You've heard about Anki everywhere in the Japanese learning community. It's the gold standard for spaced repetition, the tool that serious learners swear by. But you've also heard it's complicated, time-consuming, and frankly, a bit intimidating.

Enter Kann, a newcomer that promises the benefits of spaced repetition without the complexity. But can a streamlined app really compete with the proven power of Anki?

Here's an honest comparison based on real user experiences, setup complexity, and learning effectiveness. Both tools have devoted users and significant limitations, your best choice depends on how much time you want to invest in your learning tools versus actually learning Japanese.

The Veteran vs. The Newcomer

Anki: The Customisable Powerhouse

Anki (暗記 - "memorisation" in Japanese) is a free, open-source flashcard application that uses spaced repetition to help you memorise information more effectively. It's the tool that has powered thousands of successful Japanese learners, from beginners tackling hiragana to advanced students mastering 10,000+ vocabulary words.

What makes Anki powerful:

• Complete customisation over card types, scheduling, and study paths

• Thousands of community-created Japanese decks

• Add-ons that extend functionality for Japanese learning

• Proven track record with countless success stories

Kann: The Intermediate-Focused Alternative

Kann is designed for intermediate & advanced learners who want to level up their specific interests through human-curated Japanese vocabulary, organised by practical topics and frequency.

What makes Kann different:

• Specialised vocabulary dictionaries for specific interests (Business, Anime, Technology, etc.)

• JLPT-organised kanji progression for systematic advancement

• Multiple question types including automatic conjugation practice

• Human-curated content designed by Japanese learning human

• Built for learners who have moved beyond basic conversation

The Setup Reality Check

Anki: The Time Investment

Here's the uncomfortable truth about Anki: setting up the software takes time and a lot of confusion. And that's what we're here for, to guide you from your first step until you can run it through yourself.

The Anki setup process typically involves:

1. Download and installation across multiple devices

2. Deck selection from hundreds of options with varying quality

3. Settings optimisation (most default settings are problematic for language learning)

4. Add-on installation for Japanese-specific features

5. Card creation or deck customisation for your needs

One frustrated beginner captured the experience perfectly: This is my first time posting here so I hope this is in the right category, but does anyone else find Anki really difficult to grasp? I've just started my journey of learning Japanese using Genki and Wanikani, and have downloaded Anki along with a deck that divides into vocabulary words by chapter. Unfortunately I keep on getting the answers wrong either because I'm confused about what I'm actually supposed to be typing or because the deck is glitched?

Another user reflected: I remember first downloading it years before I found this website. I poked around with it for a little bit, downloaded some decks, got very confused and frustrated and ultimately ended up deleting it until JALUP convinced me to give it another shot.

Kann: The 30-Second Start

Kann is designed for immediate use. Download the app, select your learning focus (JLPT level, topic dictionary, or frequency-based), and start learning. No configuration required, no settings to optimise, no add-ons to install.

The Kann setup process:

1. Download app

2. Choose your starting point

3. Begin studying

The philosophy difference is clear: Anki assumes you want to become an expert in spaced repetition systems; Kann assumes you want to become an expert in Japanese.

Content Quality and Organisation

Anki: The Community-Driven Approach

With there are hundreds of Japanese Anki decks for learning, choosing the right one can be difficult and confusing. This is especially so for first-time users of Anki who are still figuring out how to use the software.

Popular Anki Deck Categories:

• Core 2K/6K/10K: Frequency-based vocabulary (but often poorly formatted)

• JLPT Decks: Grammar and vocabulary by level (quality varies widely)

• Kanji Decks: Various approaches from RTK to stroke order

• Media-Specific: Anime, manga, or visual novel vocabulary

The quality problem: Anki allows all users to upload decks into their community, but not all of them are of high quality. You often need to spend significant time evaluating, testing, and customising decks before they're useful.

Kann: The Curated Approach

Every word in Kann is selected and organised. The frequency-based dictionaries are based on actual usage data, while topic dictionaries focus on immediately practical vocabulary.

Kann's Content Organisation:

• JLPT-structured: All kanji organised by actual test levels

• Frequency-optimised: 1K, 2K, 3K… most common words split into manageable chunks

• Context-driven: Business, Anime, Technology, Culinary dictionaries for immediate application

• Recognition-focused: Multiple question types that build practical reading skills

The fundamental difference: Anki gives you access to everything; Kann gives you access to what matters.

Learning Methodology

Anki: The Blank Slate

Anki's strength is also its weakness, complete flexibility means you need to understand effective flashcard design, spaced repetition principles, and Japanese learning methodology to use it well.

Common Anki pitfalls for Japanese learners:

• Meshing them together in one card doesn't help you learn vocabulary the fastest; it will overwhelm you.

• Creating cards that are too complex or information-dense

• Using production cards (English→Japanese) before building recognition skills

• Falling into endless reviews when settings aren't optimised

Anki's power when used correctly:

• Custom sentence cards from your immersion content

• Integration with mining tools for personal vocabulary

• Perfect customisation for your specific learning style

Kann: The Guided Experience

Kann makes methodological decisions for you based on Japanese learning best practices:

• Recognition before production: Focus on reading and understanding before speaking

• Multiple question angles: Test the same content from different perspectives

• Automatic conjugation practice: Verbs are automatically practiced in multiple forms

• Progressive difficulty: Clear advancement through frequency and JLPT levels

The trade-off: Less flexibility, but more guardrails against common mistakes.

The Mobile Experience

Anki: The Compromise

Desktop Anki: Full-featured and free on Windows, Mac, and Linux AnkiMobile (iOS): $24.99 but provides full Anki functionality AnkiDroid (Android): Free but sometimes lags behind desktop features AnkiWeb: Browser-based fallback option

The mobile experience often requires platform-specific knowledge and setup adjustments.

Kann: Mobile-First Design

Designed specifically for mobile learning with touch-optimised interfaces, clear typography, and efficient interaction patterns. Available on both iOS and Android with feature parity when available.

Pricing Philosophy

Anki: Mostly Free, Sometimes Expensive

• Desktop: Completely free

• Android: Free via AnkiDroid

• iOS: $24.99 one-time purchase

• Sync: Free via AnkiWeb

The hidden cost is time, expect to invest 10-20 hours learning to use Anki effectively.

Kann: Freemium with Generous Free Tier

• Free: Daily lives limitation, All JLPT kanji, 1000 most common words, Design dictionary (~8 months of content)

• Subscription: €7/month or €70/year for unlimited lives

• Lifetime: €200 for all current and future dictionaries

• DLC: Individual dictionaries available for purchase

Real User Experiences

Anki Success Stories

When Anki works, it really works:

I've grown to love it, but it can certainly be unfriendly to new users.

The flexibility of Anki is both a blessing and a curse. For Japanese, Anki shines when it comes to vocabulary acquisition and kanji memorisation.

Anki Frustration Stories

But the learning curve is real:

There are more people out there who hate Anki than those who like it. I somewhat dislike Anki too. So you're definitely not alone.

One of the downsides of Anki is that it can be a little difficult to learn how to use. Depending on how you use it, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying or make using Anki a living hell for yourself.

Beware of falling into endless reviews: Anki relies on spaced repetition to help you memorise words. When you first get started with the program, you may find yourself anxiously awaiting new reviews. It might not be long before you start to get tired and reviews become overwhelming. One week later, you might find that you have hundreds of reviews waiting for you.

Kann User Experience

Users appreciate the immediate usability and practical focus. The topic-specific approach gets particular praise for providing vocabulary that's immediately useful in real contexts. The fun and delightful interface is a breath of fresh air.

When Anki Makes Sense

Choose Anki if you:

• Enjoy customisation and want complete control over your learning system

• Have time to invest in learning the tool (10-20 hours initial setup)

• Want to create custom content from your immersion materials

• Are already familiar with spaced repetition principles

• Learn well from community resources and don't mind evaluating deck quality

When Kann Makes Sense

Choose Kann if you:

• Have intermediate Japanese knowledge and want specialised vocabulary

• Want to focus your study time on learning Japanese, not learning tools

• Need specialised vocabulary for specific interests or professional goals

• Prefer human-curated content over community-generated decks

• Value systematic JLPT progression without setup complexity

• Study primarily on mobile during commutes or focused sessions

• Want immediate usability without investing hours in tool mastery

• Are advancing beyond basic conversation into specialised domains

The Setup Time Reality

Here's a telling comparison from the community:

Anki is the ultimate flash program talked about to death on this site. Once you start using it it becomes second nature to you. However it can be a bit intimidating using and setting up for the first time, especially since it is designed to give the user as much customisation and flexibility as possible.

People like simple. They want simple. You want to download the program and start using it within 30 seconds without any thought or worry about what to do to get going.

When it comes to learning programs, every extra minute spent trying to figure out how to set it up increases the likelihood of you never actually using that program.

This captures the core issue: time spent learning tools is time not spent learning Japanese.

The Honest Bottom Line

Anki is the more powerful tool when properly configured and used consistently. Its flexibility allows for sophisticated learning strategies, and its community provides endless resources.

Kann is the more accessible tool for learners who want effective spaced repetition without the complexity overhead. It makes good methodology decisions for you and gets out of the way.

The real question isn't which tool is better, it's which tool you'll actually use consistently.

If you're excited about optimising learning systems, enjoy community resources, and don't mind investing significant setup time, Anki's power is unmatched for creating custom study materials.

If you want to focus your mental energy on advancing your Japanese vocabulary rather than mastering flashcard software, Kann's curated approach serves intermediate learners better.

The Middle Path

Some learners use both:

• Kann for systematic vocabulary building through frequency and topic dictionaries

• Anki for custom sentence mining from immersion content

This gives you the best of both worlds: curated progression from Kann and personalised content from Anki.

Your Decision Framework

Time availability: If you have limited study time, every minute spent configuring Anki is a minute not spent learning Japanese.

Learning style: Do you prefer exploring all options or following a curated path?

Technical comfort: Are you energised or drained by software configuration?

Goals: Are you optimising for maximum flexibility or maximum efficiency?

Remember: The best spaced repetition system is the one you'll use every day. Both Anki and Kann can help you learn Japanese, but only if you actually use them consistently.

Try both approaches with their free tiers. Anki offers full desktop functionality for free, while Kann provides 8 months of content without payment. The right choice becomes clear when you experience each tool's approach to learning Japanese.