Frequently asked questions about Mnemesia
Mnemesia brings your PDF courses, your spaced repetition flashcards, your MCQs and your study planner together in a single app. Here are the answers to the questions we get asked most, including when the answer is "no, not today".
Updated
What is Mnemesia?
A study app for students, which brings together what is usually scattered across several tools:
- Courses: your PDFs organized by year, semester, subject and group, annotated in the app. See annotating your PDF lecture notes.
- Cards: spaced repetition with the FSRS algorithm, cloze deletion, image occlusion, formulas.
- MCQs: practice sets and timed mock exams, with correction.
- The planner: timetable, deadlines and a study workload spread out until your exams.
To understand what it replaces and what it doesn't, read a single app instead of Anki, Notion and Quizlet.
How much does Mnemesia cost, and do you need an account?
Mnemesia is free, with no ads. There is no account to create: you install it and get started.
It is developed by Raphaël, an engineer and medical student. To report a problem or suggest an idea, go to the support page.
Which devices does Mnemesia run on?
Where is my data, and how do I back it up?
Everything stays on your device. Mnemesia sends your courses, your cards and your results nowhere, and contains no trackers. It works entirely offline.
On a computer, your courses are stored in a real folder, visible in the Finder or File Explorer. Backing it up means copying that folder: to an external drive, with Time Machine, or to the storage service of your choice. On iPad, your courses are real files visible in the Files app; they are deleted if you uninstall the app, so copy them somewhere else first.
On the App Store version for Mac and iPad, you can turn on iCloud in Settings: your folder then goes through your own iCloud account, and the two devices stay in sync. Elsewhere, your device holds the only copy. Backing up is therefore your responsibility, and it is worth doing before exams.
Where do the cards and MCQs come from?
You write them yourself, or you import them. Writing your own cards is in fact part of learning: our tips on how to make good flashcards help you do it quickly and well.
You can also have them prepared by Claude, ChatGPT or the AI of your choice. Mnemesia gives you the prompt to paste along with your handout; the AI returns a file, which you import in one step. Mnemesia itself calls no AI and sends nothing: everything happens in the tool you use. Check the cards before you study them.
On the import side, Mnemesia reads Anki decks (.apkg) and lists in CSV, TSV or TXT format, for example copied from Quizlet.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mnemesia free?
Yes, on every platform, iPad included, and with no ads at all.
Do I need to create an account?
No. Mnemesia works without an account, without an email address and without signing up.
Does Mnemesia work without internet?
Yes. Everything works offline: courses, cards, MCQs and the planner. Internet is only needed to install the app and its updates.
Which devices can I use it on?
On Mac and iPad through the App Store, and on Windows, Linux and Android tablets as a download from mnemesia.com.
Is there an iPhone version?
No, not today. There is no version for Android phones either.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Nothing leaves your device: no server, no trackers, no ads. Your courses and your cards stay with you.
How do I back up my courses and cards?
Copy your Mnemesia folder to an external drive, with Time Machine or to online storage. On iPad, copy your files elsewhere from the Files app before any uninstall.
Does my data sync between my Mac and my iPad?
Yes, with the App Store version and if you turn it on: in Settings, iCloud carries handouts, cards, progress and the planner from one device to the other, through your own iCloud account. Each device keeps its full copy and works offline. There is no sync with Windows, Linux or Android.
Is Mnemesia available in English?
Yes. Since version 1.0.6, the app follows the language of your computer or tablet: French if it is set to French, English otherwise.
Can Mnemesia create flashcards with AI?
Not by itself, but it helps you do it: it gives you the prompt to paste along with your handout into Claude, ChatGPT or the AI of your choice, then imports the file that comes back. Mnemesia sends nothing.
Can I import my Anki decks?
Yes. Export them from Anki in .apkg format, then import the file into Mnemesia: the cards and their media come along. The details are on the Anki alternative page.
Can I bring over my Quizlet sets?
Yes, by hand: copy the text of the set, paste it into a .csv, .tsv or .txt file (one card per line, front and back separated by a tab, a semicolon or a comma) and import it. The separator is detected automatically. See Quizlet alternative.
Which spaced repetition algorithm does Mnemesia use?
FSRS, a free algorithm from the open-spaced-repetition project, also offered in Anki. You can adjust the desired retention, meaning the share of cards you aim to remember.
Can I share a deck with a classmate?
Yes. A deck exports as a single file, images included, which your classmate imports on their side. MCQ exams are swapped the same way. There is no real-time collaboration.
Is Mnemesia only for medical students?
No. It was born in medicine, but it works for any subject that requires memorization: law, prepa, nursing and health programs, the bac, languages. The subjects, cards and MCQs are your own.
Can I write by hand, with an Apple Pencil?
Yes, on PDFs: a pen writes and draws freehand, with your finger or an Apple Pencil, alongside the highlighter, margin notes and sticky notes. There are no blank notebooks for handwritten notes from scratch.
Does Mnemesia replace Notion?
For organizing your courses, tracking your reviews and planning, yes. For writing long pages of notes or creating databases, no: Notion or a word processor are still useful alongside it.
Who develops Mnemesia?
Raphaël, an engineer and medical student, who first built it for his own studying. For a question, a problem or an idea, write to the contact address shown on the support page.