quizlet isn't the right tool. The algorithm simply isn't designed for that use case.

Who Actually Uses Quizlet

High school and early college students studying for traditional exams where cramming is somewhat effective. Language learners who need basic vocabulary for an upcoming trip. Students who value convenience and simplicity over optimization.

Anki: The Power User's Choice

Best for: Students who want maximum control and customization

Anki is the most popular spaced repetition app among serious learners, especially medical students and language learners. It's free, open-source, and has been refined over two decades.

Anki: The goat of flashcard apps.

How Anki Works

Anki uses a sophisticated algorithm based on SuperMemo 2 (SM-2), and now supports the newer FSRS algorithm which uses machine learning to find parameters that provide the best fit to your review history. The algorithm tracks three key values for each card: Retrievability (probability you'll recall it), Stability (how long until retrievability drops to 90%), and Difficulty (inherent complexity of the information).

What this means in practice: Anki learns your memory patterns over time. Cards you find difficult appear more frequently. Cards you know well might not reappear for months or even years. The algorithm is constantly adjusting based on your actual performance.

The Customization Advantage

Anki's strength is flexibility. Instead of prescribing an initial interval like some systems, Anki offers users full control over the initial learning steps, acknowledging that every learner is different. You can customize everything: card layouts, review intervals, card types, keyboard shortcuts, and appearance.

You can incorporate audio (crucial for language learning), images, videos, scientific markup (LaTeX for math equations), and even code blocks. If you're studying anatomy, you can create image occlusion cards that hide parts of a diagram. If you're studying music, you can embed audio clips.

The add-on ecosystem is massive. There are thousands of community-created plugins for everything from:

• Better statistics and progress tracking
• Heatmaps showing your review history
• AI-generated cards from notes
• Advanced scheduling tweaks
• Integration with other apps
• Bulk card editing tools

If you want something specific, someone has probably built an add-on for it. And if they haven't, you can code it yourself (it's open source).

Anki is highly customizable, but can also get quite complicated.

Pricing Breakdown

• Desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux): Completely free
• AnkiWeb (web browser): Free for syncing and basic reviewing
• iOS app (AnkiMobile): $24.99 one-time purchase
• Android app (AnkiDroid): Free (developed by volunteers)

The iOS app price raises eyebrows, but it's a one-time purchase that funds development, and the desktop version is where you'll do most of your work anyway.

Mobile Experience

AnkiMobile (iOS) is excellent—stable, fast, and feature-complete. AnkiDroid (Android) is also very good, though the interface is slightly less polished. Both support full offline studying with sync when you're back online.

The key advantage: you can study anywhere. Waiting for class to start? Pull out your phone and do 10 reviews. On the bus? Another 20 cards. These small sessions add up.

Real Use Case: A Day with Anki

You're a medical student. Over the past two years, you've created 15,000 flashcards covering anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and pathology. Every morning, you open Anki and see you have 180 cards due today.

These 180 cards come from lectures you attended two years ago, last month, and yesterday. The algorithm has calculated that today is the optimal day to review each one. You spend 45 minutes working through them—some you know instantly, some require thought, and a few you get wrong (which tells Anki to show them again sooner).

Tomorrow, you'll have a different 180 cards due. The algorithm ensures you're constantly reviewing old information while also learning new material, maintaining everything in long-term memory.

When exam time comes, you don't cram. You've been reviewing this material consistently for months. You just keep doing your daily reviews and maybe add a few focused cards on topics you're still shaky on.

The Downsides

Anki has an initial learning curve—beginners may find it challenging to learn how to use its advanced features and customization options effectively, and the user interface is functional but may be considered outdated compared to more modern applications.

Card creation is also a manual process. Unlike RemNote where you're creating cards while taking notes, in Anki you need to sit down and deliberately create flashcards after the fact. For each concept, you're opening the card creator, typing the question, typing the answer, maybe adding images or formatting, and saving it. This takes time, and for many students, it becomes a barrier to actually using the system consistently.

The flexibility is also a curse—there are so many settings and options that it's easy to spend hours tinkering with your setup instead of actually studying.

Who Actually Uses Anki

Medical students who need to memorize thousands of anatomical structures, drug names, and disease processes. Language learners committed to fluency (not just tourist phrases). Law students learning case names and legal principles. Anyone in a field where long-term retention of vast amounts of information is critical.

RemNote: The Complete Study System

Best for: Students who want an all-in-one note-taking and flashcard system

RemNote is the newest of the three apps, but it's designed specifically to solve a problem the others don't address: the gap between note-taking and flashcard creation.

RemNote: If Anki and Notion had a baby

How RemNote Works

RemNote is fundamentally a note-taking tool with built-in spaced repetition. You take notes in an outline format (similar to Roam Research or Notion), and you can turn any part of your notes into a flashcard with a simple keyboard shortcut or markup.

When you create flashcards in RemNote, the app uses a spaced-repetition algorithm to predict when you're likely to forget each card and shows you the card shortly before you would forget it. This means you can have tens of thousands of cards but only need to practice a few dozen each day.

RemNote uses the Anki SM-2 algorithm by default, but also supports the newer FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) algorithm, which schedules cards substantially more accurately and can reduce reviews by 20-30% while maintaining the same retention level.

The Integration Advantage

What makes RemNote powerful is that your flashcards aren't isolated from your notes. RemNote allows you to represent knowledge as concepts with descriptors in a hierarchy, so you can see relationships between concepts, display the same concepts in multiple places, and understand how ideas connect.

This matters because learning isn't just about memorizing isolated facts—it's about understanding how concepts relate to each other. When you're reviewing a flashcard about cellular respiration, you can immediately see how it connects to related concepts like glycolysis and the Krebs cycle within your notes. You're not just testing recall; you're reinforcing the conceptual structure.

The workflow is also significantly faster. You're not switching between a note-taking app and a flashcard app. You're taking notes, and as you identify important concepts, you're turning them into cards in real-time. Type == before a concept and == after it, and you've created a cloze deletion card. Type :: and you've created a bidirectional card. The cards live within your notes.

My Psychology lecture notes from university - organized by year, semester, course, topic, and lecture.

Exam Scheduler

This is RemNote's killer feature for students. RemNote is the first general-purpose spaced-repetition tool to offer automatic scheduling adjustments for students preparing for exams.

Here's how it works: You tell RemNote when your exam is and pick a study plan (casual, regular, or intense). The app automatically adjusts your review schedule to ensure you're maximally prepared by exam day. It temporarily increases your retrievability for relevant cards, so you walk into the exam knowing the material cold.

After the exam, the scheduler returns to normal long-term retention intervals. You don't have to manually adjust anything—RemNote handles the optimization.

I found the Exam Scheduler feature extremely useful during my studies.

Pricing Breakdown

• Free tier: Unlimited notes and flashcards, basic features, mobile apps
• Pro ($6/month or $60/year): Advanced features including custom CSS, offline mode, advanced templates, priority support
• Student discount: Available with valid .edu email

The free tier is genuinely usable for most students. The Pro features are nice but not essential for basic studying.

RemNote's pricing is extremely generous - you can use it for free forever without any major drawbacks.

Mobile Experience

The mobile apps (iOS and Android) are good but not as feature-complete as the desktop version. You can review cards and take basic notes, but complex note editing is better done on desktop. The apps sync seamlessly, though, so you can capture ideas on your phone and flesh them out later on your computer.

Real Use Case: A Day with RemNote

You're taking an upper-level biology course. During lecture, you use Notigo to capture smart summaries while focusing on understanding. After class, you open RemNote and create an outline of the lecture based on your Notigo summary.

As you're organizing the information, you identify key concepts: "Mitochondria produces ATP through oxidative phosphorylation." You highlight "ATP" and type == before and after it, creating a cloze deletion: "Mitochondria produces [blank] through oxidative phosphorylation."

You add another card: "What process do mitochondria use to produce ATP?" and the answer "Oxidative phosphorylation". These cards are now embedded in your notes, maintaining context.

Two weeks later, during your daily review session, RemNote shows you these cards along with others from previous lectures. When you see the mitochondria card, you can immediately click to see the full context within your notes—the entire section on cellular respiration. This helps reinforce not just the isolated fact, but how it fits into the bigger picture.

When your midterm approaches, you set the exam date in RemNote. The app automatically adjusts your review schedule, showing you relevant cards more frequently in the days leading up to the exam.

The Downsides

RemNote has a learning curve. The note-taking features are powerful, but they require investment to understand. The concepts of "Rem references," "portals," and "templates" aren't immediately intuitive. You need to spend a few hours learning the system before it clicks.

And while there's a free tier, some features are locked behind a premium subscription. The mobile app also isn't as fully featured as the desktop version, which can be frustrating if you primarily study on mobile.

The community is smaller than Anki's, so there are fewer shared decks and less documentation of advanced techniques. You're more on your own to figure things out.

Who Actually Uses RemNote

Students who want a unified system and are willing to invest time learning it. People who think in connected concepts rather than isolated facts. Students who have exams with specific dates and want automated scheduling optimization. Anyone who values the integration of note-taking and flashcard creation enough to deal with the learning curve.

Head-to-Head Comparison

Common Mistakes When Using Flashcard Apps

Even with the best app, you can sabotage your learning by creating bad flashcards or using the system incorrectly. Here are the most common mistakes:

1. Creating Recognition Cards Instead of Recall Cards

Bad card: "The powerhouse of the cell is the mitochondria. True or False?"

Good card: "What organelle is called the powerhouse of the cell?"

The first tests recognition—you just need to recognize whether the statement sounds right. The second tests recall—you need to retrieve the information from memory. On exam day, you need recall, not recognition.

2. Making Cards Too Complex

Bad card: "Explain the entire process of photosynthesis including light-dependent and light-independent reactions."

This card is overwhelming. You'll either skip it because it's too much work, or you'll give a superficial answer and tell yourself you "know" it.

Better approach: Break it into 8-10 smaller cards:

• "What are the two main stages of photosynthesis?"
• "Where do light-dependent reactions occur?"
• "What is produced during light-dependent reactions?"
• "What is the purpose of the Calvin cycle?"
• Etc.

Each card should test one specific piece of knowledge.

3. Not Doing Reviews Consistently

This is the biggest mistake. The entire system depends on reviewing cards at the scheduled intervals. If you skip three days of reviews, you'll come back to a backlog of 200+ cards, get overwhelmed, and give up.

The solution: Do your reviews every day, even if just for 10-15 minutes. It's better to do half your reviews daily than to do zero reviews and then try to catch up later.

4. Trying to Memorize Before Understanding

If you don't understand a concept, no amount of flashcard reviewing will help. You'll just be memorizing word patterns without comprehension.

Always make sure you understand the material before creating flashcards. If you're confused about a concept, go back to your notes, rewatch that part of the lecture, or ask for clarification. Then create cards.

5. Creating Too Many Cards

More isn't always better. If you're creating 50 cards per lecture, you're either including too much detail or not breaking concepts down properly.

Focus on key concepts and relationships. If something is minor or easily looked up, it probably doesn't need a flashcard. Your time is better spent on fewer high-quality cards that test important concepts.

6. Copying Verbatim from Lectures or Textbooks

Bad card: Front: "Define homeostasis" Back: "Homeostasis is the property of a system that regulates its internal environment and tends to maintain a stable, relatively constant condition of properties."

This is just memorizing a textbook definition. You're likely to memorize the exact wording without really understanding what it means.

Good card: Front: "Why does your body shiver when you're cold?" Back: "Shivering generates heat through muscle movement, helping maintain stable body temperature—an example of homeostasis."

The second card tests whether you understand the concept well enough to apply it to a real situation.

How to Use Each Tool Properly: The Complete Study Flow

The most effective study system isn't just about choosing the right flashcard app—it's about how that app fits into your complete workflow. Here's the recommended approach:

Step 1: Capture (During Lectures)

This is where most students struggle. You can't take effective notes while frantically transcribing everything the professor says. Your working memory can't handle it.

Remember what we discussed earlier about working memory limitations? You can only hold 3-5 items in your mind at once. During a lecture, you're supposed to be comprehending new information, identifying what's important, connecting it to prior knowledge, and somehow writing it all down. That's already 4-5 cognitive processes competing for those 3-5 mental slots. Something has to give—and usually, it's deep understanding.

This is where recording lectures with Notigo fundamentally changes the game.

When you record with Notigo, you're not just capturing audio—you're getting smart, real-time summaries of key concepts. The AI is doing the work of identifying important points and organizing information while you're free to focus entirely on understanding.

Think about what this means practically: Your professor explains a complex concept like action potentials in neurons. Instead of frantically scribbling "sodium channels open, depolarization, threshold, repolarization" while trying to follow along, you can actually think about what's being said. You can ask yourself: "Why does sodium flow in specifically? What would happen if potassium channels opened first? How does this relate to what we learned about membrane potential last week?"

These are the questions that lead to deep understanding. These are the cognitive processes that move information into long-term memory. But you can only engage in this kind of thinking when your working memory isn't maxed out on transcription.

Here's what changes when you record lectures:

You can be present for the "aha" moments. Every lecture has those critical 2-3 minutes where a difficult concept finally clicks. Maybe your professor draws a diagram on the board that suddenly makes everything make sense. Maybe she gives an analogy that illuminates the principle. If you're busy writing, you miss these moments. But when you're recording, you can fully engage with them, let them sink in, and actually experience that understanding forming.

You can take strategic notes that actually matter. Instead of trying to transcribe content (which Notigo is handling), you can jot down things that capture requires human judgment: "This seems really important for the exam," "Confused about how this relates to Chapter 3," "Professor emphasized this three times," "Good example to remember." These metacognitive notes are far more valuable than transcription.

You can participate without anxiety. When you know information is being captured, you can actually raise your hand and ask clarifying questions without worrying that you're falling behind on notes. You can engage in class discussions. You become an active participant in your own education rather than a passive transcription machine.

You avoid the post-lecture panic. You know that feeling when class ends and you're not sure if you "got" everything? That anxiety about whether your notes are complete? It's gone. You have comprehensive summaries to reference later. The cognitive load of "did I capture that correctly?" evaporates.

You can review efficiently. This is crucial for flashcard creation. When you sit down after class to process your lecture into flashcards, you're not working from scattered handwritten notes or pages of unprocessed laptop transcription. You have organized summaries that clearly lay out the key concepts. You can immediately see what's important and turn it into cards. The Notigo summaries become the bridge between lecture content and your flashcard system.

The workflow is simple: Open Notigo at the start of class. Let it run in the background while you focus on understanding and taking strategic notes. After class, you immediately have summaries to work from. That same day, you process those summaries into flashcards. This is how efficient learning happens.

Recording lectures isn't a hack or a shortcut. It's a recognition of how working memory actually functions and a tool designed to work with that reality. Your brain is incredibly powerful at understanding, connecting, and analyzing information—but only when it's not simultaneously trying to transcribe. Give your brain permission to do what it's best at, and let Notigo handle the rest.

You can also take strategic notes: questions you have, connections to other concepts, or specific things you want to follow up on. These notes will be valuable when you're creating flashcards later.

Step 2: Process (After Lectures)

This is when you create your flashcards. The timing matters—ideally the same day as the lecture, while the material is still fresh.

If you're using Quizlet: Review your Notigo summaries and create flashcards for the key concepts. Quizlet's simple interface makes this quick. Focus on vocabulary, definitions, and basic factual knowledge.

Example: You just had a lecture on photosynthesis. Create cards like:

• "What are the inputs of photosynthesis?" → "Carbon dioxide, water, and light energy"
• "What are the outputs of photosynthesis?" → "Glucose and oxygen"
• "Where do light-dependent reactions occur?" → "Thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts"

But recognize that Quizlet works best for shorter-term goals—if you're studying for an exam two weeks away, it can work well. If you need to remember material for years, consider Anki or RemNote instead.

If you're using Anki: Review your Notigo summaries and create dedicated flashcards. Focus on key concepts, not every detail. Use the principles from our study guide: turn concepts into questions that require recall, not recognition.

Example: Same photosynthesis lecture, but now you're creating more nuanced cards:

• "Why can't photosynthesis occur without water?" → "Water provides electrons to replace those lost from chlorophyll during light reactions"
• "How does the Calvin cycle depend on light reactions?" → "Light reactions produce ATP and NADPH, which power the Calvin cycle"
• Include an image of a chloroplast and create image occlusion cards hiding different structures

Spend 30-45 minutes after each lecture creating 10-15 high-quality cards. Quality over quantity.

If you're using RemNote: Review your Notigo summaries and any strategic notes. As you're organizing the information in RemNote's outline format, turn key concepts into flashcards using the == or :: syntax.

Example: You create an outline in RemNote:

# Photosynthesis
- Overview
- Process by which plants convert ==light energy== into ==chemical energy==
- Occurs in ==chloroplasts==
- Light-Dependent Reactions
- Location:: ==Thylakoid membranes==
- Products:: ==ATP and NADPH==
- The electrons that replace those lost from chlorophyll come from ==water molecules==

Each == creates a cloze deletion. Each :: creates a basic card. You're building your knowledge base and your flashcard deck simultaneously.

Step 3: Review (Spaced Repetition)

This is where the magic happens. Each day, your flashcard app will show you the cards that are due for review—the ones you're about to forget. Do your reviews consistently, ideally every day.

Morning routine: Open your flashcard app while having coffee. Do 15-20 minutes of reviews. Most students find mornings work best because you're fresh and reviews don't pile up.

Between classes: Pull out your phone and do another 10-15 cards. These small sessions add up.

Evening: If you have more cards due, finish them before bed. Try not to let cards pile up into the next day.

The key insight: don't rewatch lectures or passively reread notes. Research shows that active recall through flashcards is far more effective for long-term retention than passive review. Your flashcard app is doing the hard work of scheduling; your job is just to show up and practice.

Advanced Tips for Power Users

Once you're comfortable with the basics, these advanced techniques can make your flashcard system even more effective.

For Anki Users

Install key add-ons:

• Image Occlusion Enhanced: Essential for anatomy, diagrams, or any visual learning. You can hide parts of an image and test your recall.
• Review Heatmap: Shows your review activity over time, helps you stay motivated
• Hierarchical Tags: Better organization for large decks
• FSRS Helper: If you're using the newer FSRS algorithm, this helps optimize parameters

Adjust your retention target: By default, Anki aims for 90% retention. If you're studying something critical (like medical school), you might increase this to 95%. If it's less critical, 85% might save you review time. You can adjust this in settings.

Use filtered decks for exam prep: Create temporary decks that pull in all cards tagged with a specific subject or from certain lectures. Study these in the days before an exam without disrupting your main review schedule.

Learn keyboard shortcuts: The faster you can review cards, the less friction there is. Learn to use spacebar (show answer), 1/2/3/4 (rate difficulty), and other shortcuts to blast through reviews efficiently.

For RemNote Users

Use templates: Create reusable templates for common note structures. If every lecture follows a similar pattern, a template ensures consistency and speeds up note-taking.

Master portals: Portals let you reference and display content from one note in another. This is powerful for connecting concepts across different subjects or seeing the same information in multiple contexts.

Create concept hierarchies: Instead of flat notes, build hierarchical relationships. For example, create a "Rem" (RemNote's term for a concept) called "Cellular Respiration" and link related concepts like "Glycolysis," "Krebs Cycle," and "ATP" as children. When you review a card about ATP, you can instantly see all the contexts where ATP appears in your notes.

Use the "Practice" feature strategically: RemNote lets you practice specific portions of your knowledge base. Before an exam, you can practice just the cards from specific lectures or topics rather than your entire deck.

Customize your card types: Beyond basic cloze deletions, you can create list cards (for ordered sequences), concept-descriptor cards (for definitions and relationships), and more. Match the card type to what you need to learn.

For Quizlet Users

Use "Learn" mode over "Flashcards" mode: Learn mode is more effective because it adapts to your performance and requires typing answers (stronger recall) rather than just flipping cards.

Create your own cards rather than using pre-made sets: Even if a perfect set exists for your textbook, creating your own forces you to process the information. If you're short on time, find a pre-made set and modify it—that's better than passive copying.

Combine sets before exams: Quizlet lets you combine multiple sets into one. Before a cumulative final, combine all your chapter sets to practice everything together.

Universal Advanced Tips

Review in the morning when possible: Your brain is freshest in the morning. Reviews done early in the day tend to stick better than those done late at night when you're tired.

Don't be afraid to delete or suspend cards: If a card is poorly written or tests something you've already mastered completely, delete or suspend it. Your deck should evolve as your knowledge grows.

Use images and diagrams: Visual information is often easier to remember than pure text. If you're studying anatomy, chemistry, or anything visual, include images in your cards.

Create cards from your mistakes: Every time you get something wrong on an exam or assignment, create a flashcard for it. These are your weak points and deserve reinforcement.

Adjust intervals based on importance: Most apps let you manually adjust when a card will appear next. If something is absolutely critical, you can bring it back sooner. If it's peripheral knowledge, you can push it out further.

Frequently Asked Questions

"How many cards should I review per day?"

This depends on your goals and available time. A sustainable load for most students is:

• Beginners: 20-30 cards per day
• Intermediate: 50-100 cards per day
• Advanced (medical students, etc.): 100-200+ cards per day

Start small and gradually increase. It's better to consistently do 30 cards daily than to burn out doing 200 cards for a week and then quit.

Remember that "reviews per day" isn't the same as "new cards per day." If you're adding 20 new cards daily, you might end up reviewing 50-100 total cards as old ones come back for review.

"Should I use pre-made decks or make my own?"

Making your own cards is almost always more effective because the act of creating the card forces you to process the information. This is called the "generation effect"—information you generate yourself is remembered better than information you passively receive.

However, there are exceptions:

• Time constraints: If you're overwhelmed, a pre-made deck is better than no deck
• Standardized content: For subjects like anatomy where everyone learns the same structures, or language learning where vocabulary is universal, pre-made decks can save time
• Supplementary use: Use a pre-made deck as a base and add your own cards for lecture-specific content

If you do use pre-made decks, at minimum go through and delete or modify cards that don't match your learning needs. Don't blindly accept someone else's organization.

"Can I switch between apps later?"

Yes, but with some friction:

• Quizlet to Anki: Relatively easy. You can export Quizlet sets and import them into Anki. Some formatting may be lost.
• Anki to RemNote: Possible. RemNote can import Anki decks, though you lose some of Anki's advanced formatting.
• RemNote to Anki: Difficult. Because RemNote cards are embedded in notes, extracting them into standalone Anki cards requires manual work.
• Quizlet to RemNote: Manual. You'd need to recreate your cards.

The biggest loss when switching isn't the cards themselves—it's your review history. Each app tracks your performance on individual cards to optimize scheduling. When you switch, you lose this data and start fresh.

My advice: Choose thoughtfully at the start, but don't let fear of switching prevent you from starting. Having an imperfect system that you actually use is better than endlessly researching the "perfect" system and never beginning.

"What if I miss a day of reviews?"

Don't panic. Missing one day isn't a disaster. The cards that were due will still be there tomorrow—you'll just have more to review.

If you miss several days and come back to 300+ overdue cards, here's what to do:

• Don't try to catch up all at once: This will take hours and burn you out
• Do a portion daily: Review 50-100 cards per day until you're caught up, while also keeping up with new reviews
• Consider declaring "bankruptcy": If you have thousands of overdue cards, you might reset your deck and start fresh. It's better to have a clean slate than to be perpetually overwhelmed.

The key is getting back to consistency as quickly as possible.

"How do I know if my cards are good?"

Good cards have these characteristics:

• Test one thing: If you're unsure what the card is asking, it's testing too much
• Require recall, not recognition: Multiple choice or true/false cards are usually too easy
• Have context: "What is 1776?" is bad. "In what year did the American colonies declare independence?" is good.
• Are in your own words: If you're just memorizing textbook language, you're not learning

Test your cards: If you get a card right but couldn't explain the concept to someone else, the card isn't testing deep enough understanding.

"Should I review on weekends?"

Yes, if possible. Your brain doesn't stop forgetting on weekends. Consistency is more important than intensity.

That said, if weekends are your only time to recharge, it's okay to skip them occasionally. Just be prepared for a slightly larger review load on Monday.

A good compromise: Do a quick 10-15 minute review session on weekend mornings. You maintain the habit without sacrificing your whole day.

"How long until I see results?"

You'll notice the benefits almost immediately:

• After one week: You'll find yourself recalling information more quickly
• After one month: You'll notice you're retaining information from early lectures that you'd normally have forgotten
• After one semester: You'll have a massive knowledge base that you can actually access, not just notes you've forgotten

The biggest benefit shows up during exams. While other students are cramming and re-learning everything, you're just doing your normal daily reviews. The material is already in long-term memory.

Which Should You Choose?

Let's be direct about the decision:

Choose Quizlet if: You need something simple and are primarily studying for short-term goals (exams in the next 2-3 weeks). You want to use pre-made decks without creating your own. You value ease of use over optimization. You're studying subjects where cramming is somewhat effective (basic vocabulary, simple factual knowledge).

Quizlet is perfect for high school students, casual learners, or anyone who wants to dip their toes into spaced repetition without commitment. Just understand its limitations for long-term retention.

Choose Anki if: You want maximum control and customization. You're comfortable with a steeper learning curve and outdated interface. You're studying subjects that need very specific card types or formats (medical school with anatomy and pharmacology, language learning with audio, mathematics with equations). You need to remember vast amounts of information for years, not just semesters. You want the largest community and add-on ecosystem.

Anki is the gold standard for serious learners. If you're in medical school, pharmacy school, law school, or any program where long-term retention of massive amounts of information is critical, Anki is probably your best choice. The time investment in learning the system pays off over years of use.

Choose RemNote if: You want an all-in-one system where note-taking and flashcards are seamlessly integrated. You're willing to invest time learning a more powerful tool (but not as much time as Anki requires). You have specific exam dates and want automated exam scheduling. You think in connected concepts rather than isolated facts. You value workflow efficiency—being able to create cards while taking notes rather than as a separate step.

RemNote is my recommendation for most university students. The integration of notes and flashcards makes the entire study workflow more efficient. You're not maintaining two separate systems (note app + flashcard app)—everything lives in one place. The exam scheduler is genuinely useful for typical university courses with defined test dates.

My Personal Recommendation for Most Students: Start with RemNote. Here's why:

The biggest barrier to using spaced repetition isn't the algorithm or features—it's the friction of creating cards. If card creation feels like extra work you need to do after studying, you're less likely to do it consistently. RemNote reduces this friction by letting you create cards while you're already processing information in your notes.

The exam scheduler is also a huge advantage for university students. Most spaced repetition apps optimize for long-term retention over years. But university students have a different need: they need maximum retention for specific exam dates. RemNote handles this automatically.

If you later find you need Anki's advanced features or customization, you can switch. RemNote can import Anki decks, and you'll have learned the fundamentals of spaced repetition in a more user-friendly environment.

The exception: If you're in medical school or a similarly demanding program, start with Anki. The investment in learning the system will pay off, and you'll eventually need the advanced features and massive shared deck library that medical students have built over years.

Conclusion: Building a System That Actually Works

The best flashcard app is the one you'll actually use consistently. Anki is objectively the most powerful, but if its complexity means you never create cards, it's worthless. Quizlet is limited for long-term retention, but if it gets you started with spaced repetition, it's valuable.

What matters more than your choice of app is integrating it into a complete study system:

1. Capture information efficiently: Use Notigo during lectures so you can focus on understanding instead of transcribing
2. Process into flashcards: Same day as the lecture, turn key concepts into high-quality cards
3. Review consistently: Daily practice using spaced repetition, not cramming before exams

This three-step system—efficient capture, thoughtful processing, consistent review—is what moves information into long-term memory. The flashcard app is just the tool that makes step three automatic and optimized.

Most students fail at spaced repetition not because they chose the wrong app, but because they never created the cards in the first place. They left the lecture without clear notes, waited too long to process the information, and then felt overwhelmed when they had three weeks of lectures to turn into flashcards.

This is why recording lectures with Notigo is so valuable. You're removing the bottleneck at the capture phase. You leave every lecture with clear summaries of what was covered. Processing those summaries into flashcards becomes straightforward rather than overwhelming.

Here's what to do right now:

1. Pick an app: Based on this guide, choose Quizlet, Anki, or RemNote. If you're genuinely uncertain, start with RemNote.
2. Create your first 10 cards: Take your most recent lecture and create 10 flashcards. Don't worry about perfection—just practice the workflow.
3. Set up a daily review habit: Pick a time (morning coffee, between classes, before bed) and commit to reviewing cards every day at that time.
4. Record your next lecture: Use Notigo to capture summaries while you focus on understanding. Experience the difference of actually being present during difficult explanations instead of frantically transcribing.

The students who excel aren't the ones who study more hours—they're the ones who study smarter. They use evidence-based techniques like spaced repetition. They remove friction from their workflow by using tools designed for learning. They're consistent rather than sporadic.

You can be one of those students. Pick your flashcard app, integrate it with efficient lecture capture, and commit to daily reviews. Your future self—the one walking into finals with confidence instead of panic—will thank you.