Hosted Anki

Hosted Anki — Run Anki in the Cloud

This feature is experimental. Before you start using it, back up your Anki collection: export your decks as .apkg files, or sync everything to AnkiWeb first. Data loss is unlikely, but it is possible while the feature matures.

Hosted Anki gives you a real Anki desktop app running in the cloud on AnkiMCP’s servers — your Anki, hosted for you. Your AI assistant can reach it any time, from anywhere, without your computer being on.

Hosted Anki open in the dashboard's Anki Instance view: the real Anki desktop app running in an in-browser remote desktop, showing the deck list with German and Python decks and the Browse window with a German vocabulary card (der Schlüssel — the key), with the instance On toggle and Back to instance controls on top. — The real Anki, running in the cloud, inside your browser — click to enlarge

What it is

Your hosted Anki is the same Anki you know — the full desktop app, not a copy or an emulation — running on our servers with the AnkiMCP add-ons already installed. You reach it in two ways:

Access	How
Your AI assistant	Through MCP, the same way it talks to a local Anki
Remote desktop	A VNC viewer in your browser — you see and use the real Anki app

Hosted Anki is part of the Pro plan ($15/month).

Sleep and wake

To save resources, your hosted Anki goes to sleep after 1 hour of inactivity. Activity means: using the dashboard, interacting with the remote desktop, or your AI assistant calling your Anki.

Waking up works two ways:

Automatically — the next AI request wakes it. The first request after sleep takes roughly 30–60 seconds while Anki boots; the request waits for it. If it times out, just retry in a minute.
Manually — press Start on the dashboard.

Sleep is safe. Your collection lives on persistent storage — nothing is lost when your hosted Anki sleeps.

Cloud and local Anki together

You can have a hosted Anki and run a local Anki with the tunnel on the same account. The rule is simple: while your cloud Anki is running, it always receives your AI’s requests — even if your local Anki is connected at the same time. The dashboard shows a warning banner whenever this is the case.

To send requests to your local Anki instead, stop the cloud Anki (or let it fall asleep on its own). The power toggle on the dashboard is the switch:

Cloud Anki state	Who answers your AI
Running	The cloud Anki — always
Asleep, local Anki connected	Your local Anki
Asleep, no local Anki	The cloud Anki wakes up and answers
Stopped by you	Your local Anki if connected; otherwise the request is refused

Note the difference between the last two rows: a hosted Anki that fell asleep on its own wakes automatically on the next AI request. One you stopped with the power toggle stays off until you press Start — an AI request will not turn it back on.

AnkiWeb sync

The platform never stores your AnkiWeb password. To sync your hosted Anki with AnkiWeb, open the remote desktop and log in to AnkiWeb inside Anki yourself — exactly as you would on your own computer.

Your login survives restarts and sleep. It is wiped only when you delete your hosted Anki.

Deleting your hosted Anki

Deleting your hosted Anki is permanent: the hosted device and all data stored on it are destroyed. This is why the backup advice at the top of this page matters.

Your AnkiWeb account is untouched — anything you synced to AnkiWeb stays there.

Hosted Anki is evolving. If something doesn’t work as described here, or you have ideas for it, tell us on the community forum.

Disclaimer: “Anki” is a registered trademark of Ankitects Pty Ltd. AnkiMCP is an independent, community-built project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ankitects. MCP is an open standard originated by Anthropic; AnkiMCP is likewise not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic.