First, the name. In July 2023, StudySmarter announced Vaia as its new name for international markets, including the US and Spain. Germany, Austria and Switzerland kept the StudySmarter name, and the German App Store listing still uses it. The company (StudySmarter GmbH) and the app are the same, which is why you'll still see both names on the App Store and in reviews. In this post we use "Vaia" for the current app, and "StudySmarter" when it helps to be clear.
Vaia and MintDeck overlap on flashcards and AI, but they're built for different jobs. Vaia is a broad study platform. MintDeck is a focused flashcard app for iPhone and iPad. Here's how they compare, including where Vaia is the better choice.
The Quick Summary
Choose MintDeck if: You study on Apple devices, flashcards are your main tool, you want FSRS reviews with no ads and no subscription, or you're bringing Anki decks with you.
Choose Vaia if: You need Android or a browser, you want one app for notes, summaries, study plans, practice exams and flashcards, or you want to browse study material other students have shared.
What Each App Is For
Vaia tries to cover your whole course. Its store listings describe uploading lecture slides, PDFs and notes and having AI turn them into summaries, explanations, flashcards and a study plan organized into chapters. It also offers practice questions and exam mode, an AI assistant you can ask about your material, study groups, and a large library of explanations and content shared by other students.
MintDeck does one thing: helping you remember what's on your cards. You make or import cards, review them on an FSRS schedule, and add the tools that support recall, such as image occlusion, reverse cards, LaTeX formulas, quizzes and hands-free Audio Study. There's no note editor or course planner.
If you want everything in one place, Vaia is the more complete product. If you already have notes and a schedule and just need a fast, reliable review loop on your phone, MintDeck has less to get in the way.
Free Plan and Pricing
Vaia is free to download, with a Premium subscription. Its help center says the free version is supported by advertising and lists these Premium perks:
- No ads
- Offline flashcard study
- Unlimited use of the AI assistant
- CSV export of cards you've made
- Advanced search for existing content
Some of those help articles date from around the 2023 rename, so check the paywall in the app for the current list. Vaia's help center also mentions a free trial and an exam money-back guarantee with conditions attached. App Store listings show many plan prices that vary by country, so we're not quoting a figure here.
MintDeck is free with no ads. Unlimited FSRS reviews, manual cards, Anki and CSV import, image occlusion, quizzes, iCloud sync and Audio Study with on-device voices all cost nothing. Credits only pay for optional cloud AI. New accounts get 10 free credits, and the only purchase is a one-time pack of 400 credits for $4.99. Topic generation is about 1 credit per card; a PDF or image job is 10–30 credits. Credits don't expire and there's no subscription. Details are in what's free and what costs credits.
One difference worth noting: in Vaia, offline study is a Premium perk. In MintDeck, your decks live on your device, and the on-device audio voices work offline without paying.
Spaced Repetition
Vaia has a dedicated Spaced Repetition mode. You rate each card Poor, Okay, Good or Perfect; a card counts as learned after two "Good" ratings, and intervals grow after successful recalls and shrink when you forget. Vaia's help center doesn't name the underlying algorithm. It also offers other study modes that aren't scheduled this way.
MintDeck schedules every review with FSRS by default. FSRS estimates each card's difficulty and stability from your history and times the next review for just before you'd forget. You don't switch into a special mode to get it. The FSRS explainer covers how it works.
AI Features
Both apps generate study material from your files.
Vaia turns uploaded PDFs, slides and notes into flashcards, summaries and explanations, and its listings also mention web links and YouTube videos as sources. The AI assistant answers questions about your material, with unlimited use on Premium.
MintDeck generates flashcards on iPhone from a topic, pasted notes, a PDF or an image, and shows the credit cost on a confirmation sheet before it runs. It can also add AI notes and images to cards. On devices with Apple Intelligence, AI mnemonics and notes run on-device for free. MintDeck doesn't write course summaries or study plans; its AI output is cards.
Imports
MintDeck imports Anki .apkg files directly on iPhone, including media, tags and your existing review history (guide). CSV import is free too, which is also how Quizlet sets come in.
Vaia's materials describe importing cards from services such as Quizlet. We didn't find documentation of Anki .apkg import, so if you have an Anki library, check before you commit.
Comparison Table
| MintDeck | Vaia (StudySmarter) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Flashcards and spaced repetition | All-in-one study platform |
| Scheduling | FSRS on every review | Spaced Repetition mode; algorithm not named |
| Ads | None | Free tier has ads; Premium removes them |
| Paid option | One-time credit pack ($4.99 / 400) | Premium subscription |
| AI output | Flashcards, card notes, images | Flashcards, summaries, explanations, study plans |
| Notes, study plans, practice exams | No | Yes |
Anki .apkg import | Yes, with review history | Not documented |
| Offline study | Yes, on-device decks and voices | Premium perk |
| Hands-free audio review | Audio Study, free on-device voices | Not documented |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac via iCloud | iOS, Android, web |
How to Set Up MintDeck If You're Coming From Vaia
- Download MintDeck from the App Store. It's free.
- Move your cards. If you're on Vaia Premium, export your self-made cards as CSV and import them with the CSV import guide. Otherwise, regenerate from your original notes or PDFs.
- Import any Anki decks. Decks → + → Import → Anki Deck brings cards, media and review history across.
- Generate cards from your lecture PDFs. Use your 10 free credits on one chapter, then edit the draft before you study. The PDF to flashcards guide covers the workflow.
- Organize by course. Put each subject's decks in a folder so FSRS can still build one daily queue.
- Review daily, and use audio on the move. Ten to twenty minutes of reviews a day, and Audio Study for commutes.
Who Should Use Which
MintDeck fits students on iPhone and iPad who mainly need flashcards, anyone who doesn't want ads or a subscription, Anki users, and people who want hands-free audio review.
Vaia fits students who switch between Android, a laptop browser and a phone, who want AI summaries and a study plan alongside their cards, and who'd use shared content and practice exams.
The Bottom Line
Vaia (formerly StudySmarter) is a wide study platform: notes, AI summaries, study plans, practice exams and flashcards, on every major platform. If you want one app for a whole course, it does more than MintDeck.
MintDeck is narrower, on purpose. It puts flashcards first, schedules every review with FSRS, shows no ads, imports Anki decks with their history, works offline, and charges only for optional AI with one-time credits. If flashcards are how you study and you're on an iPhone, that focus is the advantage.
Compare more: MintDeck vs Quizlet · MintDeck vs Gizmo · MintDeck vs StudyFetch · MintDeck vs Anki · MintDeck vs RemNote · MintDeck vs Noji
Related: College student flashcard app · Knowt iOS alternative · How to make flashcards with AI · Best spaced repetition apps 2026
Frequently asked questions
- Is StudySmarter the same as Vaia?
- Yes. StudySmarter GmbH announced Vaia as the app's new name for international markets (including the US and Spain) in July 2023 and kept the StudySmarter name in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It's the same app and the same company; depending on your country, the App Store may show either name.
- Is StudySmarter (Vaia) free?
- Vaia has a free tier that is supported by ads, and a Premium subscription. Vaia's help center lists Premium perks including no ads, offline flashcards, unlimited AI assistant use and CSV export of your own cards. MintDeck has no ads and no subscription: reviews and imports are free, and optional AI is paid for with one-time credits.
- Does Vaia use spaced repetition?
- Yes. Vaia has a Spaced Repetition study mode in which you rate each card Poor, Okay, Good or Perfect and it schedules reviews from those ratings. Its help center doesn't name the algorithm. MintDeck uses FSRS by default for every review.
- Which is better on Android or a laptop?
- Vaia. It has iOS and Android apps plus a web app. MintDeck is Apple-only (iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud) and has no Android or browser study app.
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
