Which Flashcard Apps Work Offline in 2026? 5 Apps Compared
Which study app works offline? All five apps in this comparison can keep at least part of your study workflow going without internet, but only on the right surface. Anki's installed apps are the safest general choice for a complete local collection. Mochi's installed apps are the clearest no-account option. RemNote works well offline in its installed apps, although mobile media is partial. Quizlet requires its iOS or Android app and prepared sets. Flashcards uses local-first storage in its native apps, but it needs an online login and initial workspace download first.
The browser versions are different products for this decision. A downloaded mobile set, a cached image, and a tab that happens to survive a connection loss are not the same as an installed app that can cold-open its local collection.
Disclosure: I am Kirill Markin, and I build Flashcards, one of the products compared here. I do not treat it as the automatic winner. It is younger than Anki, its first login and workspace hydration need internet, and remote media is available offline only after the device has cached it.
Facts checked: August 22, 2026.
Best offline flashcards app: the short decision
If you need one answer, choose an installed Anki client. It offers the least surprising offline setup across card access, editing, reviews, local media, and later sync.
The other apps win under narrower constraints:
- Choose Mochi's installed app if you want to create and review locally without an account.
- Choose RemNote desktop if your cards live inside notes and you need local images and PDFs.
- Choose Quizlet mobile if you know the exact sets you need and Flashcards or Match covers the trip.
- Choose Flashcards on iOS or Android if you want local-first edits and review history with later sync, and you accept the initial online setup and younger product.
This comparison checks five separate promises: card access, card editing, saved review history, media, and later sync. An app has to pass the parts your real collection uses; an “offline” badge by itself is not enough.
If you are limited to a browser, the answer is less comfortable. RemNote documents a surviving-tab mode, Quizlet's offline guide covers only mobile apps, and AnkiWeb is an online service. Mochi says its web version without Pro uses browser offline storage, but warns that the browser may clear it. Flashcards keeps study data in IndexedDB, yet its web client does not offer the same dependable cold-start boundary as an installed native app.
First, identify the offline boundary
| Offline boundary | What it actually means | Examples in this comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Installed local app | The application and study data are on the device, so you can close and reopen the app without a network. | Anki native clients, Mochi installed apps, RemNote desktop and mobile, Flashcards iOS and Android after hydration. |
| Downloaded or cached content | Only material prepared or previously fetched on that device is dependable. | Quizlet downloaded sets, RemNote mobile images, and remote media cached by Flashcards. |
| Surviving browser tab | An already-loaded page may keep working, but a refresh or closed tab can end the session. | RemNote documents this boundary for its web app. Flashcards stores study data in IndexedDB, but its web page is not the same cold-start guarantee as an installed native app. |
That distinction matters on a flight, a train through tunnels, or a campus network that drops every few minutes. “The card opened once” does not prove that edits persist, an audio clip is local, or a later sync will carry the review to another device.
Five offline flashcard apps compared
| Product and usable surface | Card access | Create and edit | Review history | Media | Reconnect and sync |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anki desktop, AnkiMobile, and AnkiDroid. AnkiWeb is separate. | Complete local collection once it is on that device. Native clients can cold-open and review offline. | Notes and ordinary card content can be created or edited locally. | Reviews stay in the local collection. | Images and sounds are offline after they reach that device's media folder. | Normal note edits and reviews merge later; structural changes can require a one-way sync. Media sync runs separately. |
| Quizlet on iOS and Android. The website is not included in the offline guide. | Downloaded sets only. The apps save eight recent sets automatically, and you can download more. | Mobile sets can be created and edited offline. | Progress stays on the device until reconnection. | Quizlet's offline guide does not specify complete image or audio behavior. | Reconnect and refresh the app to sync progress; offline sets publish after reconnection. |
| RemNote desktop and mobile. Web has a narrower tab-only mode. | Installed apps keep notes and cards available after installation and login. An open web tab works only until it is refreshed or closed. | Notes and cards can be edited offline. | Card reviews and edits are saved and later merged. | Desktop stores all knowledge-base images and PDFs. Mobile caches some recent images; cards with unavailable images are postponed. | Changes sync automatically when internet returns. AI features and plugins remain unavailable offline. |
| Mochi installed apps. Web storage has a different risk. | Local collection without an account. Installed desktop and mobile apps can be used completely offline. | Cards can be added and edited locally. | Review history is part of the local data. | Attachments are saved with the local collection and included in full backups and app exports. | Cloud sync can run after reconnection. A full user-directory copy or .mochi export preserves cards, reviews, and attachments independently. |
| Flashcards on iOS and Android. Web keeps data in IndexedDB but should be treated separately. | Native clients use SQLite-backed local storage after online login and initial workspace hydration. | Card and deck writes happen locally first and enter an outbox. | Review events are append-only local records queued for sync. | New media is cached locally and queued for upload. Existing remote media works offline only after download or caching. | The outbox pushes changes and the client pulls remote updates later. AI/chat, first login, and first hydration need internet. |
The matrix is deliberately strict. It does not turn partial media caching into a media guarantee, or a surviving browser tab into an installed offline app.
Where each app's limits show up
Anki: the safest complete-collection default
Anki's native clients keep the working collection on the device, and AnkiWeb sync is optional. The Anki media guide explains that media added through Anki is copied into the local media folder. The remaining preparation step is to let media sync finish on the device you will carry; visible deck names do not prove every sound or image has arrived.
Ordinary note edits and reviews usually merge later. Note-type changes, fields, and card templates are more sensitive and may trigger a one-way sync. For the device-by-device details and a careful reconnection routine, see Does Anki work offline?.
Quizlet: useful offline sets, not a local library
Quizlet's official offline guide promises offline study only in the iOS and Android apps. It names Flashcards and Match as the offline study modes, automatically keeps eight recent sets, and lets you download additional sets. Offline edits publish later, while study progress syncs after you reconnect and refresh.
That is a practical travel mode if you prepare it. It is not a whole-library promise, and the help page does not document complete behavior for every image or audio type. The dedicated Quizlet offline guide covers the exact download checks without repeating them all here.
RemNote: strong installed apps, uneven media
The RemNote offline guide draws unusually clear surface boundaries. Desktop and mobile can edit notes and review cards after installation and login. Desktop stores a complete local copy of images and PDFs. Mobile keeps only some recent images, and cards whose images are missing move to the end of the review queue.
RemNote web is the cleanest example of a surviving-tab mode: keep the tab open and you can continue working; refresh or close it and you cannot reopen RemNote until the connection returns. That can handle a brief outage. It is a poor plan for a long trip.
Mochi: local first, including recovery
Mochi's installation guide says the app can be used completely offline without an account. The installed apps are the important surface here. Mochi warns that the web version without Pro keeps data in browser offline storage, which a browser can clear without notice.
The Mochi backup guide gives that local model a useful recovery path: a copy of the desktop user directory preserves cards, templates, review history, attachments, settings, and login state, while a .mochi export can move the study data between devices. For extended offline use on one device, that is a more concrete safety story than sync alone.
Flashcards: local-first native clients, with setup limits
Flashcards' offline-first architecture writes cards, decks, settings, and reviews locally before pushing them. Web uses IndexedDB, iOS uses SQLite, and Android uses Room on SQLite. Reviews travel as append-only events; mutable card and deck state goes through the outbox.
Media transfer is a separate lane. New attachments can wait in a local upload queue, but an older remote attachment is offline only after that device has cached its bytes. Native iOS and Android are therefore the safer travel surfaces. The web client has local data, but a loaded browser page should not be confused with an installed app that can cold-start offline.
This works well for local reviews, edits, and later sync. It does not erase the maturity gap with Anki, and it does not make server-backed AI work without a connection.
Run this airplane-mode test before relying on any app
Official documentation tells you the product boundary. This repeatable test tells you whether the exact device, collection, media, and app version you packed are ready.
- While online, install the intended client, sign in if required, finish the first sync or hydration, and manually download every set you need.
- Wait for media transfer to finish. Open cards with the actual images, audio, PDFs, fonts, or templates you depend on.
- Turn on airplane mode. Confirm that both Wi-Fi and mobile data are unavailable.
- Fully close the app and cold-open it. If you plan to rely on a browser, close and reopen the browser, then open the app from a bookmark or address while still offline. A tab that works only because it survived in memory has failed the travel test.
- Open an old deck as well as a recent one. This catches apps that cached only recent material.
- Create one clearly labeled test card, edit another, and add the same kind of media you normally use.
- Complete several reviews, close the app, reopen it while still offline, and confirm the card, edit, media, and review state remain.
- Reconnect and let synchronization finish. Then check a second device or web surface for the new card, edit, reviews, and attachment before deleting the test content.
This takes about ten minutes and catches the failures that matter: the wrong surface, an incomplete download, missing media, work that disappears after a restart, or progress that never reaches the next device.
For most students, commuters, and travelers, Anki remains the best offline flashcards app because its installed clients make the fewest compromises. The right exception can still be more useful: Mochi for account-free local study, RemNote for desktop notes and media, Quizlet for prepared mobile sets, or Flashcards for local-first native work with later sync.
If offline access is only one part of your decision, compare the best open-source flashcard apps in 2026 or the broader Anki vs Quizlet vs Flashcards comparison. Whichever app you choose, prepare the exact device and run the airplane-mode test before the connection matters.