Best app to learn Lao: the 6 apps that teach it, compared
Of the apps that teach Lao, Ling ($149.99 a year) scores highest on our method overall, and italki ($8 to $30 an hour) is our pick among those with independent reviews. Ling and Talkpal teach Lao free for good, with limits.
Prices checked 6 Sept to 13 Oct 2026 · How we check
Our picks
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Our pick for Lao
italki
Tutor marketplace
$8 to $30 an hourLao 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
6 of the 52 apps we cover list Lao; 4 of them have a free tier.
They are 1 course app, 1 vocabulary app, 1 AI conversation app, 2 tutor marketplaces and 1 language exchange.
To practise with a person, italki and Preply list Lao tutors, and Tandem pairs you free with Lao speakers.
What a year of Lao costs
Every app that teaches Lao 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: italki and Preply.
The yearly planPaying month to month for 12 months
Every app that teaches Lao
Recommended first within each type of app. Sort any column or filter by what matters to you.
No apps match these filters. Clear a filter to see more choices.
| Best for | Free tier | Speech | Tutor | Offline | CEFR | Refund or trial | Where to buy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course apps | |||||||||||
| 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) | |
| Vocabulary and flashcard apps | |||||||||||
| uTalkVocabulary and flashcards | Phrases in 160 languages | From $24.99 a year$24.99 to $39.99 a year for one language, depending on the language | From $3.99depending on the language | — | 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 | |
| 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. | |
| Tutors and live classes | |||||||||||
| italkiTutor marketplace | Tutors priced per lesson | $8 to $30 an hourLao 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 | Set by each tutorPreply's Lao page gives no typical price | — | — | 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 | |
Which to choose
You want a course with lessons in order
Ling
Ling ($149.99 a year) is the highest-scored course app that teaches Lao. Short game-style lessons with dialogues and a chatbot.
You want to build vocabulary a few minutes a day
uTalk
uTalk (from $24.99 a year) is the highest-scored vocabulary app that teaches Lao. Picture games for words and phrases by topic, with native-speaker audio.
You want to practise conversation with an AI
Talkpal
Talkpal ($119.99 a year) is the highest-scored AI conversation app that teaches Lao. Pick a scenario or a character, then talk or type with an AI tutor that answers you and checks your pronunciation.
You want a Lao speaker to correct you
italki and Preply
italki and Preply list Lao tutors, who set their own price for a lesson. italki says its Lao teachers charge $8 to $30 an hour.
You want to chat with Lao speakers
Tandem
Tandem pairs you with Lao speakers who want to learn your language, for text, voice and video chats. There are no lessons, and a free account is enough to start.
Questions people ask
What is the best app to learn Lao?
It depends on how you want to learn. Ling if you want a course with lessons in order; uTalk if you want to build vocabulary a few minutes a day; Talkpal if you want to practise conversation with an AI. Ling scores highest of the 6 on our method, and the table lists all of them with their prices.
Is there a free app to learn Lao?
Yes. Ling and Talkpal teach Lao free for good, with limits on the free plan.
Does Duolingo teach Lao?
No. Duolingo's 40 languages do not include Lao. Ling, Talkpal and uTalk do.
How much does a Lao tutor cost?
Each tutor sets their own price. On italki, which gives a range for each language, Lao lessons run $8 to $30 an hour, and its first trial lesson with a teacher is discounted.