Anki vs Gizmo: choose Anki for control over your cards and review schedule; choose Gizmo for built-in AI card creation and guided quizzes. Both offer a way to study for free. The useful question is whether your biggest obstacle is preparing cards, managing a long-term collection, or finding time to review.
Is Gizmo free? Yes. Its official help describes a free plan with waiting periods between imports and after you run out of quiz lives. Unlimited removes those waits. Gizmo's "Is it free?" article (August 28, 2026) says you can create unlimited cards and decks and do unlimited quizzing for free, but only 2 decks a day with Magic Import; other Gizmo help pages mention only the 20-minute wait between imports (details below). Anki is free on desktop, AnkiWeb, and Android through AnkiDroid; AnkiMobile for iOS is a paid app.
Product information checked October 5, 2026, against the official sources linked below. Memly publishes this comparison and offers a competing flashcard app. The recommendations are based on documented features and study needs, not a controlled test of learning outcomes.
Anki vs Gizmo at a glance
| What matters to you | Anki | Gizmo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting from your materials | Create cards, import files, or use shared decks | Magic Import generates cards from notes and other materials |
| Review scheduling | Built-in FSRS with configurable retention and review options | Spaced repetition in Memorise, alongside guided study modes |
| Free use | Desktop, AnkiWeb, and AnkiDroid; paid AnkiMobile on iOS | Free plan; import and quiz waiting periods can apply, and one help page caps Magic Import at 2 decks a day |
| Paid option | AnkiMobile purchase; check your local App Store price | Unlimited subscription; check the current offer before paying |
| Keeping your collection | Exports as text or packaged decks, including scheduling when selected | Can import an existing Anki deck; verify your required export workflow before switching |
Sources: Anki platforms, Anki FSRS options, Anki exports, Gizmo Magic Import, and Gizmo study modes.
Want cards made from your own PDFs or notes, with a review date for each? Memly is a third option. Try Memly free (no credit card required; the free plan includes an initial AI allowance that does not refill monthly).
Is Gizmo free? Lives, import limits, and Unlimited
You can use Gizmo without a subscription. Its official free-app guidance says that losing 15 quiz lives triggers a 10-minute wait before quizzing again. The free plan also has a 20-minute wait between Magic Imports. These are waiting periods, not a fixed allowance of cards described by those help pages.
Gizmo's FAQ article Is it free? (dated August 28, 2026) adds a daily cap. It says you can create unlimited cards and decks and do unlimited quizzing for free; that losing 15 Hearts means a 10-minute wait; and that you can create as many decks as you like manually, but only 2 a day with Magic Import, with 20 minutes between imports. Gizmo's own pages do not agree on that cap: the Free vs Unlimited table in What do I get with Gizmo Unlimited? (August 11, 2026) lists only the 20-minute wait for Magic Import, and the free-app guidance linked above (July 8, 2026) says you can create as many decks as you like with Magic Import, waiting 20 minutes between imports. If imports decide your choice, plan around the stricter figure of 2 a day (all three pages checked October 5, 2026).
Gizmo describes Unlimited as the option for removing those waits. A paid plan is therefore not automatically necessary for a full course: whether it helps depends on how often imports or quiz pauses interrupt your study. Check the price, billing period, and renewal terms shown in your account before subscribing; this article does not assume one worldwide subscription price.
How much is Gizmo Unlimited?
Gizmo's help names two Unlimited plans: a long-term plan that you pay once for 365 days, and a last-minute plan that you pay week by week, which Gizmo suggests for short periods such as exam season. A student discount may also be available; if you are eligible, a discount toggle appears during sign-up. The same page says Unlimited removes the Hearts limit and the wait between Magic Imports and makes the AI Tutor and hints unlimited, while the free plan has a limited AI Tutor and hints you buy with coins. This article does not list prices: check the price, billing period, and renewal terms Gizmo shows under Settings, then Try Unlimited, or start from Gizmo's Unlimited help page.
Is Gizmo Unlimited worth it?
Try the free plan with a normal week of material first. Note each time a wait stops useful work. If you regularly import several lectures in one session or need uninterrupted quizzing, removing the waits may be worth the quoted price. If one import followed by a short review fits your routine, the free plan may already meet your needs.
Compare that recurring expense with your actual Anki setup. On desktop or Android, the app cost may be zero; on iOS, include AnkiMobile's current purchase price. On the US App Store, AnkiMobile is a one-time purchase of $24.99 (checked October 5, 2026), and our Anki cost guide compares AnkiMobile's one-time price with the free desktop, Android, and web versions. Preparation time is a separate cost, and the amount AI saves depends on how much checking and editing your material needs.
Making flashcards: Anki's editing tools or Gizmo's Magic Import?
Anki gives you direct control over card fields and templates, and lets you reuse imported or shared decks. That is useful when you already have a collection or need consistent question formats. Its card template documentation explains how fields determine what appears on the front and back. Creating every card manually is one workflow, not the only way to use it.
Gizmo's Magic Import supports sources including PDFs, notes, photos, recordings, PowerPoint files, spreadsheets, websites, and existing Anki decks. It generates cards and highlights terms for quizzing. Review the resulting cards against the source: a useful card asks a clear question and gives you enough context to judge the answer. For lengthy material, try one topic at a time before importing a whole course.
Gizmo's AI Tutor import guidance also documents YouTube and recordings. Check the supported inputs for each study mode and compare the output and editing work for your material.
Spaced repetition: does Gizmo use the same algorithm as Anki?
Anki supports FSRS directly in its deck options. You can set desired retention and optimize parameters from your review history. A higher retention target can also mean more reviews, so the useful setting is one you can sustain. Anki's manual describes the options and compatible clients; an extra FSRS add-on is not required to enable the scheduler.
Gizmo's help confirms that Memorise uses spaced repetition. That alone does not identify its scheduler as FSRS or establish that it matches Anki's parameter controls. The cited Gizmo documentation does not provide a head-to-head retention benchmark. We therefore do not assign either app a percentage advantage in memory retention.
For your own comparison, use a small set of the same concepts and check how easily you can correct an answer, return to difficult material, and finish your daily review. A convenient creation tool only helps if you keep reviewing the cards it produces.
Which app should you choose for your course?
- Keep Anki if your existing deck works. Before moving a large collection, test whether Gizmo preserves the content and formats you rely on. Keep an Anki export as a backup; importing a deck is not evidence that its review history or every template will transfer.
- Try Gizmo if preparing cards keeps stopping you. Import one lecture or chapter and review the generated questions. Decide from that material whether the editing effort and free-plan waits fit your study schedule.
- Choose Anki when configurable scheduling matters most. Its documented review settings and export options make it a practical choice for learners who want to manage a collection over several years.
- Try Gizmo when guided practice helps you begin. Its AI Tutor can explain a topic and quiz you, alongside Memorise. Use the official AI Tutor guide to check that workflow against the way you study.
- Studying for nursing school or the NCLEX? Our guide to flashcard apps for med school compares Anki decks and AI apps for health-science courses, and Memly's free public NCLEX core concepts deck shows what a ready-made nursing deck covers.
For medical terminology, law, or other detailed subjects, verify every generated or shared card against the course's authoritative material. Neither an app's algorithm nor its popularity establishes that a particular deck is accurate or appropriate for your exam.
Where Memly fits
If you want AI card creation and FSRS in one workflow, Memly is another option to evaluate. Memly uses FSRS 6.0 and generates cards from materials including documents, images, YouTube videos, and audio. You can try it for free on Web, iOS, or Android and check the current plans on the Memly pricing section.
Memly's free plan includes an initial AI allowance that does not refill monthly; card storage and flip-card review are not capped. If you want to keep generating AI cards every day without paying, Gizmo's free Magic Imports go further than Memly's free plan. Memly also lets you set an exam date on a deck and works out how many cards to study each day to cover them before the exam.
If you move cards between apps, plain text is the common format. Memly imports and exports CSV with front and back columns, not Anki's .apkg packages, review history, images, or audio, and the free CSV to Anki converter checks a two-column file before you import it into Anki.
Memly implements FSRS 6.0. The official scheduler benchmark also documents FSRS-7. For more detail, see how Memly uses FSRS 6.
To compare more than these two apps, use the Anki alternatives guide or the flashcard app comparison. Start with one chapter in your preferred app, check the cards, and return for the next review before moving the rest of your material.
Sources and dates checked
- Gizmo Help Center: Is it free? (August 28, 2026), What do I get with Gizmo Unlimited? (August 11, 2026), and Do you have an app? (July 8, 2026): checked October 5, 2026.
- Anki manual, FSRS deck options (supported since Anki 23.10) and exporting: checked October 5, 2026.
- AnkiMobile Flashcards on the US App Store, $24.99: checked October 5, 2026.
- Memly: free plan, CSV import and export format: checked by the Memly team on October 5, 2026.
