Anki
Mentimeter
| Feature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $24.99/mo | Free / from $11.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | medical-students, language-learners, researchers, lifelong-learners | educators, trainers, conference-speakers, meeting-facilitators |
| Founded | 2006 | 2014 |
| Spaced Repetition | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Cards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Add Ons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Shared Decks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Statistics | ✓ | ✗ |
| Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Live Polls | ✗ | ✓ |
| Word Clouds | ✗ | ✓ |
| Quizzes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Q And A | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Anki Pros
- Free desktop/Android
- Spaced repetition
- Highly customizable
- Huge shared deck library
✗ Anki Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Dated interface
- iOS app expensive
✓ Mentimeter Pros
- Great audience engagement
- Easy polling
- Real-time results
- No app needed for audience
✗ Mentimeter Cons
- Limited free questions
- Basic design options
- Requires internet
The Verdict
Anki is built for medical students and language learners, with a focus on spaced-repetition and custom-cards. Mentimeter targets educators and trainers and leads with live-polls and word-clouds.
On pricing, Mentimeter is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $11.99/mo compared to $24.99/mo for Anki. That $12.999999999999998/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.
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.