Brainscape pioneered confidence-based repetition and has shipped serious spaced-repetition tooling for over a decade. We respect them. We just don't want a subscription for the rest of our lives, and we prefer iOS-native to web-first. Here's the honest fork.
| Discito | Brainscape | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $14.99 once | $9.99/mo or $79.99/yr |
| Scheduling algorithm | FSRS-6 (4-button) | CBR (5-point confidence) |
| Account required | No (iCloud only) | Yes (email + password) |
| Platform priority | iOS-native (SwiftUI) | Web-first |
| On-device AI card generation | Yes (Apple Intelligence) | No |
| Lecture audio → flashcards | Yes (on-device) | No |
| Home Screen widget + Live Activity | Yes | No |
| Family Sharing | Included | Per-account |
Brainscape's Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR) asks you to rate your confidence on a 1-5 scale after each card. The scheduling logic schedules low-confidence cards more often and high-confidence cards less often. The model is intuitive, well-explained on their site, and Brainscape has published research and clinical validation work on it.
Discito uses FSRS-6 — Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, version 6, developed by the Open Spaced Repetition team. You rate cards on a 4-button scale (Again / Hard / Good / Easy), and the algorithm models each card's stability and difficulty as a continuous function of your full review history. FSRS-6 is the default scheduler in Anki desktop and has been validated against very large review datasets.
Both are real algorithms with real research behind them. The practical difference: FSRS-6 is open-source, has independent reference implementations (py-fsrs, fsrs-rs), and Discito's implementation is bit-exact with py-fsrs (validated by a parametric fuzz harness). CBR is proprietary to Brainscape. If you care about algorithm transparency and being able to verify what your study app is actually doing, FSRS wins on that axis.
Brainscape Pro is $9.99/month or $79.99/year (Lifetime is also offered at a higher tier; check their current pricing page). The monthly subscription works out to roughly $120/year; the annual subscription is $79.99/year. Over 5 years on the annual plan, that's around $400.
Discito Pro is $14.99 once, lifetime, Family Sharing included. Founder pricing through end of 2026 — going to $19.99 in 2027. Discito Lite is free forever with unlimited cards, full FSRS-6, and iCloud sync.
Brainscape's primary product is the web app, with iOS and Android apps built around it. The mobile apps are functional, but they follow the design conventions of the web product rather than iOS-native patterns.
Discito is built in SwiftUI on iOS 26 from day one. There is no web app and no Android app — the entire surface area is focused on iPhone and iPad. The trade-off: if your primary study device is a desktop browser or an Android phone, Brainscape is the right tool. If your primary device is an iPhone or iPad, Discito's iOS-native depth is the differentiator (widgets, Lock Screen Live Activity, Dynamic Island, Control Center, Focus Mode, dark mode app icon, 5 reading themes).
Discito uses Apple Intelligence (iOS 26 Foundation Models) to generate cards from text, PDFs, and lecture audio — entirely on-device. Brainscape ships a curated marketplace of expert-built decks (their flagship content advantage) but doesn't, as of this writing, offer on-device AI generation. Different bets: Brainscape's bet is curated quality; Discito's bet is on-device generation that scales to any source material you have.
Brainscape has a marketplace of expert-curated decks (medical, language, professional certifications). For exam prep where polished content matters, that's a real value-add. Discito doesn't ship a marketplace. We bundle 4 starter decks (Spanish 100, French 100, World Capitals 100, Cognitive Biases 25, Hiragana + Katakana 92) and let you bring your own via .apkg import, CSV import, or AI generation. Different models for different needs.
Brainscape and Discito use different deck formats, so there's no one-click migration. The practical paths are CSV export from Brainscape (where supported) → CSV import into Discito, or manual recreation for smaller decks. Brainscape's marketplace decks are licensed content and don't carry over. We're not going to pretend this is seamless — for users with large personal Brainscape libraries, the migration cost is real. For users on the marketplace decks, switching means re-acquiring equivalent content elsewhere (Anki community, AI generation in Discito, or buying competitor curated decks).
Brainscape Pro annual is $79.99/year. Discito Pro is $14.99 once (founder pricing through end of 2026).
Family Sharing is included with Discito Pro — one purchase covers up to 5 family members. Brainscape subscriptions are per-account.
Discito Lite is free forever — full FSRS-6, iCloud sync, unlimited cards, no account, no ads.