Elevate vs. BrainHQ: Which brain training app fits your day?

You're telling a friend about a book you loved, and the word you need (one you've used a hundred times) won't come. If moments like that send you looking for a brain training app, you've probably come across Elevate and BrainHQ. The biggest difference between them is what you'd actually practice, and for the words, numbers, and names you use every day, Elevate is the one to start with.

Quick answer: Elevate or BrainHQ?

• Elevate trains the everyday skills you use at work and at home, including memory, reading, writing, speaking, and math. BrainHQ is built around brain speed and attention, or how quickly you notice and react to what's in front of you.

• Elevate fits into a few minutes a day with a short workout picked for you, and BrainHQ suggests longer sessions a few times a week.

• Elevate has its own published research on the same everyday language, math, and memory skills you'd practice in the app.

• Both are free to start, and Elevate's yearly plan costs less than half of BrainHQ's.

What's it like to use each app?

Elevate feels like a quick round of games built from moments in your day, and BrainHQ feels more like a dedicated training session.

Elevate

When you open Elevate, today's workout is already waiting with three to five short games. Each game has you practice the skill rather than read about it. For example, in Discounting, you practice calculating discounts, the same math you do when a sign says 30% off.

One player, who volunteers once a week closing out a cash register, described the change in a five-star App Store review: "Previously I'd always use my calculator to do the brain work, but now I'm to a point where I can do SOME of the calculations in my head (e.g. 23 nickels equals what?)."

Processing has you read faster without losing what the text says, which helps when a long report lands in your inbox. Elevate Premium adds memory games, like Sequencing, where you group directions into small chunks so they're easier to remember. It also has a dedicated Vocabulary workout and Words of the Day feature, perfect for days when the word you want just won't come.

BrainHQ

BrainHQ comes from Posit Science, a company founded by neuroscientist Michael Merzenich. Its attention exercises test how much you can take in at a glance. In Double Decision, a car flashes in the middle of the screen while a road sign appears near the edge, and you have to say which car you saw and where the sign was. Other exercises work on memory with Memory Grid and To-Do List Training, faces and names with Face Facts, and finding your way with Right Turn.

A BrainHQ session can be as short as two minutes, but BrainHQ's rule of thumb is to train at least three times a week for 30 minutes each time.

Which app should you choose?

Think about the moments in your week you'd like to handle better. If they look like any of these, Elevate is the one to open.

You want your emails and conversations to come out clearer. Elevate's writing and speaking games work on exactly that. In Brevity, you spot the words a sentence doesn't need, as in "They might possibly go to the store today." It's the same habit behind emails people actually read.

Mental math makes you reach for your phone. Elevate's math games, like Estimation, practice the quick math you do while shopping, such as checking a grocery total before you get to the register.

You have a few minutes a day, not a free half hour. An Elevate workout is a handful of short games, so it fits around breakfast or a commute, and the workout calendar keeps track of the days you've trained.

You want to get better at remembering names. Elevate lets you practice names in the same daily habit as your words and math. In Name Recall, part of Elevate Premium, you see faces and names, learn a memory trick for each one, and then recall them as the game goes on.

If these sound like your week, a workout is the quickest way to see whether Elevate fits. Get Elevate free and try today's three games tonight.

What research is behind Elevate?

Elevate has two published studies, and both point to gains in the skills its games train.

• In Elevate's 2025 peer-reviewed study, players who had used the app for more weeks were more likely to say their memory, reading, writing, speaking, and math had improved. In the survey behind it, 81% said they felt mentally sharper, and 70% said they processed information faster.

• In Elevate's 2015 study, after four weeks, people who played Elevate improved more on a separate test of grammar, writing, listening, and math than people who didn't play.

Elevate's 2025 study asked players to report their own progress, and its 2015 study compared players with a group that wasn't chosen at random. For a wider look at the science, see our guide to whether brain training apps work.

What do Elevate and BrainHQ cost?

Both apps are free to start. Elevate's free version gives you one three-game workout a day, a game of the week, and basic performance tracking. BrainHQ's gives you one exercise a day, the Daily Spark, which you can play until you earn five stars. As of October 2026 on the US App Store, Elevate Premium is $39.99 a year with a seven-day free trial or $9.99 a month, and BrainHQ's paid plan is $94.99 a year or $13.99 a month. Prices can vary by country, platform, and current promotions.

Frequently asked questions

How does Elevate work?

Elevate's games are built on four ideas from learning research. You pull answers from memory instead of rereading them (active retrieval), the same skills come back across several days (spaced repetition), the challenge rises with your scores (adaptive practice), and playing a game gives you a reason to come back tomorrow (game-based learning).

What devices does Elevate work on?

Elevate works on iPhone and iPad through the App Store, where it's rated 4.8 stars from about 544,000 ratings, and on Android through Google Play, where it's rated 4.6 stars. The games are in English, so it works well for sharpening the English you read, write, and speak every day.

Is Elevate Premium worth it?

Yes, especially if you want memory training. Premium opens every game, memory games included. You also get custom workouts such as Zen and Focus, and daily puzzles like crosswords, all without ads.

What's the best brain training app?

Elevate is our pick. If you'd like to see it next to Lumosity, Peak, and four others, our guide to the best brain training apps compares seven apps side by side.

Sources

1. Prices, free versions, ratings, and platforms: the Elevate and BrainHQ US App Store listings, Elevate on Google Play, and Elevate's app page (October 2026), and the BrainHQ FAQ.

2. BrainHQ's exercises and session guidance: About the BrainHQ exercises and the BrainHQ FAQ.

3. Elevate's games, features, and learning principles: The Mind Company, October 2026; Elevate's US App Store listing; and its posts on memory training exercises, Name Recall, writing effective emails, reading faster, and shopping math.

4. Elevate's 2025 study: McAlister K. et al., "User Engagement With and Perceived Impact of a Digital Cognitive Training App on Cognition, Daily Functioning, and Mental Fitness," JMIR Formative Research, October 2025. A survey of 3,367 active US adult Elevate users. The three outside authors work at Fit Minded, Inc. Anna Braunsdorf, who wrote this article, is a co-author, and The Mind Company supported the study. The 81% and 70% figures: The Mind Company, "Elevate White Paper 2025," from the same June 2025 survey of more than 4,200 adult players.

5. Elevate's 2015 study: The Mind Company, "Elevate Effectiveness Study," October 2015, analyzed by Dana Nakano, PhD. The 146 Elevate players who finished, against a recruited comparison group of 125, on 33-question tests.

6. Player quote: an Elevate review on the US App Store by my570, April 2023.