The best Cram alternatives, now that Cram has closed
Cram.com was retired on 9 November 2026 and its flashcards went with it. Six apps to make and study flashcards in instead: what each does well, where it falls short, and what it costs.
We make Breef, and it’s on this list. It comes first because it’s ours, not because it ranks first: the others are in no particular order. Every app is described from its own website and help pages as of November 2026, with what it does better than Breef said plainly.
The short answer
If you used Cram for other people’s sets, Quizlet is the closest replacement: the largest library of student-made sets, with the same kind of study modes and games. Knowt is a free alternative in the same style that imports Quizlet sets, and Brainscape has expert-made decks for exams such as the MCAT. If you made your own cards, Anki is free on computers and Android, has shared decks too, and schedules every card for spaced review.
If you just need somewhere to type your cards again with no account, Breef’s free flashcard maker takes a card a line or two columns pasted from a spreadsheet, and downloads a deck Anki imports. And if you’d rather not make cards at all, Gizmo makes them from your files, and Breef reviews your notes themselves at growing gaps.
Cram, run by Learneo, closed on 9 November 2026. Its notice says the site is offline for good, logins are disabled, and no content or features move to another platform: public sets no longer load, and the only way to keep your own was to download them before that date. Libraries and teachers who linked to Cram now send students to a closing notice.
Cram did three jobs: making flashcards, studying them with a few modes and games, and sharing them, with millions of sets made by other students. No app here does all three the way Cram did, so pick by the job you used it for. The table shows which of them also schedule spaced review, so cards come back just before you’d forget them.
AI flashcards and quizzes from your files and Quizlet sets
YesAutomatic in Memorise mode, with nothing to set up
1Breef
Typing or pasting your cards again, free, with no account
Price
Free; Pro €6 a month or €48 a year
Platforms
In the browser on any computer or phone; installable
Breef is a study app, and its free flashcard maker does the card-making half of Cram’s job with no sign-up: type a card a line as question :: answer, or paste two columns from Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers, turn the cards over to check them, and download a deck Anki imports as it is, up to 2,000 cards at a time. Nothing is uploaded. In the Breef app itself, a “question :: answer” line in a note becomes a card reviewed with that note on an FSRS schedule, and every note is reviewed too, with quiz questions written from it.
Strengths
A flashcard maker that’s free, needs no account, and reads columns pasted from a spreadsheet
Decks download as a file Anki imports, with the deck and fields already set
In the app, cards and notes are scheduled for spaced review, with an exam date per course
Limits
No library of shared sets: you bring your own cards
No games or study modes like Cram’s: the flashcard maker is for making cards, the app for reviewing them
2Quizlet
Study sets, games and sets other people have made
Price
Free, with ads; Quizlet Plus paid
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Quizlet is built around study sets: terms and definitions you drill with Learn, Test, Match and games, from a vast library of sets made by other students and teachers, or your own. Type, paste or upload your notes, or record a lecture, and its AI builds a study set from them. The free plan has ads and limits; Quizlet Plus removes the ads, lifts the limits and adds offline study.
Strengths
A huge library of sets made by other students
Games and study modes that make drilling quick
AI study sets from your notes or a recorded lecture
Limits
Ads and limits on the free plan
Built for terms and definitions more than long explanations
A free Quizlet-style app that makes cards from your files
Price
Free, with ads; Ultra $95.99 a year or $24.99 a month
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android, Chrome extension
Knowt is an AI study app: give it a PDF, slides, a video or a lecture recording and it makes notes, flashcards and practice tests from it, and Quizlet sets import in a couple of clicks. Its study modes, Learn, Practice Test, Match and a Spaced Repetition mode where you rate each card Again, Hard, Good or Easy, are free on your own sets. The free plan has ads and one AI summary of a file a month; Ultra lifts the limits.
Strengths
Spaced repetition and study modes free on your own sets
Quizlet sets imported in a couple of clicks
Notes, flashcards and practice tests from files and lectures
Limits
One AI summary of a file a month on the free plan, with ads
Your own cards and shared decks, free, with spaced review
Price
Free; iOS app $24.99 once
Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS; AnkiWeb in the browser
Anki is the long-standing flashcard app: you write cards, or download decks others have shared, and it schedules each card with SM-2 or the adaptive FSRS. It’s free on computers and Android, with a paid iOS app and free sync through AnkiWeb. It isn’t a place to take notes, so many students pair it with one that is.
Strengths
A scheduler you can tune in depth, FSRS included
Shared decks for medicine, languages and much more
Expert-made decks and quick sessions on your phone
Price
Free; Pro $7.99 a month, billed yearly
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Brainscape is a flashcard app built around Confidence-Based Repetition: after each card you rate how well you knew it from 1 to 5, and the cards you rate low come back much sooner. You can write your own cards, have AI make them from a PDF, slides or notes, or study certified decks made by its experts. The free plan covers your own cards and 2,500 premade ones; Pro unlocks every certified deck and unlimited AI cards.
Strengths
Certified decks made by experts, for exams such as the MCAT
AI flashcards and quizzes from your files and Quizlet sets
Price
Free; Gizmo Unlimited paid, priced by region
Platforms
Web, iOS, Android
Gizmo turns your material into flashcards and quizzes with its Magic Import: PDFs, slides, lecture audio, photos of handwritten notes, web pages, Quizlet sets and Anki decks. You study in Memorise mode, where spaced repetition runs on its own: a right answer pushes a card further out, up to every few weeks, and a wrong one brings it back sooner. An AI tutor, XP, leagues and live quizzes with friends make it a game. The free plan has 15 hearts and a 20-minute wait between imports; Unlimited removes both.
Strengths
Imports Anki decks and Quizlet sets
Cards and quizzes from slides, audio and photos of notes
Spaced repetition with nothing to configure
Limits
Hearts and a wait between imports on the free plan
No published price: it’s shown in the app, by device and region
We started from what Cram was used for, making flashcards, studying them and finding sets other students had made, and picked apps that do at least one of those as well or better, free or with a useful free plan. For each, we checked on its own website, pricing and help pages in November 2026 what you study in it, whether it has shared sets, whether it makes cards for you, whether it schedules spaced review, which devices it runs on and what it costs.
What’s said about Cram’s closing is from its own notice, “Important Update: Cram is Retiring”, on Cram’s help centre, dated 5 October 2026. Prices are as each vendor states them, in its own currency, and they change often; where a vendor doesn’t publish one, we say so. We didn’t score or rank the apps. If something here is out of date, write to support@breef.app and we’ll put it right.
Questions
What happened to Cram?
Cram.com was retired on 9 November 2026. Learneo, which ran it, says the site is offline for good, logins are disabled and accounts and data will be deleted, and that no content or features move to another platform.
Can I still get my Cram flashcards back?
Not from Cram. Its notice asked users to download their content before 9 November; after that, accounts can’t be opened. Search engines and archive sites may keep cached copies of public sets for a while, and that’s the only place they might still be found.
What is the closest alternative to Cram?
For sets made by other students and quick study games, Quizlet, or Knowt for a free plan in the same style. For making and reviewing your own cards for free, Anki. For typing cards again with no account at all, Breef’s flashcard maker.
How do I move cards I saved from Cram?
If your file has a question and an answer on each line, with a tab or a comma between them, you can paste its rows into Quizlet’s Import box on its website, or open the file itself in Anki with File › Import. Breef’s flashcard maker reads two columns separated by a tab or a semicolon, so pasting the rows from a spreadsheet works, and it gives you a file Anki imports.
Is there a free alternative to Cram?
Yes. Anki is free on computers, Android and the web, with an iPhone app at $24.99 once. Knowt’s study modes, spaced repetition included, are free on your own sets, with ads. Quizlet, Brainscape and Gizmo have free plans with limits, and Breef’s flashcard maker is free with no account.
Does Breef have Cram’s shared flashcards?
No. Breef has no library of other people’s sets, so it replaces only the card-making half of Cram. It’s for your own material: cards you type or paste and, in the app, your notes, reviewed at growing gaps.