Pick Memrise for native-speaker videos, one of 149 languages, a free plan or a one-time Lifetime payment, or to learn on Android or the web. Pick Smort to bring your Anki decks, or to make flashcards from your own notes and screenshots.
Publisher disclosure: Smort publishes this page and is one of the two apps in it. We say where Memrise is the better pick. Smort’s status: Private beta. It requires an iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
Smort vs Memrise, side by side
How each app gets you talking, what you keep, and how you review it.
| Topic | Memrise | Smort |
|---|---|---|
| How you talk | Lessons built on native-speaker videos from hundreds of real-life scenarios. AI Buddies and MemBot let you practice speaking with AI. The free plan allows one speaking session a day. | Live Voice Chat on a topic you pick or type, with captions and translations. Tap Help me or ask Smort to slow down. Up to 100 minutes a month. |
| Languages for English speakers | Memrise’s catalog has 149 languages in all, including Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Cantonese, and Welsh. | Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, French, German, and more. |
| Feedback when you speak | Copy a native speaker’s accent, speed, and rhythm, then record yourself and compare. Pronunciation Buddy checks your pronunciation where a word supports it. | Checks what you said, not your accent. Kana or kanji both count in Japanese. Simplified and traditional characters count as the same word in Mandarin. |
| What you keep after a chat | Memrise’s FAQ says you can’t save your MemBot conversations yet. | Pick up to 10 words. Smort drafts the flashcards, and you edit them before you save. |
| How you review | Spaced repetition brings each word back on a set schedule, from 4 hours up to 6 months. A wrong answer sends it back to 4 hours. | Say or type each card from memory before you see the answer. Spaced repetition brings it back when it’s due. |
| Your own material | Lessons come from Memrise’s own courses. In 2024, Community Courses moved out of the app to a separate website. | Make cards from a topic, your notes, or a screenshot. Import Anki .apkg decks. |
| Price | Free plan with ads, limited lessons, and one speaking session a day. Memrise Pro comes monthly, yearly, or as a one-time Lifetime payment, and covers every language. Memrise shows prices for your country. | Subscription required: $7.99/month or $79.99/year (USD). One plan, with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. |
| Devices | iPhone and iPad with iOS 15 or later, Android, and the web. | iPhone with iOS 26 or later. |
When Memrise is the better pick
- You want to learn from native-speaker videos
- Memrise has thousands of short videos of native speakers. Copy their accent, speed, and rhythm, then record yourself and compare.
- You learn a less common language
- Memrise’s catalog has 149 languages, from Welsh and Swahili to Cantonese and Latin.
- You want a free plan, or to pay once
- Memrise has a free plan with ads, and Pro also comes as a one-time Lifetime payment. Smort needs a subscription.
- You use Android or the web
- Memrise runs on Android, the web, and iOS 15. Smort needs an iPhone with iOS 26.
When Smort is the better pick
- You have Anki decks
- Smort imports your .apkg decks. Memrise moved Community Courses out of its app in 2024.
- You want cards from your own notes or screenshots
- Smort makes cards from a topic, your notes, or a screenshot, and you edit them before you save. Memrise’s lessons come from its own courses.
Methodology and sources
Criteria: How each app gets you talking, what you keep afterward, how you review, your own material, price, and devices. Memrise facts come from its own pages, and Smort facts from its App Store description.
What we did not do: We didn’t score either app. Memrise changes often, so check its own pages for the latest.
Primary sources: Memrise FAQMemrise plans pageMemrise home pageMemrise on the US App StoreMemrise on Google Play