Best app to learn Arabic: Modern Standard or a dialect, every app compared
مرحباMAR-ha-ban“hello” in Arabic
Decide first between Modern Standard Arabic, for reading, news and the whole Arab world, and a spoken dialect such as Egyptian or Levantine. For Modern Standard, Busuu ($72.99 a year) has a course labelled A1 to B2 with a separate alphabet course, and Duolingo's Arabic course is free. To speak, Pimsleur ($149.95 a year) sells Modern Standard, Egyptian and Eastern (Levantine) Arabic as separate audio courses. A tutor on italki or Preply can teach the dialect you need.
Prices checked 6 Sept to 12 Oct 2026 · How we check
Our picks
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Best structured course
Busuu
Course app
$72.99 a year$6.08 a month, billed yearly · Premium
Why it's here. A structured course gives you a path through lessons, with corrections from native speakers. You can start with a free account before deciding whether the paid extras are useful.
Free: Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking.
Skip it if you want live conversation with a person; Busuu has no live lessons.
Complete Arabic, 135+ lessons labelled A1 to B2, plus a separate Arabic Alphabet course.
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Best to start speaking
Pimsleur
Audio course
$149.95 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly · Premium
Why it's here. Half-hour audio lessons get you answering aloud, which suits a commute or a walk. Download lessons before you leave and you can practise without a connection.
Free: No free tier; 7-day free trial on subscriptions.
Skip it if you want to read and write, or want something free: it is audio first, with a 7-day trial.
Modern Standard and Eastern (Levantine) Arabic in 3 levels each, and Egyptian Arabic, as separate courses.
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Best free start
Duolingo
Course app
FreeEvery course, with ads and daily limits.
Why it's here. Short, game-like lessons make it easy to practise a little every day. You can follow the whole course free, with ads and limits.
Paid upgrade: Super removes the ads and limits: $9.99 to $119.99 in Apple's US App Store, depending on the plan, after a 1-week free trial.
Skip it if you want a person to talk to: Duolingo has no tutors, and Max's Video Call is an AI character.
A free Arabic course, with ads.
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Best for an Arabic speaker to teach you
italki
Tutor marketplace
$5 to $50 an hourArabic teachers' rates; each teacher sets one
Why it's here. Choose a teacher for the language and conversation you need, then pay lesson by lesson. You get a real person to practise with without committing to an app subscription.
Free: No free tier; discounted trial lesson with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
Skip it if you want one fixed price or an app to study alone: each teacher sets their own rate.
104 languages
27 of the 41 apps we cover list Arabic; 22 of them have a free tier.
Arabic is really two choices. Modern Standard Arabic is what people read and write and hear on the news everywhere in the Arab world; at home and in the street, people speak a regional dialect, and Egyptian, carried by Egyptian film and TV, is one of the most widely understood. Most apps teach Modern Standard. For a dialect, look at Pimsleur (Egyptian and Eastern Arabic), Mango (Egyptian, Iraqi and Levantine), uTalk (Egyptian, Gulf, Lebanese and Moroccan), Glossika (Egyptian and Moroccan) and Drops (Egyptian).
What a year of Arabic costs
Every app that teaches Arabic and sells a yearly plan, cheapest first, from the plans on each app's own pages. Not on it, because they sell no yearly plan in dollars: Gus on the Go, italki, Language Transfer, Praktika, Preply and Rocket Languages.
The yearly planPaying month to month for 12 monthsA price range; the app doesn't say which plan costs what
- Duolingoevery course free; Super's plan lengths not given $0 · Super $9.99 to $119.99 in the App Store
- uTalkone language about $30 · $59.88 if you pay monthly
- Tandemall its languages · free tier $39.99
- Mondlyone language · free tier $47.99 · $119.88 if you pay monthly
- Memriseall its languages · free tier $61.99 · $299.88 if you pay monthly
- Dropsall its languages · free tier $69.99 · $132 if you pay monthly
- MosaLinguaall its languages $71.88 · $119.88 if you pay monthly
- Busuuall its languages · free tier $72.99
- Clozemasterall its languages · free tier $79.99 · $155.88 if you pay monthly
- HelloTalkall its languages · free tier $79.99 · $155.88 if you pay monthly
- Promovaall its languages · free tier $83.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- LingoDeerall its languages · free tier $95.99 · $179.88 if you pay monthly
- LingQall its languages · free tier $119.99 · $179.88 if you pay monthly
- Talkpalall its languages · free tier $119.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Mango Languagesall its languages about $120 · $167.88 if you pay monthly
- Pimsleurone language $149.95 · $239.40 if you pay monthly
- Languaall its languages · free tier $149.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Lingall its languages · free tier $149.99 · $203.88 if you pay monthly
- Rosetta Stoneall its languages $159 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Dinolingoall 50 languages, up to 6 children $199 · $228 if you pay monthly
- Glossikaone language about $199 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
The Arabic alphabet in your first week
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1Letters
ا ب تalif · bā’ · tā’, read right to left
Arabic has 28 letters and is written from right to left. Most letters change shape with their place in the word, and several differ only by their dots. Busuu sells a separate Arabic Alphabet course, and uTalk's Modern Standard Arabic starts with the script.
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2Vowel marks
كَتَبَkataba: “he wrote”
Short vowels are small marks above and below the letters. Beginners' texts print them; most newspapers and signs leave them out, so you learn to read words you already know. Glossika writes every sentence in Arabic script with a romanisation beneath it, and Pimsleur's audio lessons need no reading at all.
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3Words
مرحباmarḥaban: “hello”
Letters join inside a word, so you read each word as one connected shape. Rocket Arabic has a series of lessons on reading and writing, and LingQ gives you Arabic audio with transcripts to read along.
How far each Arabic course goes
Each app's Arabic course as its maker describes it: the level it says the course reaches, and how big it is. 5 of the 11 courses state a CEFR level; the rest use their own levels or state none. A course's level is what its lessons cover, not proof that you will reach it. Sizes are each maker's own measure (words, hours, lessons or units), so they cannot be compared directly. Read from each maker's pages on 12 Oct 2026. What the CEFR levels mean.
| App and course | How far it goes | How big it is | Writing system |
|---|---|---|---|
| GlossikaStandard Arabic · Glossika: Standard Arabic course | A1 to C1 | 5,000+ words and sentences | Arabic script, with a romanisation |
| BusuuComplete Arabic · Busuu: Arabic course | A1 to B2 | 135+ lessons | A separate Arabic Alphabet course |
| LingoDeerArabic · LingoDeer: Arabic course | A1 to B1 | Not stated | Not stated |
| PromovaArabic · Promova help: languages and levels | A2 | Not stated | Not stated |
| uTalkArabic (Modern Standard) · uTalk: Modern Standard Arabic | A1 to A2 | Not stated | Starts with the Arabic script |
The other 6 Arabic courses: their own levels, or none stated
| App and course | How far it goes | How big it is | Writing system |
|---|---|---|---|
| PimsleurArabic (Eastern) · Pimsleur: Eastern Arabic | Levels 1 to 3 | Not stated | Not stated |
| PimsleurArabic (Modern Standard) · Pimsleur: Modern Standard Arabic | Levels 1 to 3 | Not stated | Not stated |
| LingQArabic library · LingQ: learn Arabic | Not stated | Thousands of hours of audio lessons with transcripts | Not stated |
| PimsleurArabic (Egyptian) · Pimsleur: Egyptian Arabic | Not stated | 30 lessons | Not stated |
| Rocket LanguagesRocket Arabic · Rocket Languages: Rocket Arabic | Not stated | Not stated | Lessons on reading and writing the Arabic script |
| Rosetta StoneArabic · Rosetta Stone help: course contents | Not stated | 12 units | Not stated |
Every app that teaches Arabic
Recommended first within each type of app. Sort any column or filter by what matters to you.
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| Best for | Free tier | Speech | Tutor | Offline | CEFR | Refund or trial | Where to buy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course apps | |||||||||||
| DuolingoCourse appSuper in the US App Store: $9.99 to $119.99, depending on the plan. | A free daily habit | Freepaid tier priced in-app | — | — | Free to keep using Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). | Yes | No | Yes · Limited lessons available offline; progress syncs when connected | A1 to B2 | 1 week free trial on Super | |
| BusuuCourse app | Corrections from native speakers | $72.99 a year$6.08 a month, billed yearly | — | — | Free to keep using Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking; Premium adds review tools, offline mode and no ads. | Yes | No · Live Lessons are exclusive to Busuu for Business, outside the consumer subscription | Yes | A1 to C1by course | 14-day money-back guarantee on the initial Premium payment; no renewal refunds. Apple and mobile-operator purchases require a refund from that provider. | |
| PromovaCourse app | Short lessons with AI speaking practice | $83.99 a year$7 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using Courses are free if you watch an ad before each lesson; AI role-play is limited. | Yes | No | — | A1 to C1by course | A free trial for new subscribers. Refunds for website and Google Play purchases are asked for by email; App Store purchases go through Apple. | |
| Mango LanguagesCourse app | Free through many public libraries | About $120 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $13.99 | — | Free sample Free trial on both personal plans; the first lesson of any language is free; 10 endangered and indigenous language courses are free; free full access through participating public libraries | No | No | Yes | A1 to B1by course | Free trial on Individual and Family plans; cancel before it ends and you are not charged | |
| LingCourse app | Asian and less-taught languages | $149.99 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $16.99 | — | Free to keep using Free tier with limited lessons and limited dialogue practice, with ads | Yes | Live online tutors, booked separately through Ling Live. | — | — | 7-day free trial on the 12-month plan; 30-day money-back refund for yearly and lifetime subscriptions bought via Ling web (app-store purchases follow Apple's or Google's refund policy) | |
| LingoDeerCourse app | Grammar-led lessons, with alphabet units for Japanese and Korean | $95.99 a year$8 a month, billed yearly | $14.99 | — | Free to keep using A free version with limited lessons; a membership unlocks every course and feature. | — | — | Yes | A1 to B1by course | A 7-day money-back guarantee on yearly and longer plans bought on LingoDeer's website, one request per person; no refund for part of a period or a renewal you forgot. | |
| Rocket LanguagesCourse app | Paying once per level, not a subscription | $149.95Rocket Arabic | — | $149.95 | Free trial A free trial; the page does not say what it includes or for how long. | Yes | No | Yes · audio lessons download in the app; voice recognition needs a connection | A1 to B2by course | A free trial; 60-day money-back guarantee on purchases. | |
| Rosetta StoneCourse app | Immersion without translation | $159 a year$13.25 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free sample Free sample lessons on its site; no lasting free plan. | Yes | Coaching sessions with a Rosetta Stone certified tutor. | Yes | — | 14-day money-back guarantee | |
| MondlyCourse app | A cheap yearly plan across many languages | $47.99 a year$4 a month, billed yearly | $9.99one language | — | Free to keep using Free version with Daily Lessons, the Hello category and a chatbot lesson. | — | — | — | A1 to B2by course | 7-day free trial | |
| DinolingoCourse app | Children from 2 to 14, in 50 languages | $199 a year$16.58 a month, billed yearly | $19 | — | Free trial No | — | — | — | — | A 7-day free trial; cancel before it ends and nothing is charged. | |
| Gus on the GoCourse app | A toddler's first words, bought once | — | — | — | No | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Audio courses | |||||||||||
| PimsleurAudio course | Audio lessons for a commute | $149.95 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $19.95one language | $798 | No | Yes | — | Yes | — | 7-day free trial on subscriptions; 30 Day money back guarantee on purchases | |
| GlossikaAudio course | Sentence drills by ear | About $199 a year$16.58 a month, billed yearly | $19.99one language | — | Free trial 7-day full access with no credit card, plus a permanent Freemium tier covering nine minoritized languages | No | No | Yes | A1 to C1by course | 7-day free trial with no credit card; monthly payments are non-refundable, annual plans refundable pro rata within 60 days of purchase | |
| Language TransferAudio course | A free audio course that explains as it goes | Free | — | — | Free to keep using Every course free, with no adverts and no sign-up; it runs on donations. | No | No | Yes | — | Free; nothing to buy. | |
| Vocabulary and flashcard apps | |||||||||||
| ClozemasterVocabulary and flashcards | Free vocabulary practice in context | $79.99 a year$6.67 a month, billed yearly | $12.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account with up to 30 sentences a day; Pro adds unlimited play and advanced features | — | — | Yes · on Pro, in the mobile app | — | 30-day money back guarantee on the Yearly plan; no refunds on Monthly plans | |
| uTalkVocabulary and flashcards | Phrases in 160 languages | About $30 a year$2.50 a month, billed yearly | $4.99 | — | Free sample Starter Words, a free 26-word pack in every language, plus an online demo at demo.utalk.com | No | No | Yes | A1 to A2by course | 28-day money-back guarantee | |
| MemriseVocabulary and flashcards | Native-speaker clips and review | $61.99 a year$5.17 a month, billed yearly | $24.99 | $329.99 | Free to keep using Limited free version of the app; the paid plan unlocks the rest. | Yes | — | No · The current experience needs cloud-based tools | — | 30-day money-back guarantee; monthly plans have a 14-day refund window. Apple purchases require a refund from Apple. | |
| DropsVocabulary and flashcards | Five-minute vocabulary sessions | $69.99 a year$5.83 a month, billed yearly | $11 | $150 | Free to keep using Free access capped at 5 minutes of play every 10 hours, with topics unlocked one at a time through gameplay | — | — | Yes | — | 7-day free trial on the Yearly plan; affiliate terms reference a 14-day refund period | |
| MosaLinguaVocabulary and flashcards | The most useful words first, on a review schedule | $71.88 a year$5.99 a month, billed yearly | $9.99 | — | Free trial Free download and a free trial; the full set of features needs a Premium subscription. | — | — | Yes | — | A free trial first, then a 30-day money-back guarantee on website and Android purchases; not on App Store purchases. | |
| Learning from real video, text and audio | |||||||||||
| LingQImmersion (video, reading) | Reading and listening to real content | $119.99 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $14.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account capped at 20 saved words and phrases, 5 lessons created from imported content, and 1 audio playlist | — | — | Yes | — | Full refund during the first 30 days of an initial Premium subscription; no partial-month or unused-month refunds afterward. | |
| AI conversation practice | |||||||||||
| TalkpalAI conversation practice | AI conversation practice in many languages | $119.99 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using The Basic plan: 10 minutes of chat a day, with progress tracking and pronunciation checks. | Yes | No | No | — | A 14-day free trial for new users. Bought from Talkpal directly: a full refund if you ask within 30 days of a charge; not for app store purchases. | |
| LanguaAI conversation practice | Natural-sounding AI conversation practice | $149.99 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using A free version with low limits: 3 minutes of calls a day and about 20 chat messages a week. | Yes | Human tutors on LanguaTalk, booked separately from Langua; each tutor sets a price per lesson. | — | — | A Pro trial (5 days on a monthly plan, 7 on a yearly one; card needed), and a 30-day money-back guarantee on web and Google Play subscriptions; App Store ones follow Apple's rules. | |
| PraktikaAI conversation practice | Talking with an AI avatar tutor | $9.99 a monthPraktika Premium, 1 month | $9.99 | — | Free to keep using Free to download and use: 3 AI avatars, limited speaking practice, basic feedback. | Yes | No | — | — | A refund if you ask within 48 hours of a charge, Praktika's help centre says; its terms otherwise make fees non-refundable. | |
| Tutors and live classes | |||||||||||
| italkiTutor marketplace | Tutors priced per lesson | $5 to $50 an hourArabic teachers' rates; each teacher sets one | — | — | No | — | Every lesson is live and one to one; italki also sells group classes. | — | — | Discounted trial lesson with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee: up to two credit refunds on trial lessons if the teacher did not show up or did not meet expectations, requested within 48 hours | |
| PreplyTutor marketplace | Weekly lessons with one tutor | $10 a lesson on averageArabic, 50 minutes, from $2; each tutor sets a rate | — | — | No | — | Every lesson is live and one to one. | — | — | Paid trial lesson; up to 2 free trial replacements per account (a new trial with a different tutor at no charge) if the trial did not meet expectations; a tutor who did not join is handled separately, with no limit | |
| Language exchange | |||||||||||
| TandemLanguage exchange | Language exchange with native speakers | $39.99 a year$3.33 a month, billed yearly | — | — | Free to keep using Free account with many features; Tandem Pro unlocks the rest | No | No | — | — | Google Play purchases refundable within 14 days of a 1-month subscription or 30 days of a 3-month or 12-month subscription; iOS refunds requested from iTunes within 14 days | |
| HelloTalkLanguage exchange | Chatting with native speakers | $79.99 a year$6.67 a month, billed yearly | $12.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account with ads and daily limits (for example ten translations a day); occasional randomly offered 3-day VIP trials | — | No | Yes | — | Occasional randomly offered 3-day free VIP trial; refunds handled by Apple or Google for in-app purchases | |
Which to choose
You want Modern Standard Arabic, to read and follow the news
Busuu, or Duolingo for free
Busuu's Complete Arabic has 135+ lessons labelled A1 to B2, and a separate Arabic Alphabet course teaches the rules of writing; Premium is $72.99 a year. Duolingo's Arabic course is free. Rocket Arabic has a whole series of lessons on reading and writing the script.
You want to speak a dialect, Egyptian or Levantine
Pimsleur, Mango or uTalk
Pimsleur sells Egyptian Arabic and Eastern Arabic, which it also calls Levantine, as courses of their own, beside Modern Standard; its Eastern and Modern Standard courses each have 3 levels of 30-minute lessons. Mango Languages teaches Egyptian, Iraqi and Levantine Arabic as well as Modern Standard, free through many public libraries. uTalk has words and phrases in Egyptian, Gulf, Lebanese and Moroccan Arabic.
You want to speak from the first lesson
Pimsleur
Pimsleur's audio lessons get you answering aloud before you read a letter, in Modern Standard, Egyptian or Eastern Arabic. Premium is $149.95 a year for one language, after a 7-day free trial. Language Transfer's free audio courses include Arabic.
You want to go past the intermediate levels
Glossika and LingQ
Glossika's Standard Arabic runs from A1 to C1 in 5,000+ sentences, each in Arabic script with a romanisation, for about $199 a year. LingQ's Arabic library has thousands of hours of audio with transcripts to read along.
You want an Arabic speaker to teach you
italki or Preply, or HelloTalk for free
Preply's Arabic tutors average $10 a 50-minute lesson, and italki says its Arabic teachers charge $5 to $50 an hour. A tutor is the surest way to learn the dialect of the country you care about: ask which one they speak. HelloTalk and Tandem pair you free with Arabic speakers learning your language.
Questions people ask
What is the best app to learn Arabic?
For Modern Standard Arabic, Busuu for a course labelled A1 to B2 with a separate alphabet course, or Duolingo for free. To speak, Pimsleur, which sells Modern Standard, Egyptian and Levantine Arabic as separate courses. For a dialect beyond those, Mango or a tutor on italki or Preply. The table lists every app that teaches Arabic, with its price.
Should I learn Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect?
Modern Standard if you want to read, follow the news or study texts; it is understood everywhere but rarely spoken at home. A dialect if you want to talk with people in one country: Egyptian is one of the most widely understood. Many learners start with Modern Standard and add a dialect; Rosetta Stone's own Arabic page describes both routes.
Which apps teach Egyptian Arabic?
Pimsleur, Mango Languages, uTalk, Glossika and Drops each sell Egyptian Arabic as its own course. Pimsleur's Eastern Arabic and Mango's Levantine teach the Arabic of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine.
How do I learn the Arabic alphabet?
Busuu sells a separate Arabic Alphabet course, uTalk's Modern Standard Arabic starts with the script, and Rocket Arabic has a series of lessons on reading and writing. The alphabet has 28 letters, written right to left and joined inside a word.