AlgoCards vs System Design Refresher
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
AlgoCards
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Master coding interviews with 390 problems, company-specific prep lists, and spaced repetition โ completely free. The only app with dedicated trading firm and quant interview prep. Practice the exact problems asked at Google, Meta, Amazon, Citadel, Jane Street, Two Sigma, Goldman Sachs, and 20+ more companies. WHAT'S INSIDE: - 390 curated problems with detailed Python solutions - Company-specific problem lists for 30+ companies - SM-2 spaced repetition for optimal review scheduling - Flashcard mode for on-the-go review - Algorithm pattern cheat sheets with code templates - Weakness detection that adapts to your performance COMPANY-SPECIFIC PREP: Filter problems by company and see what they actually ask. Coverage includes: Trading Firms: Citadel, Citadel Securities, Jane Street, Two Sigma, Jump Trading, Hudson River Trading, IMC, DE Shaw, SIG, Virtu, Point72, Millennium FAANG & Big Tech: Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Stripe, TikTok, Databricks, Nvidia, OpenAI, Palantir, and more ALGORITHM PATTERNS: - Arrays & Hashing - Two Pointers & Sliding Window - Binary Search - Stack & Queue - Linked Lists - Trees & Tries - Graphs & BFS/DFS - Dynamic Programming - Greedy - Heaps & Priority Queues - Backtracking SMART REVIEW SYSTEM: 1. Study problems in flashcard or detail mode 2. Rate your confidence after each problem 3. AlgoCards schedules your next review at the scientifically optimal interval 4. Weakness detection identifies your weak patterns and prioritizes them 5. Build lasting pattern recognition, not temporary memorization WHO IT'S FOR: - Software engineers prepping for FAANG and Big Tech - Quant developers targeting trading firms - CS students preparing for internship interviews - Career switchers learning algorithms and data structures 100% FREE. No paywall. No ads. No subscriptions. Every problem, every solution, every feature. Download AlgoCards and prep smarter.
System Design Refresher
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System Design Refresher is a free study companion for software engineers preparing for system design interviews. WHAT'S INSIDE โข 30+ system design articles covering distributed systems, databases, caching, and more โข Engineering blogs from top tech companies (Google, Meta, Stripe, Airbnb, and more) aggregated in one place โข AI-powered flashcards with spaced repetition โข Ask AI to summarize or explain any article in plain language โข Favorites, reading progress tracking, and custom RSS feeds FEATURES โข Works offline โ articles download for reading without internet โข Dark mode, font customization, and text size controls โข Face ID / Touch ID lock for privacy โข Sign in with Google or Apple, or use as a guest with no account required
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Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: System Design Refresher at none against AlgoCards's shown. AlgoCards's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.2). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AlgoCards ships an update every 9 days, System Design Refresher monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AlgoCards | System Design Refresher |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days โ better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 โ better | 26.2 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ryan Hamby | Saurabh Sharma |
In-app purchases
AlgoCards
No in-app purchases
System Design Refresher
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AlgoCards free?
Is System Design Refresher free?
Do AlgoCards or System Design Refresher have ads?
Which is updated more often, AlgoCards or System Design Refresher?
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