Comparison

cards.study vs Spark

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

Head to head
About

cards.study

Master subjects like languages and trivia with a spaced-repetition flashcard system. Create your own study materials or use pre-made courses. Gain insights into your learning progress with advanced statistics.

Highlights
  • Spaced-repetition algorithm
  • Pre-made courses
  • Custom card editor
  • Advanced statistics
  • Trivia and language learning
Features
Read full description

Learn more, faster with Cards. Master trivia, practice languages, or study for a test using our flash cards system, and remember what you learn forever using our spaced-repetition algorithm. From French Vocabulary to Countries of the World, memorize anything from our hundreds of pre-made courses, or create your own cards with our easy-to-use editor. Improve your learning efficiency with insights from advanced statistics about your learning. Start learning with Cards today! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Spark

Engage with daily learning puzzles centered around a single theme. Explore history, science, and pop culture through four unique, human-crafted games designed for discovery and fun.

Highlights
  • Daily themed puzzles
  • Four unique game modes
  • Human-crafted puzzles
  • Explore history, science, and pop culture
  • Archive of past puzzles
  • No timers or tests
Currently charting
Read full description

Replace doomscrolling with learning. Each day, Spark explores a single theme through thoughtful puzzles spanning ancient history, mythology, movies, food, geography, and more.

With five unique games and new puzzles every day, Spark makes learning part of your routine. Each game offers a different way to explore the day's theme, and each one teaches you as you play.
 Spark's games include: This or That: Choose between two options to learn more about the day's theme Links: Find the common thread connecting people, places, and ideas Chrono: Put events in order to see how history really unfolded Knockout: Uncover surprising comparisons in a series of fun head-to-head matchups Hindsight: Pinpoint when and where a photo was taken to uncover the story behind it
 All of Spark's puzzles are crafted by experts, not AI, and designed to spark those "aha" moments that make ideas stick. Explore hundreds of topics in the Library, from ancient history to the animal kingdom, with past themes to revisit anytime. Along the way, you'll uncover facts that are fun to learn and even better to share.
 From the creators of Elevate and Balance, Spark is part of a collection of mental fitness apps designed to strengthen your mind. For additional information, please read our Terms of Service (https://themindcompany.com/terms-and-conditions?from=spark) and Privacy Policy (https://themindcompany.com/privacy-policy?from=spark).

Screenshots

cards.study4 screens
Spark4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: cards.study at none against Spark's shown. cards.study also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Spark's advantage is ratings volume (2.8K vs 8) and update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). On price, review sentiment, 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. cards.study sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $5.99 per month and Spark sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

cards.study holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spark has 2.8K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of cards.study's written reviews are positive against 93% of Spark's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

cards.study ships an update every 4 weeks, Spark weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
cards.study versus Spark: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parametercards.studySpark
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better4.8 (2.8K ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better92.6% of reviews
Number of ratings82.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#93 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB151 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBen JenkinsThe Mind Company

Customer experience

cards.study

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Spark

All ratings2,770 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.4%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews1,647 reviews
Positive92.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.9%

Bugs and requests

cards.study

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Spark

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • AT&T blocking the website as potentially malicious

Requested features

2 requests
  • More games and puzzles
  • Dark mode option

In-app purchases

1 purchases

cards.study

Subscriptions1
  • All Access$5.991 Month
7 purchases

Spark

Subscriptions7
  • Spark+$2.991 Month
  • Spark+$4.991 Month
  • Spark+1 Year trial4 variants$39.991 Year
Show 4 more
  • Spark+7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Spark+3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Spark+7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Spark+7 Days trial$79.991 Year

Questions

Is cards.study free?
cards.study is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Spark free?
Spark is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, cards.study or Spark?
cards.study is rated higher. cards.study averages 5.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Spark averages 4.8 from 2.8K ratings.
Do cards.study or Spark have ads?
Spark shows ads; cards.study does not.
Which is updated more often, cards.study or Spark?
cards.study ships an update every 4 weeks, and Spark weekly. Most recently, cards.study was updated on November 4, 2026 and Spark on November 9, 2026.

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