The best Anki alternatives for Mac
Anki alternatives for Mac: Koi, RemNote, Mochi and Knowt compared with Anki itself on AI cards from PDFs, spaced repetition, phone apps and price.
Start here
What RemNote does well, and what it costs
RemNote puts notes and flashcards in one app: you write notes, turn lines into cards, and review them with spaced repetition. It has apps for Mac (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, lists an Offline Mode, and syncs across as many devices as you like.
Its pricing page sets out three plans. Free has unlimited notes and flashcards, but 3 annotated PDFs, 5 AI cards from text, PDFs or slides, 3 tables and 1 exam in the Exam Scheduler. Pro, $8 a month or $96 a year, lifts those caps and allows 50 AI cards. Pro with AI, $18 a month or $216 a year, adds Learn PDF (AI flashcards, quizzes and summaries), a lecture recorder and AI grading.
We make Koi, so read this with that in mind. Every fact about another app comes from its own site or App Store page, checked October 21, 2026. We didn't run tests.
Why switch
Why people look for a RemNote alternative
- It's a lot of app. Knowledge bases, portals, aliases, cloze cards and templates take time to learn.
- The AI that writes cards from a PDF, and the lecture recorder, are on the $18 plan.
- The free plan's caps on PDFs, tables and AI cards bite once term starts.
- They want plain documents they can export to Word, not a web of linked bullets.
- They want a single, simpler Mac app, and don't need it on their phone.
Stay
When RemNote is still the better pick
Stay on RemNote if
- You review on your phone. Koi has no iPhone or Android app, and no sync.
- You annotate PDFs and make cards from the highlights. Koi imports a PDF's words; it doesn't mark up the PDF.
- You use cloze cards, image occlusion or handwritten notes. Koi's cards are a front and a back.
- You link notes into a knowledge base, with portals and aliases.
- You plan revision with RemNote's Exam Scheduler.
- You want it cheap. RemNote Free costs nothing and Pro is $8 a month.
The list
5 RemNote alternatives, ranked
1. Koi
Best for: Simple notes and flashcards on a Mac, written for you from PDFs, slides and lectures
Koi is a native Mac app where notes and flashcards share the same pages. Type /flashcards for a table with a front and a back column, then click its Study pill: one card at a time, Space for the back, then Again, Hard, Good or Easy. Each card comes back when it's due, spaced out the way Anki does it, and when each is due is kept with the page on your Mac.
The AI part is built in on every plan, not a higher tier. Import a PDF, Word file or slides and choose Make study notes for a summary, key points, flashcards and a quiz. Tap Fn + ⌃, pick In person, and a class you record becomes notes with flashcards once you say yes. That uses Koi's AI, which is online and counts toward your plan's Koi usage.
Where it loses: no phone, no sync, no PDF markup, no cloze or picture cards, no linked knowledge base, no free plan. Pro is $20 a month or $192 a year after a 3-day trial, or Lifetime from $59 once.
2. Anki
Best for: Free spaced repetition, if you don't need notes
Anki is free on Mac (macOS 13 or later), Windows, Linux and Android, with free AnkiWeb sync, and AnkiMobile is $24.99 once on iPhone. It does cards and only cards, with shared decks and add-ons, and your collection lives on your device. No AI writes them. See our Anki alternatives for Mac.
3. Mochi
Best for: Markdown notes and cards, offline, with no sign-up
Mochi is the nearest thing to a lighter RemNote: notes and cards in Markdown, on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and the web. Free is unlimited and offline, with your data on your device. Pro, $5 a month, adds sync, deck publishing and AI. It won't read a PDF and write the cards for you.
4. Knowt
Best for: Free study modes in a browser
Knowt's Learn, practice tests and spaced repetition are free on your own sets, and it imports Quizlet. AI summaries of PDFs, slides and lectures are one a month on Free; Ultra is $24.99 a month or $149.99 a year. Web, iPhone and Android, with no Mac app listed. More in our Knowt alternatives.
5. Quizlet
Best for: Shared sets and study games
Quizlet is sets rather than notes, with Learn, practice tests and a big library of other people's sets. It's on the web, iPhone and iPad; the App Store lists Plus from $9.99 as an in-app purchase. No Mac app. See our Quizlet alternatives for Mac.
Comparison
RemNote alternatives compared
From each app's own site or App Store page, checked October 21, 2026.
| Koi | RemNote | Anki | Mochi | Knowt | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes and cards together | Yes | Yes | Cards only | Yes | Yes |
| Mac app | Yes, native | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Phone app | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI cards from a PDF | Every plan | 5 free, more on paid plans | No | No | 1 summary a month free |
| Records lectures | Yes, every plan | Pro with AI | No | No | Yes |
| Where notes are kept | On your Mac | Your account, synced | Your device | Your device | Your account |
| Price | $20 a month, Lifetime from $59 | Free; $8 or $18 a month | Free on Mac | Free; Pro $5 a month | Free; Ultra $24.99 a month |
How to
How to make study notes from a PDF in Koi
- Choose Import in the Documents window, or File, Import… in the menu bar, and pick the PDF. Koi also takes Word documents, PowerPoint slides, Markdown and text, and reads them on your Mac into a page of their words.
- Choose Make study notes from the page's document menu. It works on any page, not only imported ones.
- Koi writes a new page with a summary, the key points, flashcards, and a multiple-choice quiz kept as flashcards too.
- Click the Study pill over the flashcards to start. Rate each card, and it comes back when it's due.
The page's words, up to 120,000 characters, go to Koi's AI, and what comes back is kept only in the new page on your Mac. Our guide on making flashcards from a PDF on a Mac has more.
The page
Notes that look like documents
RemNote's notes are bullets you link together. Koi's are documents: a full editor with headings, tables, to-do lists, pictures, one of 11 chart types drawn from a small table, and equations. Type /equation, or LaTeX between $$ and $$, and it's drawn in the page. Pages export to Word or PDF on A4 or US Letter paper, or copy as Markdown.
Tap Fn + ⌥ to talk your notes onto the page. Dictation runs on your Mac and works offline. More on Koi's notes and documents, or see our list of notes apps with LaTeX.
Head to head
RemNote vs Koi
- Devices: RemNote is on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android with sync. Koi is one Mac.
- AI: RemNote's AI cards and Learn PDF need Pro with AI at $18 a month for real use. Koi's study notes are on every plan, within its Koi usage.
- Cards: RemNote has cloze, image occlusion and LaTeX cloze. Koi has front and back.
- PDFs: RemNote annotates them. Koi imports their words and writes notes and cards from them.
- Lectures: RemNote's recorder is on Pro with AI. Koi records on every plan, written down on your Mac.
- Beyond study: Koi also dictates in any app, records calls, and keeps a calendar.
Before you switch
Can you bring your RemNote notes?
Partly. RemNote exports a document as Markdown from the … menu at its top right, and Koi imports Markdown as a page of its words with File, Import…. Your flashcards and review history won't come across: Koi has no import for them. If you keep RemNote for old material and use Koi for this term's, you don't have to move anything.
Study mode
A tutor that won't just hand you the answer
RemNote's top plan has AI grading and chat. Koi has Study mode: turn it on in Settings, under Koi, or from the menu bar, tap Fn + ⌘, and ask about the problem on your screen. Koi circles where your working went wrong, asks what you'd try next, draws only the next step, and keeps a flashcard for each thing you missed on a page called “What I got wrong”. It's a call with Koi's AI, so it's online.
Choosing
Which RemNote alternative should you pick?
- Notes and cards on your phone too? Stay on RemNote.
- Cards only, free, for years? Anki.
- Something lighter, in Markdown, offline? Mochi.
- Free study modes in a browser? Knowt.
- Shared sets and games? Quizlet.
- Plain documents and cards on a Mac, with AI and lecture recording on every plan? Koi.
See Koi's study tools or the plans.
Keep exploring
The best Knowt alternatives in 2026
Knowt alternatives compared: Koi, Quizlet, Anki, RemNote, StudyFetch and Gizmo, on AI notes from lectures and PDFs, spaced repetition, Mac apps and price.
The best Quizlet alternatives for Mac
Quizlet has no Mac app. These Quizlet alternatives for Mac compared: Koi, Anki, Knowt, RemNote, Gizmo and Mochi, on AI cards, spaced repetition and price.
The best notes apps with LaTeX for Mac
The best notes apps with LaTeX for Mac: Typora, Bear, Obsidian, Notion, Craft, Capacities, Ulysses and Koi, compared on numbering, exports and price.
Support
Frequently asked questions
RemNote has a free plan. Pro is $8 a month or $96 a year, and Pro with AI is $18 a month or $216 a year, according to its pricing page.
Yes. RemNote has a Mac app for Apple silicon and Intel, plus Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android.
Mochi keeps notes and cards in plain Markdown, free and offline. Koi keeps notes as documents on your Mac with flashcard tables, and writes cards from PDFs for you.
No. Koi's flashcards are a table with a front and a back. For cloze and image occlusion, RemNote and Anki are better.
Notes exported as Markdown can be imported as pages with File, Import. Flashcards and review history don't come across.