How many new Anki cards should you do a day?

Numbers checked: October 2026 · Sources

Pick a number you can keep up every day, including weekends.

With Anki's default settings (FSRS, 90% retention), every new card a day turns into about 4 reviews a day a month later. So 20 new cards a day means about 80 reviews and 25 minutes; 50 new cards means about 200 reviews and an hour. Use the calculator below with your own deck and exam date.

What each choice costs

Reviews and minutes a day after one month and after two months, at 10 seconds a review (new cards take about 30 seconds). Estimated with FSRS, Anki's scheduler.

New a day	Reviews after 1 month	Time after 1 month	Reviews after 2 months	Time after 2 months
10	41	12 min	57	15 min
20	82	24 min	114	29 min
30	124	36 min	171	44 min
50	206	59 min	284	1 h 12 min
75	309	1 h 29 min	427	1 h 49 min
100	412	1 h 59 min	569	2 h 25 min
150	618	2 h 58 min	853	3 h 37 min

During a semester

Most of your time goes to new material, so keep new cards modest: enough to finish each lecture's cards before the next one. 20–40 a day keeps reviews under an hour.

For the MCAT

Count the cards in your deck and the days to your test. To finish a 3,000-card deck a week early in 3 months, you need about 37 new cards a day; reviews then peak around 240 a day.

With a premade deck (AnKing, MileDown)

Count only the cards you've unsuspended, not the whole deck, and plan new cards from that. Unsuspend by lecture as you go, and make your own cards for what your lectures cover that the deck doesn't.

For Step 1

Dedicated study is short, so the pace is high. 100 new cards a day costs about 400 reviews and 2 hours a day after a month. Most of the deck should be done before dedicated starts.

Work out your own numbers

Your plan

Start from an example, then change the numbers.

New cards a day

Cards to learnDays until your exam

How much you want to remember

Higher means more reviews. Anki's desired retention setting (FSRS).

Seconds per reviewMost people take 6–12 seconds. A new card takes about 3× longer (learning steps).

Reviews a day after a month

plus 20 new cards

Time a day after a month

24 min

new cards + reviews

Busiest day

125

day 76 · about 21 min

You'll see every card by day 75, 45 days before your exam. Reviews drop after that.

Reviews a day

Show as a table (weekly averages)

Week	New a day	Reviews a day	Time a day
1	20	21	13 min
2	20	48	18 min
3	20	66	21 min
4	20	76	23 min
5	20	84	24 min
6	20	92	25 min
7	20	99	27 min
8	20	106	28 min
9	20	113	29 min
10	20	119	30 min
11	14	123	28 min
12	0	97	16 min
13	0	78	13 min
14	0	68	11 min
15	0	62	10 min
16	0	58	10 min
17	0	54	9 min
18	0	53	9 min

Open the full Anki review calculator →

Questions

How many new Anki cards a day should I do?

As many as you can review every day without falling behind. A good check: after a month, expect about 4 reviews a day per new card a day (more at 95% retention).

Why do reviews keep growing?

Each new card comes back several times in its first weeks. Reviews level off after about one to two months, and drop once you stop adding new cards.

What if I miss a day?

Nothing is lost: missed reviews wait for you. Do the reviews first and skip new cards until you've caught up.

Should I change the default settings?

Turn on FSRS (Deck options → FSRS) and keep desired retention at 90% unless you have a reason. Higher retention costs a lot more reviews.

Spend your Anki time on reviews, not on making cards

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What each choice costs

When