Review Insights · App Store
Deepstash: Smarter Every Day!
Brainstash, Inc · 51,009 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
51,009 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 82 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"free"
39 negative reviews mention this · 48% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It’s a book club. Not as advertised, just a list of books to look at which you can get for free with so many other apps. Not worth it. They will not refund your money after paying. I didn’t use it after I saw what it was" - Kt0143
2
"trial"
19 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "subscription. it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again" - maríagjhfc
3
"subscription"
15 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "subscription. it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again" - maríagjhfc
4
"free trial"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "subscription. it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again" - maríagjhfc
5
"money"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It’s a book club. Not as advertised, just a list of books to look at which you can get for free with so many other apps. Not worth it. They will not refund your money after paying. I didn’t use it after I saw what it was" - Kt0143
6
"cancel"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "subscription. it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again" - maríagjhfc
7
"book"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It’s a book club. Not as advertised, just a list of books to look at which you can get for free with so many other apps. Not worth it. They will not refund your money after paying. I didn’t use it after I saw what it was" - Kt0143
8
"charged"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "subscription. it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again" - maríagjhfc
9
"scam"
9 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Scam. This is a scam. I signed up for a free trial and they charged me right away. Now they tell me they can’t find my account to cancel. I contacted customer service and received a very generic email that literally screams SCAM! I have disputed …" - Creditjockey
📋 All 82 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
It’s a book club
Not as advertised, just a list of books to look at which you can get for free with so many other apps. Not worth it. They will not refund your money after paying. I didn’t use it after I saw what it was
subscription
it shouldn’t be this hard to cancel a subscription, never used the app deleted my account before free trial ended and still got charged. trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again
Scam
This is a scam. I signed up for a free trial and they charged me right away. Now they tell me they can’t find my account to cancel. I contacted customer service and received a very generic email that literally screams SCAM!
I have disputed the charge with my cc company. Google Deepstash or Brainstash and read the reviews on the BBB.
RUN!!!
I have disputed the charge with my cc company. Google Deepstash or Brainstash and read the reviews on the BBB.
RUN!!!
Scam
This app is scammy af
What Free App?
As usual, click bait that won’t let you try or use the app without first providing monetary billing information. No thank you.
don’t waste your time
If you are willing to pay, this is a great app for you, but I was led to believe this app was free and obviously it’s a subscription based app
Bad design
Can’t select books. Button is outside the screen
Not clear
Say how much it will cost upfront. Do not try to sneak it later.
Money for app
You need to pay for this
Not a free app. 7 day trial and then pay
Just be aware it’s a pay app. Didn’t even open. Go through all there steps and then tells you 7day free trial starts, click here.
You need to be clear
Your add says its free, then a subscription; whats next? A charge? No thanks.
No free option
I would prefer to have free option to decide myself if I want to have subscribtion . Instead the app forces you to subscribe right away. It is not a good practice to force to subscribe
Hijabi selling wine?
Dudes you have a storyline with a Muslim couple selling wine? How clueless. Change it.
Try an cancel 😂
First, they have you download and “trial” off of the Apple App Store. Then the app purposefully puts you into a cancellation loop so you don’t know if you have cancelled, or think you have until billed. Then, guess what, you can’t cancel.
Fix the scam part and maybe it will be worthwhile.
Fix the scam part and maybe it will be worthwhile.
May be good for some, but…..
Not for all, and although I canceled via the app, I was still charged $70 for a subscription I don’t need or want. Interesting concept, poor customer service.
Waste of Time
The app is clunky, and they won’t refund a trial. Multiple emails with no response.
No instruction
There was no instruction o. What or why my choices would affect. User interface not intuitive. It ended up giving me a bunch of content I’m not interested in
Why say it’s free when it isn’t?
I’d love to try for free. I don’t want to give you any financial information before I can try it for free. Why don’t you get rid of that nonsense? Free is supposed to be free. If, at the end of 7 days, I love it, I will give you my financial information. These “free trials” are so annoying with that “add your payment” info before we can move forward. I’ve ditched so many apps because of it, including this one. Just let people test it out with no strings attached. It’s so simple. I guess I’ll just go back to the bookstore and the library and explore that way.
App is fine, customer service is terrible
I signed up for this app on a trial, with the understanding I would receive advanced warning before automatic renewal. The cancellation notice went to my junk mail, I missed it, and received the billing notice. I contacted customer service immediately and requested a refund. I was told that I couldn’t get a refund but was offered additional free access to their full suite of apps as an alternate compensation. I replied accepting this offer and requesting information on how to sign up for this access. I have replied multiple times to the email and received no response.
Terrible customer service.
Terrible customer service.
Not free
Need to pay to use the app. Would have been nice to be notified before spending all this time setting up a profile.
It’s not free
No mention of fees beforehand
Misleading Free Experience
The app initially feels interesting and even compares itself to TikTok as if it offers endless free content. But after a short time, you’re hit with a subscription paywall. That feels more like a trap than a genuine trial. If you want users to subscribe, be upfront about it instead of creating expectations that the experience will remain free. Transparency builds trust. The content is good, but the onboarding and subscription strategy could be handled much better.
Libraries are free
Ain’t no mf way i’m paying 49.99 a year.
REDDIT for the win!
REDDIT for the win!
Caution potential fraud
I was charged right away when i started 7 days trail and in app showed billing would start 7 days after but I got yearly charged on my credit card right way. There is no clean way to contact developers or ask for refund. I ended using apple to report and got my refund
Read a book
I hate these apps that claim to be free, asks you a million quesions in the setup then tell you it’s 80€/year. And the format is not that great… bite size knowledge is exactly the problem. You necer dive deep. Also, in the set-up, it’s much too vague, asks if you’re interested in X,Y,Z but not if you’ve already read thos books. Also, they don’t mention the author. Srsly, if you want “smarter” social media, simply follow smarter people on the social media of your choice, that’s all this app is offering, except they want 80€/yr for what is free.
Don’t
I cancelled this app and they still charged me!
Useless AI slop
All this app does is give short summaries for different chapters of books. This information is easily found with a google or AI search. Charging $50 for a year of essentially reading Sparknotes is ridiculous.
They charged me for it when I don’t even have the app
Unfortunately, they charge me for the app when I don’t even have it.
Forces you to start in free trial. No option to skip.
Does not work for people who forget to cancel in time. The app forces you to sign up and give your payment information.
Hacked my Visa
Somehow got my credit card info and started billing me for a subscription I never signed up for. Beware
Free Trial Asss
Thanks for getting my hopes up
SCAM
They say they have a 30 day money back guarantee, but after one hour, I noticed I didn’t enjoy or benefit from this app.
So I asked for a refund of my $19 plus.
They said I did not qualify for the refund, but they would cancel my membership going forward.
That is a scam, plain and simple
So I asked for a refund of my $19 plus.
They said I did not qualify for the refund, but they would cancel my membership going forward.
That is a scam, plain and simple
Not free
Cost not stated clearly at the beginning.
Not compliant with large text
I have to use large text on screen to read. App doesn’t work with large text, with sign up selection options off screen and unclickable.
App sounds like a cool idea, just wish it was made for everyone.
App sounds like a cool idea, just wish it was made for everyone.
Beware
A friend recommended I try it. I did and meant to only do the free trial. I looked at it once. And I forgot to cancel and so was charged $108 for a year. I sent a note the day the charge showed. Asking for a refund. Zero response. I am not disputing my error. But zero reply. And charging for a year. Most are monthly. Beware if you try it. Could be a costly mistake.
Poorly built
Audio for any book repeats sentences at paragraph breaks. Cool concept that I want to like, but for those that want audio - it’s broken.
Apparently it requires a subscription
If I wanted to pay for something, I’d get YouTube or Netflix. You claim to be a tik tok alternative, tik tok is free. Clearly you’ve missed the point.
Only download is free
The first 10 book suggestions made available were corporate style productivity junk already easily accessible for free in hundreds of areas and though I didn’t select anything regarding business nor career improvement, there they were pushing a stereotypical single minded idea of success - garbage AI auto generated middle minded cubical to corner office junk
AVOID !
Oh My God! All this thing is, is you pay for reading book summaries. SERIOUSLY, that’s it! All you have to do is ask any AI chat bot for a book summary it will pull it up for you free.
won’t load.
Can’t get past the first page, only loads half way
no pay no play
forced a log in before telling me they only offered a short trial before charging money
Poor user guidance and help tools/documentation
The app throws you in the deep end from the start. It ask you questions about your preferences, but doesn’t provide a yes or no option, just an option to swipe each book or topic out of the way. Then it tells you that you chose all of the items that you moved out of the way, with no help to provide a way to remove them from your “preferences.”
It’s a frustrating way to get started. Instead of using the app, now I’m going to have to spend time trying to see it I can fix it, or just abandon it completely.
It’s a frustrating way to get started. Instead of using the app, now I’m going to have to spend time trying to see it I can fix it, or just abandon it completely.
Nor free
I deleted it lol
MISLEADING and STUPID
So disappointed. I should have read the reviews first. Complete bait and switch! It's advertised as an alternative to social media doom scrolling, as if it would let you scroll and it would present cool ideas, smart quotes, intelligent or intriguing concepts, videos, memes, etc. And by comparison to social media, it implies that its algorithms would present ideas based on your interests. No. What it does instead is show you a list of books to read. That's it. Books. Not quotes. Not cool ideas. No videos or memes. You don't scroll between them like social media. It just shows you book titles, you click on one, and it summarizes the main point of each chapter as you swipe left. AND it's presented in a childish way like we're too dumb to understand the actual book. Like "thought-leading books for dummies" instead of "Smarter scrolling for intellectual types." It doesn't use algorithms- it makes you take a quiz that already pigeon-holes what it will show you. And it gamifies the reading like Duolingo. Honestly the whole thing is insulting. I can't believe I paid $11 for a min and SO glad I didn't sign up for more. It's such a scam. It would never ever compare to, let alone replace, social media scrolling. I want my money back!
So much friction.
I am interested in the concept but so far have spent 20 minutes answering questions and still have yet to see the product. First impression is 👎🏼. But hey, while still answering questions and waiting for the part where you ask me for money when I don’t even know what I am buying you ask for a review…. So here you go. This is what user friction looks like.
Not free
It’s called the public library. Ben Franklin’s idea. This is yet another scam.
$
Why market it as free, no one pats for their social media accounts .
I hate this app. Be careful of the trial period
I don’t like this app. I don’t like the layout or use. I find it tedious and annoying. I thought I was within the trial period to cancel and somehow got stuck for a year! They refused to give me a refund, and then offered me other apps. None of which I like. I want my money back! It’s not worth my 5 minutes. It doesn’t help you get to finish the book or segment either. It’s thoroughly annoying in every way. Watch how you “try” the app. You’ll get screwed like I did.
DO NOT BUY THIS APP
DO NOT USE THEM! I cannot recommend Deepstash based on my experience.
I attempted to cancel my subscription before the renewal date and repeatedly contacted support regarding the charge. Despite my emails, I was told there was "no record" of any cancellation attempts before renewal, even though I had timestamped communications showing otherwise.
To make matters more confusing, the charge appeared under "Brainstash, Inc." instead of Deepstash, making it more difficult to immediately recognize the recurring charge.
What was most frustrating wasn't just the billing it was the weeks of back and forth. Support repeatedly stated I was not eligible for a refund, then later offered a $25 "goodwill" refund. After I followed up multiple times over several weeks because the refund never arrived, they finally processed it.
I never meaningfully used the renewed subscription, yet I spent far more time fighting for even a partial refund than the refund itself was worth.
My biggest concerns were:
• Confusing merchant billing name ("Brainstash, Inc." vs. Deepstash).
• Repeated denial of my documented cancellation attempts.
• Weeks of inconsistent responses.
• Promising a partial refund but not issuing it until I continued following up.
• A customer support process that made resolving a simple billing issue unnecessarily difficult.
Consumers should carefully monitor their subscriptions, save screenshots of cancellation attempts, and review their bank statements closely. I kept detailed records of my communications, and I'm glad I did.
I hope Deepstash improves its cancellation process, billing transparency, and customer service so others don't have the same experience. I warned them to return my money. Now I will spend my days filling al of there reviews with what they did to me. They cost me money and I will cost them money.
I attempted to cancel my subscription before the renewal date and repeatedly contacted support regarding the charge. Despite my emails, I was told there was "no record" of any cancellation attempts before renewal, even though I had timestamped communications showing otherwise.
To make matters more confusing, the charge appeared under "Brainstash, Inc." instead of Deepstash, making it more difficult to immediately recognize the recurring charge.
What was most frustrating wasn't just the billing it was the weeks of back and forth. Support repeatedly stated I was not eligible for a refund, then later offered a $25 "goodwill" refund. After I followed up multiple times over several weeks because the refund never arrived, they finally processed it.
I never meaningfully used the renewed subscription, yet I spent far more time fighting for even a partial refund than the refund itself was worth.
My biggest concerns were:
• Confusing merchant billing name ("Brainstash, Inc." vs. Deepstash).
• Repeated denial of my documented cancellation attempts.
• Weeks of inconsistent responses.
• Promising a partial refund but not issuing it until I continued following up.
• A customer support process that made resolving a simple billing issue unnecessarily difficult.
Consumers should carefully monitor their subscriptions, save screenshots of cancellation attempts, and review their bank statements closely. I kept detailed records of my communications, and I'm glad I did.
I hope Deepstash improves its cancellation process, billing transparency, and customer service so others don't have the same experience. I warned them to return my money. Now I will spend my days filling al of there reviews with what they did to me. They cost me money and I will cost them money.
Sketchy
This app promoted setting itself apart from all of the other various mainstream social media apps, yet has all of the same data collection tools baked in.
Not only is this questionable, but immediately after installation and curating my feed it states to begin my 7 day trial. I did not even get a glimpse of the interface before it asked me for money.
Nice try but not everyone installing this app will be a sheep trying to find a way to break free like your app suggests, some of us already are quite aware and capable to see through the bs. I will always brightly shine my light and grant insight for others to be able to see as well.
Not only is this questionable, but immediately after installation and curating my feed it states to begin my 7 day trial. I did not even get a glimpse of the interface before it asked me for money.
Nice try but not everyone installing this app will be a sheep trying to find a way to break free like your app suggests, some of us already are quite aware and capable to see through the bs. I will always brightly shine my light and grant insight for others to be able to see as well.
+ 32 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
92%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
6%
Negative (1-2★)