Migrate from Brainscape
Migrate Your Brainscape Decks Into Ellie
Brainscape's confidence-based repetition is unique but its content library is thin outside language and test prep. Here's how to keep your progress and get modern generation on top.
Brainscape's Confidence-Based Repetition (CBR) uses a 1–5 self-rating instead of a graded Again/Hard/Good/Easy scale. It works well for language vocabulary and simple recall, but it makes deck export non-trivial: Brainscape exports the cards, not your confidence history. That is the trade-off to accept when moving to Ellie.
This page covers the full export path, what transfers cleanly, what does not, and how to rebuild spaced-repetition scheduling on the Ellie side once your decks are in.
Step 1 — Export from Brainscape
Brainscape allows CSV export from any deck you own. On the desktop web app, open the deck, click the settings gear, and choose 'Export deck.' Brainscape produces a CSV with columns: Question, Answer, and optionally Sound URL. Your confidence rating history stays on Brainscape's servers — it does not export.
If you subscribe to a paid deck from Brainscape's marketplace (their curated content for MCAT, bar exam, etc.), you cannot export it. Only decks you created or that were shared with you as editable are exportable.
Step 2 — Import CSV into Ellie
In Ellie, go to Decks → New Deck → Import → CSV. Upload the Brainscape CSV. Ellie maps the Question column to card front and the Answer column to card back. If your Brainscape deck uses HTML formatting (bold, italics, colors), that carries through. Sound URLs from Brainscape are external — Ellie displays them as attachments but does not re-host the audio.
Confidence history does not transfer, so every card imports as new. Ellie will schedule its own spaced-repetition intervals from your next review session.
Step 3 — Bulk-migrate multiple decks
If you have 20+ decks, export each one separately from Brainscape (they do not offer a bulk export). Use Ellie's bulk-upload endpoint: drop all CSV files into the import page at once. Ellie creates one deck per file and uses the filename as the deck name. Rename inside Ellie if the filenames are ugly.
- Language decks: transfer cleanly, pronunciation audio needs re-recording or re-linking
- Medical/test-prep marketplace decks: cannot be exported from Brainscape
- Your own study decks: full CSV export supported
- Tags: Brainscape does not export tags — re-tag in Ellie post-import
Frequently asked questions
Will my Brainscape confidence ratings transfer?
No. Brainscape does not export the 1–5 confidence rating history. Your cards import as new. Ellie's SM-2 style algorithm will re-learn your accuracy over the first two weeks of review.
Can I export paid marketplace decks?
No. Brainscape restricts export to decks you own or created. Paid marketplace decks (MCAT Complete, Bar Exam, etc.) are licensed content and cannot be extracted. If you want equivalent Ellie decks for those exams, generate them from your source material — a First Aid or Kaplan chapter takes about a minute to convert.
What about the mobile app?
Export is desktop-only. If you use Brainscape on mobile, log in on a laptop or ask a browser to serve the desktop view before triggering the export.
Can I keep both apps in sync?
Not automatically. Brainscape does not offer a public API for third-party sync. If you want dual-app review, plan to migrate fully rather than maintain both.
Does Ellie support confidence-based repetition like Brainscape?
Ellie uses a SM-2 variant with Again/Hard/Good/Easy. It is more granular than Brainscape's 1–5 rating for scheduling purposes but less friendly for pure vocabulary drilling. In practice, most users adapt within a week.
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