Comparison

Fern vs Sprachprep

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

Head to head
About

Fern

Features
Read full description

Fern is a beautiful flashcard app for learning languages. Words come from where you actually meet them: the book you are reading, a video with subtitles, a photo of a page. Everything runs on your device, with no account, no cloud and no ads. SMART REVIEW An FSRS scheduler brings a word back exactly when memory starts letting go of it. The "At risk of forgetting" section gathers what is about to slip, and "Best time to study" points to the hour when your sessions work best. The algorithm tunes itself from your own review history. 12 STUDY MODES Learn, Flashcards, Test, Match, Write, Dictation, Build a phrase, Audio, Context, Hard words, Speed review, Cram. The Learn mode walks each word up the ladder of mastery on its own, from recognition to free recall. FROM BOOKS An EPUB, FB2, TXT and SRT reader with tap-to-translate. Chapters, bookmarks, reading themes, read-aloud, paged and scrolling layouts, bilingual view with a paragraph translation. Smart analysis shows how much of a text you already know and which words to learn first. FROM VIDEO Paste a link to a video with subtitles and the lines turn into cards with translation and real-voice audio, while the video itself reads in karaoke mode. FROM PHOTOS Snap a page and Fern recognises the text, then offers the unfamiliar words as cards. Recognition works offline for Latin script. QUICK CAPTURE A word from the clipboard, an article by URL, a quick "word โ€” translation" list. A card takes a couple of taps, translation included. GRAMMAR ON THE CARD Verb conjugation and noun forms for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Russian, right on the back of the card. MOTIVATION Daily goals with a progress ring, a study streak with freeze shields for the day you miss, achievements and weekly stats: vocabulary composition, parts of speech, activity heatmap, review forecast. LOOK AND FEEL Deep green theme, light and dark schemes, switching by time of day. Large tiles and live animation throughout. LANGUAGES Interface in English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Over 55 study languages, plus your own custom ones. Ready-made starter decks, deck import from Anki (.apkg), CSV and TSV, vocabulary export. PRIVACY Decks, words and stats stay on the device. No analytics, no cloud backup. A backup is an ordinary file you keep yourself, and restoring it can either replace everything or merge only what is new. FERN PRO Cards, every study mode, the scheduler, stats, reminders, backups and vocabulary export are free, with no limit on decks or words. Fern Pro unlocks your own material: books, videos, articles, text recognition from photos and imported decks. The first source is free, so you can try it on your own book before paying. The subscription runs monthly or yearly and is cancelled in the app with one tap; anyone who bought Fern Pro earlier keeps it for good. The Fern Pro subscription renews on its own until you cancel it in Apple ID settings. The App Store shows the price and the period on this page. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://thet1me-1.github.io/Fern/privacy.html Fern is free software under GPL-3.0.

About

Sprachprep

Features
Read full description

Prepare for German exams with focused practice that fits your day. Sprachprep brings grammar, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, speaking, and timed mock practice into one clear learning experience. โ€ข Study German from A1 to B2 โ€ข Practice grammar and vocabulary with instant feedback โ€ข Build reading and listening confidence โ€ข Prepare writing and speaking responses โ€ข Track progress, streaks, and completed lessons โ€ข Subscribers can access selected lessons offline; full sync and AI features require internet โ€ข Sign in to sync progress across Sprachprep Sprachprep is an independent exam-preparation product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Goethe-Institut. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Fern4 screens
Sprachprep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Sprachprep at every 2 days against Fern's every 5 days. Fern's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). 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. Fern sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sprachprep sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fern ships an update every 5 days, Sprachprep every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Fern versus Sprachprep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFernSprachprep
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 2 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPod โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.5 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size114 MB51 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperAlexandr MatrosovAbobaker Mohammadi

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Fern

One-time1
  • Fern Pro$9.99
2 purchases

Sprachprep

Subscriptions2
  • Sprachprep Premium Monthly3 Days trial$9.001 Month
  • Sprachprep Premium Annual3 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Fern free?
Fern is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sprachprep free?
Sprachprep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Fern or Sprachprep have ads?
Neither Fern nor Sprachprep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fern or Sprachprep?
Fern ships an update every 5 days, and Sprachprep every 2 days. Most recently, Fern was updated on October 3, 2026 and Sprachprep on October 14, 2026.

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