Anki's learning curve is a known quantity. It is not a secret or an unfair criticism. The developers are aware of it. The community acknowledges it. There is an entire genre of YouTube tutorial videos titled things like 'Anki for beginners' that collectively represent millions of views, which tells you something about how steep the initial climb actually is. For someone who is new to spaced repetition entirely and just wants to start learning something, Anki asks a lot before it gives anything back.
The first session with Anki typically involves: downloading the desktop app, understanding the difference between decks, notes, note types, and cards, navigating the shared deck library and figuring out which decks are maintained, and learning how the Again/Hard/Good/Easy buttons work and what the scheduling consequences of each actually are. This is not impossible, and for motivated learners who treat the setup as part of the process, it is manageable. For someone who just wants to memorize vocabulary or study for an exam, it is a lot of work before the work starts.
The question for beginners is not whether Anki is powerful - it clearly is - but whether the setup investment makes sense before you know whether spaced repetition will stick as a habit for you.
The typical beginner Anki experience follows a pattern: download the app with high motivation, spend an hour on setup, create a few cards that look wrong, find a shared deck that looks right, get confused by the interface, have a fine first review session, and then come back three days later to a confusing pile of due cards with scheduling numbers that do not make intuitive sense. The app is not explaining what is happening or why. The mental model required to use Anki confidently takes time to develop. Beginners who quit are not failing at learning - they are correctly identifying that the tool has a high entry cost and choosing to try something with a lower one first.
Gridually requires no setup. You pick a topic, the quiz is already there, and you start playing. The spatial grid format makes it immediately clear what you are doing and how to do it. There is no configuration required and no mental model to develop before the learning starts. Quizlet's free tier works similarly - search for your topic, find a deck, start studying in under two minutes. Both are reasonable starting points for someone who has never used a spaced repetition app before. Once you have confirmed that structured review actually helps your retention - and it likely will - then the investment in learning Anki is much easier to justify.
Anki is worth learning eventually if you are going to do any serious memorization-heavy studying. It is not worth learning as your first flashcard app. Start with something that lets you experience the benefit of spaced repetition without the setup overhead, build the habit, and then consider whether Anki's additional power is worth the additional complexity. Gridually's spatial encoding is based on memory research from the University of Chicago, University of Bonn, and Macquarie University.
Gridually and Quizlet are both easy to start with immediately. Gridually uses spatial grids and has AI card generation from any text or photo. Quizlet has the largest pre-made library. Anki is the most powerful but has a steep learning curve. For true beginners, either Gridually or Quizlet will get you studying in under a minute.
No. Good flashcard apps handle the science automatically. Gridually adds spatial memory to spaced repetition without requiring you to understand the algorithms. Just study regularly and the app optimizes when and how you review material.
Start with Gridually for spatial memory learning or Quizlet for the largest pre-made library. Both are easy to set up. Avoid Anki as your first flashcard app unless you enjoy technical configuration - its power comes at the cost of beginner-friendliness.