Strawberry Notes vs Anki
Anki is the free, open-source flashcard app that med students and language learners swear by. It's powerful, but it's only flashcards. Strawberry Notes imports your Anki decks and schedules them with FSRS, then adds handwritten notes, PDFs, tasks, and AI in one simple app.
Go with Anki if…
- You only need flashcards, and lots of them
- You want it free on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android
- You love shared decks and add-ons
- You want to tweak every setting and stat
Go with Strawberry Notes if…
- You want your notes and flashcards in the same place
- You want to link your notes and see them all on a map
- You want to make cards right from your handwriting and PDFs, with study tape
- You want FSRS on by default, with nothing to set up
- You want AI to make quizzes and study guides from your notes
- You want notes, flashcards, and tasks in one simple app
Side by side
Checked against Anki’s own website in September 2026.
| Feature | Strawberry Notes | Anki |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | ||
| Works on | iPad and iPhone. Android, Windows, and Mac coming soon | Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, and web |
| Price | ||
| Price | $19.99 a year (7 days free), $4.99 a month, or $39.99 once | Free on computers and Android. $24.99 once on iPhone and iPad |
| Handwriting | ||
| Handwriting | Yes:Smooth, realistic-looking ink with pens, pencil, highlighter, study tape, and shape recognition | Partly:A scratchpad for reviews, not for notes |
| Page style | ||
| Page style | Yes:Infinite notebook or infinite whiteboard, with infinite zoom and templates | Flashcards only |
| Write on PDFs | ||
| Write on PDFs | Yes:Write on PDFs and scans, or read side by side | No:No |
| Typed notes | ||
| Typed notes | Yes:Text boxes mixed in with your handwriting. Full typed docs coming soon | Partly:Rich text inside cards |
| Record audio | ||
| Record audio | No:Not yet | Partly:Record audio onto cards. No transcription |
| Flashcards | ||
| Flashcards | Yes:Built in, with FSRS spaced repetition, image occlusion, and Anki import | Yes:Its specialty: FSRS (you turn it on), cloze, image occlusion, and shared decks |
| AI study tools | ||
| AI study tools | Yes:Chat, summaries, study guides, games, and quizzes with matching, fill-in-the-blank, and ordering questions. Free starter credits, then pay only for what you use | No:Not built in. Add-ons only |
| Tasks | ||
| Tasks | Yes:Tasks and reminders for every class, with a calendar coming soon | No:No |
| Organize and link | ||
| Organize and link | Yes:Subjects, folders, subnotes, tags, links, backlinks, and Sky View, a map of your notes | Decks, subdecks, and tags |
| Works offline | ||
| Works offline | Yes:Yes. Everything saves on your device first, then syncs to your other devices through iCloud | Yes:Fully offline, with free AnkiWeb sync |
| Where your notes live | ||
| Where your notes live | Yes:Your device, plus your own iCloud if you want it. Back up your whole library as one file anytime. We can't read your notes | Yes:Your device. AnkiWeb sync is optional |
| Share and work together | ||
| Share and work together | Partly:Publish a note, or export it as a .sbnote file, to share it. Live editing isn't here yet | Shared decks to download |
Why Strawberry Notes
Everything for school, in one simple app
Notes, flashcards, and tasks live together, and docs and a calendar are on the way. Every subject, folder, and subnote gets its own notes, flashcards, and tasks, so nothing gets lost between apps.
- Notes
- Flashcards
- Tasks
- Docs (soon)
- Calendar (soon)
Notes that connect like your brain does
Link any note to any other, nest subnotes as deep as you like, and zoom in forever. Sky View shows it all as a map. You're free to think your way instead of going page by page.
Private by design
Your library lives on your devices, and we can't read it. iCloud sync is optional: keep everything on one device if you like, and export your whole library as one file anytime to back it up or bring it back in. Handwriting recognition runs on your device. AI only sees what you choose to share, and we don't store your chats.
Coming from Anki?
Export your decks from Anki as .apkg files and import them into Strawberry Notes. Images, audio, and cloze cards come along, and cloze deletions turn into study tape. Your review history doesn't come over, so FSRS starts fresh.
DownloadQuestions people ask
Yes. Strawberry Notes imports Anki .apkg files, including their images and audio, and turns cloze deletions into study tape. It also imports CSV files. Anki review history isn't imported.
Strawberry Notes uses FSRS, the modern algorithm Anki offers as an option. In Strawberry Notes it's on by default, you can set a desired retention for each deck, and you review with 2, 3, or 4 rating buttons.
If you want your notes and flashcards together, yes. Strawberry Notes lets you handwrite notes, mark up PDFs, and turn them into flashcards and image occlusion cards, all scheduled with FSRS. If you only need flashcards and love add-ons and shared decks, Anki is still great.
More comparisons
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Sources: Anki, AnkiMobile on the App Store, Anki deck options (FSRS). Prices are in US dollars and can change, so check before you buy.
Anki is a trademark of Ankitects Pty Ltd, and Strawberry Notes isn't affiliated with them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.