The best Peak app alternatives in 2026 are Omni Brain for a free plan without ads, Lumosity for the closest match, Elevate for reading and maths, and BrainHQ for published research. NeuroNation, CogniFit, Impulse and NYT Games round out the list. All eight are free to download; yearly plans run from about €35 to $95.
Why look for an alternative to Peak?
People leave Peak mostly over the free tier, the ads and the data it collects. Peak's App Store listing says the app contains advertising, and its privacy label lists contact info, identifiers and usage data as "Data Used to Track You". Its yearly plan costs €32 on the German App Store, so price is rarely the reason.
If you want to see where Peak itself stands, read our review Is Peak worth it? first. The list below checks each alternative on the same four points: what it is best for, what it costs, what you get free, and one honest drawback.
All prices come from each app's own App Store listing or help centre, checked on 31 October 2026. Prices vary by country, and many listings show several price points for the same plan, so check the paywall in your own store.
1. Omni Brain: best for learning techniques you can use outside the app
Omni Brain is a brain-training app with 82 games across 8 skills: memory, attention, speed, flexibility, logic, numbers, language and spatial thinking. Every game teaches a named technique, and the mistakes you make come back in review until they stick. As our positioning line puts it: "Most brain games make you good at brain games. Ours teach you the trick."
- Price: Premium €39.99 a year or €9.99 a month, with a 7-day free trial. Family Sharing on the App Store is €59.99 a year for up to 6 people. See pricing.
- Free plan: Free forever with no ads. You get a daily 3-game workout, 24 games to start (more unlock as you level up), full error review, all techniques, full progress and profiles per family member.
- Drawback: Omni Brain is new. Peak and Lumosity each have well over 100,000 App Store ratings, and we have nowhere near that track record yet.
You can try some of the games without installing anything: the dual n-back, the visual memory test and the Tower of Hanoi all run in your browser.
2. Lumosity: best like-for-like replacement for Peak
Lumosity is the closest match to Peak: a daily workout drawn from 40+ games across speed, memory, attention, flexibility, problem solving, maths and words. It starts with a free 10-minute Fit Test that sets your baseline scores.
- Price: Premium items on the US App Store run from $11.99 to $89.00; one is labelled "One Month Subscription" at $14.99. The listing mentions a free trial without giving its length.
- Free plan: Free download with the Fit Test. Premium adds a personalised programme, detailed insights and tips on accuracy and strategy.
- Drawback: Its privacy label lists purchases, contact info, browsing history and identifiers among data used for third-party advertising.
3. Elevate: best for reading, writing and maths skills
Elevate trains everyday language and maths skills through 40+ games covering focus, memory, processing, maths, precision and comprehension. If you want practical writing and reading drills more than abstract puzzles, it fits better than Peak.
- Price: On the French App Store, "1 Year With 7-Day Trial" is €45.99 and "Elevate Monthly" is €9.99. The US listing shows Premium items from $4.99 to $39.99.
- Free plan: A basic free version, which you reach by closing the trial offer after sign-up.
- Drawback: English only, and the App Store lists the app as containing advertising.
4. BrainHQ: best for published research
BrainHQ, from Posit Science, is the most research-focused app on this list. Its listing claims more than 100 published papers, including the NIH-funded ACTIVE study. The App Store rates it 16+.
- Price: $13.99 a month or $94.99 a year on the US App Store. BrainHQ's help centre adds that the yearly plan can be used as a family subscription.
- Free plan: One free exercise every day.
- Drawback: At $94.99 a year it is the most expensive app here. The research claims come from the developer's listing, which does not link to the individual studies.
5. NeuroNation: best for structured courses in German or Polish
NeuroNation offers 30+ exercises in memory, attention, concentration, problem solving and speed, plus courses. It supports 13 languages, including German, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian.
- Price: On the German App Store, Premium is €11.99 a month or €34.99 a year. The US store lists ten items from $10.99 to $57.99, including a 1-month plan at $13.99 and a 12-month plan at $41.99.
- Free plan: Free to download. Premium unlocks the full set of 30+ exercises, custom training and detailed insights; the listing does not say which exercises stay free.
- Drawback: The listing shows ten price points, some of them contradictory, and its privacy label lists location, contact info and identifiers as data used to track you.
6. CogniFit: best for detailed cognitive assessment
CogniFit focuses on measuring your skills. Its listing claims 100+ games and scores on up to 27 cognitive abilities, from memory and reasoning to perception and coordination. It supports 21 languages, more than any other app here.
- Price: The listing describes $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, alongside other items up to $119.99.
- Free plan: Free to download, but the listing does not say which features are free.
- Drawback: Pricing is hard to read, with "Basic" and "Premium" tiers at overlapping prices, and on iPhone and iPad it needs iOS 17 or later.
7. Impulse: best for a large game mix with IQ and personality tests
Impulse, from GMRD Apps, mixes brain games in memory, speed, attention, mental maths and problem solving with self-discovery tests on IQ, personality and emotional intelligence. With 4.7 stars from about 852,000 ratings, it is one of the most-rated apps in the category.
- Price: US App Store items run from $6.99 to $49.99, including a weekly "ImpulsePRO" plan at $9.99.
- Free plan: Free download with a 3-day free trial of full access. The listing does not spell out what stays free afterwards.
- Drawback: It contains ads, offers a weekly plan that gets expensive fast, and the listing gives no game count.
8. NYT Games: best for daily puzzles over training
NYT Games is a puzzle app, not a training programme, and it suits people who use Peak for the daily habit. Wordle, Connections, Strands, Pips, Crossplay and Sudoku are free, and Spelling Bee has limited free access; the subscription adds the Crossword, the Mini, the full Spelling Bee and an archive of more than 10,000 crosswords.
- Price: "Games - Annual" is $49.99 on the US App Store, and monthly items are $4.99 to $5.99. The NYT bills every 28 days or yearly.
- Free plan: Several full daily games, free with no subscription.
- Drawback: No skill tracking, adaptive difficulty or workouts. You get better at word puzzles, and that is all it claims.
Peak alternatives at a glance
The list below compares all eight on the same criteria. Prices are as listed on each app's store page on 31 October 2026.
- Omni Brain: best for techniques you can use outside the app, €39.99 a year, free plan with no ads and 24 games to start, main drawback: new, with a small rating base
- Lumosity: best for the closest match to Peak, Premium items $11.99 to $89.00 (US), free Fit Test and basic access, main drawback: data used for third-party advertising
- Elevate: best for reading, writing and maths, €45.99 a year with trial (FR), free basic version, main drawback: English only and contains ads
- BrainHQ: best for published research, $94.99 a year, free plan of 1 exercise a day, main drawback: most expensive
- NeuroNation: best for structured courses in German or Polish, €34.99 a year (DE), free download with Premium needed for the full exercise set, main drawback: confusing price list and tracking
- CogniFit: best for cognitive assessment, $59.99 a year, free download with free features unlisted, main drawback: overlapping tiers
- Impulse: best for games plus IQ tests, items up to $49.99 (US), 3-day free trial, main drawback: ads and a weekly plan
- NYT Games: best for daily puzzles, $49.99 a year (US), free Wordle, Connections and more, main drawback: no training or tracking
Do brain-training apps like Peak actually work?
Brain-training apps reliably improve your scores on the games you practise; whether that carries over to daily life is still debated. That applies to Peak and to every app above, including ours.
On our science page each Omni Brain game carries a label. A means the game trains a direct skill. B means it trains a core process, where gains inside the task are solid and carry-over is limited or debated. The page cites 16 peer-reviewed sources.
FAQ
What is the best free alternative to Peak?
Omni Brain's free plan gives you a daily 3-game workout, 24 games to start, all techniques and full progress, with no ads and no time limit. NYT Games is the better free pick if you want puzzles rather than training.
Is Lumosity better than Peak?
They are close. Peak's App Store listing counts 45+ games and Lumosity's 40+, both offer a daily workout, and Peak also supports 14 languages and Apple Watch. Lumosity's top US Premium price, $89.00, is higher than Peak's $34.99.
Which app like Peak is cheapest?
NeuroNation's yearly plan at €34.99 on the German App Store is the cheapest labelled yearly plan here, close to Peak's €32. Omni Brain costs €39.99 a year, and its free plan has no time limit if you would rather not pay.
Which brain-training app has the most research behind it?
BrainHQ claims the most, with more than 100 published papers including the ACTIVE study. Those are the developer's claims, and they cover specific exercises rather than brain training in general.
Are there apps like Peak for kids?
Omni Brain is rated 12+ and includes a kids mode and separate family profiles on the free plan. Peak is rated 4+ on the App Store, while BrainHQ is rated 16+.
Try Omni Brain free
Play a few games in your browser on our free browser tests page, then download Omni Brain for iPhone or Android if you want the daily workout.