Getting started
What is MemDecks
MemDecks is a free web app for building foreign-language vocabulary. A learner collects word cards — each one an English word, its translation, a picture, and audio — and then practises those exact cards inside short games. As of 2 September 2026 MemDecks supports 16 study languages, requires no payment of any kind, and works in a browser without installing anything.
The short answer
MemDecks is a browser-based vocabulary app. It is free, it has no paid tier as of 2 September 2026, and it is built around one idea: the words you practise should be the words you chose, and you should practise them by using them rather than by rereading them.
Everything in MemDecks runs on the card. A card holds an English word, its translation into your study language, an image, audio when audio exists for that language, and — for languages that do not use the Latin alphabet — a transliteration. Your saved cards make up your collection. Games read from that collection. Nothing you practise is generic content someone else picked.
What MemDecks is not
MemDecks is not a course. There is no syllabus, no levels to pass, no grammar curriculum, and no certificate. It teaches vocabulary and, through Phrase Builder lessons, the shape of short phrases; it does not teach you to hold a conversation on its own.
MemDecks is also not a scheduling app. It does not compute review dates, it has no "due today" count, and it will not email you a reminder. A MemDecks card comes back because it still needs practice, not because a clock says so. That mechanism is described in how MemDecks decides when a card comes back.
The five tabs
The MemDecks app has five sections, and the whole product fits inside them.
| Tab | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Games | Launch a practice game with your cards, solo or against another player. |
| Collection | Every card you have saved in the current study language, with its progress. |
| Decks | Add a ready-made decks, finish one of your own, or import from Anki. |
| Translator | Translate a word you want to learn, or take the next word from the pump, and save it as a card. The topic packs the pump draws from are chosen here, behind the Packs button. |
| Profile | Choose your study language, manage your account, and see your progress. |
How a word becomes practice
The MemDecks loop has three steps, and it is the same loop for every study language.
- A word arrives. It comes from one of exactly four word sources: a Phrase Builder lesson, the Translator, a ready-made deck, or an Anki import.
- It becomes a card. MemDecks attaches the translation, an image, audio if the language has it, and a practice budget called card HP that reflects how hard the word is.
- Games spend that budget. Every correct answer in a game adds score to the card. When score reaches card HP, the card reads 100% and MemDecks stops treating it as unfinished.
What MemDecks costs
Nothing. MemDecks is free to use as of 2 September 2026, and there is no paid tier, no trial period, no card required, and no advertising in the app. Creating an account costs an email address or a Google sign-in and nothing else.
The full guest-versus-account comparison, including the limits that apply to a browser session with no account, is on the pricing page.