Spike Recorder vs YuJa Engage
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spike Recorder
This app allows students, educators, and researchers to record and analyze electrical signals from nerves and muscles using compatible hardware. It offers various workspaces for examining data, measuring spike counts, and comparing frequency bands. Users can customize channel settings, create named events, and save recordings for later analysis.
- Record nerve and muscle electrical signals
- Save and analyze recordings
- Signal, Spike, Events, and Spectrum workspaces
- Measure spike counts and rates
- Create and mark named events
- Customize channel settings and filters
- Browse and share saved recordings
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Spike Recorder brings hands-on neuroscience recording and analysis to students, educators and researchers. Use compatible Backyard Brains hardware to explore electrical signals from nerves and muscles. Record signals from multiple channels, save recordings, and open them for playback and analysis. Use the Signal, Spike, Events and Spectrum workspaces to examine your data. Measure spike counts and rates for each selected spike train, or compare average power in frequency bands such as alpha. Create named events with colors and keyboard shortcuts. Mark events with on-screen buttons while recording, and keep their names visible on the signal. Adjust channel types, names, colors and filters to suit your experiment. Browse saved recordings with waveform previews, then open, rename or share a recording. New NWB recordings preserve supported channel settings, spike selections, event details and each screen’s scales. Hardware compatibility and connection options vary by device. Explore Backyard Brains experiment kits and learning resources at https://backyardbrains.com.
YuJa Engage
This student response system integrates with learning management systems to enhance active learning in higher education. It provides instructors with actionable metrics to gauge student comprehension and transform courses.
- LMS integration
- Student comprehension insights
- Active learning transformation
- Actionable instructor metrics
- Higher education focus
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Get insights into students’ comprehension with an LMS-integrated Student Response System. Created for higher education, YuJa Engage is a Student Response System (SRS) that transforms any course into a more active learning experience for students and allows instructors to gain actionable metrics.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Spike Recorder at 3.4 against YuJa Engage's 3.0. Spike Recorder also leads on ratings volume (17 vs 2). YuJa Engage's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Spike Recorder holds the better App Store score, 3.4 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spike Recorder has 17 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Spike Recorder ships an update every 3 months, YuJa Engage every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spike Recorder | YuJa Engage |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (17 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 61.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Backyard Brains | YuJa Inc. |
Customer experience
Spike Recorder
YuJa Engage
In-app purchases
Spike Recorder
No in-app purchases
YuJa Engage
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Spike Recorder free?
Is YuJa Engage free?
Which has better reviews, Spike Recorder or YuJa Engage?
Do Spike Recorder or YuJa Engage have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spike Recorder or YuJa Engage?
Other comparisons
