Lumosityvs
Elevate
Elevate: If you want practical reading, writing and maths skills rather than abstract cognitive games
Lumosity
Brain training game app from Lumos Labs, which paid an FTC settlement in 2016 over unsupported cognitive improvement claims
As of 1 September 2026, Lumosity is free to use. One of the original mainstream brain training apps, offering short daily games targeting memory, attention, flexibility, speed and problem solving. Softwr lists it under Education. Lumosity is made by Lumos Labs, available on iOS, Android, Web.
Overview
What Lumosity does
Lumosity offers a library of short games designed around cognitive domains such as memory, attention, flexibility, speed of processing and problem solving, delivered as a personalised daily training set called the Lumosity Fit Test and ongoing programme, with performance tracked over time as a Brain Performance Index score. The fact that has to lead any honest account of this product is the regulatory record. In January 2016 the US Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement with Lumos Labs requiring it to pay 2 million dollars and barring the company from claiming its games reduce or delay age-related cognitive decline, protect against conditions like Alzheimers disease, or improve real-world performance at school, work or in athletics, without competent and reliable scientific evidence, which the FTC found the companys advertising had lacked. The underlying games and app continue to operate; what changed was the marketing claims Lumos Labs is legally permitted to make. The free tier gives access to a small daily set of games; the full library and personalised training programme require a Lumosity subscription, commonly priced around $11.99 a month or roughly $59.99 to $79.99 a year, with lifetime purchase options offered periodically. Buyers should treat any current marketing framing cognitive benefit claims with scepticism given the settlement history, and evaluate the app as entertainment with a cognitive theme rather than a scientifically validated intervention for cognitive decline or performance.
What people use it for
- An adult wanting a short daily game habit with a cognitive theme, treated as entertainment rather than medical intervention
- Someone comparing Lumosity against Elevate to decide between abstract cognitive games and practical skills practice
- A user who wants a long historical performance trend across many game sessions
- A buyer evaluating whether the current marketing claims about cognitive benefit are consistent with the 2016 FTC settlement findings before subscribing
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Lumosity.
- Lumos Labs settled with the US FTC in 2016 for 2 million dollars over deceptive claims that its games improved real-world cognitive performance and could delay age-related decline, and the company was barred from making such claims without solid supporting evidence, a fact any buyer evaluating cognitive benefit claims should weigh.
- The free tier is limited to a small daily set of games, and the personalised training programme the product is built around is a paid-only feature.
- As with the brain training category broadly, evidence that improved performance on the specific games transfers to real-world cognitive ability remains contested, independent of the marketing claims addressed by the settlement.
- The subscription auto-renews and, like most mobile subscriptions, requires cancelling through app store account settings rather than within the app.
- The game library has not changed dramatically in years, and long-term subscribers report the exercises becoming repetitive well before a years subscription is up.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Lumosity
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- LumosityvsInsight Timer
Insight Timer: If your goal is stress reduction rather than cognitive training
Pricing
What Lumosity costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Lumosity
$11.99 /mo
- Free tier gives a small daily set of games
- Full subscription unlocks the complete game library and personalised programme
- Annual plans typically run $59.99 to $79.99, cheaper per month than monthly billing
- Occasional lifetime purchase offers in place of a recurring subscription
Capabilities
Features
Daily training set
A short personalised set of games updated daily across cognitive domains
Brain Performance Index
A composite score tracking performance trends across games over time
Game library by domain
Games grouped under memory, attention, flexibility, speed and problem solving categories
Fit Test assessment
An initial and periodic assessment used to calibrate the daily training set
Progress tracking
Historical performance charts across sessions and game types
Insights and tips
Short articles alongside games, not independently reviewed for accuracy
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
What was the FTC settlement about?
In 2016 the FTC found Lumos Labs advertising made unsupported claims that Lumosity games could delay cognitive decline, protect against conditions like Alzheimers, and improve real-world performance. The company paid 2 million dollars and was barred from such claims without solid evidence.
Is Lumosity still available and does it still make cognitive claims?
Yes, the app and games remain available, but the company is legally restricted from the specific unsupported claims covered by the settlement.
Is Lumosity free?
A small daily set of games is free. The full library and personalised training programme require a paid subscription.
Keep looking
Where to go from Lumosity
- Lumosity alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Lumosity pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Lumosity badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Education softwareThe full category
- Best Education softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Education software for
Compare Lumosity with
- Elevate
- Busuu
- Memrise
- Anki
- PictureThis
- Replit AI Agent
- Photomath
- Miro Education
- Blackboard
- Skoolur
- Wooclap
- MasterClass
- Jackrabbit Class
- Lightspeed Systems
- Open edX
- Quizizz
- Rosetta Stone
- Photomath
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Lumosity, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Lumosity
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Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Lumosity
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