Migaku alternatives
Migaku alternatives
Migaku turns a subtitle line into a flashcard with a picture and the audio, in one click. It is a subscription, and it is designed for Chrome. Learners look elsewhere for a free set-up, another browser or a simpler card. These are the tools sentence miners use instead, A to Z, with what each one actually puts on the card.
By Reza Pirighadim, who makes Lexpad. Checked against the app on 25 October 2026.
Choose Migaku if
- You want one-click cards with a screenshot and the audio.
- You want courses and tools in one subscription.
- You use Chrome.
Choose Lexpad if
- You want each word and its line saved free, with no set-up.
- You review on your phone and computer, in any of 81 languages.
- You use Firefox, Edge or Chrome.
- Checked
- 25 October 2026
- Order
- A to Z, not a ranking
- Tools
- Four, plus Migaku
- Ours
- Lexpad, marked as ours
The short answer
- Free, and closest to Migaku’s cards: asbplayer with Anki, for a screenshot and the audio clip, plus Yomitan for look-ups.
- Two lines of subtitles while you watch: Language Reactor or Trancy.
- Nothing to set up, reviews on your phone: Lexpad keeps the word with its line and brings it back on a schedule. Free: unlimited words in one notebook.
- Japanese or Korean: words without spaces, and particles, are handled differently in each tool; see below.
What Migaku does well
Its FAQ describes a platform: click words in subtitles and on web pages to see what they mean, make a flashcard with images and audio in one click, and get told how hard a video or page will be for you. Courses come with it: Fundamentals for the writing system and sounds, then Academy with about 1,500 words and 200 grammar points. One subscription covers every language it teaches, and the extension is designed for Google Chrome (Migaku FAQ, 25 October 2026).
For a beginner who wants a course and then native video, under one roof, that is hard to match.
At a glance
Alphabetical, not a ranking. The question that matters most to miners is the second column.
| Tool | What goes on the card | Where you review | Set-up | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| asbplayer, with Yomitan and Anki | The sentence, a screenshot and the audio clip; the look-up comes from Yomitan | Anki | Three tools to install and connect | asbplayer is free and open source |
| Language Reactor | Saved words and phrases with their line; an export to Anki carries screenshots and audio | PhrasePump, or Anki | One extension, in Chrome | Free, with a Pro plan |
| Lexpad (ours) | The word or phrase, meanings written by AI, your line as its example, and a note with the video and the moment | Lexpad, on the web, Android, Mac and Windows | One extension in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, connected once | Free plan with unlimited words in one notebook |
| Migaku | The line, with a picture and audio, made in one click | Its own reviews, or Anki | Its extension, designed for Chrome, and its apps | A subscription |
| Trancy | Words and sentences in its wordbook | Its flashcard practice | One extension, listed for many browsers | Free plan with 100 words and 50 sentences; Premium |
asbplayer, Yomitan and Anki
The free route. asbplayer plays streaming-site subtitles, or a subtitle file next to a video on your computer, and sends a line to Anki through AnkiConnect with a screenshot and the audio (GitHub). Its makers point to the separate Yomitan add-on for look-ups. Together they build the card Migaku makes, and Anki does the reviews.
The cost is time: three tools to install, link and keep working.
Language Reactor
Two lines of subtitles on streaming sites and YouTube, a click dictionary, and an export of saved items to Anki with screenshots and audio (its site). It runs in Chrome. On saving words with the free plan, a staff reply on its forum (25 February 2025) says “In case of free plan there is no option to save words”; our free plans table has the details.
Lexpad
Lexpad (ours, who makes it) is lighter than a mining set-up. Rest the pointer on a subtitle and the video waits; click a word, or drag across up to four, and the card shows its meanings in your notebook’s languages. Add it: your line becomes the example, and a note keeps the video and the moment, on YouTube with a link that starts just before it.
- Works on YouTube, TED, lesson pages and common web players, Google Meet captions and any web page.
- The word comes back in five Leitner boxes, or an optional FSRS-based Smart schedule, on the web, in the Android app and on Mac and Windows.
- The Example cloze card blanks the word in your own line, so you practise it where you heard it.
- Free: unlimited words in one notebook, and 25 AI cards a day (400 a month).
Where Migaku fits better: cards with a picture and audio, and courses.
Trancy
AI-written two-line subtitles on YouTube, streaming sites, TED and course sites, with word look-up and grammar analysis, plus page and PDF translation (trancy.org). Saved words and sentences go to its wordbook; the free plan bookmarks 100 words and 50 sentences (pricing, 25 October 2026). More in Trancy alternatives.
Japanese and Korean
Japanese and Chinese have no spaces between words, and Korean attaches particles to the word before. Here is how Lexpad handles them, so you know what lands on the card:
- Japanese: in a subtitle, drag across the characters of the word you want. The card’s pronunciation is IPA; in your notebook, type the kana reading under Pronunciation if you want it. How to learn Japanese vocabulary.
- Korean: in YouTube subtitles, a click takes the text between spaces, particle included, as in 학교에서; edit it to the dictionary form in your notebook when you prefer. How to learn Korean vocabulary.
- Either way, a word in a script your notebook cannot hold goes to the notebook that can, and the card says which.
How to choose
- Picture and audio on every card? Migaku, or asbplayer with Anki for free.
- Ready in two minutes? Lexpad or Trancy: one extension each.
- Which browser? Migaku and Language Reactor are built for Chrome; asbplayer, Lexpad and Trancy also have Firefox Add-ons listings.
- Where do you review? Anki users: asbplayer or Migaku. A notebook on your phone and computer: Lexpad.
Good to know
Questions
Is there a free alternative to Migaku?
asbplayer is free and open source and, with Anki and Yomitan, makes cards with a screenshot and audio. Lexpad’s free plan keeps unlimited words in one notebook and gives 25 AI cards a day (400 a month).
Does Migaku work in Firefox?
Its FAQ says it is designed for Google Chrome. asbplayer, Lexpad and Trancy have Firefox Add-ons listings.
Can I move my Migaku cards to Lexpad?
Migaku exports to Anki, and Lexpad imports an Anki deck (.apkg) or a CSV. Review history, pictures and sounds stay behind. See moving words into Lexpad.
Which is best for Japanese?
It depends on the card you want. For picture and audio, Migaku or asbplayer with Yomitan and Anki; for the word and your line with reviews on your phone, Lexpad. Each one handles words without spaces in its own way.
Why is Lexpad on this list if you make it?
Because keeping words from video is one of the things it does. It is marked as ours, the list is A to Z, every fact about another tool links to where we read it, and each section says where that tool fits.
Lexpad
Keep the words you meet this week.
Lexpad is free to start, on the web and on Android. Bring the words you meet.