Does Quizlet have real Spaced Repetition?

Yes now, but according to the Quizlet help only on the website. You rate with Repeat, Hard, Okay or Easy, and Quizlet schedules the next review. Which algorithm is behind it is not documented. checkst uses FSRS, including in the iPhone app.

What does Quizlet Plus cost?

On the official upgrade page, Plus costs 35.99 USD and Plus Unlimited costs 44.99 USD per year. The German App Store lists items for 9.99 € and 44.99 €, without clearly assigning the terms. The free version shows ads.

Can I import Quizlet sets into checkst?

Not directly. Quizlet exports your own sets as text with terms and definitions, without images and without study progress. According to Quizlet, copied sets from others cannot be exported at all. You can import the text into Anki Desktop and open it from there as .apkg in checkst.

Can I use Quizlet offline?

Partly in the apps: flashcards and Match work offline, Learn and AI features do not. The app automatically saves the eight most recently studied sets. Whether this applies without Plus is documented contradictorily.

checkst vs. Quizlet: The better flashcard app?

You probably know Quizlet from school: public study sets, study games, tests, AI features, and often a link from the teacher to the class. And for a few years now also paywalls in places where there were none before.

checkst is the alternative model for anyone who wants to retain their cards not just until the next exam, but in the long term. Here is the fair comparison.

Status: November 2026. All information about Quizlet comes from the sources linked below.

The comparison at a glance

	checkst	Quizlet
Platforms	iPhone and iPad	iPhone, iPad, Android, Web
Free version	Core features free, without ads	Create and study cards, with ads; Learn only limited rounds, one test per set
Payment model	Pro 4.99 EUR for six months (subscription, renews automatically)	Plus 35.99 USD/year, Plus Unlimited 44.99 USD/year; in the German App Store, among others, 9.99 € and 44.99 €
Spaced Repetition	FSRS, in the app	documented only on the website, algorithm not named
.apkg	Import with learning progress, export	no; import and export only as text
Images on export	yes, in the .apkg	no
AI	Cards from text, PDF, photos; on-device or your own OpenAI key	Smart Assist (text, PDF, PowerPoint, Word), Study Guides, practice tests, Audio Notes
Public sets	Community decks, Anki decks via .apkg	search, copy, and adapt public study sets
Offline	yes, all decks	Apps: flashcards and Match, eight most recently studied sets automatically
Study modes	Flashcards with FSRS	Flashcards, Learn, Test, Match, Spaced Repetition (web)

Where Quizlet is ahead

The library. Search, copy, and adapt public study sets instead of typing everything yourself. If your course or class already uses Quizlet, the material is simply there. That is Quizlet's strongest argument.

Variety. Flashcards, Learn with adaptive questions, tests, the Match matching game, all from the same set. If you get bored with plain front and back sides, Quizlet offers more formats. checkst focuses on flashcards with repetition, plus read-aloud and study groups.

Classes. Teachers can bundle sets into classes, and invited members get Learn and Test for these sets for free according to Quizlet help. For school, that is convenient.

Platforms. Website, Android, iPhone, iPad. checkst is only available on iOS.

AI with many inputs. Smart Assist creates card drafts from text, PDFs, PowerPoint and Word files; Audio Notes transcribes recordings and turns them into cards. Q-Chat, the earlier chatbot, has been discontinued since June 2025.

Where checkst is ahead

Spaced Repetition that works everywhere. In 2024, users reported on Reddit that the Memory Score and the then-existing review function had disappeared: "Why are we paying them". Quizlet now again documents Spaced Repetition with Repeat, Hard, Okay and Easy, but according to the help only on the website, and without saying which algorithm it uses. checkst uses FSRS directly in the iPhone app and shows you with each rating when the card will come back.

No paywall before studying. In 2022, Quizlet put Learn behind a paywall and removed Write. The reaction on Reddit: "Deleting write and putting learn behind a paywall is just stupid." Today you get a limited number of Learn rounds per set and one test per set for free. Even Plus has limits according to the upgrade page: 20 Learn rounds, 3 AI practice tests and 3 textbook solutions per month. Unlimited only comes with Plus Unlimited. In checkst, repetition is not rationed.

Anki decks and real export. Quizlet cannot read or write .apkg. Import and export run as text with term and definition, and according to Quizlet images are not exported, nor is study progress. You cannot export copied sets from others at all. checkst imports and exports .apkg with media and cloze cards.

Offline without a guessing game. The Quizlet apps can work offline with flashcards and Match, but not Learn or AI. The eight most recently studied sets are saved automatically. Whether this works without Plus is documented contradictorily: the subscription overview lists offline study among the benefits, while the offline guide mentions no Plus requirement. In checkst, all decks are stored locally.

Privacy. Quizlet's App Store label lists possible tracking of purchases, location, user content, search history, identifiers and usage data. According to the privacy policy, data may be transferred to the USA. Profile, classes and certain study activities may be publicly visible. checkst shows no ads, and AI card generation runs on the device by default using Apple's Foundation Models.

German without autocorrect annoyance. In the German App Store, users criticize incorrect automatic word suggestions, for example with articles, and the automatic capitalization. It sounds like a minor issue, but it annoys you every day when learning vocabulary.

Prices

The official upgrade page lists in USD: Plus 35.99 per year, Plus Unlimited 44.99 per year. According to the help, both are also available monthly. The German App Store lists in-app purchases for 9.99 € and 44.99 € (Plus) as well as 35.99 € (Teacher), without clearly assigning the terms. The research found no lifetime offer. The free version contains ads.

checkst Pro costs 4.99 EUR for six months and renews automatically until you cancel. The core features cost nothing.

Moving from Quizlet to checkst

In Quizlet, open one of your own sets and export it as text. Copied sets from others cannot be exported.
Import the text into Anki Desktop. This is a method described in the Anki forum.
Export the deck from Anki as .apkg and open it with checkst on the iPhone.
You need to add images by hand, as Quizlet does not export them.

Conclusion

Quizlet fits if your course already has sets there, you want variety through study games and tests, you study on Android or in the browser, or your teacher sets up classes.
checkst fits if you want to retain long-term what you learn on the iPhone, want FSRS in the app rather than only in the browser, use Anki decks, and do not want to face a paywall at your next study round.