Exam prompt
How do mass number and proton number change in alpha decay?
How certain was your answer?
CorrectUnsureWrong
Opening your learning space
Starting the app …
Opening your learning space
Starting the app …
Anki offers FSRS, offline use and plugins. Quanta combines FSRS-6 with source-first card generation, STEM tools and a Readiness Score in one guided workflow.
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Physics · Radioactivity
Flashcard
Exam prompt
How do mass number and proton number change in alpha decay?
How certain was your answer?
„I have tried several flashcard apps, and so far I have liked Quanta best. […] The multiple-choice feature and exam simulation really help me too."Quanta is a modern Anki alternative with FSRS-6 and no manual activation, AI card generation from PDFs and source metadata for source-backed generation. In the open comparison, FSRS-6 reaches a log-loss of 0.3460 (srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026); that table carries no row for SM-2, and Anki supports FSRS as well. Anki stays strong on open source, offline use and plugins. Free forever: 1 topic, no more than 20 flashcards in total, and FSRS. Once over the account lifetime, in the guided entry: 10 AI flashcards and a multiple-choice test with 5 questions, plus 1 summary of a document. Each month 1 AI explanation, 10 dictation minutes and 60 voice formula inputs. Essential adds exam simulation and calendar import. Further AI flashcard generations require Essential.
Anki is a strong app. These criteria show where Quanta takes a different path and where Anki stays ahead.
FSRS-6 schedules reviews from stability, difficulty and retrievability. Anki supports FSRS and the legacy SM-2 scheduler; FSRS is enabled in the deck options. In Quanta, FSRS-6 runs without manual activation and individualized intervals begin after the first rating.
Verdict: If you want FSRS without manual activation, Quanta is the direct choice. If you already run Anki with FSRS enabled, you have the same scheduler core.
In Anki you create cards by hand, import decks or extend the core with add-ons. Quanta generates cards with AI from a PDF, a photo or a topic. Source-backed generation records source metadata; if no suitable source is found, no flashcards are created. The reviewed Anki core product pages do not document a built-in AI flashcard generator (checked 29 September 2026).
Verdict: Quanta saves you the manual card writing. If you prefer to phrase cards yourself, Anki keeps you in full control.
Anki is primarily a flashcard system with self-grading. Quanta’s AI tutor can ask diagnostic follow-up and counter-questions as well as provide explanations; the exam simulation conducts an oral-exam style dialogue. That is a different mode of study from the classic flashcard.
Verdict: For oral or concept-heavy exams, Quanta adds to the flashcard. For pure fact drilling, Anki’s model is enough.
Anki shows due cards, but no exam forecast. Quanta’s Readiness Score estimates, from your FSRS retention data, how prepared you are for a given date. It is an estimate, not a guarantee of passing.
Verdict: If you have a fixed exam date, Quanta gives you an orientation that Anki does not provide.
Export a supported Anki deck as .apkg and upload it to Quanta; supported question-and-answer content is carried over. CSV and TSV files, for example from Quizlet, take the same route. File import is available from Essential. FSRS-6 starts with default parameters and adapts as more ratings arrive.
Verdict: Supported card content can be carried over. Your Anki FSRS history is not transferred, so FSRS-6 adapts from new ratings in Quanta.
If your question-and-answer pairs come from NotebookLM, the guide Export NotebookLM flashcards helps you choose between adding to your existing Anki note types and importing checked text flashcards in a browser with a new study history.
A factual table, feature by feature. Algorithm data: srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026.
| Criterion | Quanta | Anki |
|---|---|---|
| Source metadata for source-backed AI generation | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| Supported schedulers | FSRS-6 | FSRS + legacy SM-2 |
| FSRS without manual activation | Yes | Enabled in deck options |
| Log-loss in the open srs-benchmark | FSRS-6: 0.3460 | Legacy SM-2: no row in the comparison |
| AI card generation from PDF | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| AI tutor (Socratic method) | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| LaTeX formulas | Native | Via MathJax/plugin |
| SMILES structure formulas (chemistry) | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| Readiness Score | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| Exam simulation | Yes | Not documented in the reviewed core product pages |
| iOS app price | €0 | $24.99 one-time |
| Anki import (.apkg) | Yes, from Essential | Yes |
| CSV / TSV import | Yes, from Essential | Yes |
| Plugin ecosystem | No | Yes |
| Full offline mode | Partial (PWA cache) | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
Log-loss data: srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026. FSRS paper: Ye et al. 2022, ACM SIGKDD, doi:10.1145/3534678.3539081. Prices and feature status checked 29 September 2026. FSRS in the app comparison
No app is the best choice for everything. Here are the strengths and weaknesses of both tools, including our own.
Strengths
Trade-offs
Strengths
Trade-offs
Anki supports FSRS and the legacy SM-2 scheduler; Quanta runs FSRS-6 without manual activation. In the open comparison run by the open-spaced-repetition community, FSRS-6 reaches a log-loss of 0.3460 on 349,923,850 reviews from 9,999 collections (retrieved on 5 September 2026); log-loss measures prediction error, lower is better, and that table carries no row for SM-2. The paper on its predecessor model, Ye et al. 2022 (ACM SIGKDD), reports 220 million behaviour logs and a 12.6% improvement over the state of the art. Both are results of those datasets, not a blanket product effect. None of this is a comparison against Anki running FSRS or against the Quanta app.
Sources: Ye et al. 2022, ACM SIGKDD, doi:10.1145/3534678.3539081 · srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026
For STEM students who want AI generation, LaTeX and FSRS without manual activation, Quanta is a modern alternative to Anki. In the open comparison, FSRS-6 reaches a log-loss of 0.3460 (srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026); Anki itself supports FSRS and legacy SM-2. Quanta adds AI card generation from PDF, native LaTeX and SMILES, a Readiness Score and exam simulation. Free forever: 1 topic, no more than 20 flashcards in total, and FSRS. Once over the account lifetime, in the guided entry: 10 AI flashcards and a multiple-choice test with 5 questions, plus 1 summary of a document. Each month 1 AI explanation, 10 dictation minutes and 60 voice formula inputs. Essential adds exam simulation and calendar import. Further generations require Essential. For a huge plugin ecosystem and full offline mode, Anki stays strong.
SM-2 was developed in 1987 by Piotr Wozniak. FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) goes back to Ye et al. 2022 (ACM SIGKDD, doi:10.1145/3534678.3539081); the paper reports 220 million behaviour logs and a 12.6% improvement over the state of the art. FSRS models stability, difficulty and current retrievability per flashcard. In the open comparison, FSRS-6 reaches a log-loss of 0.3460 (srs-benchmark (formerly fsrs-benchmark), open-spaced-repetition, retrieved 5 September 2026); that table carries no row for SM-2. Anki supports both schedulers today.
Yes. Quanta has a native Anki import: export a supported deck as .apkg and upload it to Quanta; supported question-and-answer content is carried over. LaTeX formulas in supported syntax are recognised. FSRS-6 starts with default parameters and adapts as more ratings arrive; your previous Anki FSRS history is not transferred. CSV and TSV files, for example from Quizlet, take the same route. File import is available from Essential.
The question and answer of supported cards are carried over on import. The FSRS study history from Anki is not transferred; FSRS-6 in Quanta starts with default parameters and adapts as new ratings arrive. If you already had FSRS enabled in Anki, the fine-tuned parameters are not imported. There is no guaranteed number of study days for adaptation.
Yes. Quanta specialises in STEM and can process material from biochemistry, anatomy, pharmacology, physiology and histology. With source-backed generation, Quanta Verified shows the source metadata used; without a suitable source no flashcards are created. Medical content should be checked like any other study material.
Quanta Starter: Free forever: 1 topic, no more than 20 flashcards in total, and FSRS. Once over the account lifetime, in the guided entry: 10 AI flashcards and a multiple-choice test with 5 questions, plus 1 summary of a document. Each month 1 AI explanation, 10 dictation minutes and 60 voice formula inputs. Essential adds exam simulation and calendar import. Further generations require Quanta Essential, which includes up to 200 AI cards per month. Quanta Performance from €15.00/month on the annual plan: up to 600 AI cards per month and 90 concepts in exam simulations. Anki Desktop and AnkiDroid are free; AnkiMobile on iOS costs $24.99 one-time. Quanta runs on iPhone as a PWA with a free Starter tier (checked 29 September 2026). What each of the four ways into Anki costs, and which of them is a one-time purchase, is documented in the article Anki pricing.
Yes. Quanta renders LaTeX as a live preview on all platforms (web, iOS, Android). Anki supports MathJax with text-based input. In Quanta, inline $E=mc^2$ and block $$\int_0^\infty e^{-x^2}dx$$ work visually right away. On top of that, Quanta renders SMILES structure formulas for chemistry automatically as a 2D structure image; a corresponding feature is not documented in the reviewed Anki core product pages (checked 29 September 2026).
What Anki got right, and where I wanted to go further
“Anki made spaced repetition accessible to millions, the plugin ecosystem is huge and the community has decks for almost every subject. I do not want to talk that down. Anki supports both FSRS and its legacy scheduler; FSRS is enabled in the deck options. In Quanta, FSRS-6 runs without manual activation and individualized intervals begin after the first rating. On top of that come AI card generation with a workflow-specific Bloom mix across levels 1 to 6 and a source log for source-backed AI cards; no-source cards are marked unverified.”
Choose Anki if you need open source, full offline mode and a large plugin ecosystem. Choose Quanta if you want FSRS-6 without manual activation, AI card generation from PDFs, source metadata for source-backed generation and a readiness estimate for your exam date, especially in STEM with LaTeX and chemistry formulas. Both support modern spaced repetition; the difference lies in workflow, AI and source transparency. Product and pricing details checked 29 September 2026.
Keep comparing
Compare the current plans
Review the free Starter plan and paid options in one dated comparison before choosing a workflow.
Free forever: 1 topic, no more than 20 flashcards in total, and FSRS. Once over the account lifetime, in the guided entry: 10 AI flashcards and a multiple-choice test with 5 questions, plus 1 summary of a document. Each month 1 AI explanation, 10 dictation minutes and 60 voice formula inputs. Essential adds exam simulation and calendar import. Anki import via .apkg from Essential.
Start for freeQuanta Study editorial team · 29 September 2026