Anki vs Wispy for speaking English
Anki helps you remember words. Wispy is for the step after that: saying the words you already recognise in your own sentences, in a conversation.
If you know plenty of English but speak in short, simple phrases, the two solve different parts of the problem, and you may want both.
Written by the Wispy team. Details about other apps were checked in October 2026 and can change.
What each one trains
Researchers distinguish passive vocabulary, the words you understand, from active vocabulary, the words you use, and the two grow at different rates (Laufer, 1998). Wispy works on the third skill.
Point by point
| Anki | Wispy | |
|---|---|---|
| What you practise | Remembering what is on the back of a card: a word, a translation, a fact, anything. | Saying and writing English words you already recognise, in conversations and short tasks. |
| How words come back | Spaced repetition: each card returns shortly before you are likely to forget it. | Words due for review come back in word training. Words you avoided in a conversation come back later. |
| Where the words come from | Decks you make yourself or download from other users. | Your dictionary: words from lessons, daily news lessons and search, plus frequency word lists (B1-C1) that you sort yourself. |
| Speaking out loud | Not part of a review. | Voice conversations with an AI partner. You can also answer in chat. |
| Feedback | You grade yourself on each card: Again, Hard, Good or Easy. | After each conversation: which of your words you used and which you avoided, quoted moments, habits, and phrases you repeated three or more times, with natural replacements. No praise. |
| Subjects and languages | Any subject, any language. | English only. |
| Devices | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and the web. The iPhone app is a one-time purchase. | iPhone. An Android version is coming soon. |
| Price | Free, except the iPhone app. | Free: the dictionary, daily news lessons, specials and one trial conversation. Conversations are part of the subscription, which starts with a 7-day free trial. |
Where Anki is the better choice
- You need to memorise a lot of anything: words in several languages, medical terms, facts for an exam.
- You want full control: your own cards and decks, and settings for when cards return.
- You want a free tool on Android or a computer.
- You are building vocabulary in a new language from the start.
Where Wispy fits
- You recognise far more English words than you use, and you speak in short, safe phrases.
- You have a conversation coming up, like a stand-up, a job interview or an apartment viewing, and want to rehearse it first.
- You want to practise out loud with nobody else listening, by voice or in chat.
- You want to see which words you already say yourself, not only which ones you have reviewed.
Who Wispy is not for
- You are starting English from the beginning. Wispy works with the English you already have, roughly from B1.
- You want conversations for free. The free version includes one trial conversation; after that, conversations are part of the subscription.
- You want one app for many languages or subjects. Wispy is English only.
Using both
They do not compete for the same minutes. Anki keeps a word from fading; Wispy is where you try to say it. A word you know well on a card can still take several seconds to come up in a live conversation, and that pause is exactly what Wispy practises.
Questions
Is Anki enough to speak English?
Anki helps you remember words, and you cannot use a word you have forgotten. But reviewing a card and finding the word for your own sentence while someone waits for your answer are different skills. For speaking, add practice where you produce the words yourself, out loud or in writing.
Does Wispy use spaced repetition like Anki?
Wispy brings words back for review when they are due, and a home screen widget shows them. But it is not a general flashcard app: it works with English words from your Wispy dictionary, and review is only preparation. A word becomes part of your speech once you say it yourself in a conversation or write it in a daily news task.
Can I use Anki and Wispy together?
Yes. Keep Anki for building and holding vocabulary, and use Wispy to bring those words into conversations. Wispy does not read Anki decks, so add the words you want to say to your Wispy dictionary through search.
Other comparisons
Anki, Quizlet and Duolingo are trademarks of their respective owners. Wispy is not affiliated with them.
