How to Use Anki on iPhone & iPad (2026): Every Option Compared

Is Anki free on iPhone?

Short answer: partly. The Anki project is free and open-source on desktop, and AnkiWeb (the browser version) is free. But the official native iOS app, AnkiMobile, is a paid app — $24.99, a one-time purchase. That price is intentional: it funds development of the whole free Anki ecosystem. So "is Anki free on iPhone" usually means "is there a free way to review my decks on my phone," and the honest answer is yes (AnkiWeb), but the good native experiences cost money.

Here are the three paths, with the trade-offs that actually matter.

Option 1: AnkiMobile (the official app)

AnkiMobile is built by the same author as desktop Anki, so it's the most faithful to "real" Anki — same scheduler, same note types, same sync to AnkiWeb. If you want the canonical behavior and don't mind the classic Anki interface, this is the safe choice.

• Cost: $24.99 one-time.
• Best for: purists who already live in the Anki ecosystem and sync across desktop + phone.
• Watch out for: the UI is powerful but dated, and it only accepts game controllers that expose Apple's GCExtendedGamepad profile — which the popular cheap 8BitDo models don't (more on that below).

Option 2: AnkiWeb in the browser

AnkiWeb is the free web client. Log in at ankiweb.net on Safari and you can review due cards from any device, no install.

• Cost: free.
• Best for: occasional review, or trying Anki before paying for a native app.
• Watch out for: it's a website, not an app — no offline review, limited gestures, no media-heavy editing, and it leans on you having a desktop for the heavy lifting.

Option 3: A native alternative built for iPhone (Guru)

Guru: AI Flashcard Study is a third path: a native iOS app that runs the Anki workflow but rebuilt for a phone. It imports any .apkg or .colpkg using Anki's own engine, so cards, media, and scheduling state migrate exactly — then reviews them with FSRS, the modern spaced-repetition scheduler.

• Cost: free 3-day trial on the weekly plan, then $2.99/week, $39.99/year, or a one-time Lifetime at $59.99 (which includes 60,000 AI credits).
• Best for: people who want a fast, modern iPhone-first app, AI help turning notes and PDFs into cards, Cram Mode before exams, and a built-in free wireless Anki Remote.
• Watch out for: it's a separate app, not a skin over AnkiMobile — so you import your decks into it (see how to import your Anki decks) rather than syncing through AnkiWeb.

Quick comparison

Anki on iPad: same decks, more room

Everything above works on iPad too — AnkiMobile and Guru are universal apps (one purchase covers iPhone and iPad), and AnkiWeb runs in Safari. iPadOS is still iOS underneath, so the options are identical; the iPad just gives the workflow more room to breathe:

• A bigger canvas for image-heavy decks. Anatomy atlases, pathology slides, and image-occlusion cards are far easier to read on an 11–13″ screen than on a phone.
• Split View and Stage Manager. Keep a lecture PDF or your notes open beside your reviews and make cards without app-switching.
• Apple Pencil. Annotate a card, sketch a recall diagram, or mark up an image-occlusion card by hand.
• Hardware-keyboard shortcuts. With a Magic Keyboard or Folio, 1/2/3/4 grade cards and Space flips them — the same keys a wireless Anki Remote sends.

The answer to "best Anki app for iPad" is the same as for iPhone: AnkiMobile for exact desktop parity, or a native alternative like Guru for a faster, touch-first experience with AI cards and FSRS.

Do you even need Anki on the phone — or a remote for the desktop?

A lot of people searching "anki on iphone" actually want something subtler: they review on desktop Anki and just want to drive it from the couch without reaching for the keyboard. If that's you, you don't need to move your whole workflow to the phone at all — you can turn the iPhone into a wireless remote for Anki Desktop. See the free Anki Remote setup and the full comparison of remote options.

Moving your existing decks over

Whichever native app you choose, the first step is the same: get your .apkg files onto the phone and import them with scheduling intact. We wrote a step-by-step guide: How to import your Anki decks (.apkg) onto iPhone. If you only need to peek inside a single deck, see how to open .apkg files on iPhone. The important part — your progress is never trapped; everything exports back to a standard .apkg.

FAQ

Can I use Anki on iPad too? Yes. AnkiMobile and Guru are both universal (iPhone + iPad). AnkiWeb works in any iPad browser.

Is AnkiDroid available on iPhone? No. AnkiDroid is Android-only. On iOS your native options are AnkiMobile or an alternative like Guru.

Will my desktop streak and scheduling carry over? Yes, if you import a full .apkg/.colpkg — the scheduling state travels with the cards. See the import guide.

Which is best for medical school decks (AnKing, etc.)? All three can review big shared decks. For a phone-first experience with hands-free review and FSRS, a native alternative is usually the most comfortable; for exact parity with desktop add-ons, AnkiMobile.

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