What is the best app to learn Russian cases and declensions?
Every Russian noun has 12 forms: 6 cases, in the singular and the plural. A good cases app explains when each case is used, then makes you produce the endings until they come without thinking.
- You want to learn the cases and make them stick: Slova. A lesson explains each case, then you type all 12 forms of each noun and adjective in sentences, and Slova tracks which case you miss most.
- You want to decline any word you meet: MemRussian, with a dictionary of over 90,000 words.
- You want to pay once: LearnRussianCases, $2.99 on iPhone, with 38 short lessons.
- You already use Anki: build your own case cards there. It's free everywhere except the iPhone.
Slova is our app. It's first because we built it for this exact job, and its entry lists what it can't do.
What a cases app has to do
Every Russian noun has 12 forms: 6 cases, each in the singular and the plural. Here's книга (kniga) - book:
| Case | Singular | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | книга | книги | Книга на столе (Kniga na stole) - The book is on the table |
| Accusative | книгу | книги | Я читаю книгу (Ya chitayu knigu) - I'm reading a book |
| Genitive | книги | книг | У меня нет книги (U menya net knigi) - I don't have the book |
| Dative | книге | книгам | Он рад книге (On rad knige) - He's glad about the book |
| Instrumental | книгой | книгами | Я иду с книгой (Ya idu s knigoy) - I'm walking with a book |
| Prepositional | книге | книгах | Мы говорим о книге (My govorim o knige) - We're talking about the book |
Adjectives change with it: новая книга (novaya kniga) - a new book, новую книгу, новой книги. If the table itself is new to you, start with the 6 Russian cases explained and keep the cases cheat sheet open. An app's job is to make those endings automatic. We scored each one on 4 things:
- You produce the ending. Typing книгой from a blank is harder than tapping it out of 4 options, and it's what speaking and writing ask of you.
- The word sits in a sentence. The case comes from the verb or the preposition: в Москву (v Moskvu) - to Moscow, в Москве (v Moskve) - in Moscow. A drill without the sentence trains the table and skips the decision.
- It goes past the singular. The plural, and the genitive plural above all, is where learners stay stuck longest: книг (knig), столов (stolov), окон (okon). Adjectives count too.
- It brings back what you miss. Spaced repetition, or a record of which case is weak, so practice goes where the errors are.
The quick comparison
| App | US price | Platforms | How you answer | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slova | $12/mo or $99/yr, 7-day trial | Web, Google Play. App Store coming soon | Type the form in a sentence, or pick it | Nouns and adjectives, all 12 forms |
| MemRussian | Free download; $9.99/mo, $29.99/yr, $89.99 lifetime | iOS, Android | Recall drills by case, own Cyrillic keyboard | Nouns and adjectives |
| LearnRussianCases | $2.99 once | iPhone, iPad | Lessons, practice questions, flashcards | Nouns and adjectives |
| Clozemaster | Free; Pro from $8.99/mo or $69.99/yr | iOS, Android, web | Fill the gap in a sentence, typed or multiple choice | Any word in a sentence |
| Anki | Free; $24.99 once on iPhone | All | The cards you build | Whatever you build |
| Bootstrap Russian Grammar | Free download, in-app purchases | iOS, Mac, Android | Reference plus drills | All 6 cases |
| Russian Cases & Declension | 100 words free; A1 and A2 sets $2.99 each | iOS, Android | A noun's full table, or random forms | Nouns only |
| Liberation Philology Russian | $2.99 once | iPhone, iPad | Multiple choice | Nouns, plus verbs |
Prices from the US App Store and each app's site on October 11, 2026.
The ranking
1. Slova - best for learning the cases and typing the endings
Slova is built only for Russian, and the cases drill is its core. Every noun and adjective you learn comes with its 12 forms. The drill shows a sentence with a gap and you type the form. After each typed answer, it names the word in the sentence that called for that case, usually a verb or a preposition.
Stuck? The Rule button opens the ending table for that case, with the adjective row on новый (novyy) - new. Miss twice and it offers the rule on its own. Missed forms come back in a retry round before the session ends. When typing is too much, Case cards let you pick the form instead.
The forms open by level: nominative, accusative and prepositional singular at A1, the other singulars and the nominative plural at A2, most plurals at B1, and the genitive plural at B2. A challenge mode opens all 12 at once. A placement test sets your start, and Slova tracks each case on its own, so a weak genitive gets more practice than a strong accusative. You can add words from your own lessons or reading, and the drill declines those too.
Limitations: Slova doesn't teach the Cyrillic alphabet, so you need to read it and type it. There's no speaking practice. It runs on the web and on Google Play. App Store coming soon.
Cost: 7-day free trial, then $12/month or $99/year, with a 14-day refund on your first Pro purchase. Details on the pricing page.
Best for: learners who know the case rules on paper and still get the ending wrong when they write.
2. MemRussian - best for declining any word you meet
MemRussian pairs a dictionary of over 90,000 words with declension practice. The dictionary gives the declension of each noun and adjective and the conjugation of each verb. You choose which cases to practice, the app has its own Cyrillic keyboard, and spaced repetition brings each form back. Questions get harder until you recall the form without help.
Limitations: it's a small app so far: 4.4 from 163 reviews on Google Play and 6 ratings in the App Store. Its store pages say little about how it explains the rules.
Cost: free download. In the US App Store, $9.99/month, $29.99/year or $89.99 lifetime. On iOS and Android.
Best for: learners who read real Russian and want to drill the exact words they find.
3. LearnRussianCases - best one-time purchase
LearnRussianCases is an iPhone app made by an Anglo-Russian team. It has 38 short lessons, each on one pattern (accusative masculine nouns, for example), explained in plain English. Practice questions with instant feedback follow each lesson, and the flashcards cover every case of a noun or adjective. A progress screen shows which cases you've mastered.
Limitations: iPhone and iPad only. We couldn't find it on Google Play. It has 23 App Store ratings (4.5), and the last update was in November 2025.
Cost: $2.99 once. In its own words: "No ads. No subscriptions."
Best for: learners who want the rules taught in order and would rather pay once.
4. Clozemaster - best for cases inside thousands of sentences
Clozemaster gives you thousands of Russian sentences with one word missing, sorted by how common the word is. You type the missing word or pick it from a list. Each gap that falls on a noun or an adjective is a case test in context. The Russian grammar collections cover topics such as participles, aspect and verbs of motion.
Limitations: we didn't find a collection for each case, so you can't drill the genitive plural on its own. It suits learners who already know the endings.
Cost: free to play. Pro costs from $8.99/month or $69.99/year in the US App Store. It's rated 4.8 from 2,056 App Store ratings and 4.6 from about 5,700 Google Play reviews. On iOS, Android and the web.
Best for: A2 learners and up who want volume.
5. Anki - best if you build your own cards
Anki is a free flashcard app with spaced repetition. For cases, you make cards with a sentence and a gap, or download a shared deck, and Anki schedules the reviews. You control the format, the tags by case and the audio.
Limitations: you build or check every deck yourself, and shared decks vary a lot in quality. There are no explanations unless you write them.
Cost: free on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and the web. AnkiMobile costs $24.99 once on the iPhone.
Best for: learners who already open Anki every day.
6. Bootstrap Russian Grammar - best rule reference
Bootstrap Russian Grammar is a reference app: 200 grammar topics with explanations, 3,000 audio examples and drills, including all 6 cases. It's the companion to the Bootstrap Russian Grammar book, and book buyers get the app free.
Limitations: it's a reference you look things up in, so it won't plan your practice. It has 15 App Store ratings (4.4), and the iPhone version was last updated in November 2025.
Cost: free download with in-app purchases. On iOS, Mac and Android.
Best for: checking why an ending is right, next to a drill app.
7. Russian Cases & Declension - best for noun tables with stress
This app drills nouns only, in 2 modes: one word's full table in order, or random words and cases. It marks stress and checks it when you enter it, plays audio, and includes the rarer forms such as the second genitive and second prepositional: чаю (chayu) - some tea, в саду (v sadu) - in the garden.
Limitations: it's new, with no App Store ratings yet and 100+ downloads on Google Play. No adjectives. It was last updated in February 2026.
Cost: 100 words free. The A1 and A2 word sets cost $2.99 each in the US App Store. On iOS and Android.
Best for: learners who want each noun's full table, stress included.
8. Liberation Philology Russian - best quick multiple-choice drill
Liberation Philology Russian runs a continuous multiple-choice test on vocabulary (252 levels), noun declension and verb conjugation. Each answer is confirmed or corrected at once, and a reference module shows the noun and verb tables.
Limitations: multiple choice only, and no sentences around the word. iPhone and iPad only.
Cost: $2.99 once. It's rated 4.8 from 66 App Store ratings and was updated in March 2026.
Best for: 5 minutes of drilling in a queue.
Which app for which learner
- You know the rules but write the wrong ending: Slova. You type every form in a sentence, and the rule is one tap away.
- You read real Russian and want to drill those words: MemRussian, or Slova with your own words added.
- You're meeting the cases for the first time: LearnRussianCases for the lessons, with Bootstrap Russian Grammar as the reference.
- You don't want a subscription: LearnRussianCases, Liberation Philology Russian, MemRussian's lifetime plan, or Anki.
- You're past A2 and want volume: Clozemaster.
Most learners need 2 tools: a course for the rest of Russian, and one drill for the cases. If you want an app that also covers conjugation and aspect, see our best Russian grammar apps. For audio and vocabulary apps, see the best apps to learn Russian.
Also asked about
- Russian Cases with Anna (russiandeclensions.com) is a free website with 128 lessons and 136 multiple-choice quizzes on the cases. The site says its app is free on iOS and Android. On October 11, 2026, its Google Play link returned "Not Found" and we couldn't find the app in the App Store. The website quizzes work.
- Ruscases (ruscases.com) is a free-to-start website you can add to your home screen. Each round is 15 multiple-choice questions on nouns, adjectives and pronouns, and the interface comes in English, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish.
- Duolingo and Babbel teach cases inside their general lessons, with no drill for the cases alone. Our Slova vs Duolingo comparison goes into the detail.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best app to learn Russian cases and declensions?
If you can read Cyrillic and want the endings to stick, Slova: you type every form of each noun and adjective in a sentence, across the 6 cases in singular and plural. MemRussian is the pick for declining any word, with a 90,000-word dictionary. LearnRussianCases costs $2.99 once on iPhone and teaches the rules in 38 lessons. Anki suits learners who build their own cards.
Is there a free app for Russian cases?
Yes. Anki is free on every platform except the iPhone, Clozemaster has a free tier, Bootstrap Russian Grammar is a free download, and Russian Cases & Declension gives 100 words free. Slova has a 7-day free trial.
Which Russian case is the hardest to learn?
The genitive plural. It has the most endings for one case: книг (knig) - books, столов (stolov) - tables, окон (okon) - windows, дней (dney) - days. Most learners get the singular endings right long before this one, which is why Slova introduces it last, at B2.
Does Duolingo teach Russian cases?
Duolingo teaches cases through example sentences, with few explanations. You see в Москву and в Москве without being told that one is accusative and the other prepositional, and it has no drill for the cases alone. It's a good first month for the alphabet and a daily habit.
Should I use Anki or an app for Russian cases?
Use Anki if you already open it every day and will write sentence cards yourself. Use a cases app if you want the cards made for you, the rule one tap away, and a record of which case is weak.
Do I need to memorize the declension tables?
Learn the endings for each case and gender once, from a table or a cheat sheet. Then drill them in sentences until you stop reaching for the table. The noun declension guide groups the endings by gender.
Can an app teach Russian cases without a teacher?
An app can explain each case and drill the endings until they're automatic, and that covers most of the case work up to B1. A teacher or a language exchange partner still helps with feedback on sentences you build yourself.