An ad between cards
You finally get into a rhythm, and a full-screen interstitial breaks it. Kinako has no advertising SDK, so there is nothing to interrupt you.
Flashcards, without the noise
No ads. No account. Just the cards.
Unlimited decks and unlimited cards are free. Kinako works offline, and your library stays on your devices or in your own private iCloud account.
For iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. One-time purchases only — no subscriptions.
- No ads, ever
- No account to make
- Works offline
- No subscriptions
The problem
Most flashcard apps are free because you are the product.
Kinako is free because the paid parts are optional and clearly marked — and because it is built so there is nothing to take.
A login wall on your own notes
Someone else's server holds the keys to material you wrote. Kinako has no account system, so there is nothing to be locked out of.
An update that takes your decks
Yesterday's free tier becomes today's paywall. In Kinako, unlimited decks and cards are free permanently, and you can export everything at any time.
What is free, permanently
Not a trial. Not a crippled tier.
Nothing on this list expires, counts down, or asks for a card.
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Unlimited decks and cards No ceiling on the material you make yourself.
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Create, import, and export Pasted text, CSV, TSV, JSON, and common Anki packages.
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The full study engine FSRS spaced repetition, in both directions.
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Private iCloud sync Across your devices, through your account — not ours.
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On-device voice and Listen Mode Hear any card, or study hands-free with the screen locked.
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Reminder, widget, share sheet, Watch app A daily nudge and quick capture, on every screen you use.
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A curated starter deck 40 Words Worth Knowing, ready on first launch.
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Recently Deleted So a mistake is recoverable.
Study that respects you
Two buttons. No confetti.
Tap a card to flip it. Mark it Still learning or Got it. FSRS spaced repetition brings the hard ones back sooner and the easy ones back later, so your time lands where it counts.
Progress shows as a few quiet dots. There is no streak to break, no badge shaming you for a day off, and no paywall that appears mid-session. The pack store is a place you go, never a thing that interrupts you.
Listen anywhere
Study with your screen off.
Voice readback runs entirely on your device. Tap any card to hear it, or start Listen Mode and go hands-free — term, pause, definition — with AirPods and lock-screen controls.
The natural-voice model downloads only when you ask for it, and it tells you the size first. Built-in system voices work without it. Passive listening never changes your schedule.
Your decks are not at risk
Nothing to be locked out of.
No account, no login
Kinako has no account system and no developer-operated backend. There is no password to lose and no server-side profile of you to breach.
Sync through your own iCloud
If you turn it on, Apple synchronizes your library through your private iCloud account so it appears on your Apple devices. Kinako's developer does not receive a copy.
Export whenever you want
Full export in a format you can open and read — so leaving is always possible, which is the only thing that makes staying meaningful.
Recently Deleted
Deleted a deck by accident? It waits for you instead of disappearing.
Optional, and clearly marked
One-time purchases. No subscriptions.
The paid parts add abilities. They never put a limit on material you made yourself.
One-time purchase
Kinako Pro
Adds scan-to-card, spoken answer grading, and sticking points — the cards that keep tripping you up, gathered in one place.
Pro is switched on for your first fourteen days as a gift. No card, no countdown, nothing charged when it ends, and nothing you made stops working.
One-time purchase
Curated packs
Medical Terminology, SAT® Vocabulary, Travel Japanese, and more. Human-written content — no AI-generated deck material.
Exam editions are non-consumables too: nothing auto-charges you for a test you have already taken.
Purchases are handled by Apple through StoreKit. Kinako receives only the entitlement result needed to unlock what you bought — never your payment details.
Questions
The short answers.
Is it really free, or is this a trial?
Really free. Unlimited decks and unlimited cards, the full study engine, import and export, iCloud sync, voice readback, the widget and the Watch app — none of it expires. Kinako Pro and the curated packs are separate one-time purchases you can ignore entirely.
Do I need an account?
No. Kinako has no sign-up, no login, and no password. Open it and start studying.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. Studying, creating, importing, exporting, and voice readback all work offline. An internet connection is only used for iCloud sync, App Store purchases, and the optional natural-voice model download.
Can I bring decks over from Anki or Quizlet?
Kinako imports pasted text, CSV, TSV, JSON backups, Kinako decks, and common Anki packages. Anything you can export as text or CSV will come across — preview the detected cards before you save, and swap term and definition there if the columns are reversed.
What algorithm does it use?
FSRS, a modern spaced-repetition scheduler. It adapts each card's interval to how well you actually recall it, rather than moving cards through fixed boxes.
Is my study material private?
Kinako has no analytics SDK, no advertising, and no developer-operated backend, so your decks and study history are not collected. If you enable sync, your library moves through your own private iCloud account. The full details are in the privacy policy.
A quiet place to learn them.
No ads, no account, no subscription. If you have a question before or after you install, support is a real person reading email.