Gizmo is a popular AI study app with apps on both iPhone and Android. You import notes, a PDF, a slide deck or a Quizlet set, and it turns them into quizzes with Hearts, XP, streaks and leagues. If you've used Duolingo, the loop will feel familiar.
MintDeck also uses AI to make cards, but it's built around a different idea: a spaced repetition review loop that's free and unlimited, with AI sold as optional one-time credits. This post compares the two on the things that change your day-to-day studying, and says where Gizmo is the better pick.
The Quick Summary
Choose MintDeck if: You study on an iPhone or iPad, you want FSRS scheduling with no caps on reviews, you have Anki decks to bring over, or you want to review hands-free with audio.
Choose Gizmo if: You need Android, you're motivated by game mechanics (Hearts, leagues, multiplayer quizzes), you want an AI tutor that explains topics, and you'll either live within the free limits or pay for Unlimited.
How Each App Works
Gizmo is quiz-first. Its help center describes two ways to study: a Flashcards mode and Memorise mode. In Memorise, you highlight the key words on each card and Gizmo blanks them out, asking you to type the answer or pick it from multiple choice. As you get better, more of the highlighted words are hidden. On top of that sit XP, levels, leagues, streaks, and Gizmo Live, which turns any deck into a real-time multiplayer quiz. There's also an AI Tutor that can run lessons, write notes, and generate flashcards and quizzes on a topic.
MintDeck is review-first. You see a card, recall the answer, flip it, and rate how well you remembered. FSRS uses that rating to pick the next review date. Around that loop you get quizzes, image occlusion, reverse cards, LaTeX formulas, folders, and Audio Study for hands-free review.
Neither approach is wrong. Gizmo's quizzes and game layer are good at getting you to open the app. MintDeck's plain review loop is quicker per card when you have hundreds due.
Free Plan Limits
This is where the two differ most. Gizmo's help center documents these limits on the free plan:
- Hearts: You start with 15 Hearts in Memorise mode. Wrong answers cost Hearts, and if you run out you wait 10 minutes before you can quiz again. Hearts refill over time, and Flashcards mode doesn't use them.
- Magic Import: 2 AI imports per day, with a 20-minute wait between them. You can still create decks by hand without a limit.
- AI Tutor: 5 sessions per day, resetting at midnight.
Gizmo's Unlimited plan removes those caps (unlimited Hearts, hints, imports and AI Tutor). It's billed weekly or yearly and renews automatically. We didn't confirm the current price on Gizmo's own site, so check the in-app "Try Unlimited" screen.
MintDeck's free plan has no daily review limit and no penalty for wrong answers. Reviews, manual cards, Anki and CSV import, image occlusion, quizzes, iCloud sync and Audio Study with on-device voices are all free. Credits only pay for optional cloud AI: new accounts get 10, and a one-time pack is $4.99 for 400. There's no subscription. The full breakdown lists every price.
A Hearts system makes sense for a game, but it's an odd fit for exam review. The cards you get wrong are the ones you most need to keep practicing.
Spaced Repetition
Gizmo says Memorise mode uses spaced repetition: get a card right and it waits longer before showing it again, get it wrong and it comes back sooner, sometimes within the same session. It runs automatically. Gizmo doesn't say which algorithm it uses, so we can't tell you whether it's FSRS, SM-2 or something of its own.
MintDeck uses FSRS by default. FSRS estimates each card's difficulty and stability from your own review history and schedules the next review for when you're about to forget it. That keeps the daily queue as short as it can be for the retention you want. The FSRS explainer covers the details.
If you're cramming for a test this Friday, the algorithm matters less than getting through the material, and Gizmo's quizzes are a good way to do that. If you're building knowledge you need for months, such as a language, a med school curriculum or a professional exam, a published, well-tested scheduler is worth having.
AI Features and Imports
Both apps make cards from your material.
Gizmo's Magic Import takes PDFs, PowerPoint, photos, pasted notes, recordings, spreadsheets, Quizlet sets (paste the set URL) and Anki decks. The AI Tutor can also start a lesson from a YouTube video's transcript. That's a wide range of sources, and the Quizlet-by-URL import is easier than anything MintDeck offers for Quizlet.
MintDeck generates cards on iPhone from a topic, pasted notes, a PDF or an image. Topic generation costs about 1 credit per card; a PDF or image job costs 10–30 credits depending on length. You see the cost on a confirmation sheet before anything is charged. On devices with Apple Intelligence, AI mnemonics and notes run on-device for free. Anki .apkg import is free and brings media, tags and your existing review history (guide). Quizlet sets come in through a CSV export.
Gizmo's AI Tutor has no real counterpart in MintDeck. If you want an AI to teach a topic step by step, Gizmo does more.
Comparison Table
| MintDeck | Gizmo | |
|---|---|---|
| Study style | Flip-and-rate review, plus quizzes | Gamified quizzes (Memorise) and flashcards |
| Scheduling | FSRS, on by default | Spaced repetition; algorithm not named |
| Free review limit | None | 15 Hearts, then a 10-minute wait (Memorise) |
| Free AI | 10 credits, then $4.99 for 400 (one-time) | 2 imports/day, 5 AI Tutor sessions/day |
| Paid option | One-time credit pack, no subscription | Unlimited (weekly or yearly subscription) |
| Anki import | Free .apkg import with review history | Via Magic Import |
| Quizlet import | Via CSV export | Paste a set URL |
| AI tutor | No | Yes |
| Multiplayer quizzes | No | Gizmo Live |
| Hands-free audio review | Audio Study, free on-device voices | Not documented |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac via iCloud | iOS and Android apps |
Platforms
Gizmo has apps on the App Store and Google Play. MintDeck is Apple-only, so if any of your study devices runs Android, Gizmo can go with you and MintDeck can't.
How to Set Up MintDeck If You're Coming From Gizmo
- Download MintDeck from the App Store. It's free.
- Bring your existing cards. If you have Anki decks, import the
.apkgfile directly on your iPhone (Decks → + → Import → Anki Deck). For Quizlet sets, follow the CSV import route. - Generate cards from new material. Upload a PDF or paste lecture notes and let AI draft a deck with your 10 free credits. Edit the cards before you study them.
- Review daily. FSRS builds one queue across all your decks. Rate honestly; there's no penalty for "Again".
- Add audio for commutes. Open a deck and tap Audio to review hands-free with free on-device voices.
- Use quizzes for variety. When you want something closer to Gizmo's quiz feel, run a quiz on a deck.
Who Should Use Which
MintDeck suits iPhone and iPad students with large decks or long-term material, people moving from Anki, anyone who wants to review without Hearts or daily caps, and people who'd rather pay once for AI than subscribe.
Gizmo suits students on Android, people who study more when there's a game attached, anyone who wants an AI tutor alongside their flashcards, and study groups who'll use Gizmo Live.
The Bottom Line
Gizmo is a fun, broad AI study app. Its imports cover almost any source, the AI Tutor explains things MintDeck won't, and it runs on Android. The cost is a free plan built around limits: Hearts, two imports a day and five tutor sessions, with a subscription to remove them.
MintDeck takes the opposite approach on iPhone. Reviewing is free and unlimited with FSRS, Anki decks import with their history, Audio Study works offline with on-device voices, and AI is a one-time purchase you can skip.
If you're unsure, import one deck into MintDeck and review it for a week alongside Gizmo.
Compare more: MintDeck vs Quizlet · MintDeck vs Anki · MintDeck vs Noji · MintDeck vs StudyFetch · MintDeck vs StudySmarter · MintDeck vs Brainscape
Related: How to make flashcards with AI · PDF to flashcards · Free Quizlet alternative · Best spaced repetition apps 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is Gizmo free?
- Gizmo has a free plan with limits. According to its help center, you start with 15 Hearts in Memorise mode and must wait 10 minutes after losing them all, Magic Import is limited to 2 decks a day with a 20-minute wait between imports, and free accounts get 5 AI Tutor sessions a day. The paid Unlimited plan, billed weekly or yearly, removes those caps.
- What spaced repetition algorithm does Gizmo use?
- Gizmo's help center says Memorise mode uses spaced repetition: correct answers push a card further out, wrong answers bring it back sooner. It does not name the algorithm. MintDeck uses FSRS by default, an open, published scheduler that models each card's difficulty and stability from your review history.
- Can I import Anki or Quizlet decks into Gizmo and MintDeck?
- Gizmo's Magic Import lists Quizlet (paste a set URL) and Anki among its sources, plus PDFs, slides, photos and notes, and on the free plan each import counts toward the 2-a-day limit. MintDeck imports Anki .apkg files on iPhone for free, including review history, and imports Quizlet sets through a CSV export.
- Is Gizmo or MintDeck better if I use Android?
- Gizmo. It has apps on both the App Store and Google Play. MintDeck is Apple-only: iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud.
Written by
Sergiu Puscas · Creator of MintDeck
Sergiu builds MintDeck and writes every guide and comparison on this blog — drawing on building an FSRS-based flashcard app and hands-on testing of the study apps covered here.
More about Sergiu
