# Ready-made Japanese flashcards versus a deck you build > Choose prepared Japanese cards, personal flashcards or both. Compare Inku personal decks with Anki authoring, imports and review workload. Canonical: https://studyjapanese101.com/blog/ready-made-japanese-flashcards Last updated: 2026-10-26 Prepared decks supply a starting point. Personal cards keep the Japanese you meet outside an app. Inku supports both; Anki adds more control over notes and imports. Our team owns Inku. [Disclosures](https://studyjapanese101.com/disclosures) Published: 2026-09-01 3 min read Beginner and intermediate Prepared flashcards give you a place to start. Personal cards help you keep the Japanese you meet in class, books or daily life. You can use both in the same routine. [Inku](https://studyjapanese101.com/resources/inku) supports prepared Japanese decks and cards you create yourself on iPhone and the web. [Anki](https://studyjapanese101.com/resources/anki) offers a more detailed authoring system, including note types, templates and imports. ## Start with prepared cards when selection is the hard part A beginner may need kana, common vocabulary and a way to hear the words. A prepared deck supplies that material before the learner can judge a shared deck's accuracy. Inku's catalog includes kana, JLPT N5 to N1 vocabulary, kanji and phrases with pronunciation audio. Choose one deck that fits your current Japanese. You do not need every available deck in your review queue. Prepared cards are also useful later. An intermediate learner can use them to revisit a particular level or topic without assembling the material again. ## Create cards when your source becomes specific A word from your textbook may be missing from the prepared deck. A phrase from a conversation may matter more to you than the next item in a published list. That is a good reason to make a personal card. Keep its reading, meaning and context clear enough that you can tell whether you recalled it correctly. Inku lets you save catalog cards, create original cards and group them in personal decks. You can keep the prepared material and a small personal deck together. The [Inku custom-card guide](https://studyjapanese101.com/blog/make-your-own-japanese-flashcards-in-inku) explains how to choose useful additions. ## Choose Anki when you need more authoring control Anki is useful when you need custom fields, several card directions from one note, templates, add-ons or imported decks. An established Anki collection also carries review history you may want to keep. Inku does not import that collection or its scheduling history. A few personal cards are a different task from moving years of notes into a new app. Read [Inku vs Anki](https://studyjapanese101.com/compare/inku-vs-anki) if you are deciding between a prepared Japanese routine with personal decks and a more configurable card system. ## Keep the review load manageable Give each deck a purpose. A prepared deck can cover a level; a personal deck can hold expressions from a class or book. Check for duplicates before adding a card. The same word in two queues means two schedules to maintain. If reviews already take your available study time, pause new lessons and new cards until the queue fits again. Use [the SRS workload guide](https://studyjapanese101.com/guides/how-to-use-srs-without-burning-out) when review time is growing. Changing apps will not remove the future work created by adding too much material. ## Review something you will meet again A useful deck should connect to Japanese you read, hear or expect to use. Try a small set for a week, then check which cards helped outside the app. Keep the prepared cards that fill a gap. Add personal cards when your own Japanese gives you a reason to do so. Compare [Inku and Anki](https://studyjapanese101.com/compare/inku-vs-anki) if you are choosing between prepared cards and building your own system. ## Frequently asked questions ### Are ready-made Japanese flashcards enough? They are enough when the library matches the Japanese you will actually meet this month and you will keep the daily load small. They stop being enough when most new words come from your reading, class, or job. ### Should beginners make their own Anki deck? Usually no. Building cards is a second skill. Learn kana, start a tiny prepared set or a tiny trusted deck, and add custom cards when you have sentences worth keeping. ## Evidence and sources Product details can change. Evidence pages and their individual check dates appear below. Page updated 2026-10-26. - [Inku official site](https://inkujapanese.com/) - official product · checked 2026-10-26 · Current prepared catalog, custom cards and decks, browser study, iPhone availability, and Android waitlist. - [Inku help center](https://inkujapanese.com/help) - official docs · checked 2026-10-26 · Lessons and due reviews, FSRS, personal decks, pronunciation audio, and platform-specific account guidance. ## Related - [Inku](https://studyjapanese101.com/resources/inku) - Japanese flashcards on iPhone and the web, with ready-made decks, custom cards, pronunciation audio and spaced review. - [Japanese flashcards on iPhone](https://studyjapanese101.com/guides/japanese-flashcards-on-iphone) - On iPhone, pick one review owner. Inku is prepared Japanese cards. AnkiMobile is for decks you already own. A browser drill is enough for a first kana week. - [Anki](https://studyjapanese101.com/resources/anki) - A programmable review system for cards you create, import, or mine. - [How to make useful Japanese flashcards in Inku](https://studyjapanese101.com/blog/make-your-own-japanese-flashcards-in-inku) - Keep words you expect to meet again. Start with a few useful cards, check their readings and meanings, and review them alongside your prepared Japanese decks. - [Inku vs Anki: which is better for learning Japanese?](https://studyjapanese101.com/compare/inku-vs-anki) - We recommend Inku over Anki for most Japanese learners because its native iPhone app supplies the Japanese catalog, audio, and daily FSRS queue. Choose Anki when your own collection, sentence mining, or platform control matters more than prepared study. - [6 Japanese SRS Apps: Why Inku Is Our First Pick](https://studyjapanese101.com/best/japanese-flashcard-and-srs-apps) - We recommend Inku over Anki for most Japanese learners who want a prepared daily review routine on iPhone or in a browser. Choose Anki for advanced card customization and imports, JPDB for media vocabulary, WaniKani for a longer kanji sequence, Bunpro for grammar retrieval, or MaruMori for a broad course.