Lector vs Clozemaster
Cloud is in beta · self-hosting is free forever
Feature by feature.
| Lector | Clozemaster | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Self-host free, or cloud from $5/mo | Free (30/day); Pro $12.99/mo, ~$70/yr, or ~$199 lifetime |
| Database | SQLite on your server | Cloud account |
| Install | One Docker Compose file in the repository | Hosted only |
| Frequency cloze practice | Frequency-ordered, with SRS | Yes — its core feature |
| Sentence bank size | Thousands per language (Tatoeba) | Very large banks (also Tatoeba) |
| Reading imported content | EPUB, web articles, YouTube captions, podcasts, paste | No — sentences only, not full texts |
| Click-to-translate | On-device dictionary + LLM | Per-sentence, in practice |
| Audio & listening | Text-to-speech (Google, optional) | Native-speaker audio (Pro) |
| SRS scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Anki integration | Two-way (beta): push cards, Anki reviews update Lector | No documented Anki export |
| AI tutor & writing correction | LLM tutor + writing correction | No |
| Gamification | Minimal — progress stats | Points, streaks, leaderboards |
| Data ownership | Your server (one SQLite file) | Cloud account; no data export |
| Open source | Open source (AGPL-3.0) | Closed source |
| Languages | 19 packs; reader works with any language | 50+ languages, 100+ pairs |
| Mobile apps | Web (installable PWA) | Native iOS & Android apps |
Clozemaster pricing and features as of July 2026; check Clozemaster for the latest. Comparison reflects our understanding at that date.
What Clozemaster does better.
Massive sentence banks
Clozemaster offers enormous collections of sentences per language — far more cloze volume than Lector's Tatoeba-sourced banks — across 50+ languages and 100+ pairings.
Gamified and sticky
Points, streaks, levels, and leaderboards make daily practice a habit. Lector keeps progress stats but is deliberately light on game mechanics.
Native apps + real-speaker audio
Polished iOS and Android apps, and for Pro, real-speaker Cloze-Listening audio plus TTS. Lector is a self-hostable web app with optional Google TTS.
Cheap, with a lifetime option
Clozemaster is inexpensive next to most apps, and offers a one-time lifetime purchase (around $199) that avoids recurring fees — though it's still closed and cloud-hosted.
What Lector does better.
Reading, not just sentences
Clozemaster drills isolated sentences; Lector adds a full reading workflow — import books and articles, read in context, and mine the words you actually meet.
Free to self-host
Open source and free on your own hardware, or Lector Cloud from $5/mo — versus a recurring Pro subscription (or a one-time lifetime fee) to lift the free tier's 30-a-day limit.
Your data, your server
Progress lives in a local SQLite file you own and can back up in one copy — no cloud account, and no documented export to get your data out of Clozemaster.
Two-way Anki sync + LLM tutor
Push mined words and cloze phrases to Anki; reviews sync back into Lector (beta). Plus context-aware translation, a tutor, and writing correction from Claude or a local model.
Who should pick which.
Choose Clozemaster
Pick Clozemaster if you want the biggest sentence banks, heavy gamification to keep a streak, native mobile apps, or one of its 50+ languages — and you like the lifetime option.
Choose Lector
Pick Lector if you want cloze practice plus real reading and two-way Anki sync in one self-hostable app, and you'd rather own your data than pay a subscription.
Lector vs Clozemaster, answered.
Is there a free Clozemaster alternative?
Yes. Lector is open source and free to self-host, with frequency-ordered cloze practice built in — plus reading and two-way Anki sync, and no 30-a-day limit. A managed Lector Cloud is available from $5/mo if you'd prefer not to run a server.
Does Lector have cloze practice like Clozemaster?
Yes — Lector ships frequency-ordered cloze sentence banks (from Tatoeba) with multiple-choice and typing modes and spaced-repetition scheduling, the same fill-in-the-blank practice Clozemaster is built around.
Clozemaster vs Lector — what's the difference?
Clozemaster focuses on gamified cloze over very large sentence banks. Lector includes frequency cloze too, but pairs it with a full reading experience, a first-party two-way Anki integration, and an LLM tutor — and it's open source, self-hostable, and keeps your data on your hardware.
How much does Clozemaster cost?
As of July 2026, Clozemaster has a free tier capped at about 30 sentences a day; Pro is around $12.99/mo, ~$70/yr, or a one-time lifetime purchase near $199. Lector is free to self-host, or from $5/mo on the managed cloud. Check Clozemaster's site for current pricing.
Own your reading.
Open source to self-host for free, or on our cloud in a click. No subscription to keep your own library.