Comparison

Brainscape vs Flashcards by HS

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

Head to head
About

Brainscape

This app uses AI and spaced repetition to help you learn faster and remember longer. Create your own multimedia flashcards or access a vast marketplace of expert-curated content for various subjects and exams. It's designed for serious learners who want to optimize their study time.

Highlights
  • AI-powered flashcard maker
  • Spaced repetition algorithm
  • Expert-curated flashcard marketplace
  • Create multimedia flashcards
  • Collaborative content creation
  • Active recall and self-assessment
Features
Read full description

Learn faster and remember longer with Brainscape, the AI flashcard app that combines scientifically proven spaced repetition and active recall. Create flashcards instantly from notes, PDFs, images, and text, or study millions of expert-created flashcards for exams, languages, certifications, and more. Whether you're switching from Anki or another flashcard app, Brainscape helps you study more efficiently. Brainscape’s intelligent study system is designed around proven cognitive science principles that help you learn faster and remember longer. By combining active recall, metacognition, and spaced repetition, Brainscape helps serious learners spend less time studying and retain more of what they learn. How Brainscape works. Study any subject using smart flashcards designed to maximize retention: - Actively recall answers instead of passively rereading notes - Rate your confidence from 1–5 after each card - Let Brainscape automatically optimize review timing using spaced repetition - Focus more time on difficult concepts and less on material you've already mastered This unique combination of active recall, self-assessment (metacognition), and spaced repetition is designed to help you learn more efficiently. Where do all of Brainscape’s awesome flashcards come from? Three places: 1. Exper-created flashcards: Study professionally designed collections covering: - Foreign languages - MBE (Bar Exam) - NCLEX - MCAT - AP courses - Series 7 - GRE - And many more 2. Community-created flashcards: Search millions of flashcards created by students, teachers, professionals, and organizations around the world. 3. Create your own flashcards: Instantly create multimedia flashcards from: - Notes - PDFs - Images - Documents - Text input Add images, audio, and collaborate with classmates or colleagues. Why learners all over the world use Brainscape - AI-powered flashcard creation - Scientifically designed spaced repetition - Active recall learning techniques - Progress tracking and study insights - Millions of existing flashcards ready to study - Available across web and mobile devices How much does it cost? Creating and sharing great text flashcards is FREE. (Woohoo! And sorry, we do have to charge for image creation for security reasons.) And for unlimited access to ALL of Brainscape's user-generated and premium, expert-curated content, as well as optional features, like bookmarks and card reversibility--or to me your content private, you can upgrade to Pro for $19.99 (monthly), $59.99 (every 6 months), or $95.99 (annually). Alternatively, you can unlock a LIFETIME of learning with Brainscape for a one-time cost of only $199.99 American dolla billz. The fine print: The 3 recurring subscriptions (monthly, semiannual, and annual) will renew automatically within 24 hours before the end of the current period, unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the period. You can cancel auto-renewal any time by going to Account Settings, and the cancellation will apply after the active subscription period is complete. Go ahead and learn more about our Terms and Privacy Policy at brainscape.com/terms. What’s on the horizon? It’s our vision to empower everyone, everywhere to rise to the challenge of personalized forever-learning. And for this reason, we love hearing from our user community: it’s through your feedback that we can continue to innovate our platform to be more convenient, efficient, and even fun and social to use!

About

Flashcards by HS

Create custom flashcards with images and sounds to aid learning. Supports multiple languages and offers flexible card and list formats. Organize your study sessions with adjustable question order and answer flipping.

Highlights
  • Image and sound integration
  • Speech synthesizer
  • Customizable card formats
  • Adjustable question order
  • Flip question and answer
Features
Read full description

Create custom flashcards with images, voice recordings, and multi-language text-to-speech support. Images and audio can be added to both the question and answer sides of your cards. Easily create questions by snapping photos of reference materials, textbook pages, complex math formulas, symbols, or diagrams that are tedious to type. # Study Modes & Features: - Flexible Display Formats: Standard flashcard mode and a list view for quick reviewing. - Customizable Study Options: Cards can be shuffled, in order or reverse order, or flipped (swap questions and answers). - Landscape Support: Fully supports horizontal orientation for comfortable viewing. [Note on Text-to-Speech Settings] The app cannot read aloud text that is in a different language from the selected setting. (For example, if the language is set to "English," any Japanese text on the card will not be read.)

Screenshots

Brainscape4 screens
Flashcards by HS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Flashcards by HS at none against Brainscape's 4. Flashcards by HS also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 83%). Brainscape's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, rating, device support and iOS requirement 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. Brainscape sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Flashcards by HS asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brainscape holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brainscape has 22K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Brainscape's written reviews are positive against 93% of Flashcards by HS's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, Flashcards by HS every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Brainscape versus Flashcards by HS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainscapeFlashcards by HS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (22K ratings) — better4.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews82.7% of reviews93.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings22K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
Best chart rank#180 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB22 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperBrainscapeKAZUTERU YOKOI

Customer experience

Brainscape

All ratings21,531 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews1,128 reviews
Positive82.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative12.3%

Flashcards by HS

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews106 reviews
Positive93.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative2.8%

Bugs and requests

Brainscape

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when switching between cards
  • Syncing issues causing data loss
  • Difficulty importing and organizing custom cards
  • Inconsistent performance on different devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow more customization of cards (e.g., adding images, audio)
  • Improve search and browsing functionality
  • Provide more detailed progress tracking and statistics
  • Offer family/group subscription plans
  • Add support for more languages

Flashcards by HS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Brainscape

Subscriptions3
  • Brainscape Pro$19.991 Month
  • Brainscape Pro$59.996 Months
  • Brainscape Pro$95.991 Year
One-time1
  • Brainscape Pro Lifetime$199.99
None

Flashcards by HS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brainscape free?
Brainscape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Flashcards by HS free?
Flashcards by HS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brainscape or Flashcards by HS?
Brainscape is rated higher. Brainscape averages 4.8 out of 5 from 22K ratings, while Flashcards by HS averages 4.6 from 5 ratings.
Do Brainscape or Flashcards by HS have ads?
Flashcards by HS shows ads; Brainscape does not.
Which is updated more often, Brainscape or Flashcards by HS?
Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, and Flashcards by HS every 4 months. Most recently, Brainscape was updated on November 6, 2026 and Flashcards by HS on November 2, 2026.

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