Deepstash is worth it on the free plan, as a feed of short idea cards that tells you which nonfiction books might deserve your time. Pro is worth paying for only if you want the audio and offline reading, and only if you set a reminder for the renewal. On October 20, 2026, the US App Store offers the first year of Pro for $49.99, then $89.99 a year, and Deepstash's terms say fees are non-refundable. What Deepstash does not do is make you remember what you read, because collecting other people's highlights is not the same as learning.
What is Deepstash?
Deepstash is a microlearning app built on idea cards: a short, illustrated note that boils one point from a book, article, podcast or video down to a few sentences. You pick topics such as productivity, psychology or philosophy, the app builds a feed, and you save the cards you like into collections it calls stashes. Other users write and share cards too, and you can follow them.
The US App Store shows 4.7 stars from 81,133 ratings, with Deepstash at number 3 in the Education chart. Google Play shows 4.6 stars from about 198,000 reviews and more than 5 million downloads. Both checked today. The listing claims "11 million+ people".
The app is run by Deepstash SRL, a subsidiary of Brainstash Inc., according to its terms of service (last updated September 16, 2026). The same terms name sister apps that Deepstash may promote to you: Paladin, Dilemmo, Empirio and Protocol.
Is Deepstash free?
Yes, and the free plan is the real product. The App Store listing lists what free covers:
- access to "200,000+ powerful ideas from top books, articles, podcasts, and videos"
- creating and sharing your own ideas
Pro adds four things, in Deepstash's words: no ads, "Audio playback for all ideas", downloads for offline reading, and unlimited history of what you read. The subscription itself is labelled "Handpicked ideas and unlimited stashing", which tells you that saving is capped on the free plan. The listing gives no number for that cap.
So the free plan is enough to find out whether you like the format. Pay only once you keep running into one of those four walls.
How much does Deepstash Pro cost?
There is no single price. The US App Store page for Deepstash, read on October 20, 2026, lists ten Pro purchases:
| Plan | Prices listed |
|---|---|
| Pro Monthly | $12.99, $19.99 |
| Pro Yearly | $29.99, $69.99, $89.99 (several times), $99.99, $119.99 |
The offer the store shows before you install is spelled out: "1 year for $49.99, then $89.99/year after trial." That second number is the one to plan around. A Mac blogger who subscribed in 2023 paid $39.99, "discounted from $89.99", so the regular yearly price has been $89.99 since at least 2023, with a changing discount on the first year.
The reviews ranking for this search quote $12.99 a month and $29.99 a year, or "~$29.99 to $119.99/year". Both are numbers that appear on the App Store page. Neither tells you that the plan most people are shown renews at $89.99.
Can you get a refund, and how do you cancel?
Read this before the trial, not after. Deepstash's terms say three things plainly:
- Fees are non-refundable, "except as expressly provided by applicable law", with no refunds for partial periods or unused time.
- A trial converts on its own. To avoid a charge you must cancel "at least 24 hours before the Trial Period ends".
- Cancelling is your job. App Store subscriptions are cancelled in your Apple ID under Subscriptions. For Google Play, the terms tell you to check your Play account for a recurring Deepstash subscription and remove it there.
Deleting the app cancels nothing. On iPhone the path is Settings, your name, Subscriptions, Deepstash, Cancel. On Android: Google Play, profile icon, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions, Deepstash, Cancel.
If you do ask Apple for a refund, one more line in the terms matters: by using the app you are "opted-in by default" to Deepstash sharing your usage data with Apple to help it review refund requests. You can opt out by emailing Deepstash. If you plan to try Pro briefly, do that first.
What do the other Deepstash reviews get wrong?
Look at who wrote them. Three of the four dedicated reviews ranking for this search are published by competing learning apps: Nibble, Headway and BeFreed. The two we could read both end by recommending their own app. That does not make them wrong on everything, but both are wrong on checkable facts.
Nibble's review lists "No audio format, so it can't replace podcasts or audiobooks" as a con, and its comparison table puts "No" under quizzes. The App Store listing sells "Audio playback for all ideas" as a Pro feature, and a recent update note reads "Audio stays in sync. And quizzes? Up to you." Deepstash has both. Headway's review puts the yearly plan at "around $29.99", which is the lowest of ten prices and not the one you are most likely to see.
The app has also moved. In 2023 its App Store text promised "bite-sized knowledge from books, articles, videos, podcasts & more". Today it leads with ideas "from the world's most popular books", and the website advertises scanning pages of a printed book with your camera. One App Store reviewer misses the old mix of quotes and short insights from articles and podcasts, and the developer's reply concedes that "recent updates have changed your experience". Reviews written two years ago describe a different app.
Our position, for the record: Graspd does not sell summaries or idea cards, and we earn nothing whether you subscribe to Deepstash or not.
Does Deepstash help you remember what you read?
Not by itself, and this is the part to be honest about. A stash is a collection of highlights, mostly chosen and written by someone else. In the largest review of study techniques, highlighting and summarizing rated low for learning, while testing yourself and spacing your practice over time rated high. Saving a card is the low kind. The new optional quizzes are the high kind, so use them if you use the app at all.
Short cards also feel like understanding. A clear three-sentence idea reads as obvious, and obvious feels learned. We wrote about why under the illusion of competence. A simple test during the trial: read ten cards in the morning, and that evening write down, without opening the app, what three of them said. If you can, the format works for you. If you only recognize them when you scroll past again, you have been rereading, not remembering.
Two practical complaints from long-time users point the same way. The Mac blogger cancelled after a few weeks because shared cards carried a link back to Deepstash but not the original author and source, so their notes ended up without citations. And they could not switch off the full-screen streak counter. That was 2023, so check both in your trial, but the first is the one that matters: an idea without its source is hard to follow back into the book.
Is Deepstash better than Blinkist or Headway?
They do different jobs. Blinkist and Headway compress a whole book into a fifteen-minute summary, so you get the argument in order. Deepstash gives you single ideas from many books, so you get breadth and lose the order. If you want to understand one book quickly, a summary app fits better; we covered prices and catches in our Blinkist review and Headway app review.
If you want visual explainers instead of text, see our Imprint app review. For the full category sorted by why you are leaving, including Deepstash's place in it, see Blinkist alternatives.
Who should skip Deepstash?
Skip Pro if you mostly open the app to avoid social media. That is a fair use, and the free plan covers it. Skip it if you already know which books you want to read, since a card about the book stands between you and the book. And skip the yearly plan if you have not checked the renewal price on your own screen.
If you have used idea apps for a year and cannot name three ideas from last month, a better feed will not fix that. More input was never the bottleneck; going back to what you already read is.
Where Graspd fits
Graspd starts where a Deepstash card points: at the whole book or podcast episode. While you listen, an AI companion that knows only what you have heard so far talks it through with you, you set marks on the moments worth keeping, and quizzes come from the actual audio up to your position. Every mark keeps its source and timestamp, so you can always go back to the sentence.
The limit, plainly: Graspd has no library of ideas and no summaries, and an eight-hour book takes eight hours. Audible audiobooks cannot be imported because of their DRM. Podcasts work, and so do audiobook files you own outright.
FAQ
Is Deepstash worth it?
The free plan is worth it as a discovery feed for nonfiction books. Pro is worth it only if you want audio, offline reading and unlimited saving, and only if you plan for the renewal: on October 20, 2026 the US App Store offers the first year for $49.99, then $89.99 a year.
How much does Deepstash Pro cost?
The US App Store lists Pro Monthly at $12.99 and $19.99 and Pro Yearly at $29.99, $69.99, $89.99, $99.99 and $119.99. The offer shown before install is "1 year for $49.99, then $89.99/year after trial." Prices vary by region and promotion, so the price on your checkout screen is the one that applies.
Is Deepstash free?
Yes. The free plan gives access to more than 200,000 ideas from books, articles, podcasts and videos, and lets you create and share your own. Pro adds no ads, audio playback, offline downloads, unlimited history and unlimited saving, which the free plan caps.
Is Deepstash legit and safe?
It is a real, established app: 4.7 stars from 81,133 ratings on the US App Store and 4.6 stars on Google Play with more than 5 million downloads. It is run by Deepstash SRL, a subsidiary of Brainstash Inc. Its terms make fees non-refundable and share usage data with Apple for refund reviews by default, which you can opt out of by email.
How do I cancel my Deepstash subscription?
Cancel where you are billed. On iPhone: Settings, your name, Subscriptions, Deepstash, Cancel. On Android: Google Play, profile icon, Payments and subscriptions, Subscriptions, Deepstash, Cancel. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription, and a trial must be cancelled at least 24 hours before it ends.
Does Deepstash have audio?
Yes, for Pro subscribers. The App Store listing sells "Audio playback for all ideas" as a Pro feature, and recent updates added optional quizzes too. Reviews that say Deepstash has no audio are out of date.
