Anki for Chinese vs Chinese Trainer

Anki wins the algorithm, add-ons, and community decks. Ideal if you already have material and discipline.

The hidden cost is maintenance time. Many people quit the deck, not Chinese. Anki also does not register you for the exam: that stays on chinesetest.cn.

Anki is spaced-repetition software. SRS is that queue: it brings a card back when you were about to forget it. Desktop is free; AnkiMobile on iOS is paid, per its own site. The algorithm wins. The syllabus is not included.

Teaching note: a card with 是 does not teach 我是学生 (wǒ shì xuésheng, I am a student) if you never write the sentence. Anki will not force you. That is why many Chinese decks die: there are characters, there is no ear.

HSK is the official exam. Anki does not register you. Dates: chinesetest.cn. Counts: Wikipedia HSK. Framework: CLEC.

If you already maintain a good deck, we will not ask you to leave. If the deck is a graveyard of 2,000 notes with no audio, the problem is not Chinese. It is maintenance.

It loses listening, guided writing, and a tutor that remembers your level, unless you build those yourself. It loses a level guide tied to the queue. It wins total control: you can import whatever you want.

Chinese Trainer does not beat Anki on add-ons. It wins not having to build examples, audio, and an HSK list from scratch. HSK 1–2 can start free, with daily limits. The AI tutor is Premium, with a cap. We do not promise a pass.

We are also not Pleco or Skritter. An Anki deck does not look up a sign. An Anki deck does not grade the stroke of 语 (yǔ, language) the way Skritter does.

Stay if you already have discipline and a deck you listen to. Add Pleco for lookup. Add a path if the deck does not tell you the level.

Leave the maintenance if you have been suspending the same leech for months and have never sat a mock. Then study the level queue here and keep Anki for a small leech deck, not for the 1,200.

The Reddit stack is still in the 2026 roundup. About us: Chinese Trainer. Questions: contact.

If the deck is alive and you hear it, continue. Add three sentences said out loud. 是 does not live alone. 我是学生 has to come from memory. If the deck is a graveyard, do not revive it with 400 new notes.

The exam is not registered inside Anki. Dates: chinesetest.cn. Counts: Wikipedia HSK. A deck with no listening is a spreadsheet with hanzi.

You can keep Anki for leeches and move the level queue here. HSK 1–2 free, with limits. AI tutor Premium, with a cap. We do not promise a pass. We will not kick you off the algorithm if it already works.

Chinese Trainer does not win add-ons. It wins not building the syllabus from scratch. Pleco looks up. Skritter writes. Anki controls. This app orders the day. Pick this week's pain, not all four at once.

Do not import 5,000 notes tonight. The algorithm will give them all back at once and you will quit the deck, not Chinese. 10–15 new items in a sentence, plus 15 minutes of queue, is the pace the HSK guides already name.

Do not use Anki as listening. If the card does not play audio, the ear does not train. Add audio or study listening at the same level here. The classic paper hears; it does not read your notes.

Do not mix HSK 3 and HSK 5 in one deck because work asks for it. The ear hole remains. Work has Chinese for business.

If you already live in Anki, stay. This page is not a crusade. It is the alternative for someone who does not want to be the deck maintainer. HSK 1–2 free, with limits. We do not promise a pass.

HSK vocabulary, examples, audio, grammar, and practice together. SRS comes with the syllabus.

The AI tutor and mocks cover what a lone card does not explain. For the paper itself, use the HSK guides. The usual Reddit stack is still in the 2026 roundup.

A leech is the card that keeps coming back. The syllabus is the list the center marks. Anki wins the leech. It does not bring the syllabus. A 是 that will not stick is not HSK 1. 我是学生 in a sentence is.

If ten leeches eat the session, those ten are the week. Do not import 80 new notes to «make up for it». The algorithm will return them together and you will quit the deck, not Chinese.

Teaching note: a card without audio is not listening. Classic HSK hears. If the note does not sound, add audio or study the level listening here. 请再说一遍 does not exist on the paper.

The 150-to-5,000 counts sit on Wikipedia HSK. A 5,000-note deck with no ear is not HSK 6. It is a graveyard. HSK 6 is not native.

Stay on Anki if the deck is alive and you hear it. Leave the 1,200 on the path if maintenance is a second job. Pleco looks up. Skritter writes. Anki controls leeches.

Chinese Trainer brings SRS with a syllabus. HSK 1–2 free, with limits. We do not promise a pass. We will not kick you off the algorithm if it already works.

Do not import a 5,000-note community deck tonight. SRS will queue them as if they were yours. They are not. You never heard them. You will quit the deck.

Pace: 10–15 new items in a sentence, plus 15 minutes of review. That is the pace the HSK guides already name. Anki will not force it. That is why many Chinese decks die.

If the deck is dead, do not revive it with more notes. Change tools or start a small leech deck. You do not water a graveyard.

Teaching note: do not mix HSK 3 and HSK 5 in one deck because «work needs it». The ear hole stays. Work has Chinese for business.

AnkiMobile on iOS is paid, per its own listing. Desktop is free. That does not include a syllabus, audio, or signup. Dates: chinesetest.cn.

Chinese Trainer does not win add-ons. It wins not building the syllabus from scratch. Free on HSK 1–2, with limits. AI tutor Premium, with a cap. The center marks a different paper. We do not promise a pass.