Comparison

Brainscape vs Deck

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

Deck

Learn intuitively with a flashcard app that rebuilds remembering habits using a smart algorithm. Add text, equations, photos, GIFs, or sketches to cards and manage them with tags and reminders. Track progress and utilize practice or test modes.

Highlights
  • Add text, equations, photos, GIFs, sketches
  • Create and manage decks with tags
  • Intuitive suggestion-based learning
  • Progress tracking and test modes
  • Import decks from cloud services
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
  • Dark mode and adjustable text size
Features
Read full description

"There's is always one more thing to learn why not start from a Deck" Deck is Flashcard based app which help you to learn in more intuitive way. It help to rebuild your remembering habits with its state of the art algorithm which carefully monitors your learning and provide situation based suggestion all these smart thing work inside the device, so you don't have to care for your privacy protection. KEY FEATURES : • Add Text, Mathematical Equation, Photos, GIFs, Sketch in a Flashcard. • Easy to create and manage Decks of Flashcard. • Create different color of cards. • Intuitive suggestion based learning. • Tags made easier to manage your Decks in more organized way. • Reminder never let you forget any deck. • Whole UI element support Dark more so your content appears better at night as well. • Modern UI with support for latest iOS and macOS devices. Native support for all Apple Devices. • Import Decks or Cards from Web, Google Drive, Dropbox Evernote, Box and more in CSV format. • Multi-window lets you open multiple Decks at once . • iCloud Sync makes using Deck across Mac and iOS devices seamless and easy. • Discover this section to know your progress at each and every step this includes progress of adding card, test scores, forget rate and test appeared. It also includes each and every details of the test. • Discover two new test mode include the Practice mode and Test mode. • Widgets support for iOS, iPadOS and macOS. • Increase the size of text when inside learning mode. You may purchase an auto-renewing subscription through an In-App Purchase. • Auto-renewable subscription • 3 month ($1.99), 1 year ($6.49) for Family and One time buy option ($24.99). • Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration selected) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • Current subscription may not be cancelled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and/or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase • Privacy policy and terms of use: https://haarisiqubal.github.io/app/privacy • Terms of use : https://haarisiqubal.github.io/app/terms

Screenshots

Brainscape4 screens
Deck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Brainscape at 4.8 against Deck's 4.0. Brainscape also leads on ratings volume (21K vs 4) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). Deck's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 82%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Brainscape sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Deck sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brainscape holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brainscape has 21K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of Brainscape's written reviews are positive against 100% of Deck'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, Deck every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Brainscape versus Deck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainscapeDeck
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (21K ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#144 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.616.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrainscapeHaaris Iqubal

Customer experience

Brainscape

All ratings21,463 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews941 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral4.8%
Negative13.1%

Deck

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Deck

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
3 purchases

Deck

Subscriptions2
  • Subscribe - 3 Month Family7 Days trial$1.993 Months
  • Subscribe - Yearly Family$6.491 Year
One-time1
  • Buy - Lifetime$24.99

Questions

Is Brainscape free?
Brainscape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Deck free?
Deck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brainscape or Deck?
Brainscape is rated higher. Brainscape averages 4.8 out of 5 from 21K ratings, while Deck averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Brainscape or Deck have ads?
Neither Brainscape nor Deck shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainscape or Deck?
Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, and Deck every 3 months. Most recently, Brainscape was updated on October 16, 2026 and Deck on September 22, 2026.

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