AnkiMCP Pricing — Free and Paid

AnkiMCP is free to use on your own computer — and always will be. The only paid part is the optional managed tunnel — a secure connection service we run — which lets a web or mobile AI reach your Anki from anywhere and funds the servers and the project’s ongoing development.

If you connect an AI that runs on the same computer as Anki — Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Zed — you pay nothing, ever. No account, no limits, nothing hidden.

You only pay when you want remote access: letting a web AI like ChatGPT or claude.ai, or your phone, reach your Anki from another device. That travels through the managed tunnel, which has a free tier to get started and the Plus plan ($5/month) for heavier use. And if you’d rather not keep your own computer running at all, the Pro plan ($15/month) adds Hosted Anki — a full copy of Anki running on our cloud servers, reachable by your AI around the clock even when your laptop is off.

What’s free and what’s paid

Why the local part is free — and stays free

Everything that runs on your own computer is free because it costs us nothing to run. The add-on and the CLI are open source and talk to Anki directly on your machine. There’s no server in the middle, so there’s nothing to charge for. That won’t change.

Why the tunnel is paid

The managed tunnel is different. It runs real servers that relay messages between a remote AI and your local Anki, around the clock and securely. That means hosting, bandwidth, and ongoing maintenance.

But a subscription covers more than servers. It funds the ongoing development of AnkiMCP. The project is actively built and improved — your support keeps the servers running and new features coming.

We keep a free tier so anyone can try remote access before paying. Want the full picture of local vs remote? See Remote vs local access.

Common questions

Is AnkiMCP free? Yes. Using AnkiMCP on your own computer — the add-on and the CLI, with any local AI app — is free and always will be. You pay only if you choose a paid plan — Plus for remote access, or Pro for Hosted Anki on top.

What exactly do I pay for? Remote access, and only if you want it. The Plus plan ($5/month) removes the tunnel’s monthly limits so a web or mobile AI can reach your local Anki without caps. The Pro plan ($15/month) includes everything in Plus and adds Hosted Anki — a copy of Anki running on our cloud servers, so your AI can reach it even when your own computer is off. Your payment funds the servers behind those connections plus the project’s ongoing maintenance and development.

Can I use AnkiMCP without ever paying? Yes. If your AI runs on the same computer as Anki, you never need an account or a payment. That covers Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and coding tools like Cursor, Cline, and Zed.

Do I need an account? Not for local use. You sign in only when you connect the tunnel, so only you can reach your own flashcards.

How much do the paid plans cost? The Plus plan is $5 per month for unlimited remote access. The Pro plan is $15 per month and adds Hosted Anki on top of everything in Plus. There’s also a free tier to get started, and everything that runs on your own computer stays free.

What is Hosted Anki? Hosted Anki (included in the $15/month Pro plan) is a full copy of the real Anki app running on our cloud servers instead of your computer. Your AI can reach it any time — even with your laptop off — and you can open it yourself in your browser through a built-in remote desktop. Your collection and media live on our servers, and AnkiWeb sync is supported (you sign in to AnkiWeb yourself inside the remote desktop; we never store your AnkiWeb password). It’s an experimental feature we’re still building out: instances sleep after about an hour of inactivity and wake automatically on your next AI request (a 30–60 second cold start), and deleting an instance is permanent, so keep your own backups. See the Hosted Anki docs for the full picture.

Can I cancel or get a refund? Yes. Paid plans renew monthly and you can cancel anytime — your access stays active until the end of the period you’ve already paid for, and there’s no automatic refund for unused time. Your first payment comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee: just email support@ankimcp.ai. Payments are handled by Paddle as merchant of record, and refunds are issued through Paddle. See the Terms of Service for the full details.

What counts as a request, and what do the limits mean? One request is one call your AI makes to Anki through the tunnel. A single instruction from you can use several requests — for example, “create 10 cards” may count as 10 requests if the AI adds them one by one, or fewer if it adds them in a batch. The free tier covers 100 signed-in requests (from an AI app signed in with your account) and 1,000 authless requests (through the private no-sign-in address you can enable with the Authless access toggle in your Tunnel Dashboard — it’s off by default) per month. The Plus plan ($5/month) removes both limits.

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.