Comparison

Brainscape vs Kyoku Flashcards

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

Kyoku Flashcards

Create, organize, and study digital flashcards using your Apple Pencil. Add images, choose templates, and utilize spaced repetition for effective learning. Sync across devices and share your decks.

Highlights
  • Create custom flashcards with writing or drawing
  • Add images to flashcards
  • Choose from various templates
  • Organize cards into decks and folders
  • Spaced repetition study method
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Export and share flashcard decks
Features
Read full description

Kyoku Flashcards is a powerful flashcards app ready to use with your Apple Pencil. It will make it easier to learn anything you want. Transform your flashcards to the digital world. CREATE AND ORGANIZE YOUR FLASHCARDS LIKE ON REAL PAPER * Create your custom flashcards by writing or drawing what you want in their front and back sides. * Make it more visual by adding images to your flashcards * Choose from a large set of beautiful templates: Dotted, Ruled, Squared, Music or Blank flashcards * Organize your flashcards as you want among decks or folders STUDY YOUR FLASHCARDS * Study your flashcards regularly to learn the new concepts using Spaced Repetition (with Leitner System) * Use it side by side with any other App or website. * Support Dark Mode, to ease studying at night or in low light environments. BACKUP AND SHARE * Create a backup or share your decks of flashcards with your friends by exporting them as a file YOUR FLASHCARDS ALWAYS WITH YOU * All your flashcards with you at all times thanks to iCloud sync * Study your cards on the go with the companion Apps for iPhone and macOS Go paperless with Kyoku. I am looking forward to hearing from you, please let me know anything you would like to have or to improve in Kyoku Flashcards from the "Give us feedback" option in the Settings of the App.

Screenshots

Brainscape4 screens
Kyoku Flashcards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Brainscape at Free against Kyoku Flashcards's $3.99. Brainscape also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and ratings volume (22K vs 109). Kyoku Flashcards's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On ads, 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

Brainscape is free to download; Kyoku Flashcards costs $3.99 up front. Brainscape sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Kyoku Flashcards asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brainscape holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brainscape has 22K ratings behind it against 109, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Brainscape's written reviews are positive against 73% of Kyoku Flashcards's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, Kyoku Flashcards every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Brainscape versus Kyoku Flashcards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainscapeKyoku Flashcards
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (22K ratings) — better4.1 (109 ratings)
Positive reviews82.7% of reviews — better73.1% of reviews
Number of ratings22K — better109
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#166 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrainscapeDavid Cordero

Customer experience

Brainscape

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

Kyoku Flashcards

All ratings109 ratings
Positive75.2%
Neutral11.0%
Negative13.8%
Written reviews134 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral12.7%
Negative14.2%

User reviews

Brainscape

From 22K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing flashcard app
  • 👍 Great for studying and learning
  • 👍 Helpful for passing exams and tests
  • 👍 Convenient to use on mobile devices
  • 👍 Effective spaced repetition algorithm

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🐛 Buggy app with crashes and syncing issues
  • 🔒 Limited functionality in free version
  • 👎 Difficult to edit and organize cards
  • 👎 Inaccuracies in some pre-made decks

Kyoku Flashcards

From 109 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • ✨ Seamless Apple Pencil integration
  • 🚀 Efficient for handwritten flashcards
  • 💯 Helpful for studying and improving GPA
  • 🎨 Customizable card designs

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
  • 🔄 Sync issues between devices
  • 📁 Lack of organization options (folders, search)
  • ✏️ No text input option
  • 🔍 Missing advanced review features (SRS, reminders)

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

Kyoku Flashcards

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Images not displaying correctly
  • Inability to move or delete cards
  • Unexpected data loss or card deletion

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add text input option
  • Implement spaced repetition system (SRS)
  • Allow for more card organization (folders, search)
  • Improve sync and backup functionality
  • Provide more customization options (colors, templates)

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

Kyoku Flashcards

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brainscape free?
Brainscape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kyoku Flashcards free?
Kyoku Flashcards costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brainscape or Kyoku Flashcards?
Brainscape is rated higher. Brainscape averages 4.8 out of 5 from 22K ratings, while Kyoku Flashcards averages 4.1 from 109 ratings.
Do Brainscape or Kyoku Flashcards have ads?
Neither Brainscape nor Kyoku Flashcards shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainscape or Kyoku Flashcards?
Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, and Kyoku Flashcards every 9 days. Most recently, Brainscape was updated on November 1, 2026 and Kyoku Flashcards on October 30, 2026.

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