Best Language Learning Apps Compared: Which Suits You?

There is no single best language learning app. There are a few well-known ones, and each is built for a different kind of learner. This guide compares Duolingo, Babbel, Busuu, Memrise and Pimsleur with our own Learn Language, and says who each one suits. Ours is a good fit if you want free, short lessons by real situation, with no streaks to protect. It is a worse fit if you want a long structured course with grammar, a native speaker checking your work, or an audio course for the car.

This comparison is based on what each app is designed to do. Plans, prices and features change, so check each app's own site for current details.

The short version

App	Built for	Platforms	Works offline	Free to use
Duolingo	A daily habit with game-style lessons	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Has a free version
Babbel	A structured course with grammar and dialogues	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Paid course; check their site for trials
Busuu	A course plus feedback from native speakers	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Has a free version
Memrise	Vocabulary and hearing how real people speak	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Has a free version
Pimsleur	Learning to speak by listening, hands-free	iPhone, Android, web	Check their site	Paid course; check their site for trials
Learn Language	Short lessons by situation, at your own pace	iPhone, Android, computers, from the browser	Lessons yes; Talk needs internet	Yes (Pro adds Talk)

Duolingo

Duolingo is a widely used language app. Its course is built like a game, with short lessons, points, streaks and leagues where you compete with other learners. It covers a wide range of languages and also teaches other subjects.

Choose Duolingo if the game is what keeps you coming back. Many people find that a streak and a league table get them to open the app every day. The course is long and well structured, so you always know what comes next. If you want a single app that moves you from zero through a full course, Duolingo does that better than Learn Language does.

Babbel

Babbel offers structured courses that take you through a language step by step. Lessons are built around realistic dialogues, and grammar is explained along the way. It feels closer to a classroom course than a game.

Choose Babbel if you want to understand why a sentence is built the way it is. Learners who like clear explanations, a set path and a sense of finishing levels often prefer it. Babbel is a paid product, so it suits people who are ready to commit to a course.

Busuu

Busuu combines structured courses with a community feature: you can submit written or spoken exercises and get feedback from native speakers of the language you are learning.

Choose Busuu if you want real people to look at what you write and say. Human feedback catches things an automatic check can miss, like a phrase that is correct but sounds odd. Learn Language has no human feedback at all.

Memrise

Memrise focuses on vocabulary and on hearing the language as people really speak it. It is known for short video clips of native speakers saying everyday words and phrases.

Choose Memrise if your main goal is building vocabulary and getting used to real voices and accents. Learn Language's Listen button uses your device's own voices, so a recorded native speaker will sound more natural.

Pimsleur

Pimsleur is an audio-first course. Each lesson is a spoken conversation, and you are prompted to answer out loud before you hear the right answer. The method is built around recalling and speaking, with little reading.

Choose Pimsleur if you learn best by ear, or want to study while driving, walking or doing chores. It is a paid course that puts speaking first from the start. Learn Language needs you to look at the screen, so it is a poor fit for hands-free study.

Learn Language

Learn Language teaches any of 21 languages from any of them, with explanations in your own language. Each lesson is a real situation, like food, getting around or health. You meet each phrase, listen to it, then choose it and type it.

What it does well:

• Lessons by situation. Lessons cover basics, conversation, food, getting around, shopping, hotels and health, so you learn the phrases you'll actually say when ordering a meal, checking in or seeing a doctor. It suits a trip, a move abroad or meeting a partner's family.
• Mistakes cost nothing. A wrong answer shows the right one and moves on. There are no hearts to lose. Progress only adds up, and a week streak keeps rest weeks for the weeks you miss.
• A weekly goal you set. Choose how many days a week you want to practise, and your week fills in as you go. Missing a day doesn't reset anything.
• Free lessons. Every situation in every language is free, and so are listening and your progress.
• Works offline. Install it and your lessons and progress work without a connection. Listening works offline when your device has a voice for that language.
• Installs from the browser. On iPhone, open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open it in Chrome and tap Install. On a computer it runs in the browser. You don't need an app store.
• Stays on your device. Your lessons and progress stay on your device unless you sign in to keep them on all your devices.
• Readings for other scripts. Languages written in other scripts can show a reading in Latin letters, which you can turn off in Settings.

With Pro, Learn Language adds Talk: practice conversations with an AI tutor in scenes like a café, a hotel, a job interview or meeting the family. You can speak or type. When you speak, the app shows what it heard so you can fix it before sending. You choose how mistakes are corrected: gently in the tutor's reply, directly with a short note after each reply, or only at the end. Each conversation leaves you three phrases to keep. Conversations are sent only to write each reply, and spoken answers only to be written out; neither is kept.

What Learn Language doesn't do

Be clear about the limits before you choose it.

• No full course. Lessons are short sets of phrases by situation. There is no long path from beginner to advanced and no grammar course.
• No human feedback. Nobody checks your writing or speaking. The Pro tutor is software, not a person.
• No recorded native speakers. Listening uses the voices on your device, and their quality depends on your device and language.
• Talk is not free. Conversations need Pro, use your plan's credits and need an internet connection.
• No game layer. There are no leagues, points or friends to compete with. If competition is what keeps you going, Duolingo will suit you better.

How to choose

Start with your goal and how you like to study, then pick the app that matches.

• You want a daily habit and enjoy games. Try Duolingo.
• You want to understand grammar and follow a set course. Try Babbel.
• You want native speakers to correct you. Try Busuu.
• You want vocabulary and real voices. Try Memrise.
• You want to learn to speak while your hands and eyes are busy. Try Pimsleur.
• You have a trip, a move or a family visit coming up and want the phrases for it, free, with no hearts to lose. Try Learn Language.
• You want to rehearse a conversation before the real one. Learn Language Pro's Talk is built for this, and you can type when you'd rather not speak.

Many learners use more than one tool. A course app gives you structure. Something lighter fills the gaps. If you are learning from a book, a class or a tutor, the free lessons in Learn Language are an easy way to practise everyday phrases between sessions.

A few questions help narrow it down:

• How much time do you have? If it is a few minutes here and there, short lessons beat a long course you never finish.
• Do you need to speak soon? If so, choose something that makes you produce phrases, by typing or out loud, rather than only recognise them.
• Does a streak motivate you or stress you? Some people love it. Others quit after breaking one. Pick the style that keeps you coming back.
• Do you mind paying? Try a free option first. You'll learn what kind of study you stick with before you spend anything.

Tools that pair well with any of these

Whichever app you choose, a few EveryApp tools, free to use, fill common gaps:

• Vocabulary Builder saves the words you meet, with the sentence you found them in, and brings each one back just before you'd forget it.
• Phrasebook gives you travel phrases by situation, works offline and can show a big card when words won't come.
• Flashcard Maker lets you make your own study cards with spaced repetition.
• Pronunciation Coach helps you practise how words sound.
• Translator helps when you meet a sentence you can't work out.