The 9 Best Language Learning Apps of 2026, by Goal

Quick answer: If you want a free, low-pressure daily habit, start with Duolingo: every course is free and PCMag still rates it the best free language app. If you are ready to pay for a real course with grammar explained properly, pick Babbel. If your goal is to actually hold a conversation, pair an app with a live teacher on italki, or use Pimsleur for speaking practice you can do on a commute.

The right app depends less on which one is "best" and more on what you want out of it. Casual learners who want ten minutes a day and a streak to protect will be happy with Duolingo or a free library account on Mango. People who want to talk need speaking practice that pushes back: Pimsleur's audio lessons, Speak's AI conversations, or a human tutor. And anyone studying for an exam, a move abroad or a job needs grammar taught on purpose, which is where Babbel, Busuu, Lingoda and a flashcard system like Anki earn their price. Most serious learners end up combining two of these: one app for daily drills and one source of live conversation.

Watch the billing details, too. Several of these apps charge noticeably more inside the iPhone app than on their website, and prices in the App Store are often the only ones a vendor shows without a login. Streaks only help if you keep them, so if motivation is your real problem, our habit tracker roundup is worth a look. General chatbots from our AI writing assistants roundup can also chat with you in Spanish or French, but they don't give you a curriculum.

How they compare

App	Best for	Free tier	Paid from	Platforms
Duolingo	Casual daily practice	Every course, with ads and limited energy	Super $12.99/mo or $95.99/yr	Web, iOS, Android
Babbel	Structured paid lessons	First lesson only	$17.99/mo for one language (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android
Busuu	Grammar and CEFR levels	Yes, limited	Premium $23.49/mo or $138.99/yr (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android
Pimsleur	Speaking from day one	7-day free trial	$19.99/mo one language, $20.99/mo All Access (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android, CarPlay, Android Auto
Speak	AI conversation practice	7-day free trial	Premium $17.99/mo or $83.99/yr (App Store)	iOS, Android
italki	One-on-one tutors	Free to join, pay per lesson	Featured teachers from $5 a lesson	Web, iOS, Android
Lingoda	Structured live classes	7-day trial: 3 group classes or 1 private	€59.99 for 5 group classes every four weeks	Web, iOS, Android
Anki	Serious vocabulary review	Desktop, Android and sync are free	AnkiMobile for iPhone $24.99 once	Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Mango Languages	Free access through a library	Free with many library cards	$13.99/mo or $119.99/yr (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android

1. Duolingo: Best free app for casual learners

• Developer: Duolingo, Inc
• Languages: 37, not counting English, per PCMag
• App Store: 4.7/5 (5,501,388 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2012

Duolingo is the app most people should try first, because it costs nothing to find out whether you'll stick with it. Every course is free, lessons take about four minutes on PCMag's count, and the streaks and reminders are designed to get you back tomorrow. PCMag's 2026 roundups name it both the best free language app and an Editors' Choice, scoring it 5.0 and saying "Duolingo is by far the best free language learning app." It got more generous this year: StoryLearning reports that Explain My Answer, which explains the grammar behind a wrong answer, moved from the top paid tier to free in January 2026 for most of the major courses.

The catch is depth. PCMag's own list of cons says "Grammar lessons could be more prominent," and it suggests you'll need a more demanding program if fluency is the goal. The free tier has ads and a limited energy system. Super removes both; PCMag lists it at $12.99 a month or $95.99 a year, with a Family plan for up to six people at $119.99 a year, and those prices appear among the App Store's Super options. Max adds AI Video Call and Roleplay, but Duolingo shows its price only inside the app, it covers just six courses, and StoryLearning notes that the AI character "doesn't correct your grammar while you talk."

Video review: Is Duolingo Still Worth It in 2026? by Ramiroy

2. Babbel: Best paid course for structured lessons

• Developer: Babbel GmbH
• Languages: 14, with courses tailored to your native language
• App Store: 4.7/5 (755,759 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2014

Babbel is what you graduate to when Duolingo starts to feel like a game and you want a course. Lessons fit into about ten minutes a day, they teach grammar in context with short explanations, and they are written for speakers of your language, so an English speaker learning Spanish gets different lessons than a French speaker does. PCMag rates it 4.0 and says its lessons "really push your comprehension," which is why it lands here instead of in the casual bucket. It has also added Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner that is still labeled beta.

Babbel has almost no free tier: you get a first lesson and then a paywall. PCMag's cons are blunt: "Exercises can be dull," and Babbel no longer offers live classes. Babbel's own pricing page only renders in a browser, so the prices we could confirm are the App Store's: $17.99 a month, $45.99 for three months or $89.99 a year for one language, or $107.99 a year for every language. A lifetime plan exists too; PCMag's 2025 review found it marked down to $299, so wait for a sale if you're going that route.

Video review: Babbel Review 2026 (Watch Before Buying) by Loïs Talagrand

3. Busuu: Best for grammar and CEFR levels

• Developer: Busuu Limited (a Chegg service)
• Languages: 14
• App Store: 4.7/5 (101,183 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2010

Busuu is the pick if you want to know exactly how good you are. Its courses follow the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the A1 to C2 scale used widely by schools and language exams, so "I finished B1 on Busuu" means something to a tutor or a class you join later. PCMag names it the best free app for structured learning and says it's as effective as Duolingo at teaching non-Roman scripts like Japanese and Korean. The feature nobody else here has is community feedback: you write or record answers and native speakers of that language correct them.

PCMag's complaints are that "Exercises should be harder" and that pricing is inconsistent, and the second one is easy to see. In the App Store, a month of Premium is $23.49 and a year is $138.99, while PCMag's review found the website charging $13.90 a month at the time, with frequent discounts on top. Check the website before you subscribe in the app. The free plan lets you study any of its languages, but Busuu's App Store listing says you need a subscription to get all of its features.

Video review: Busuu Review 2026: Is It Worth It? (Fresh Look) by Course Chemistry

4. Pimsleur: Best for speaking from day one

• Developer: Simon & Schuster
• Languages: 51
• App Store: 4.7/5 (30,250 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2018

Pimsleur is built around 30-minute audio lessons where a narrator prompts you, you answer out loud, and the material comes back at spaced intervals until it sticks. Because it's audio-first, it works where other apps don't: driving (there's a hands-free mode plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support), walking or doing dishes. PCMag rates it 4.0, picks it as the best audio-based program and lists "Helps you speak and understand spoken languages" as its top strength. The newer app adds flashcards, a Voice Coach that scores your pronunciation and, for Spanish learners, an AI role-play partner.

It is expensive and it is not a reading course. PCMag's cons are "Expensive" and "Difficult to learn new scripts," so Japanese or Arabic learners may need another tool for the writing system. Pimsleur's website doesn't show prices without signing up, so these are the App Store's: $19.99 a month for one language or $20.99 a month for All Access, which covers all 51 languages and, per Pimsleur's site, up to four users. Annual All Access plans are listed at $164.99 and $131.99 in the app. There's a 7-day free trial.

Video review: Pimsleur Review 2026: Is It Worth It? (Fresh Look) by Course Chemistry

5. Speak: Best AI conversation practice

• Developer: Speakeasy Labs, Inc
• Languages for English speakers: Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Mandarin Chinese
• App Store: 4.8/5 (63,398 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2017

Speak exists for one problem: you know the words but freeze when you have to say them. Lessons teach common phrases, have you repeat them out loud until they come naturally, and then put you into open-ended conversations with an AI tutor that responds in real time and comments on your pronunciation and grammar. Speak says it has been downloaded more than 15 million times and is backed by the OpenAI Startup Fund. Its iPhone app holds 4.8 out of 5, and Languatalk's review (from a site that sells its own language app) praises its "Clear voices and accurate speech recognition."

The same review gives it only 3 out of 5, though, and the criticism is worth reading before you subscribe: "Feedback is brief and lacks depth or personalization," and there's "No spaced repetition or long-term vocabulary tracking," so you'll want flashcards alongside it. It only teaches six languages to English speakers. Pricing has two tiers: in the App Store, Premium is $17.99 a month or $83.99 a year, and Premium Plus is $39.99 a month or $164.99 a year. Languatalk calls the tier structure "confusing and potentially expensive." There's a 7-day free trial.

Video review: Speak App Review (And A Cheaper Alternative) by Loïs Talagrand

6. italki: Best for one-on-one tutors

• Developer: ITALKI HK LIMITED
• Teachers: 20,000+ across 150+ languages
• App Store: 4.8/5 (9,856 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2016

No app replaces a person who can follow a conversation, notice your recurring mistakes and adjust. italki is a marketplace for exactly that: you browse teachers by language, price, availability and reviews, then book one-on-one video lessons. There's no subscription. You top up credits and pay per lesson, at whatever rate each teacher sets. The featured teachers on its homepage start at $5 to $17 a lesson, and "community tutors" (fluent speakers for conversation practice) generally cost less than professional teachers who build lesson plans. With 150+ languages, it covers far more than any app on this list.

The weak spot is that quality depends entirely on who you book. Lingopie's review (from a competing product) says "the quality can definitely vary widely," and recommends using the shorter, discounted trial lessons many tutors offer before committing to a package. italki also sells an optional Plus subscription, $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year in the App Store, that adds AI lesson summaries with error corrections and AI role-play based on your lesson; you don't need it to book teachers.

Video guide: italki How It Works, When to Start, and How to Actually Use It for Fluency by languagejones

7. Lingoda: Best for structured live classes

• Developer: Lingoda GmbH
• Languages: English, Business English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Class format: 60 minutes, private or groups of 3 to 5
• App Store: 4.8/5 (179 ratings)

Lingoda sits between an app and a language school. Every class is a live, 60-minute video lesson with a teacher, either private or in a small group of three to five students, and the teacher works through a set curriculum mapped to CEFR levels rather than chatting about whatever comes up. Each level is 50 classes, and you can book around the clock. PCMag makes it an Editors' Choice, rates it 4.5 and calls it the best for group classes, saying Lingoda "offers one-on-one and small-group classes via Zoom at very reasonable prices."

The limits are the language list and the format. PCMag's cons are "Offers classes for only a few languages" and "No software-based courses," so this is not something to tap through on the bus. Pricing is per class on a plan that renews every four weeks, and unused credits roll over. The pricing page shows euros by default: group plans run from €59.99 for 5 classes down to €5.99 a class on the 40-class plan, and private classes start at €33.99 each. Buying 5 group classes in the iPhone app costs $99.99, so book on the website. The 7-day trial covers 3 group classes or 1 private class, and you must be 18 or older.

Video review: Is Lingoda really the fastest effective way to learn a language? by languagejones

8. Anki: Best free flashcards for serious learners

• Developer: Anki Software LLC (AnkiDroid is built by volunteers)
• Works on: Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, web sync
• App Store: 4.0/5 (2,356 ratings) for AnkiMobile
• iOS app released: 2010

Anki isn't a language course. It's a spaced-repetition flashcard program: you rate how well you remembered each card and it schedules the next review for right before you'd forget it. That's why people who are serious about vocabulary (and about the kanji, verb conjugations and sentence patterns their course throws at them) end up here. Cards can hold audio, images and video, so you can drill pronunciation and listening, not just translations. It handles decks of more than 100,000 cards, there are shared decks for most languages, and add-ons extend it. It's open source, and the desktop apps, the Android app and AnkiWeb sync are all free.

The trade-off is effort. Anki gives you a blank tool, not a curriculum, so you either build cards yourself or vet someone else's shared deck, which takes time up front. The iPhone app, AnkiMobile, is the one part that costs money: $24.99, once, which funds development. It also has the lowest App Store rating here, at 4.0. Pair it with any course above, and use the video tutorial below to set it up for languages.

Video tutorial: How to use Anki for beginners! (Anki tutorial for language learning) by Break Out and Speak!

9. Mango Languages: Best free option with a library card

• Developer: Creative Empire, LLC
• Languages: 70+, including Cherokee, Hawaiian and Yiddish
• App Store: 4.8/5 (44,324 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2011

Mango is the paid app you may already have for free. Mango's own FAQ says many public libraries and schools give patrons full access with nothing more than a library card, so check your library's digital resources before paying for anything on this list. The courses are conversation-first, built from thousands of recordings of native speakers, with phonetic spellings, a pronunciation comparison tool, placement tests in some languages and spaced-repetition review. Its catalog of 70+ languages runs far past the usual European set, and Mango says the core curriculum is made by people, with AI used only for supplemental content.

The criticism is that it's dry. PCMag's review, which is from 2020, calls the price fantastic "but the core material is tedious," and PCMag's current roundup says Mango is "not nearly as good overall" as Transparent Language Online for rare languages. Treat it as a free starting point rather than a reason to subscribe. If your library doesn't offer it, the App Store lists Individual at $13.99 a month or $119.99 a year and a Family plan for you plus five others at $19.99 a month or $149.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial.

Video: How does Mango Languages work? | Mango Methodologies by Mango Languages

Also worth a look

• Preply (pay per lesson): the main alternative to italki, with tutors in 90+ languages who set their own prices. Its iPhone app holds 4.8 out of 5 from more than 44,000 ratings.
• Rosetta Stone ($19.99 subscription in the App Store): PCMag's pick for the best paid app for beginners, now rebranded as Rosetta Stone Sapphire with shorter, mobile-friendly lessons across 23 languages. The older Classic app is only for existing subscribers.
• Memrise (free to start, $61.99 a year in the App Store): built around videos of native speakers saying everyday phrases, with role-play practice. A good casual companion to a grammar course.
• LingQ (free to start, Premium $14.99 a month in the App Store): learn by reading and listening to real content at your level, including articles, podcasts and YouTube videos you import, in 50+ languages.
• Language Transfer (free): audio courses built on what it calls the Thinking Method, which explain how a language works as you go. The project runs on donations.
• Drops (free to start): short, illustrated vocabulary games in 55+ languages, handy for learning a new script's basic words.

How we picked

We ranked these from desk research, not hands-on use. We read PCMag's 2026 roundups of the best language learning software and the best free language apps, plus PCMag's individual reviews, StoryLearning's look at Duolingo Max, Languatalk's Speak review, Lingopie's italki review and each vendor's own site. Ratings come from Apple's App Store data, and prices come from each vendor's pricing page or App Store in-app purchase list, read on October 11, 2026. Where a vendor's pricing page wouldn't load without a login or a browser (Babbel, Busuu, Pimsleur), we quoted App Store prices and said so. We sorted picks by learner goal rather than scoring how well each one teaches.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free language learning app?

Duolingo. Every course is free, and PCMag rates it the best free language app with a 5.0 score. Free also covers Mango Languages if your public library offers it, and Anki for flashcards on desktop and Android. Language Transfer's audio courses are free too.

Is Babbel better than Duolingo?

For structured grammar, yes; for a free daily habit, no. PCMag says Babbel's lessons really push your comprehension, but Babbel has almost no free tier and costs $17.99 a month for one language in the App Store. Duolingo is free and more motivating, but PCMag says its grammar lessons could be more prominent.

Can you become fluent with a language app alone?

Not usually. Apps are good at vocabulary, grammar basics and building a habit, but fluency needs lots of real conversation. PCMag's free-app roundup says these apps work best combined with a class, a tutor or another program. A tutor on italki or classes on Lingoda fill that gap.

What is the best app for practicing conversation?

A human tutor on italki is the most realistic option, with featured teachers starting around $5 a lesson. For practice without a person, Speak runs AI conversations with feedback in six languages, and Pimsleur's audio lessons have you speaking out loud in every session.

Why are language app prices higher in the App Store?

Several vendors charge more for in-app subscriptions than on their websites. PCMag found Busuu's monthly plan at $13.90 on the web versus $23.49 in the app, and Lingoda's iPhone app charges $99.99 for 5 group classes that cost €59.99 on its website. Check the website before you subscribe.

The bottom line

Start with Duolingo to see whether the habit sticks, since it costs nothing. If it does and you want grammar explained properly, move to Babbel or Busuu. If your goal is conversation, put your money into a few lessons on italki instead of another subscription.

Disclosure: none of the links in this post are affiliate links, we don't earn a commission from any of the apps in it, and nobody paid to be included. Prices are what each vendor's pricing page or App Store listing showed on October 11, 2026, and they change.