Comparison

Brainscape vs Guru

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

Guru

This app helps students import existing flashcard decks, review them using an AI-powered spaced repetition system, and even generate new cards from PDFs and notes. It includes a study lock feature to minimize distractions during review sessions.

Highlights
  • Import existing flashcard decks
  • AI-powered spaced repetition (FSRS)
  • Generate flashcards from PDFs and notes
  • Study Lock to block distracting apps
  • Controller support for reviews
  • Organized deck management
Features
Read full description

Guru imports your Anki decks (.apkg and .colpkg) with cards, media, sub-decks and scheduling state intact, then reviews them on iPhone and iPad with the FSRS scheduler, online or offline. Open a deck straight from Files, AirDrop, Safari downloads or the share sheet. Importing and daily review are free for up to 5 decks. Pro unlocks card editing, cross-device sync, Study Lock and unlimited decks: US$4.99/month after a 3-day free trial, US$39.99/year, or US$24.99 once for Lifetime (includes 5,000 AI credits). Requires iOS 17 or later. ■ Import your decks ・.apkg and .colpkg packages, including large shared decks with tens of thousands of cards ・Cards, cloze deletions, images, audio, sub-decks and scheduling state come through ・Browse the deck tree before you start reviewing ■ Review with FSRS ・Study cards when they are due, with Again, Hard, Good and Easy ratings ・One card per note per day, so cloze siblings don't stack up ・Cram Mode before exams without rebuilding your deck ■ Turn material into cards ・Create draft cards from PDFs, notes and lectures with AI credits ・Review and edit generated cards before studying ・Image occlusion cards for diagrams and anatomy ■ Stay focused ・Study Lock (optional) shields selected distracting apps until today's review is done ・Review with touch, gestures, or a paired game controller ・Built for fast daily sessions on iPhone and iPad ■ Export and sync ・Every deck exports back to a standard .apkg ・Pro syncs decks, cards and review progress with the GuruOwl web app ■ Pro access Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or the one-time Lifetime unlock. AI card generation uses credits. Subscriptions can be cancelled any time in App Store settings. Guru is an independent app and is not affiliated with Anki, AnkiMobile or AnkiWeb. ■ Legal Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://guruowl.com/app/privacy

Screenshots

Brainscape4 screens
Guru4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Guru at every 3 days against Brainscape's every 3 weeks. Brainscape's advantage is ratings volume (22K vs 3). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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 Guru sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Brainscape against 4.7 for Guru. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brainscape has 22K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, Guru every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Brainscape versus Guru: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainscapeGuru
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (22K ratings) — better4.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews82.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings22K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB113 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBrainscape剑 肖

Customer experience

Brainscape

All ratings21,531 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews946 reviews
Positive82.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative13.0%

Guru

All ratings3 ratings
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

Guru

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
5 purchases

Guru

Subscriptions3
  • Flashcard Guru Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Flashcard Guru Pro Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Flashcard Guru Pro Yearly$39.991 Year
One-time2
  • 500 AI Credits$4.99
  • Lifetime Pro$24.99

Questions

Is Brainscape free?
Brainscape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Guru free?
Guru is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brainscape or Guru?
Brainscape is rated higher. Brainscape averages 4.8 out of 5 from 22K ratings, while Guru averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Brainscape or Guru have ads?
Neither Brainscape nor Guru shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainscape or Guru?
Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, and Guru every 3 days. Most recently, Brainscape was updated on October 20, 2026 and Guru on October 8, 2026.

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