CrowdStats — Community Answer Statistics for Anki

CrowdStats adds a small overlay to your Anki review screen showing how the community answered each card — similar to the "What did other test-takers select?" breakdown in UWorld or Amboss. It runs entirely in the background and requires no extra steps during your normal reviews.

What It Does

When you flip a card to reveal the answer, a small panel appears in the corner of your screen showing the community breakdown:

• Again — % of users who pressed Again
• Hard — % of users who pressed Hard
• Good — % of users who pressed Good
• Easy — % of users who pressed Easy

Your own personal breakdown is shown as filled bars. The community average appears as a thin white marker line so you can see at a glance whether you press Again more or less often than your peers.

Getting Started

1. Install the addon and restart Anki.

2. Map your deck. Go to Tools → CrowdStats Settings and match your local deck name to the corresponding community deck (e.g. your local "AnKing Overhaul" maps to "AnKing Step 1"). When you save, your review history for that deck is uploaded automatically. This may take a couple minutes!

Optionally, enter your institution or program (e.g. "Stanford Medicine") in Settings for anonymous aggregate research analysis.

Note: Only cards from decks you have mapped are uploaded to the server. Reviews from personal or unmapped decks are never sent.

Using the Overlay

• The overlay appears automatically after you reveal the answer.
• Click the small gear in the top-right corner of the overlay to hide it or open Settings.
• To re-enable a hidden overlay, go to Tools → CrowdStats Settings and check "Show overlay during review."

What Data Is Collected

CrowdStats is designed to share as little as possible. Here is exactly what is sent to the server:

Anonymous user ID — A random code generated on your device with no connection to your name, email, or Anki account. It exists only so your ratings count once per card rather than multiple times.

Card identifier — A one-way mathematical transformation of the card's internal ID. The actual content of your cards (questions, answers, images) cannot be recovered from this code. Two users with the same shared deck get the same code for the same card, which is how community totals stay in sync.

Button press counts — Running totals of how many times you pressed Again, Hard, Good, and Easy for each card. The order you pressed them, how long you spent, and your review intervals are not recorded.

Card tags — Sent so statistics can be grouped by topic (e.g. which subject areas have the highest Again rate across all users).

Short text preview — The first 150 characters of a card's front field, plain text only. Used to identify which cards users find hardest. Images are never transmitted.

Affiliation — Only sent if you voluntarily enter it in Settings.

What Is NOT Collected

• Your name, email, or any personal identifier
• Your Anki account information
• The actual content of your cards
• The sequence or order of your ratings over time
• Time spent on a card
• Review intervals, due dates, or scheduling data
• Your IP address

Privacy

Your data is stored anonymously, never sold, and never shared with third parties. Because the user ID is a randomly generated code with no link to your identity, there is no way to connect stored data to a specific person.

To disable without uninstalling: go to Tools → Add-ons → CrowdStats → Config and set "enabled" to false.

To uninstall: remove the addon through Tools → Add-ons → Delete. Any data already uploaded remains in the anonymous aggregate database but cannot be traced back to you.

⚠️ Development Status

CrowdStats is an early-stage addon currently under active development. You may encounter bugs or rough edges, and features may change between updates. If something isn't working as expected, please leave a comment and we'll do our best to address it. Your feedback helps make the addon better for everyone.

While the addon is primarily designed for the Anking Medical Deck, suggestions are welcome. As additional users begin using the tool, please let me know which decks you would like to see!

NOTE: Because this service requires connection with an online server provider, crashes in the provider may impact functionality with the tool from time to time. In addition, because I must pay monthly for online data storage of the Anki data, any donations are appreciated!