The whole thing, the same for everyone
When something costs nothing, you are right to ask where the money comes from. With Qardbox it comes from the ready-made decks, which you can buy and need for nothing. The app itself you get in full, from the first day.
What you get
- Every feature, at once and in full
- The same scope as everyone else, with no tiers
- An interface that shows your material and nothing else
- Full control over your data, because none is collected
- Your cards as a file, ready to take with you at any time
- An app that leaves you alone when nothing is due
Why this works at all
You pay nothing for the app because it does not have to finance itself through you. Qardbox began as a personal project: I wanted a decent flashcard app for myself and could not find one that works without an account, without a subscription and without collecting data. The work is carried by the ready-made decks.
The app costs you nothing and that is how it stays. There are no investors, no subscriptions and no advertising and Qardbox is built in my spare time. The deck store offers ready-made decks from 0.99 euros, but you need none of them: your own cards and those from friends you can use without any limit.
What that means for you
Above all it means that nobody has an interest in keeping you inside the app, because there is no metric here that has to go up. So you get no motivational slogans, no artificial streaks and no reminder when nothing is due for you.
You can pull your data out in full at any time, and should Qardbox one day not continue, you will not suddenly stand there without your own cards. The data copy is an ordinary JSON file that opens anywhere.
Giving something back
If you want to do me a favour, buy a ready-made deck in the deck store. Your review in the App Store helps just as much, ideally with words of your own. Without words only a bare star rating counts, and with words somebody else can judge whether Qardbox suits their way of learning at all.
The App Store also weights recent reviews more heavily than old ones, so an honest note written today is worth more than five stars from two years ago.
Otherwise you help by passing Qardbox on, because the app has neither marketing nor an advertising budget. Whoever knows it was recommended to it by someone it helped in their own everyday life.