Anki, the cult tool of power users
Anki is an institution in spaced repetition. Open source, free (except on iOS), launched in 2006, with millions of devoted users especially in medicine and languages. Its community is massive, shared decks cover nearly everything. It's the reference for memorization enthusiasts.
But Anki has well-known limits. Three keep coming up.
Limit 1: card creation
Anki doesn't generate anything. You type each card by hand, or find a shared deck that matches your course. For a specific university course, that's hours per chapter. It's the main reason 80% of users quit Anki within 3 months.
Diane solves this with AI generation. Drop your PDF, Word or video, AI produces the deck in under a minute. Massive time savings.
Limit 2: configuration complexity
Anki is powerful but configuration-heavy. FSRS-5 has been available since 2024, but you have to enable it manually and optimize parameters using the Optimize function after weeks of data. For non-technical users, it's a barrier.
Diane uses FSRS-5 by default and optimizes automatically. No configuration needed.
Limit 3: mobile UX
AnkiDroid (Android) is free but has a very utilitarian 2010s interface. AnkiMobile (iOS) costs $24.99 and the UX isn't revolutionary either. For new users, the experience can feel jarring.
Diane is built for 2026 with modern design, smooth onboarding, polished animations. iOS and Android are free with auto-sync.
When Anki stays the better fit
Anki keeps real advantages. If you study medicine and use massive community decks (e.g. AnKing for US med schools), Anki's community has no equivalent. If you want maximum customization with open source, Anki gives you more control.
If you do very advanced memorization with specific add-ons, Anki has a mature ecosystem Diane doesn't yet match.
Migration and coexistence
Diane reads Anki decks (CSV (which Anki imports directly)). You can import existing decks while keeping your Anki account active. Many users keep Anki for community decks (medicine, languages) and use Diane for their own AI-generated content.
Anki export works the other way too. Diane decks export to CSV and import into Anki if you want to stay there.