Anki
Immich
| Feature | Anki | Immich |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $24.99/mo | Free / from $0/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | medical-students, language-learners, researchers, lifelong-learners | self-hosters, families, privacy-focused-users, photographers |
| Founded | 2006 | 2022 |
| Spaced Repetition | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Cards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Add Ons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Decks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Statistics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Photo Backup | ✗ | ✓ |
| Facial Recognition | ✗ | ✓ |
| Smart Search | ✗ | ✓ |
| Shared Albums | ✗ | ✓ |
| Memories | ✗ | ✓ |
| Map View | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mobile Apps | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Anki Pros
- Free desktop/Android
- Spaced repetition
- Highly customizable
- Huge shared deck library
✗ Anki Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Dated interface
- iOS app expensive
✓ Immich Pros
- Full Google Photos replacement (self-hosted)
- AI face recognition and smart search
- Mobile apps with automatic background backup
- Shared albums and partner sharing
✗ Immich Cons
- Self-hosting only (no managed cloud option)
- Resource-intensive (especially ML features)
- Still in active development (breaking changes possible)
The Verdict
Anki is built for medical students and language learners, with a focus on spaced-repetition and custom-cards. Immich targets self hosters and families and leads with photo-backup and facial-recognition.
On pricing, Immich is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $0/mo compared to $24.99/mo for Anki. That $24.99/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Immich offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Anki takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.