Anki vs Physical Flashcards vs UltraMemory: Which Spaced Repetition System Is Best for You?

Once spaced repetition clicks, one question jumps out: what should you use to actually do this?

A quick search throws you into a mix of options. There’s Anki, with its loyal power‑user community. There are people advocating for low‑tech paper cards. And there are newer tools built to feel more like modern productivity apps.

If you’re a student with time to experiment, you can play with all of them. If you’re running a team or a company, you probably don’t want your learning system to turn into a side project.

Let’s walk through the trade‑offs so you can choose something that fits your life and then get on with the real work.

Anki: the veteran power tool

Anki has been around for years. It’s open source, full of features, and beloved by serious exam‑takers, language learners, and self‑taught engineers.

With Anki, you can control almost everything: card templates, scheduling behavior, add‑ons, statistics. You can sync across devices and tap into a huge ecosystem of shared decks.

That power comes at a cost. The interface can feel dated. The number of options is overwhelming at first. Getting sync and media working exactly the way you like can take tinkering.

If you enjoy configuring tools and don’t mind spending time on setup, Anki can be a fantastic fit. If you want to be productive in ten minutes, it can feel like a lot.

Physical flashcards: low tech, surprisingly capable

On the other end of the spectrum are physical index cards.

There’s something appealing about a stack of cards and a pen. Writing by hand can help ideas stick. You’ll never get a notification or be tempted to “just check one more thing” on a paper deck.

You can implement basic spacing using a simple box system: cards you know move further back, cards you struggle with stay near the front.

The limitations are clear too. It’s hard to manage large volumes. There’s no search, no tags, no analytics. And if your life spans multiple locations and devices, a physical deck can’t be everywhere you are.

For a specific course, workshop, or short‑term goal, physical cards can be great. For a multi‑year professional learning system, they start to creak.

UltraMemory: built around professional use

UltraMemory sits in a different spot. It’s designed less for exams and more for knowledge workers and leaders who want to keep high‑leverage ideas alive.

You capture insights from books, meetings, courses, and projects as smart flashcards. UltraMemory then schedules short daily review sessions that fit around your workday.

The focus is on making the right things easy:

• A clean, distraction‑free interface you don’t need a manual for
• Card patterns that work well for frameworks, processes, and playbooks
• One place to keep language, leadership, and domain knowledge side by side

You give up some of the fine‑grained control of something like Anki. In return, you get a workflow that feels like it belongs in a modern professional toolkit, not in a hobbyist setup.

How to make a choice you’ll stick with

When you strip away the surface differences, the real question is how much complexity you want to manage in exchange for power.

If you love to tweak and optimize, and you’re dealing with huge, exam‑style decks, Anki is a strong candidate.

If you want something tangible and minimal, and your learning need is clearly bounded in time, a physical deck is more than enough.

If you want a system that aligns with the way you already work – short, focused sessions integrated with your professional reading and decision‑making – UltraMemory is likely the easiest place to start.

Most importantly, don’t let “choosing the perfect tool” delay you from building the habit. The real benefits come from months and years of steady review, not from a clever configuration.

Pick something you can see yourself opening every day, and give it a fair trial.