If you read English for work or study, you meet words you half know every day. The problem is not finding a vocabulary app; there are hundreds. The problem is choosing the kind that fits where you actually meet words: on a list before an exam, in a deck you build yourself, or in the articles and reports you are already reading.
This list covers ten platforms in three groups: flashcard apps you fill yourself, programmes with ready-made word lists, and reading tools that work on the page in front of you. Every price and limit below comes from the platform’s own pricing page, help centre or app store listing, read on 7 November 2026, and is linked in the sources at the end. Prices change, so check before you pay.
We make Stemmy, the last entry. The numbering is not a ranking; it follows the three groups, so you can skip to the kind of tool you want. Nothing here is based on hands-on testing of the other nine; it is what their own pages say.
Key takeaways
- Flashcard apps (Anki, Quizlet) give you the most control and the most work: you make every card.
- Ready-made programmes (Vocabulary.com, Magoosh, Memrise, WordUp) are the quickest to start and suit exam lists.
- Reading tools (LingQ, Readlang, Relingo, Stemmy) catch words where you meet them, so each one keeps its sentence.
- Whatever you choose, the research points one way: recall the word yourself, then meet it again after a gap.
On this page: flashcard apps, ready-made word lists, reading tools, the ten side by side, how this list was made and frequently asked questions.
What the research says a vocabulary platform should do
Two findings matter more than any feature list. In a 2008 experiment with Swahili and English word pairs, Jeffrey Karpicke and Henry Roediger found that students who kept being tested on words they had already recalled once remembered far more a week later than students who only kept restudying them (Science, 2008). A 2006 review of 317 experiments on spaced practice found that spreading study out improves recall, and that the best gap between sessions grows as the time until you need the word grows (Psychological Bulletin, 2006). A 2015 study of 128 Japanese learners of English found the same for second-language vocabulary: the amount of spacing mattered more than the exact pattern (Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2015).
So look for two things: a way to recall the meaning yourself rather than reread it, and a schedule that brings the word back after a gap. All ten platforms below describe some recall practice on their own pages; fewer state a spacing schedule, and the table near the end says which. The differences are in where the words come from and how much work it takes to get them in. Our guide to vocabulary flashcards goes into the recall side in more detail.
Flashcard apps you fill yourself
1. Anki: full control, free on computers and Android
Anki is the flashcard program people choose when they want to decide everything: what goes on the card, how it looks and how often it comes back. Its own site describes it as a program that “helps you spend more time on challenging material, and less on what you already know”. It offers the FSRS scheduler, the same family of algorithm Stemmy uses, and its 26.05 release in 2026 added a Windows installer that needs no network connection.
Where it runs: Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, with sync through the free AnkiWeb service. The iOS app, AnkiMobile, is a separate purchase.
Free: the computer versions and AnkiDroid for Android, with no limits stated. Paid: AnkiMobile for iOS, $24.99 as a one-time purchase on the App Store.
Suits: readers who are happy to make their own cards and want the word, the sentence and a note on one card. The cost is the card-making itself. Tools that pull sentences from pages into Anki exist, but they are third-party, not part of Anki.
2. Quizlet: shared study sets and Learn mode
Quizlet is a flashcard app built around shared study sets. You make a set, or search for one somebody else made, and study it in Learn, Test and Match modes on the web or the phone apps.
Where it runs: web, iOS and Android.
Free: a free account; Quizlet’s own pricing page could not be read when we checked, so we cannot quote its free-plan limits. Paid: the App Store listing shows Quizlet Plus as in-app purchases at $9.99 and $44.99, without saying which billing period each covers. Check quizlet.com for the current plan before you buy.
Suits: anyone studying with classmates or a shared list. The words come from the set, not from your reading, so a sentence travels with a word only if you type it.
Programmes with ready-made word lists
3. Vocabulary.com: a dictionary with an adaptive trainer
Vocabulary.com pairs a dictionary with VocabTrainer, a question engine that “identifies the words you need to learn and adapts as you grow”. There are ready-made lists for thousands of books and topics, and you can make your own.
Where it runs: web, iOS and Android. The iOS app’s last listed update is version 1.0.2 from September 2021, so expect the web version to be the main one.
Free: a free account, limited to 10 VocabTrainer questions a day. Paid: a Learner Subscription at $12.99 a month, $39.99 for six months or $59.99 for a year, with a 30-day refund promise.
Suits: readers who like quiz-style practice and want a list that matches a book they are reading. It explains words in English, which is a plus if you want to stay in the language.
4. Magoosh Vocabulary Builder: 1,200 exam words, free
Magoosh’s app is a fixed list: 1,200 words “picked by an expert tutor”, with a definition and an example sentence for each, in basic, intermediate and advanced sections, plus GRE, SAT and TOEFL quizzes.
Where it runs: iOS and Android, with progress saved to a Magoosh web account.
Free: the whole app; the App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. Paid: none listed.
Suits: GRE and TOEFL candidates who want a known list to work through. The list is the limit, too: it cannot learn the words you meet in your own reading. If you are preparing for the GRE from real texts, our GRE vocabulary from reading guide pairs well with it.
5. Memrise: a language course with IELTS practice
Memrise is a course app rather than a vocabulary app, built around “thousands of short videos of native speakers”. It belongs here because of what it added in 2026: in February, an Exam Prep section with IELTS practice tests and a projected score with feedback, and in May, AI-generated memory images for words.
Where it runs: web, iOS and Android; one subscription covers the website and the phone apps.
Free: a free account with free wordlists; Pro wordlists need a subscription. Paid: Memrise’s own site did not show prices when we checked. The App Store lists a monthly plan at $24.99, Annual Pro at $61.99 and a lifetime plan at $329.99.
Suits: learners who want a structured English course with speaking and listening, and IELTS candidates who want practice tests in the same app. Words come from the course, not from your reading.
6. WordUp: a map of English words you know and do not know
WordUp is an English-only app that builds a “knowledge map” of the words you know, then teaches the ones you do not, with sound, pictures and real usage. Its Chrome extension underlines words from that map on pages you read and shows their meaning.
Where it runs: iOS and Android, plus the Chrome extension. We could not confirm a working web app.
Free: a free version, with no limits stated on its pages. Paid: the App Store lists Pro at $9.99 a month, $49 a year or $149.99 for life.
Suits: learners who want a ranked view of all of English, not just the words from one text. One thing to know: its Chrome Web Store listing shows a last update in January 2024, so the extension is older than the app.
Reading tools that work on the page
7. LingQ: import whole texts and click the words you do not know
LingQ turns any text you import, from articles to books to video transcripts, into a lesson in which every unknown word is clickable. A clicked word becomes a “LingQ”: saved, with its sentence, for review.
Where it runs: web, iOS and Android.
Free: 20 saved LingQs in total and 5 imported lessons, which is enough to see how it works and no more, as LingQ’s own August 2026 comparison says. Paid: Premium at $14.99 a month, $10 a month on the annual plan, or $8.99 a month paid for 24 months upfront; Premium Plus at $29.99 a month or $269.99 a year on the App Store.
Suits: readers who want to bring everything into one reader and work through long texts. The trade-off is that you read inside LingQ, not on the original page.
8. Readlang: click to translate on any web page
Readlang is a web reader and Chrome extension. Click a word on any page and it is translated into your language; the word is turned into a flashcard and scheduled with “a spaced repetition algorithm”. Its creator, Steve Ridout, also made Duolingo Stories.
Where it runs: web, the Readlang Web Reader Chrome extension, and a web app you can add to a phone home screen.
Free: single-word translations with no cap, 10 phrase translations a day and 10 context explanations a day. Paid: Premium at $6 a month or $48 a year; Premium Plus at $15 a month or $120 a year.
Suits: readers who want a translation into their own language rather than an explanation in English. Our Readlang comparison goes through the differences from Stemmy in detail.
9. Relingo: words highlighted by level, on sites and in video
Relingo highlights and translates words on a page “based on the difficulty level you set”, and adds bilingual subtitles on YouTube and Netflix. Saved words can be exported to Anki.
Where it runs: Chrome, Edge and Firefox extensions, plus iOS and Android apps.
Free: 10,000 credits a month, with saved words and examples capped at 50 each on its pricing table. Paid: relingo.net names a Premium plan without a price; the App Store lists it at $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year.
Suits: learners who read and watch across many sites and want the same words marked everywhere. See our Relingo comparison for how its level-based highlighting differs from choosing words yourself.
10. Stemmy: the meaning in this sentence, saved with the sentence
Stemmy is our own tool, so read this entry with that in mind. It is a Chrome extension for people who read English online. Select a word and the lookup card shows what it means in that sentence, not a list of dictionary senses, with its roots (WordDNA) and pronunciation. Save it and the word goes into your Vocabulary Wallet with the sentence and the page it came from. Short reviews, scheduled with FSRS, bring back only the words that are ready, and your own sentence is the cue. Optional Wallet Letters send a few ready words by email, X-Ray underlines the hard words on a page, and Immersion places saved words back into articles you read.
Where it runs: Google Chrome on desktop. There is no phone app.
Free: AI features need a free account (Google Sign-In or email). Each account currently includes 150 free AI uses; meanings on the lookup card and cloud voice draw on them. Paid: Free to install. No paid plan is offered today.
Suits: readers at work or in study who want each word kept with the sentence that explains it. If you read on a phone or want translations into your own language, Readlang or Relingo fit better. Our roundup of vocabulary Chrome extensions compares the four browser tools on this list side by side.
The ten side by side
Figures as shown on each platform’s own pages on 7 November 2026. App Store figures are in-app purchase prices in US dollars.
| Platform | Runs on | Free tier | Paid plan | Recall and review, as stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anki | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android; iOS app | Computer and Android versions | AnkiMobile for iOS, $24.99 once | Your own cards, scheduled by FSRS |
| Quizlet | Web, iOS, Android | Free account | Quizlet Plus, $9.99 and $44.99 on the App Store, period not stated | Learn and Test modes; no schedule stated on the pages we could read |
| Vocabulary.com | Web, iOS, Android | 10 VocabTrainer questions a day | $12.99 a month, $39.99 for 6 months, $59.99 a year | Adaptive VocabTrainer questions |
| Magoosh Vocabulary Builder | iOS, Android | All 1,200 words | None listed | Daily quizzes; no schedule stated |
| Memrise | Web, iOS, Android | Free account and free wordlists | $24.99 a month, $61.99 a year, $329.99 lifetime on the App Store | Course reviews; schedule not stated on the pages we read |
| WordUp | iOS, Android, Chrome | Free version | Pro $9.99 a month, $49 a year, $149.99 lifetime on the App Store | Knowledge-map practice; schedule not stated |
| LingQ | Web, iOS, Android | 20 LingQs and 5 imported lessons | Premium $14.99 a month, or $10 a month paid yearly | Flashcard quizzes, on Premium |
| Readlang | Web, Chrome | Single words with no cap; 10 phrases and 10 explanations a day | Premium $6 a month or $48 a year | Flashcards with spaced repetition |
| Relingo | Chrome, Edge, Firefox, iOS, Android | 10,000 credits a month, 50 saved words | Premium $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year on the App Store | Word training, and export to Anki |
| Stemmy | Chrome on desktop | 150 AI uses per account | No paid plan today | Reviews scheduled by FSRS, with your sentence as the cue |
How this list was made
We started from the vocabulary tools readers mention to us and the ones that appear in forum threads about learning words from reading. A platform made the list if it meets four conditions: it works for English, it has a free tier you can start on today, its own pages describe a way to practise recall, and we could read its current pricing on an official page or store listing. For each one we read that page on 7 November 2026 and recorded only what it showed. Where a page could not be read, the entry says so instead of guessing.
We do not quote app-store user counts or star ratings for any product, ours included, so none appear here; they change daily and say little about whether a tool suits you. We did not test the other nine products for this article, we have no affiliate links, and no platform paid to be included. Stemmy is ours: the about page says who makes it, and hello@stemmy.app reaches us.
Which one should you pick?
For an exam list, start with Magoosh or Vocabulary.com and add the words you meet in practice reading. Anki suits people who want to build everything themselves and keep it for years. Readers whose new words come from articles, reports and documentation should pick a reading tool: LingQ for long imported texts, Readlang or Relingo for translation, Stemmy for an English explanation in the sentence and a wallet that keeps the sentence. Whichever you choose, our post on how to remember new English words while reading online covers the habit that makes any of them work.
Frequently asked questions
Do vocabulary apps work in the long run?
The ones that make you recall the word and bring it back after a gap do. That is what the retrieval and spacing research above measured. Most platforms here describe a review feature on their own pages; the table above says which ones state a schedule and which do not. An app that only shows you definitions is a dictionary, which helps you understand the page today but not remember the word next month.
Is a free plan enough to judge a reading tool?
Usually, if you give it a real text. LingQ’s free plan stops at 20 saved words, Readlang’s free plan caps phrases and explanations at 10 a day, and Relingo’s caps saved words at 50, so read one article you care about rather than a test page. A Stemmy account currently includes 150 AI uses; a use is one AI meaning on the lookup card or one cloud pronunciation, and looking up a word you already saved costs nothing.
Readlang or LingQ?
Readlang works on the page you are already reading and translates words into your language; LingQ asks you to import the text and read it inside its own reader, with everything saved there. Choose Readlang if you read widely across websites, LingQ if you work through long texts such as books.
Should I use a ready-made list or my own words?
Use a list when an exam gives you one, and your own words the rest of the time. A word you met in a sentence you cared about comes back more easily than a word from a list, because the sentence is the cue. The reading tools on this list keep that sentence for you; with a flashcard app, you can type it in.
Sources
All pages read on 7 November 2026.
- Anki: apps.ankiweb.net, the AnkiMobile App Store listing and the Anki 26.05 release notes.
- Quizlet: the Quizlet App Store listing.
- Vocabulary.com: vocabulary.com, its Learner Subscription page, its help article on the free account and the App Store listing.
- Magoosh Vocabulary Builder: magoosh.com/vocabulary-builder and the App Store listing.
- Memrise: memrise.com, the Memrise help centre, the 2026 changes post and the App Store listing.
- WordUp: wordupapp.co, the App Store listing and the Chrome Web Store listing.
- LingQ: LingQ free vs Premium, 4 August 2026, and the App Store listing.
- Readlang: readlang.com/pricing, readlang.com/about and the Chrome Web Store listing.
- Relingo: relingo.net/en/pricing, the Chrome Web Store listing and the App Store listing.
- Stemmy: this site and the Stemmy privacy page.
- Karpicke, J. D. and Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865). doi.org/10.1126/science.1152408.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T. and Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: a review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354.
- Nakata, T. (2015). Effects of expanding and equal spacing on second language vocabulary learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 37(4). doi.org/10.1017/S0272263114000825.
Related guides
- Vocabulary flashcards from your reading
Stemmy Reviews turn the words you save while reading into spaced-repetition flashcards, with the original sentence attached and no cards to type.
- English vocabulary app for Chrome
Stemmy is a free Chrome extension: see what a word means in your sentence, save it to a Vocabulary Wallet, and review it with spaced repetition.
- Stemmy vs Relingo
Relingo highlights new words by level; Stemmy explains the word you choose in its sentence. Free-tier limits, features and price, with sources.