Best app to learn Malayalam: the 7 apps that teach it, compared

Of the apps that teach Malayalam, Mango Languages (about $120 a year) scores highest on our method overall. Ling and Talkpal teach Malayalam free for good, with limits. Mango Languages is free through many public libraries.

Prices checked 6 Sept to 13 Oct 2026 · How we check

Our picks

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7 of the 52 apps we cover list Malayalam; 5 of them have a free tier.

They are 2 course apps, 1 vocabulary app, 1 AI conversation app, 2 tutor marketplaces and 1 language exchange.

To practise with a person, italki and Preply list Malayalam tutors, and Tandem pairs you free with Malayalam speakers.

What a year of Malayalam costs

Every app that teaches Malayalam 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 Malayalam

Recommended first within each type of app. Sort any column or filter by what matters to you.

7 apps
Best for Free tier Speech Tutor Offline CEFR Refund or trial Where to buy
Course apps
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)
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 Set by each teacheritalki's Malayalam page gives no typical price — —
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 Malayalam 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

Mango Languages

Mango Languages (about $120 a year) is the highest-scored course app that teaches Malayalam. Hear a conversation, break it into phrases and repeat them, with notes on grammar and culture. Also teaching Malayalam this way: Ling ($149.99 a year).

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 Malayalam. 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 Malayalam. Pick a scenario or a character, then talk or type with an AI tutor that answers you and checks your pronunciation.

You want a Malayalam speaker to correct you

italki and Preply

italki and Preply list Malayalam tutors, who set their own price for a lesson.

You want to chat with Malayalam speakers

Tandem

Tandem pairs you with Malayalam 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 Malayalam?

It depends on how you want to learn. Mango Languages 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. Mango Languages scores highest of the 7 on our method, and the table lists all of them with their prices.

Is there a free app to learn Malayalam?

Yes. Ling and Talkpal teach Malayalam free for good, with limits on the free plan.

Does Duolingo teach Malayalam?

No. Duolingo's 40 languages do not include Malayalam. Mango Languages, Ling, Talkpal and 1 more do.

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