Best app to learn British Sign Language (BSL)
Two apps teach British Sign Language as a course. Bright BSL has 120 lessons in 20 modules, taught on video by Karen and Andrew, both born Deaf; its first modules are free, and Premium was £89.99 a year in Apple's UK store on 15 Oct 2026 ($102.99 a year in the US store). Lingvano's BSL course has 600+ interactive lessons made by Deaf teachers, with a free trial, and shows its BSL price only in the app. Language Transfer is making a free BSL course that is not out yet.
Prices checked 15 Oct 2026; Tandem's on 6 Sept 2026, Language Transfer's on 10 Oct 2026 · How we check
4 of the 60 apps we cover list British Sign Language; 2 of them are free to keep using and 2 more free to try.
BSL is the sign language of Deaf people in the UK. It is a language of its own, with its own grammar, not English in signs, and it is not ASL: even the alphabet differs, since BSL fingerspells with two hands and ASL with one. Neither app checks how you sign, so plan to practise with Deaf signers or a class as soon as you can.
What a year of British Sign Language costs
Every app that teaches British Sign Language and sells a yearly plan, cheapest first, from the plans on each app's own pages. Not on it: Language Transfer, which sells no yearly plan in dollars, and Lingvano, which prices British Sign Language only in the app.
The yearly planPaying month to month for 12 months
How far each British Sign Language course goes
Each app's British Sign Language course as its maker describes it: the level it says the course reaches, and how big it is. 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 15 Oct 2026. What the CEFR levels mean.
| App and course | How far it goes | How big it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bright BSLBSL · Apple's US App Store: Bright BSL | Not stated | 20 modules with 120 lessons and 500+ signs and sentences |
| LingvanoBSL · Lingvano's BSL home page | Not stated | 600+ interactive lessons |
Every app that teaches British Sign Language
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 | |||||||||||
| LingvanoCourse app | Learning ASL or BSL from Deaf teachers, in short video lessons | Priced in the appfor British Sign Language; its American Sign Language course is $119.99 a year | — | — | Free sample A few lessons free, with no payment details; Premium unlocks every lesson, the vocabulary, fingerspelling and numbers trainers and the dictionary, after a 7-day free trial. | — | Signing Practices led by a Deaf tutor, live: a group session or one to one, booked apart from the app, for learners in the US. | — | — | A 7-day free trial with any plan. Bought on Lingvano's website: a refund if you ask within 14 days of your last renewal, through a support ticket. App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded by Apple or Google, and Lingvano says a plan that began with the 7-day trial can't be refunded there. | |
| Bright BSLCourse app | Learning British Sign Language from Deaf teachers, in short video lessons | $102.99 a year$8.58 a month, billed yearly | $14.49 | — | Free sample The first modules and lessons are free; Premium unlocks the rest of the course. | — | — | — | — | Bright BSL's help page offers a money-back guarantee for up to 30 days after you buy, and nothing after that. App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded by Apple or Google. | |
| Audio courses | |||||||||||
| 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 | Yes | — | Free; nothing to buy. | |
| 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 | — | — | 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 | |
Which to choose
You want a full BSL course from Deaf teachers
Bright BSL
Bright BSL teaches only British Sign Language. Its guides are Karen and Andrew, both born Deaf, with over 35 years of BSL teaching between them. Its 20 modules each hold 4 to 7 short lessons on an everyday topic: you learn new signs, practise them in quizzes and dialogues, and get grammar and Deaf culture tips, with a visual dictionary of every sign from the lessons. The first modules are free. In Apple's UK store on 15 Oct 2026 Premium was £89.99 a year, £39.99 for 3 months or £12.99 a month (US store: $102.99 a year), and Bright BSL's help page offers a refund within 30 days of buying.
You may learn ASL or Austrian Sign Language too
Lingvano
Lingvano teaches BSL as its own course of 600+ interactive lessons, made by Deaf teachers, beside its American and Austrian Sign Language courses: you match signs to pictures and videos, put signed sentences in order and slow any video down. It comes with a free trial, and Lingvano shows its BSL price only in the app (its ASL course is $119.99 a year in Apple's US store). Its camera check of your fingerspelling and its live sessions with Deaf tutors are for ASL learners.
You want to sign with a person, or wait for a free course
Tandem, or Language Transfer
Tandem, the free language exchange, lists British Sign Language among its languages, and its video calls let you practise with a partner who signs. Language Transfer lists a BSL course in development; its courses are free, but this one is not out yet. Neither replaces a local BSL class or time with Deaf signers.
Questions people ask
What is the best app to learn BSL?
Bright BSL, for a full course taught by two Deaf BSL teachers, with its first modules free and Premium at £89.99 a year in Apple's UK store (15 Oct 2026). Lingvano, if you may also want American or Austrian Sign Language: its BSL course has 600+ lessons by Deaf teachers, priced in the app.
Can you learn BSL for free with an app?
Of the apps we compare, only the start of a course. Bright BSL's first modules are free, and Lingvano's BSL course has a free trial. Tandem is free, and lists British Sign Language among the languages you can practise with a partner. Language Transfer's free BSL course is in development.
Is BSL the same as ASL?
No. British and American Sign Language are separate languages: their signs and grammar differ, and BSL fingerspells with two hands where ASL uses one. An ASL course will not teach you BSL. For ASL, see the best apps to learn ASL.
Can an app check my BSL signing?
Not in the apps we compare. Bright BSL and Lingvano show you each sign on video and check that you understood it; Lingvano's camera check of fingerspelling is for ASL. A Deaf tutor, a class or a signing partner is how you find out whether people read your signing.