Compare language apps side by side
Pick any two or three apps to see what a year costs, what is free, the languages and the features side by side. "Show differences only" leaves just the rows where they differ.
Prices checked 6 Sept to 12 Oct 2026 · How we check
Babbel vs Duolingo · 14 rows
Babbel if you want the grammar explained and a published price.
Duolingo if you want a free daily habit.
| Compare | Babbel | Duolingo |
|---|---|---|
| A year costs | $107.40 a year, or $17.99 month to month | Free. Super's yearly price is not published; its US App Store purchases run $9.99 to $119.99 |
| Practice | Course app: Short structured lessons with grammar notes and review sessions | Course app: Game-shaped lessons for every course; paid tiers remove the ads and the daily limits, and Max adds AI practice |
| Annual plan | $107.40 upfront · $8.95/mo | — |
| Monthly plan | $17.99 | — |
| Lifetime plan | $299.99 once, all languages | — |
| Free access | Free account; the first lesson of every course is free, and up to 80 free lessons depending on the language. | Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). |
| Languages offered | 14 | 40 |
| CEFR levels | A1 to C1. Depends on the language: European Spanish reaches C1; some courses stop at A1. | A1 to B2. Duolingo says its biggest courses (Spanish and French from English) reach B2; its other courses stop between A1 and B2. |
| Speech recognition | Yes | Yes |
| Live tutoring | No · Babbel Live is no longer available to individual consumers | No |
| Offline mode | Yes · Downloaded lessons, vocabulary review and podcasts in the mobile app | Yes · Limited lessons available offline; progress syncs when connected |
| Refund or trial | Bought from Babbel in the US: no refund promised if you cancel early. Outside the US: 14 days to change your mind, less what you have used. App store purchases: the store's rules. | 1 week free trial on Super |
| US in-app purchases | — | Super in the US App Store: $9.99 to $119.99, depending on the plan. |
| Prices checked | 6 Sept 2026 | 6 to 7 Oct 2026 |
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Full comparisons
The pairs people search for most, each with a verdict per kind of learner and every plan.
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Babbel vs Duolingo
Babbel if you want the grammar explained and a published price; Duolingo if you want a free daily habit.
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Duolingo vs Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone if you will pay $159 a year for a picture-led course with a 14-day money-back guarantee; Duolingo if you are not sure you will stick with it.
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Busuu vs Duolingo
Busuu if you want a person to correct you and a course with named levels; Duolingo if you want a free daily habit in any of its 40 languages.
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Memrise vs Duolingo
Memrise for real speech and vocabulary once you have the basics; Duolingo to get the basics for free.
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Babbel vs Rosetta Stone
Babbel if you want the grammar explained at the lower price; Rosetta Stone if you want immersion, a tutor option and a money-back guarantee.
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Preply vs italki
Preply if you want 50-minute lessons and an average price for your language before you look; italki if you want 30-minute lessons, a placement test and a guaranteed trial.
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Duolingo vs Pimsleur
Pimsleur if you want to speak first and will pay $149.95 a year for half-hour audio lessons in one language; Duolingo if you want a free daily habit that also teaches reading and writing.
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Babbel vs Pimsleur
Babbel if you want each grammar point explained and the lower yearly bill; Pimsleur if you want to speak first, by ear, away from a screen.
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Babbel vs Busuu
Babbel if you want each grammar point explained in English as you meet it; Busuu if you want native speakers to correct you and a course with named CEFR levels, for less.
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Speak vs Duolingo
Speak if you want to practise talking aloud with an AI that corrects you, in one of its six languages; Duolingo if you want a free course that covers reading, writing and vocabulary.
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Rosetta Stone vs Pimsleur
Rosetta Stone if you want to learn through pictures and audio with your pronunciation scored, for $159 a year; Pimsleur if you want to learn by ear and speak first, for $149.95 a year in one language.
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Preply vs Cambly
Preply if you want to choose your own tutor and their price, in almost any language; Cambly if you are learning English and want a fixed weekly plan with native-speaker tutors.
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italki vs Cambly
italki if you want to choose a teacher and pay lesson by lesson, in almost any language; Cambly if you are learning English and want a weekly plan you can book on short notice.
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Duolingo vs Mondly
Duolingo if you want a full course free for good; Mondly if you want short daily lessons with a chatbot and a small yearly bill in one of its 41 languages.
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Lingopie vs LingQ
Lingopie if you want to learn from TV shows and films with two sets of subtitles; LingQ if you want to read and listen to anything, including content you import, in one of 52 languages.
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FluentU vs Lingopie
FluentU if you want short real-world videos turned into quizzes; Lingopie if you want whole TV shows and films with interactive subtitles, for about a third of FluentU's yearly price.
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Memrise vs Anki
Memrise if you want ready-made courses that show native speakers saying each phrase and let you practise speaking; Anki if you want to review exactly the words you choose, free on a computer and on Android.
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Langua vs Speak
Langua if you can already get by and want open conversations in any of 23 languages, with a free version to try first; Speak if you want lessons that build your speaking from the start, in one of its six languages.
Every other pair works in the comparer above, and its address can be shared. All 34 apps are also in one sortable table.