Comparison

Truly Simple Flashcards vs Poly Flashcards

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Truly Simple Flashcards

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Truly Simple Flashcards is a clean, no-subscription spaced-repetition app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Whether you're a student cramming for exams, a language learner building vocabulary, a professional studying for boards, or simply an Anki refugee looking for a modern alternative, this app does the core job exceptionally well and stops there. Make decks, add cards, and study. The app decides when to show each card again using FSRS, which is the same modern spaced-repetition algorithm power users trust. By asking you to grade how hard a card was to recall, the schedule adapts, ensuring you only spend time on the concepts you are about to forget. Bring in your existing decks from Anki or a spreadsheet, export your decks to use elsewhere, study seamlessly across all your Apple devices, and own your software forever. Features: โ€ข Smart scheduling: Uses the proven FSRS algorithm to adapt to your memory, with an adjustable "target retention" rate per deck. โ€ข Two card types: Create classic front-and-back cards, or use fill-in-the-blank (cloze) cards to memorize words in context. Images are fully supported on either side of the card. โ€ข Simple imports: Bring your existing decks with you. Easily import Anki files (.apkg / .colpkg, including the newest formats) or CSV/TSV spreadsheets. โ€ข Two-way study: Turn on two-way review to test your recall back-to-front, which is especially effective for learning vocabulary words. โ€ข Paced learning: Set a daily limit for new cards so a huge imported deck doesn't overwhelm your study session. โ€ข Flip-through mode: Review a deck casually without affecting your spaced-repetition schedule. โ€ข Reliable device sync: Your decks sync privately and securely through your own personal iCloud account across your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. โ€ข Genuinely accessible: Built natively for Apple devices with full VoiceOver support, Dynamic Type for comfortable reading, light/dark modes, and calm, minimal motion. โ€ข Pay once, keep forever: Use one deck for free with unlimited cards. Unlock unlimited decks with a one-time, lifetime in-app purchase. No subscriptions, no ads, no hidden fees.

About

Poly Flashcards

Features
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Remember more. Use what you learn. Turn your notes into flashcards, your audio into useful vocabulary, and everyday conversations into personal language practice. Poly brings creation, listening, speaking and spaced repetition together in one focused app. Learn a language, prepare for an exam, build professional knowledge or explore a new interest. Start with your own material and make it yours. A POWERFUL CORE, FREE Create unlimited decks and flashcards. Organize them into folders, edit your cards, import existing material and study with Smart Review. No Poly account or subscription is required for the core experience. REMEMBER MORE, EVERY DAY Smart Review uses FSRS spaced repetition to choose what needs attention next. Study one deck, a folder or your whole library. Focus on due cards, difficult material or new cards, and use Catch-Up when your backlog grows. Undo a mistaken rating and pause cards that need a rethink. TURN NOTES AND PICTURES INTO CARDS Paste structured notes or scan a page, then check and edit the cards before saving. Create two-way cards and fill-in-the-blank questions. Hide labels on diagrams and photos for visual recall. Keep useful images, audio and language details with your cards. LEARN FROM WHAT YOU HEAR Import an audio lesson and add or create a timed transcript. Jump to a sentence, repeat a difficult line and look up words in context. Save useful words or complete sentences as flashcards with their original audio clips. Listen, record and replay yourself with shadowing practice. PRACTISE EVERY SIDE OF A LANGUAGE Understand, Recall, Listen, Dictation, Type and Speak train different skills from the same material. Check typed answers, choose how strictly to handle accents and compare spoken answers with recognized text. Add readings, pronunciation and grammar to support your learning. MAKE LANGUAGE PERSONAL Build a Language Island: a bilingual script for introducing yourself, ordering food or talking about your life. Write or import sentence pairs, choose recall pauses and preview the first two pairs with device voices. AI+ creates the complete professional audio for repeated listening and practice. CREATE WITH OPTIONAL AI+ Build editable flashcards from a focused prompt, or enrich a word with examples, grammar and natural phrases. Explore due-word conversations, optional sound coaching and Card Doctor suggestions for troublesome cards. AI+ also includes professional speech and all Pro features. Check AI-generated facts and translations before studying. BRING YOUR LEARNING WITH YOU Import and export supported Anki packages, CSV and Quizlet text. Keep a complete Poly backup. Study saved material offline, use iPad handwriting and larger layouts, or transfer supported short text cards and audio to Apple Watch for quick sessions away from your phone. SEE YOUR PROGRESS GROW Follow your reviews, streaks and language activity. Build a routine with reminders and use your progress to choose what to practise next. Pro Lifetime adds iCloud sync and advanced retention, mastery and workload insights. CHOOSE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU The core app is free. Pro is an optional lifetime purchase. AI+ is an optional monthly or annual subscription with usage allowances. New AI requests and online downloads require a connection; speech recognition availability varies by device and language. Privacy Policy: https://getpoly.dev/privacy Terms: https://getpoly.dev/terms

Screenshots

Truly Simple Flashcards3 screens
Poly Flashcards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Poly Flashcards at every 2 weeks against Truly Simple Flashcards's every 6 weeks. On price, ads, 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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Truly Simple Flashcards sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Poly Flashcards sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Truly Simple Flashcards ships an update every 6 weeks, Poly Flashcards every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Truly Simple Flashcards versus Poly Flashcards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTruly Simple FlashcardsPoly Flashcards
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size2 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperColin WrightColin Kelly

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Truly Simple Flashcards

One-time1
  • Pro$4.99
3 purchases

Poly Flashcards

Subscriptions2
  • Poly AI+ Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Poly AI+ Annual$44.991 Year
One-time1
  • Poly Pro Lifetime$3.99

Questions

Is Truly Simple Flashcards free?
Truly Simple Flashcards is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Poly Flashcards free?
Poly Flashcards is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Truly Simple Flashcards or Poly Flashcards have ads?
Neither Truly Simple Flashcards nor Poly Flashcards shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Truly Simple Flashcards or Poly Flashcards?
Truly Simple Flashcards ships an update every 6 weeks, and Poly Flashcards every 2 weeks. Most recently, Truly Simple Flashcards was updated on October 9, 2026 and Poly Flashcards on October 2, 2026.

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