The best language learning apps
Shortlists by language and by goal. Every entry says what the app is genuinely best at and where it falls short — including ours.
Shortlists by language and by goal. Every entry says what the app is genuinely best at and where it falls short — including ours.
Speaking, pronunciation, reading, retention, or just getting started.
By goal
The best language apps for actually speaking: scored pronunciation, hands-free audio drills, native-speaker conversation and human tutors, compared honestly.
By goal
Which language apps actually correct your accent: sound-level scoring, immersion methods and native-speaker audio compared honestly.
By goal
Which language apps are genuinely free rather than trial-ware, what each free tier actually includes, and where the limits bite.
By goal
Starting from zero, including a new alphabet? These are the apps that actually begin at the beginning, compared honestly.
By goal
Outgrown the owl? The best Duolingo alternatives for speaking, reading, grammar and retention, including what Duolingo still does better.
By goal
Where to find reading material at your actual level: generated levelled stories, comprehensible-input libraries and importable content, compared.
What each app is worth for a specific target language, and what that language actually demands.
By language
One of the easiest for English speakers
By language
Easy to read, harder to hear
By language
Moderate — familiar vocabulary, demanding grammar
By language
One of the easiest for English speakers
By language
One of the easiest for English speakers
By language
Among the hardest for English speakers
By language
Among the hardest for English speakers, despite an easy alphabet
By language
Among the hardest for English speakers
By language
Hard — new script and heavily inflected grammar
By language
Among the hardest for English speakers
By language
One of the easiest for English speakers
By language
Moderate to hard — logical script, unfamiliar grammar
By language
Hard — very regular, but built on completely different logic
By language
Hard — one of the tougher European languages
There is no single answer, because these apps do different jobs. For one app covering reading, vocabulary, pronunciation and speaking at your level, NativePal. For habit, Duolingo. For retention, Anki. For hands-free audio, Pimsleur. For a human teacher, italki. Picking well means naming the gap you are trying to close first.
One main app plus at most one specialist. The common effective pairing is a structured app for daily practice plus either Anki for retention or italki for weekly conversation. Beyond two, none of them gets enough attention to matter.
No. These pages are published by NativePal, so treat them as an interested party rather than a neutral review site. That is also why every shortlist states where each app — including NativePal — falls short, and why several entries recommend a competitor over us for specific needs.
Work out which of five things you are missing: a daily habit, comprehensible input to read, vocabulary that sticks, pronunciation feedback, or conversation with a person. Each of those has a clear best-in-class option, and picking on that basis beats picking on feature-list length.
Levelled reading, vocabulary with spaced repetition, scored pronunciation and conversation in 57 languages.
Free to start. No account needed.