What is Synaptiq?

One of the most popular study resources in medical school is Anki, a flashcard-based learning tool that has been the gold standard for years. But now, a new player has entered the game: Synaptiq. 

While Anki experts would never think about switching, these people often forget that starting to use Anki can be incredibly confusing. Between anki decks, anki add-ons, and the browse feature, it can be hard to know what actually matters.  

That is where Synaptic comes in. Synaptiq wants to make it easier for people new to Anki and spaced-repetition-based flashcards. Read on to better understand how Synaptiq works and if Synaptiq is better than Anki.

Topics discussed:  

• How is Synaptiq different from Anki?
• Can you use Anki decks in Synaptiq? 
• Is synaptiq free?
• What is the hard truth about Anki and Synaptiq?

How is Synaptiq different from Anki?

If you want the full breakdown, check out our Anki vs Synaptiq: Which is better for med students? article.

If you want a quick summary, here you go:

Synaptiq is set up to help beginners. You make an account and log in through the website. At this point, if you want to use their pre-made Synaptic decks and flashcards, then you can start doing cards within seconds.

Anki, on the other hand, requires you to go to an old-looking website, download sketchy software to your computer, make an account, and then either make your own cards or dig through reddit to find good Anki decks.

Anki is more customizable than Synaptiq. With Anki addons, abilities to filter decks, suspend cards quickly, and create new Anki decks with previous cards, Anki is better than Synaptic when comes to customizing.

Anki ties together and reinforces 3rd party resources, whereas Synaptiqs premade decks feel too random. The AnKing decks do a great job at tagging relevant 3rd party resources, so every card helps you remember the specific video and related content.

While Synaptiq decks are easy to access, they feel like completely separate study resources. This actually makes it harder to recall the Sketchy and Pathoma videos you watched. Whereas the AnKing deck has one or two sentences of info, Synaptiq flashcards often just have a paragraph of superfluous text.

In conclusion, unless if the Anki interface is overwhelming and impossible for you, Anki is better than Synaptiq and you should take the time to learn how to use Anki well.

But, not everything is so black and white. The Synaptiq team thought of these issues and tried to account for them because...

Can you use Anki decks in Synaptiq? 

Yes, you can use Anki decks in Synaptiq. Since competing directly with Anki would be extremely difficult, Synaptiq allows you to import Anki decks into Synaptiq. By importing Anki decks, you can take the best content and anki decks and use them in a cleaner interface like Synaptic.

If you want to learn how to how to import Anki decks in Synaptiq, check out our 60 second guide to bring your favorite Anki decks to Synaptiq.

But, it’s not all butterflies and rainbows. There is currently a 100MG limit if you want to import an Anki deck into Synaptiq. The point of this limit is so that you become a paid member of Synaptiq. This leads to the next big question about Synaptiq.

Is Synaptiq free?

Kind of. While many of the features of Synaptiq are available in the free version, Synaptiq's goal is make you become a pro member. 

So, if you are wondering if Synaptic is free because you want to just try it out. Then yes, yes it is. In the free mode, you can import Anki decks to Synaptiq. You can try out their customized Anki cards. You can even customize your time intervals just like in Anki.

But, if you want to use it because you like the interface more than Anki and want to bring over your huge AnKing Step 2 deck, then unfortunately, Synaptiq flashcards are not free. You would have to become a pro member, which comes with a pricetag of either $348 annually or $59/mo. You can get a lot of Anki Remotes at that price 👀

What is the hard truth about Anki and Synaptiq?

The truth is that your decision between Anki and Synaptiq, in the long run, is irrelevant. The hardest part of both Anki and Synaptiq is showing up every day and doing the cards that you need to do. 

But, don't worry, there is good news too. Both Synaptiq and Anki got a lot easier ever since we made the Anki Remote. The Anki Remote lets you get through your Synaptiq cards and Anki cards faster while being super comfortable the whole time. 👇👇👇