Comparison

Brainscape vs FlashStacks

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

FlashStacks

Transform study materials into interactive Home Screen widgets. AI generates flashcards from PDFs, and spaced repetition optimizes learning. Visualize concepts with image occlusion and track progress with detailed stats.

Highlights
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • AI-powered PDF to flashcard generation
  • Spaced repetition learning
  • Image occlusion cards
  • Progress tracking and stats
  • Customizable widget themes
Features
Read full description

Your flashcards, on your Home Screen. FlashStacks turns your study cards into beautiful Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets. Glance at a question between classes. Tap to reveal the answer. Move to the next card — all without opening the app. Learning fits into the moments already filling your day. Always visible, always ready Your stacks live as widgets that rotate automatically throughout the day. Every time you check your phone, there's something new to learn. Tap to reveal, tap to advance. AI-powered deck generation Upload any PDF — lecture notes, textbook chapters, study guides — and AI instantly creates a complete flashcard deck. Choose high-yield mode for exam prep or comprehensive for full coverage. Every card is widget-ready from the start. Spaced repetition that works FlashStacks uses the same proven science behind Anki. Cards you struggle with come back sooner. Cards you've mastered fade into the background. Study smarter, not longer. Image occlusion cards Add any image — diagrams, anatomy, maps — and draw boxes over areas to hide. Tap to reveal what's underneath. Perfect for visual subjects. Beautiful by design Every stack gets its own colour palette — soft pastels or bold modern tones. Widgets match your stack's colours. Dark mode uses pure OLED black. Track your progress Per-stack stats show mastery level, difficulty breakdown, and 14-day activity. Build a streak. Hit your daily goal. FlashStacks Premium Create unlimited stacks, generate decks from PDF with AI, add image occlusion cards, and study from your Lock Screen. Monthly and annual plans available. 3-day free trial included with annual. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Brainscape4 screens
FlashStacks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Brainscape at 21K against FlashStacks's 8. Brainscape also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and chart position (#136 vs unranked). FlashStacks's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 82%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). 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 FlashStacks sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. 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 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brainscape has 21K ratings behind it against 8, 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 FlashStacks'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, FlashStacks weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Brainscape versus FlashStacks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainscapeFlashStacks
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (21K ratings) — better4.6 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings21K — better8
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#136 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrainscapeBailey Skewes

Customer experience

Brainscape

All ratings21,383 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews933 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral4.8%
Negative13.1%

FlashStacks

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews5 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

FlashStacks

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
2 purchases

FlashStacks

Subscriptions2
  • FlashStacks Premium — Monthly$4.991 Month
  • FlashStacks Premium — Annual3 Days trial$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Brainscape free?
Brainscape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FlashStacks free?
FlashStacks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brainscape or FlashStacks?
Brainscape is rated higher. Brainscape averages 4.8 out of 5 from 21K ratings, while FlashStacks averages 4.6 from 8 ratings.
Do Brainscape or FlashStacks have ads?
Neither Brainscape nor FlashStacks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainscape or FlashStacks?
Brainscape ships an update every 3 weeks, and FlashStacks weekly. Most recently, Brainscape was updated on October 3, 2026 and FlashStacks on September 27, 2026.

Other comparisons