Engram, by Itarin
Engram is a study app for your computer. Write notes, turn the important parts into flashcards, and review each one just before you would forget it. Quiz yourself, practise code and time your sessions, all in one place.
For students, language learners, self-taught programmers and anyone preparing for an exam. It's free, needs no account, and your notes stay as plain files on your own computer.
Windows, macOS and Linux · installers coming soon
Notes, flashcards, spaced repetition, quizzes, imports, code practice, timers and themes cost nothing, with no trial and no limits.
Notes are ordinary markdown files. Cards live in a database inside the same folder. Back it all up by copying one folder.
No sign-up, no ads, no analytics. Engram only goes online for the optional AI tutor and the services you choose to connect.
Every screenshot on this page is taken from the Engram app itself.
Write in markdown, organise with folders, and link ideas with [[wikilinks]] and backlinks. Every note is a plain file in a folder on your computer, so you can open it in any editor, or point Engram at an Obsidian vault you already have.
Learn about Notes
Select a phrase in a note and press Make card. Switch to cloze and Engram hides your selection inside its sentence. Basic, reversed and cloze cards, nested decks, tags and a live preview.
Learn about Cards
Rate each card Again, Hard, Good or Easy and Engram schedules the next review with FSRS, a modern spaced repetition method. Keyboard-first: Space, 1 to 4, and Z to undo.
Learn about Study
Multiple choice and short answer questions generated from a deck, a note or pasted text. The built-in generator works offline. Short answers forgive small typos, and missed questions become cards in one click.
Learn about Quizzes
Explain picks out a note’s key sentences, key terms and a rough reading level, right on your computer. Free, with no AI provider and no internet needed.
Learn about Explain
A safe sandbox for JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML and CSS, with 12 exercises from FizzBuzz to async retries. Check my solution runs the tests, hints come one at a time, and your progress is saved.
Learn about Code
Ask about a note, get quizzed, practise a language or talk through code. Bring your own AI provider, or run a free local model with LM Studio or Ollama. Optional paid add-on, first month free.
Learn about Tutor
Pomodoro, countdown and a count-up study clock. Timers keep running while you work elsewhere in the app, and every session is logged so you can see how long you really studied.
Learn about Timers
Import an Obsidian vault, Anki decks with their review progress, a folder of markdown, or a CSV of cards. You see a full preview first, and nothing you already have is ever overwritten.
Learn about Import
Seven theme packs, custom colours and backgrounds, and a theme editor that won't let you save anything hard to read. Reduce effects gives you a flat, still interface in one click.
Everything in Engram is free to use, forever. The only paid part is the AI tutor chat: $5 a month, with the first month free. It covers the sign-in and billing that unlock it. You still bring your own AI provider, or a free local model.
AI-written quizzes and the offline Explain summaries are free and don't need the add-on.