Learning and careers decision
HSKLord
A competent developer can build a usable web-based SRS replacement (core is standard and open-source apps exist), so self-hosting a narrower replacement is realistic and likely cheaper than paying for the full native app experience and shop bundles.
Visit website↗Not priced
No pricing page we fetched carried a figure, so there is nothing to compare against. The build side is still real.
$100one-off52 h to build
$30/mo6 h/mo upkeep
No published price to break even against.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All HSKLord alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Present a card, record recall quality, schedule next review with an SRS algorithm (e.g. SM-2).
What it still won’t have
- Native iOS/Android app-store distribution and offline polish
- Any proprietary content bundles or paid shop items sold on HSKLord
- Brand, discoverability, and existing user accounts
- Potential product-specific study calculators, curated guides, or community features
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
No published price
HSKLord does not publish a price we could read, so there is nothing to compare against. What building costs is below.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a web-first spaced-repetition vocabulary app using Next.js (React) for the frontend, a Node.js + Express API, and Postgres for storage; deploy to a VPS or managed platform. In scope: user sign-up/login (email/password + JWT), import HSK 1–6 vocab CSVs, SRS scheduler (SM-2) implementing review state per user, study UI (card presentation, grade buttons, progress dashboard), background job to generate daily review queues, REST endpoints for syncing progress, and an admin import tool. Out of scope: native App Store builds, in-app purchases, advanced analytics, and marketplaces. Require error handling for import failures and API errors, plus automated tests (unit tests for scheduler and integration tests for API endpoints) and a Docker-based deployment manifest.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Build verdict base78
- An open-source build was found+5
- 4 cited sources+3
- Evidence score86
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 4
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productHSKLord home
- official pricingHSKLord pricing
- open sourceAnki repository
- open sourceMemo repository
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.