Can Brainscape import Anki decks?

Not directly. According to the Brainscape help there is no .apkg import; you export a .txt file from Anki and paste the text. Media and study progress do not come along.

How much does Brainscape Pro cost in Germany?

The German App Store lists Brainscape Pro at 20.49 EUR, 61.99 EUR and 97.99 EUR, without stating the terms, and Pro Lifetime at 229.99 EUR. The app description gives 19.99 USD per month, 59.99 per half-year and 95.99 per year.

Which algorithm does Brainscape use?

Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR), a proprietary algorithm. After revealing a card, you rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how confident you were. checkst uses FSRS.

Basic is free: study, create, import and share your own and directly shared cards without limit. Images and audio, private content and full access to the Certified decks are part of Pro.

checkst vs. Brainscape: Comparison for iPhone learners

At its core, Brainscape sells you two things: ready-made decks created with subject experts, and a proprietary algorithm where you rate how confident you were after each card. checkst sells you something different: an iPhone app where you bring your own or shared Anki decks, build cards from your material with AI, and learn with FSRS.

Both can be the right choice. It depends on whether you want to buy content or build content yourself.

Status: November 2026. All information about Brainscape comes from the sources linked below.

The comparison at a glance

	checkst	Brainscape
Platforms	iPhone and iPad	iPhone, iPad, Android, Web
Free version	Core features free	Basic: study own and shared cards unlimited
Payment model	Pro 4.99 EUR for six months (subscription, renews automatically)	Pro in the German App Store: 20.49 EUR, 61.99 EUR, 97.99 EUR (terms not stated), Lifetime 229.99 EUR
Algorithm	FSRS	Confidence-Based Repetition (proprietary), rating 1 to 5
.apkg import	yes, with media and study progress	no; detour via .txt
.apkg export	yes	no; Pro export to Excel-compatible files
Images and audio on cards	yes	Pro
AI cards	on-device (Apple Foundation Models) or your own OpenAI key	Cards from text and by prompt, ChatGPT; daily limit also in Pro
Ready-made expert decks	no	Certified catalog
Offline	yes, decks stored locally	Studying in the app after download; creating and editing only online

Where Brainscape is ahead

Ready-made content. According to Brainscape, the Certified catalog is created together with subject experts. If your exam subject is covered there, you save yourself writing cards. checkst does not come with its own catalog of curated decks; you download community decks or build your own.

More platforms. Brainscape is available for iPhone, Android and in the browser, all synced through the same account. checkst runs only on iPhone and iPad.

Simpler rating flow. Reveal the card, state your confidence from 1 to 5, done. For people who keep wondering whether an Anki button was "Hard" or "Good", this is refreshingly direct. checkst rates with four levels, like Anki.

Sharing already in the free version. According to the pricing page, sharing and editing rights are already part of Basic.

Where checkst is ahead

Your Anki decks just work. Brainscape cannot import .apkg directly. According to the official help, you export a text file from Anki and paste it in. That means no images, no audio, no study progress, no templates. For a vocabulary deck that may be fine, for a medical deck with diagrams it is not. checkst imports .apkg directly, with images, audio and Anki templates.

And you can get out again. Brainscape exports (in Pro) files that open in Excel, but no .apkg. In a Reddit thread, the Brainscape CEO confirmed there is no general bulk export of images. checkst exports .apkg, Anki's own format.

Images and audio without a subscription. At Brainscape, images and audio on cards are Pro features. In checkst they are simply included.

An open algorithm. According to Brainscape, CBR is proprietary. The system takes into account your rating, the time since the last review and your previous study activity, but you cannot verify it. One Reddit user wrote after a test: "cards came back at weird intervals". To be fair: Brainscape has since introduced modes such as Cram, Long-Term Learning and custom intervals, though as Pro features. checkst uses FSRS, the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, and shows you with each rating when the card comes back.

AI that doesn't call home to the USA. According to the help, Brainscape's AI runs via ChatGPT, and the privacy policy names OpenAI and Anthropic as possible providers. Your data is stored in the USA with Amazon Web Services. Brainscape writes that training the providers' models on your data is disabled. checkst generates cards by default directly on the iPhone via Apple's Foundation Models, without upload. There is also PDF split view, text recognition from photos and read-aloud.

On the PDF topic, Brainscape's information is also contradictory: Google Play advertises cards from PDFs, its own PDF guide says full PDF upload is not yet available, and it recommends copying the text.

Offline without restrictions. Brainscape studies offline if you downloaded the cards beforehand. Creating and editing require a connection, according to the help. In checkst your decks are stored locally, and editing in airplane mode is included.

Prices: read the fine print

The German App Store shows three Pro prices (20.49 EUR, 61.99 EUR, 97.99 EUR) without the terms beside them, and Pro Lifetime for 229.99 EUR. The app description lists dollar prices: 19.99 USD per month, 59.99 USD per half-year, 95.99 USD per year, 199.99 USD for Lifetime. The website advertises 7.99 USD per month with annual payment. Which euro price belongs to which term is not clear from the outside.

A Reddit user also reported further charges after cancelling; support later refunded them. An individual case, but a good reason to manage subscriptions directly in iPhone settings.

checkst Pro costs 4.99 EUR for six months and renews automatically until you cancel.

Moving from Brainscape to checkst

Export your cards in Brainscape (Pro).
Convert the file into a form you can import as a deck, or recreate the cards in checkst. No other app takes over the study progress from CBR, as it is proprietary.
For content you originally had in Anki: better to use the old .apkg and open it directly in checkst.

Conclusion

Brainscape suits you if you want finished, vetted decks for your subject, study on Android or in the browser, and like the simple 1-to-5 rating.
checkst suits you if you study on iPhone with your own or shared Anki decks, want images and audio without extra cost, build cards from lecture notes with AI, and want to take your data with you at any time as .apkg.