Comparison

Brightspace Pulse vs Cram Lock

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Brightspace Pulse

Stay connected with your courses on the go. Visualize upcoming deadlines, manage your time effectively, and receive real-time updates on course activities. Access course content offline and participate in discussions.

Highlights
  • Visualize upcoming dates and deadlines
  • Receive push notifications for course updates
  • Offline access to course content
  • Participate in Activity Feed discussions
  • Seamless browser login to D2L Brightspace
  • Apple Continuity support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Stay connected to learning anytime, anywhere with Brightspace Pulse. Brightspace Pulse gives learners and their authorized parents and guardians a convenient way to follow coursework, deadlines, progress, and important updates. Learners can: - Access their course content - View important dates and deadlines across their courses - Manage upcoming and overdue coursework - Receive notifications for Announcements, Grades, Quizzes, Assignments, Activity Feed posts, and more - Access supported course content offline, including video and audio - Participate in Activity Feed discussions - Open Brightspace in a browser to complete additional activities Parents and guardians can: - View upcoming and overdue work, grades, shared Portfolio items, and classroom updates - Receive notifications about quizzes and assignments with upcoming due dates - Follow multiple learners from one account, when supported by their school or organization Features vary by role and by your institution or organization’s Brightspace configuration. An account provided by your school, district, or organization is required. Parent and guardian access must be enabled by the learner’s school or organization. NOTE: iPhone, iPad, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.

About

Cram Lock

Features
Read full description

cram lock locks the apps that eat your day until you learn one flashcard from your real class. answer it, get 15 minutes, then it locks again. failed two classes at 18. spent a decade at meta and tiktok building the thing that did it. built cram lock to undo it. how it works - pick the apps that wreck you (tiktok, instagram, games, whatever). cram lock uses apple's screen time controls to block them. - when you try to open one, you get a flashcard instead. - answer it, unlock, and get back to it. tap the lock to relock early. - want longer? set the unlock window anywhere from 5 to 60 minutes. built for berkeley first-years every card is written to the current syllabus and links to its source so you can go deeper: - chem 1a - bio 1a - math 51 (formerly math 1a) - cs 61a - data c8 - physics 7a - math 52 (formerly math 1b) - cs 61b - chem 1b - physics 7b pick your classes. narrow to a module or a single topic before a midterm. thousands of cards, ten cards per topic, no filler. what it is not - not a timer you can dismiss. - not a productivity dashboard. - not a chatbot. every card was written from the course sources and checked. a card streak counts every card you get through, so the number only goes up. three looks: black on white, white on black, or green on black in monospace for the 61a and 61b crowd. free, and it stays free all ten courses are free. every card, every class, no trial, no card required. no ads, no selling your data, no nagging. we think the lock should be free -- you already have enough working against you. about the subscription you'll see listed it is not for the classes. those are free and they stay free. it will unlock uploading your own flashcards -- any course, any school -- which is in development. nothing in the app charges you today, and the ten built-in courses will stay free when it arrives. privacy cram lock never sees which apps you block or what you do in them. screen time permissions are handled entirely by ios on your device. support: cramlock.app privacy policy: https://cramlock.app/privacy.html terms of use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Brightspace Pulse4 screens
Cram Lock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Brightspace Pulse at none against Cram Lock's 2. Brightspace Pulse also leads on chart position (#106 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cram Lock sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. Brightspace Pulse asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brightspace Pulse ships an update fortnightly, Cram Lock every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Brightspace Pulse versus Cram Lock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrightspace PulseCram Lock
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (273K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews36.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings273K — better—
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#106 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperD2L CorporationMack Ortis

Bugs and requests

Brightspace Pulse

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent log-out problems
  • Inability to load course content
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow file downloads and exports
  • Improve notification reliability
  • Optimize for tablet/iPad use
  • Add more customization options

Cram Lock

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Brightspace Pulse

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Cram Lock

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly3 Days trial$9.997 Days
  • Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Brightspace Pulse free?
Brightspace Pulse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cram Lock free?
Cram Lock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Brightspace Pulse or Cram Lock have ads?
Neither Brightspace Pulse nor Cram Lock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brightspace Pulse or Cram Lock?
Brightspace Pulse ships an update fortnightly, and Cram Lock every 11 days. Most recently, Brightspace Pulse was updated on November 6, 2026 and Cram Lock on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons