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Lumosity vs Elevate vs Peak (and 5 more): free, paid, and the science

Eight brain game apps compared from their US App Store pages: what the free version includes, what Premium costs, and what research supports.

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Blue jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered on a table

Photo: Ksenia Pixelesse / Unsplash

All eight apps in this comparison are free to download, and none of them is free in the same way. BrainHQ gives you one exercise a day. Elevate and Peak have a "basic" free version. Impulse offers a three-day trial and its App Store page describes nothing beyond it. Where a US App Store listing names the period (we checked them on 19 October 2026), monthly plans run from about $7 to $15, Impulse also sells a $9.99 weekly plan, and the yearly plans are where the real discounts are.

On the science, the short version is this: the research finds that you get better at the games you play. Whether that carries over to work, school or everyday memory is far less certain, and in 2016 Lumosity's maker agreed to pay $2 million to settle US Federal Trade Commission charges over ads that said it did. For a daily puzzle habit, any of these works. For a medical promise, look elsewhere: the research summarised below backs one for none of them, ours included.

Free and paid, side by side

Prices and descriptions below are from each app's US App Store page, consulted on 19 October 2026. A listing shows at most ten in-app purchases, often without saying whether they are monthly or yearly, and the selection can change from one visit to the next: Peak's and NeuroNation's did that day. Where the period isn't given, we give the range rather than guess. Ratings are rounded.

AppFreePaid (US)Ratings
Impulse3-day trial$9.99 a week; up to $49.994.7 · 851,000
ElevateBasic version$9.99 a month, $39.99 a year4.8 · 545,000
PeakBasic version$1.99 to $34.994.7 · 146,000
LumosityFit Test (10 min)$11.99 to $89.004.7 · 131,000
BrainHQ1 exercise a day$13.99 a month, $94.99 a year4.6 · 22,000
NeuroNationNot describedFrom $41.99 for 3 months4.7 · 4,500
CogniFitNot described$9.99 a month, $59.99 a year4.5 · 1,700
LogicGlow3 rounds a dayFree to download; paid plan in the App StoreNone yet

How this list is ordered

By the number of ratings on the US App Store, from most to fewest. That is a rough measure of how many people have used an app, not of how good it is, chosen because anyone can check it. It also puts LogicGlow last: it is new and has no US ratings yet.

The eight apps, one by one

1. Impulse

The biggest by ratings, and, going by its listing, the one that offers least to free users. The listing describes a three-day trial "with full access to all games" and says the fee "will be shown in the app before you complete the payment". The in-app purchase list shows a weekly plan at $9.99, which works out far more expensive than any yearly plan here if you forget to cancel, next to a yearly special offer at $29.49 and other "Premium Access" purchases from $6.99 to $49.99.

  • Good for: a quick tour of many game types before deciding.
  • Watch out for: the weekly price, and the personality and self-discovery tests it bundles alongside the games, which are a different thing from a puzzle.

2. Elevate

Elevate leans toward reading, writing, vocabulary and everyday maths (splitting a bill, working out a discount) rather than abstract puzzles. It is the only one whose listing tells you exactly how to reach the free version: sign up, then tap the X in the top-left corner of the subscription screen. Paying means "Elevate Monthly" at $9.99 or "1 Year With 7-Day Trial" at $39.99.

  • Good for: people who want language and practical maths more than memory grids.
  • Watch out for: the trial screen comes first; skipping it is allowed but easy to miss.

3. Peak

Peak has more than 45 games in six categories and a free "basic version". The in-app purchase list is the hardest to read: the items are called "Peak Pro" or "Peak Pro Plan", with no period, at prices that ranged from $1.99 to $34.99 across our visits on 19 October. One visit also showed discount offers such as "40% Off Peak Pro Yearly" at $19.99; the next showed none.

  • Good for: variety, and short sessions ("Coffee Break" is under five minutes).
  • Watch out for: a price list where you cannot tell monthly from yearly until you reach the in-app screen.

4. Lumosity

Probably the best-known name here, and the one with the most history. The listing offers a free 10-minute Fit Test that compares your scores with others in your age group, more than 40 games, and Lumosity Premium for the personalised plan and in-depth insights. The one purchase with a period in its name is "One Month Subscription", at $14.99. What the listing does not say is how much you can play each day without paying, so the table doesn't say it either.

  • Good for: a large, well-made catalogue and a long track record.
  • Watch out for: Premium prices from $11.99 to $89.00 with no period attached on the listing. Check the in-app screen before you tap.

5. BrainHQ

Made by Posit Science, BrainHQ cites more research than any other app here: its listing says it is "backed by more than 100 scientific papers", including the NIH-funded ACTIVE study. It is also the clearest about money. One free exercise every day, then $13.99 a month or $94.99 a year, prices stated for US customers.

  • Good for: readers who want to look at the published research themselves before paying.
  • Watch out for: the claims are the company's reading of that research. The Simons review below is a useful second opinion on studies of this kind.

6. NeuroNation

A German app (Synaptikon GmbH) whose listing mentions studies with Freie Universität Berlin and an award from a health insurer's prize sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Health. The description quotes 3 months "from 41.99 USD" and 12 months "from 83.99 USD", about $7 a month. What stays free after you download is not described, so we don't describe it either.

  • Good for: a structured, course-like plan.
  • Watch out for: the in-app list shows other prices than the description (from $10.99 to $94.99 on our last visit), so check the in-app screen before you pay.

7. CogniFit

The description is upfront on price: $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year. The in-app list also shows other plans, from $6.99 a month to $119.99 for "Yearly Basic". It is also the most score-heavy app here, with a daily score from 0 to 100, scores across many separate abilities and more than 100 games. It does not say what you can do without paying.

  • Good for: people who like detailed charts.
  • Watch out for: a headline score its listing compares with your actual age. Like every score in this list, LogicGlow's included, it measures how you did at the games.

8. LogicGlow

The one we make. According to LogicGlow's website, the free plan includes all 34 games, the tests, the streak and the milestones, with a limit of 3 rounds a day. The daily path is five short games. Premium removes the limit and adds the full reports and streak shields. It is a monthly plan with a 3-day trial for first-time subscribers, and the App Store shows the price before you pay. There is no yearly plan.

  • Good for: a short daily routine, and players who want the same path as everyone else that day.
  • Look elsewhere if: you want the biggest catalogue (CogniFit, Peak, Lumosity and Elevate all list more games) or a yearly discount (there isn't one). And LogicGlow's site says it plainly: it measures how you do at its games and "does not promise improvement".

What the science lets them claim

The FTC and Lumosity, 2016

On 5 January 2016 the Federal Trade Commission announced that Lumos Labs would pay $2 million to settle charges of deceptive advertising. A $50 million judgment was suspended because of the company's financial condition. The FTC said the ads had claimed the games would help people do better at work, at school and in sports, and could hold off age-related memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, without the evidence to back it. In the words of Jessica Rich, who then ran the FTC's consumer bureau, Lumosity "preyed on consumers' fears".

Keep it in mind when you read the listings above. Most now talk about "challenging" your mind and tracking your scores; a few, BrainHQ and NeuroNation among them, cite scientific studies. The next two sections help with reading claims of that kind.

Two open letters, 2014

In October 2014 the Stanford Center on Longevity and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin published a statement that, according to the 2016 review below, more than 70 scientists signed. Its core sentence: "We object to the claim that brain games offer consumers a scientifically grounded avenue" to reduce or reverse age-related loss of mental sharpness. It added that no study had shown that playing them cures or wards off Alzheimer's or other dementias.

Several months later, a response letter on the Cognitive Training Data site, signed by 133 scientists and practitioners (the count given in the same review), argued the opposite: "There is, in fact, a large and growing body of such evidence."

The 2016 review

Simons and six colleagues then took every published, peer-reviewed study cited on the websites of the companies listed on Cognitive Training Data, judged each one against a set of best practices, and published the result as a long review in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. None of the cited studies met all of those practices. They found "extensive evidence" that training improves performance on the trained tasks, "less evidence" for closely related tasks, and "little evidence that training enhances performance on distantly related tasks or that training improves everyday cognitive performance".

In plain terms: if you practise a memory grid, you get better at memory grids. Whether you also start remembering where you left your keys is the part nobody has shown well.

And a game score is not a medical test. If you are worried about your memory or attention, talk to a doctor, not an app.

How to pick without overpaying

  1. Decide what you want from it. A daily habit, a bit of fun, a number to watch go up: any of these apps does that. Anything stronger, none has earned the right to promise.
  2. Try the free version for a week before any trial. BrainHQ, Elevate, Peak and LogicGlow all let you play without paying. Impulse's listing describes nothing beyond the trial.
  3. Read the in-app price screen, not the listing. Several listings mix monthly, yearly and discount prices under the same name.
  4. Set a reminder the day you start a trial. The trials these listings describe last three or seven days, and the subscription behind them renews automatically.
  5. Cancel from your Apple account settings (Settings, your name, Subscriptions).

Frequently asked questions

Is Lumosity worth paying for?

If you play most days and like its games, Premium gets you the personalised training programme and in-depth insights into how you play. If you are paying for a benefit outside the games, the 2016 FTC case and the research summarised here say to keep your expectations at "better at these games".

Is there a free app like Lumosity?

BrainHQ gives one exercise a day, Elevate and Peak have basic free versions, and LogicGlow allows 3 rounds a day with every game available. None is unlimited for free.

Lumosity vs Elevate: which is better?

They aim at different things. Elevate focuses on reading, writing, vocabulary and practical maths; Lumosity on speed, memory, attention and problem-solving games. Try the free versions of both for a few days.

Why was Lumosity fined?

Strictly, it was a settlement, not a fine. The FTC said its ads claimed benefits at work, school and against age-related memory loss without solid evidence. Lumos Labs agreed to pay $2 million in 2016 to settle the charges, with a larger $50 million judgment suspended.

Do brain games actually work?

You get better at the games you practise. The 2016 review by Simons and colleagues found little evidence that this improves everyday mental performance.

Sources

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