Is Anki Free? What Each Version Actually Costs

Yes, Anki is free almost everywhere. The desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux is free, AnkiDroid on Android is free, and AnkiWeb, the website that syncs your cards and lets you study in a browser, is free. The one exception is the iPhone and iPad app, AnkiMobile, which is a one-time purchase of $24.99 on the US App Store as of October 6, 2026. It is not a subscription, and the purchase is how Anki's own site says the project is funded. If you are on an iPhone and do not want to pay, there is a free route, with real limits, and it is laid out below.

The confusion comes from the fact that "Anki" is one flashcard system sold through several different doors, and the doors have different prices. Someone on a laptop hears "it's free," someone on an iPhone sees $24.99 and assumes the first person was wrong. Both are right. This page lists every version, what it costs, what comes with it, and what you give up if you refuse to pay on iOS.

Every price below was checked on October 6, 2026, against Anki's own download page and the App Store listing. Prices can change and vary by country, so check the live page before you buy anything.

Is Anki free on every device?

Not every device, but every device except Apple's mobile ones. Here is the whole picture in one table.

Version	Where it runs	Price (checked Oct 6, 2026)	Sync included	What you give up
Anki desktop	Windows, Mac, Linux	Free	Yes, through a free AnkiWeb account	Nothing. It is the full program
AnkiDroid	Android phones and tablets	Free	Yes, through a free AnkiWeb account	It is built by volunteer contributors rather than the core team, and donations fund it
AnkiWeb	Any browser	Free	It is the sync service	It is a browser client, so it needs a connection and is meant for reviewing and syncing, not full desktop editing
AnkiMobile	iPhone and iPad	$24.99 on the US App Store, one time	Yes, through a free AnkiWeb account	Nothing. It is the full mobile client

Anki's official download page says it directly: the computer version is free for all major platforms, AnkiMobile is the official iOS app and all purchases help fund Anki's development, and AnkiDroid for Android is free and developed by contributors. The same page lists the free AnkiWeb synchronization service as one of the program's headline features.

So the short rule is that the software costs nothing, the sync costs nothing, and the only thing anyone charges for is a native app on Apple's phones and tablets.

Why does the iPhone app cost money?

Because the people who build it are paid through it. Anki's site describes AnkiMobile purchases as the thing that helps fund Anki's development. The App Store listing goes into more detail: it says sales of the app support the development of both the computer and mobile versions, which is why the app is priced like a computer application rather than like a typical phone app.

That explains the odd-looking gap between Android and iOS. AnkiDroid is a separate project run by volunteers, so it can be free and live on donations. AnkiMobile is published under the developer name Anki Software, LLC, and its sales are the revenue behind the program everyone else gets for nothing. You may think that is a fair trade or a steep one for a flashcard app. What it is not is a trick: the price is on the listing before you download, and there are no ads and no recurring fee.

Worth knowing about the price itself:

It is a single payment. The listing shows one price for the app, not a weekly, monthly or yearly plan. You buy it once.
It is priced in your local currency. The $24.99 figure is the US price. Other countries see a different number set by the store, so a friend abroad may quote you something quite different. Look at your own store page.
It is a lot next to the usual phone app price. That is the real complaint behind most "is Anki free" searches, and it is a fair one. A one-time $24.99 is still less than a year of most flashcard subscriptions, a comparison we work through in Quizlet vs Anki and the Quizlet Plus price breakdown.

Can you use Anki on an iPhone without paying?

Yes, with limits. You have two free routes.

Route one: AnkiWeb in Safari. AnkiWeb is the free account that syncs your collection, and Anki's manual describes it as a service for keeping your collection synchronized across devices and for studying online. Create the free account, upload your cards from the desktop program, then open ankiweb.net in your phone's browser and review there. It works, and for many people it is enough.

Route two: do the building on a computer, and only review on the phone. Desktop Anki is where you make cards. The phone is a place to review. That split works fine with the browser as your phone client, and the paid app never enters into it.

The honest limits of the free route are these:

You need a connection. The paid app stores your cards and media on the device. Per its App Store description, if your cards use images or audio, the media is kept on the device so you can study without an internet connection. A browser session needs a signal.
The browser is a lighter client. It is a website, so plan on reviewing there and doing your card editing in the desktop program.
It is not an app on your home screen. You can bookmark the page, but nothing sends you a reminder to review.

If you study on the train with no signal every morning, the paid app earns its price. If you review at a desk or on home wifi, the browser route is free and does the job.

Before you pay, you can test the whole idea cheaply. The routine matters more than the tool, so run a week of daily reviews on the free route first. If you stick with it and the connection is the only thing bothering you, buy the app then.

Does AnkiWeb sync cost anything?

No. AnkiWeb is free. Anki's own manual tells you to sign up for a free account before you set up syncing, and the sync works the same way from the computer program, AnkiMobile and AnkiDroid.

One thing in the manual is worth reading before you rely on it as your only copy. According to the Anki manual's syncing page, if an account has been inactive for six months or more, and the person used the service for a week or longer, Anki sends an email that deletion of the stored data is pending. Logging in and studying a card, or syncing a device, within 30 days keeps it. The manual also says that once the deck data has expired, Anki cannot recover it from AnkiWeb, though cards still stored on your own devices remain there.

The practical lesson is simple: AnkiWeb is a sync service, not a vault. Keep a local backup of anything you cannot afford to lose.

Are the paid "Anki" apps in the store official?

Only one iOS app is. Anki's download page names AnkiMobile as the official iOS app, and the page carries a note that Anki is a registered trademark of Ankitects Pty Ltd. On the App Store, the official listing is the one published by Anki Software, LLC.

The AnkiMobile listing itself carries a warning on this subject. It tells buyers to beware of other apps that use "Anki" in their name and have sprung up recently, saying they are not compatible with the rest of the Anki ecosystem and offer far fewer features despite charging expensive subscriptions.

A short checklist if you are searching the store:

Start from the link on Anki's own download page, not from a store search for the word "Anki."
Check the developer name on the listing against Anki Software, LLC.
Look at how it charges. The official app is one purchase. A weekly or monthly subscription for something using the Anki name is the wrong app.
Be wary of "free" apps with in-app purchases that borrow the name. Free to download is not the same as free to use.

If you pay for something that is not AnkiMobile, your cards will not sync with the free desktop program the way you expect.

Is Anki a subscription?

No. The desktop program, AnkiDroid, AnkiWeb and AnkiMobile all have no recurring fee. The only paid item is the one-time iOS purchase. That separates Anki from many study tools, which are free to start and then charge monthly or yearly once you want the features you actually use.

The trade is real on both sides. A subscription tool gets you started in a minute and charges forever. Anki charges nothing on most devices, then asks for a one-time payment on one platform, and in return asks you to spend an evening learning it. Our guide on simpler alternatives to Anki covers what that learning curve looks like and who should stay with it.

When is a simpler free tool the better choice?

When the job is small or the deadline is close. Anki's strength is spacing: it schedules every card on its own clock for as long as you keep opening it, which is what a board exam or a language you want to keep for years needs. That strength comes with setup time, and setup time is pure cost when you have thirty vocabulary words and a quiz on Friday.

A quick way to decide:

Long deck, far deadline, daily habit: Anki, on whatever device is free for you. If you want to understand the method it runs, our spaced repetition schedule guide shows how to build one from your exam date.
Short deck, deadline this week: skip the install. Open a deck in a browser, flip through it, and miss nothing by not having a scheduler.
iPhone, no budget, no signal problems: the AnkiWeb route above.

For the middle case, the quick one, QuestionCard is built to be that browser deck. There is nothing to download and no account to create. The flash card hub has full decks you can open and play right now, such as the 100 essential Spanish words or the US state capitals, and a free builder holds one deck of up to 20 cards if you want to write your own. To be straight about the limits: we do not have spaced repetition scheduling, sync or mobile apps. If you need those, Anki on a free platform is the better answer, and for the quick review between classes, a browser tab is enough.

Frequently asked questions

Is Anki free on iPhone?

The app is not. AnkiMobile, the official iPhone and iPad app, is a one-time purchase of $24.99 on the US App Store as of October 6, 2026. The software is still free to use through a different door: the free AnkiWeb site in your phone's browser, with the cards built and managed in the free desktop program. That route needs an internet connection and is a lighter client than the app.

Why is AnkiMobile paid when AnkiDroid is free?

They are different projects with different funding. AnkiDroid is developed by volunteer contributors and supported by donations. AnkiMobile's App Store listing says its sales support the development of both the computer and mobile versions of Anki, which is why it is priced like a computer application. Anki's site says the same thing in fewer words: AnkiMobile purchases help fund Anki's development.

Is AnkiWeb free to use?

Yes. AnkiWeb is a free account that syncs your cards across devices and lets you study in a browser. The one thing to remember is the inactivity rule in Anki's manual: data from accounts inactive for six months or more can be deleted after a notice, and logging in and studying a card or syncing within 30 days keeps it. Keep a local backup too.

Is Anki a subscription?

No. There is no monthly or yearly plan for the desktop program, AnkiDroid, AnkiWeb or AnkiMobile. The only payment anywhere in the system is the single purchase of AnkiMobile on iOS. Be careful with apps in the store that use "Anki" in the name and charge subscriptions, because the official iOS app warns that those are not compatible with the Anki ecosystem.

If you only need a short deck tonight and not a scheduling system, open a free deck in the browser and start. No app and no account.