AYOA vs TheBrain
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AYOA
This app offers a unified workspace for thinking, planning, and achieving goals. It integrates mind mapping, task management, AI assistance, and collaborative whiteboards to support diverse thinking styles. Ideal for brainstorming, project planning, and team collaboration.
- Mind mapping for visual thinking
- Task planning and scheduling
- AI-powered idea generation
- Collaborative whiteboards
- Neuro-inclusive design
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AYOA is the inclusive productivity tool that helps you think, plan & achieve your way. Combine mind mapping, task management, AI, and whiteboards in one beautiful workspace. Whether you’re brainstorming, planning projects, or collaborating with your team, AYOA adapts to every thinking style, perfect for creatives, professionals, students, and neurodivergent users. Why AYOA? • Mind maps for visual thinking • Task planning, scheduling & prioritisation • AI-powered prompts & idea generation • Collaborative whiteboards for teams or solo • Neuro-inclusive features for all brains Join thousands who use AYOA to capture ideas, organise projects, and get more done. Stop imagining productivity. Experience it. Terms and Conditions: https://ayoa.com/terms-and-conditions
TheBrain
This app helps you capture, connect, and visualize all your ideas, notes, and files across devices. It acts as a digital memory, showing related items and allowing for dynamic mind mapping and powerful search to help you recall information instantly.
- Award-winning visualization
- Networked notes with backlinks
- Dynamic mind mapping
- Easy idea capture
- Cross-device sync
- Powerful search
- Visual file management
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YOUR DIGITAL MEMORY. VISUALIZED. TheBrain is the unique knowledge app that helps you capture everything — ideas, notes, web pages, files, photos — and connect it all the way you naturally think. Stop hunting through folders, tabs, and search bars. Start seeing your knowledge as a living network you can navigate with a tap. Described by the Wall Street Journal as "Software that thinks like you do" and MacLife as "the most compelling mind mapping adaptation we've encountered." Winner of KMWorld's Trendsetting Products award. WHY THEBRAIN? Traditional notes apps trap your ideas in folders, tags, or endless lists. TheBrain lets every piece of information connect to anything else — so the right idea finds you the moment you need it. It's note-taking, mind mapping, file management, and AI rolled into one beautiful experience that works the same on every device. KEY FEATURES CEREBRO — TALK TO YOUR BRAIN WITH AI Our built-in agentic AI assistant. Ask Cerebro anything — and let it create new thoughts and notes, surface exactly what you need, summarize long documents, suggest meaningful links, or just have a conversation about what you know. It can do anything you can do — only faster. DYNAMIC THOUGHT NETWORK Move beyond conventional mind maps and folders. TheBrain's animated visualization shows your ideas, their context, and the relationships between them — at any scale. Tap a thought, and the entire network reorganizes around it. NETWORKED NOTES Rich notes shown in context with automatic backlinks and concept discovery. Hybrid WYSIWYG + Markdown writing, powerful tables, resizable images, math, and folding — all the modern editor essentials. EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE Attach web pages, PDFs, photos, and documents to any thought. Link people, projects, files, and ideas in a single living workspace. POWERFUL SEARCH Find any note, file, web page, or idea in seconds. Every match appears in the context of your thought network, so you instantly see how it relates to everything else you know. SEAMLESS SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Your brain is always with you. Mobile, Mac, Windows, Linux, and web stay in sync — even with large brains. Smart Sync downloads attachments on demand, keeping your brain fast and lightweight on every device. INFINITE SCALE Effortlessly handles hundreds of thousands of items and many gigabytes of data — without slowing down. COLLABORATE AND SHARE Publish your brain online for the world, or sync thoughts privately with your team. Great for shared knowledge bases, project planning, and team research. ==================================== WAYS TO USE THEBRAIN • Build your second brain — a living reflection of how you think, ready when you need it. • Manage everything in your life: projects, people, goals, files, and ideas in one place. • Capture interesting articles, videos, and references so they're activated when you need them. • Organize trips, travel, and major life events with all the right context at hand. • Power your research — go deeper on any concept and see how it connects to everything else. • Turn goals into action by linking them with the resources needed to achieve them. • Build a knowledge base that sparks new ideas and breakthroughs. • Link people, projects, and information for a smarter view of your business. • Create topic brains around your passions, hobbies, and special interests. • Plan personal projects like home renovations, weddings, or major purchases. GET STARTED IN MINUTES Start with a single thought — your name, a project, an idea you want to explore. Add a few connections. Within minutes you'll understand why people have trusted TheBrain for over two decades. For the best experience, install TheBrain on your phone, tablet, and computer. Our iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, and other mobile clients all sync seamlessly — your best thinking is always with you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: AYOA at 62% against TheBrain's 45%. AYOA also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and ratings volume (1K vs 150). TheBrain's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.6). 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
Both are free to download. AYOA sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $17.00 per month and TheBrain sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TheBrain holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AYOA has 1K ratings behind it against 150, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of AYOA's written reviews are positive against 45% of TheBrain's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
AYOA ships an update every 2 weeks, TheBrain monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AYOA | TheBrain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (1K ratings) | 4.8 (150 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.4% of reviews — better | 44.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1K — better | 150 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 240 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OpenGenius Limited | TheBrain Technologies LP |
Customer experience
AYOA
TheBrain
User reviews
AYOA
From 1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Central part of productivity system
- 👍 Unique product with visual approach
- 🤩 Fantastic app that transforms work
- 🧠 Helps organize thoughts and ideas
- 🎨 Visually appealing and intuitive
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent behavior across platforms
- 🤔 Limited functionality compared to web version
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🤯 Confusing setup and learning curve
- 🤖 Lack of integration with common tools
TheBrain
From 150 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Seamless navigation
- 🔒 Secure cloud sync
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 👍 Excellent for knowledge management
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Buggy on iOS 9
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Limited functionality on mobile
- 🐛 Confusing UI and navigation
Bugs and requests
AYOA
Reported bugs
4 issues- Login issues
- Crashes and freezes
- Disappearing data and lost work
- Compatibility problems with older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Apple Pencil support on iOS
- Improved printing capabilities
- Automatic task archiving
- Dual verification for task completion
- Better integration with calendars and task managers
TheBrain
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes on iOS 9
- Inability to open brains
- Freezing after each action
- Login and account issues
- Sync problems
Requested features
7 requests- Offline mode
- Improved mobile UI and UX
- Better integration with other apps
- More affordable pricing options
- Enhanced search and filtering
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- Split-screen support on iPad
- Handwriting and stylus support
In-app purchases
AYOA
- AYOA Monthly$17.001 Month
- AYOA Annual$155.991 Year
- Ayoa Task 1 Year$119.99
- Ayoa Mind Map 1 Year$119.99
- Ayoa 12 Months Ultimate$155.99
TheBrain
- TheBrain Pro Monthly$17.991 Month
- TheBrain Pro Annual$189.991 Year







