Free vs paid language apps: what you actually get
"Free" means one of four things: the whole app with ads or limits (Duolingo, HelloTalk, Tandem, Busuu, Ling, LingQ, Memrise and Mondly), the first lessons only, a trial that ends, or a library card. Below, app by app, from each app's own pages: what is free, what the cheapest paid plan costs, and the refund terms if you pay and regret it.
69 of the 99 apps we cover keep something free you can go on using, 10 more describe a free trial as their free offer, and 20 state no free tier. The summaries below are ours, from each app's own pages; each app's profile links the page it comes from.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links to the app makers' own sites earn us nothing. Commissions never affect which apps we recommend. Affiliate disclosure and how the data is collected.
The four kinds of free
Read what an app's own pages say about its free tier and it falls into one of four shapes. The shape tells you more than the word.
The whole product, with ads or limits
Duolingo, HelloTalk, Tandem, Busuu, Ling, LingQ, Memrise and Mondly let you use the app indefinitely without paying, and each holds something back. Duolingo: Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). HelloTalk: Free account with ads and daily limits (for example ten translations a day); occasional randomly offered 3-day VIP trials. Busuu: Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking; Premium adds review tools, offline mode and no ads. Ling: Free tier with limited lessons and limited dialogue practice, with ads. LingQ publishes exact caps: Free account capped at 20 saved words and phrases, 5 lessons created from imported content, and 1 audio playlist.
The first lessons only
Babbel, Mango Languages, Rosetta Stone and uTalk give you a sample, not a product. Babbel: Free account; the first lesson of every course is free, and up to 80 free lessons depending on the language. Rosetta Stone offers free sample lessons on its site and describes no lasting free plan. uTalk: Starter Words, a free 26-word pack in every language, plus an online demo at demo.utalk.com. These are enough to judge the method and the voice of the app, and not enough to learn anything from; price them at the paid rate from day one.
A capped amount of play
Drops is the clearest example of a time cap: Free access capped at 5 minutes of play every 10 hours, with topics unlocked one at a time through gameplay. A cap like that is generous for a vocabulary app you open once a day, and useless the moment you want to sit down for an hour. Clozemaster caps the count instead: Free account with up to 30 sentences a day; Pro adds unlimited play and advanced features.
A trial, not a tier
Glossika, Lingvist and Speak state a free trial rather than a lasting free tier, and are counted as "free tier: yes" here only because the app's own page describes the free offer that way. Glossika: 7-day full access with no credit card, plus a permanent Freemium tier covering nine minoritized languages. Lingvist: Free level placement before subscribing, and a 14-day free trial on the annual plan; the monthly plan has no trial. Speak: 7-day free trial; no permanently free tier is published. The 20 apps with no free tier at all sit in the trial and refund table further down; most of them offer a trial in the same way.
What is free, app by app
Every app that states a free tier, sorted by the cheapest published paid price per month at annual billing, with the what its own pages say is free beside it.
| App | Type | What each app says is free | Cheapest paid plan, per month, billed yearly | Monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uTalk | Vocabulary and flashcards | Starter Words, a free 26-word pack in every language, plus an online demo at demo.utalk.com | $2.08 | $3.99 |
| Quizlet | Vocabulary and flashcards | A free account to make and study flashcards, with Match and other activities, and ads; Learn, practice tests and textbook solutions are limited. | $3 | — |
| Language Reactor | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | The extension and website are free: dual subtitles (Netflix's own), pop-up dictionary, playback controls, YouTube and podcast catalogue, basic AI helper and chat with Aria; saving words is limited to PhrasePump. Pro adds machine translation, speech recognition on Netflix and saving everywhere. | $3.33 | $5.95 |
| Tandem | Language exchange | Free account with many features; Tandem Pro unlocks the rest | $3.33 | — |
| Mondly | Course app | Free version with Daily Lessons, the Hello category and a chatbot lesson. | $4 | $9.99 |
| Readlang | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | A free account with unlimited single-word translations, 10 phrase translations and 10 AI explanations a day, and flashcards; Premium removes the daily limits. | $4 | $6 |
| Speakly | Vocabulary and flashcards | Speakly says some features are free without saying which; a 7-day free trial opens the paid plans. | $4 | $15.99 |
| Human Japanese | Course app | The first eight chapters of Human Japanese and of Human Japanese Intermediate, with a free account: no card and no time limit. | $4.08 | $5 |
| Beelinguapp | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | Unlocked stories, news and songs with the glossary and flashcards, with ads; changing language needs Premium after the first 30 minutes. | $4.16 | $7.99 |
| Bunpro | Vocabulary and flashcards | Bunpro Free, for good: the grammar and vocabulary pages and the reading passages, without the spaced-repetition reviews. Every new account also gets Premium free for 30 days, with no card. | $4.17 | $5 |
| Intersign ASL | Course app | Free to download, and its core lessons are free for good, with ads; Intersign does not say what Premium adds. | $4.17 | $6.99 |
| Intersign BSL | Course app | Free to download and use, with ads; Intersign says Premium is for deeper learning and does not say what it adds. | $4.17 | $6.99 |
| Renshuu | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free for good, with no ads, no paywall and no daily limit. Renshuu pro is optional: it adds listening and sentence quizzes and more example sentences for each grammar point, and locks no grammar away. | $4.17 | — |
| Pocket Sign | Vocabulary and flashcards | A free lesson each day, the video dictionary and the alphabet; the other lessons stay locked until you subscribe. | $5 | $5.99 |
| SpanishDict | Course app | Free with an account and ads: the Learn Spanish course, the dictionary, conjugations, grammar guide and vocabulary quizzes, with translations of up to 500 characters at a time. Premium removes the ads and adds speaking questions and a writing checker. | $5 | $12.99 |
| Memrise | Vocabulary and flashcards | Limited free version of the app; the paid plan unlocks the rest. | $5.17 | $24.99 |
| Drops | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free access capped at 5 minutes of play every 10 hours, with topics unlocked one at a time through gameplay | $5.83 | $11 |
| HelloChinese | Course app | Free to download, with free lessons to start; HelloChinese does not publish where the free part ends or what Premium and Premium+ each add. | $5.83 | $11.99 |
| Readle | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | A rotating selection of free stories; reading all the stories needs a paid plan. A 7-day free trial opens the whole app. | $5.83 | $14.99 |
| SuperChinese | Course app | A selection of lessons from the main course and from Discover, free for good: enough to judge the teaching, not the whole course. | $5.83 | $11.99 |
| MosaLingua | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free download and a free trial; the full set of features needs a Premium subscription. | $5.99 | $9.99 |
| Busuu | Course app | Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking; Premium adds review tools, offline mode and no ads. | $6.08 | — |
| Jumpspeak | AI conversation practice | Free users can sample some lessons at each level, switch languages and have a limited number of AI Tutor conversations. | $6.58 | — |
| Clozemaster | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free account with up to 30 sentences a day; Pro adds unlimited play and advanced features | $6.67 | $12.99 |
| HelloTalk | Language exchange | Free account with ads and daily limits (for example ten translations a day); occasional randomly offered 3-day VIP trials | $6.67 | $12.99 |
| Langotalk | AI conversation practice | A free account to start your first conversation; Langotalk doesn't say what stays free after that. The yearly plan comes with a 7-day free trial. | $6.67 | $19.99 |
| Lingvist | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free level placement before subscribing, and a 14-day free trial on the annual plan; the monthly plan has no trial | $6.67 | $9.99 |
| News in Slow | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | The first part of every episode's audio and transcript, on the website, and two complete news stories a week per language in the free Linguistica app. | $6.90 (Audio Only, one edition) | $6.90 |
| Promova | Course app | Courses are free if you watch an ad before each lesson; AI role-play is limited. | $7 | $19.99 |
| Speak | AI conversation practice | 7-day free trial; no permanently free tier is published | $7 | $17.99 |
| Talk To Me In Korean | Course app | A free sample lesson sent by email; the Standard and Monthly plans start with a 7-day free trial of every course. | $7.12 | $16.99 |
| Satori Reader | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | Selected episodes, free for good: in the app, the first two episodes of every series and some special series in full. Pro opens the whole library of more than 1,650 episodes, offline listening and the discussion boards. | $7.42 | $9 |
| WaniKani | Vocabulary and flashcards | Levels 1 to 3 are free with no time limit (about 100 kanji and 200 vocabulary words); Level 4 and above need a paid plan. | $7.42 | $9 |
| ELSA Speak | AI conversation practice | Free version: the Welcome planet and the first 2 lessons of every topic, plus a 7-day trial of every lesson without a card. | $7.50 | $19.99 |
| Ling | Course app | Free tier with limited lessons and limited dialogue practice, with ads | $7.50 | $16.99 |
| Talk In Arabic | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | A free account opens the free lessons; every other lesson needs Premium. | $7.95 | $12.95 |
| Fluent Forever | Vocabulary and flashcards | Free with no time limit and no card: the language-learning videos and basic learning content, with no ads. Unlimited flashcards and reviews, all the pronunciation lessons, sentences, every language and the AI pronunciation feedback need Premium. | $7.99 | $11.99 |
| LingoDeer | Course app | A free version with limited lessons; a membership unlocks every course and feature. | $8 | $14.99 |
| ASL Bloom | Course app | Two free lessons every day, with no time limit; Premium unlocks every lesson and the Collections. | $8.25 | — |
| Auslan Wiz | Course app | A free version with limited features; Premium unlocks all the content and the Collections. | $8.33 | — |
| Skritter | Vocabulary and flashcards | A guest account keeps free access to selected decks for good; a subscription unlocks review mode and every deck. | $8.33 | $14.99 |
| Yabla | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | No free plan, but some videos (with their games) and the written lessons are free without an account; a 7-day free trial for new users. | $8.33 | $12.95 |
| Bright BSL | Course app | The first modules and lessons are free; Premium unlocks the rest of the course. | $8.58 | $14.49 |
| Babbel | Course app | Free account; the first lesson of every course is free, and up to 80 free lessons depending on the language. | $8.95 | $17.99 |
| Yoyo Chinese | Course app | A free account for good: 75+ video lessons with their quizzes, the interactive pinyin chart and study downloads; its plans page says that is full access to roughly the first 30 lessons. | $8.99 | $14.99 |
| Jiveworld | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | One story and its Soundbites, free, to try the method. | $9.92 | $15.95 |
| Praktika | AI conversation practice | Free to download and use: 3 AI avatars, limited speaking practice, basic feedback. | $9.99 (Praktika Premium, 1 month) | $9.99 |
| Du Chinese | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | A selection of free lessons at every level; Premium opens all 3,000+ articles, stories and courses, offline study and an audiobook mode. | $10 | $14.99 |
| LingQ | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | Free account capped at 20 saved words and phrases, 5 lessons created from imported content, and 1 audio playlist | $10 | $14.99 |
| Lingvano | Course app | 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. | $10 | $17.99 |
| Mango Languages | Course app | 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 | $10 | $13.99 |
| Talkpal | AI conversation practice | The Basic plan: 10 minutes of chat a day, with progress tracking and pronunciation checks. | $10 | $19.99 |
| Univerbal | AI conversation practice | Signing up is free and every new account gets 3 days to try Univerbal; after that Univerbal doesn't say what stays free. Unlimited conversations need a Univerbal Pass. | $10 | $19.99 |
| Langua | AI conversation practice | A free version with low limits: 3 minutes of calls a day and about 20 chat messages a week. | $12.50 | $19.99 |
| Transparent Language Online | Course app | Free with a card at participating public libraries, which give the whole course in every language; otherwise a 14-day free trial. | $12.50 | $24.95 |
| Rosetta Stone | Course app | Free sample lessons on its site and a one-time 7-day free trial in the app; no lasting free plan. | $13.25 | $19.99 |
| Glossika | Audio course | 7-day full access with no credit card, plus a permanent Freemium tier covering nine minoritized languages | $16.58 | $19.99 |
| Kwiziq | Course app | 10 kwizzes a month for good, with the level test, a study plan, a basic Brainmap, one notebook and some challenges. Premium makes kwizzes unlimited and adds the full Brainmap, more notebooks and the weekly writing and dictation challenges. | $16.75 | $31.49 |
| ChinesePod | Course app | Every lesson plays free, with ads before it; the dialogues, vocabulary, notes and exercises are limited. Premium opens them in full, with courses, practice tests and downloads. | $20.83 | $29 |
| Anki | Vocabulary and flashcards | The computer version and AnkiDroid on Android are free, with free sync; only the iPhone app is paid. | $24.99, AnkiMobile (iPhone and iPad) | — |
| Assimil | Course app | The first 7 lessons of each course, free in the app; the rest of the course is bought once. | $41.99, French course | — |
| Auslearn | Course app | The first 3 of its 12 units are free; Auslearn Pro unlocks the rest. | — | — |
| Coffee Break French | Audio course | The podcast, free for good: the audio lessons of all four seasons, about 15 to 20 minutes each. A season's paid course adds a bonus audio lesson and notes for each lesson, and video lessons in Seasons 1 to 3. | $269, One season's online course | — |
| Coffee Break German | Audio course | The podcast, free for good: the audio lessons of all three seasons, about 15 to 20 minutes each. A season's paid course adds a bonus audio lesson, notes and a video for each lesson. | $269, One season's online course | — |
| Coffee Break Italian | Audio course | The podcast, free for good: the audio lessons of all three seasons, about 15 to 20 minutes each. A season's paid course adds a bonus audio lesson, notes and a video for each lesson. | $269, One season's online course | — |
| Coffee Break Spanish | Audio course | The podcast, free for good: the audio lessons of all four seasons, about 15 to 20 minutes each (Season 4's are previews of a longer paid lesson). A season's paid course adds a bonus audio lesson and notes for each lesson, and video lessons in Seasons 1 to 3. | $269, One season's online course | — |
| Conversation Exchange | Language exchange | Searching for partners, messaging them and chatting, free for good, with ads and a limit on messages. A paid membership removes both; a .edu email address gets the Unlimited membership free. | — | — |
| Dreaming Spanish | Immersion (video, audio, reading) | Free videos at every level, with search, difficulty sorting and progress tracking; Premium adds the larger library. | — | — |
| Duolingo | Course app | Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). | — | — |
| DW Learn German | Course app | Every course free, from the alphabet to C1, on the website or in the app; a free account opens your profile and the vocabulary trainer. | — | — |
| Endless Spanish | Course app | Six words, each with its word puzzle and sentence puzzle, to try before buying a word pack. | $5.99, One word pack | — |
| Language Transfer | Audio course | Every course free, with no adverts and no sign-up; it runs on donations. | — | — |
| LingoHut | Vocabulary and flashcards | Every lesson free, with ads and no sign-up: about 125 lessons of phrases with audio in each language, with flashcards and games. | — | — |
| Michel Thomas Method | Audio course | A free lesson and a free booklet for every course (sign-up needed, no card); the app that plays the courses is free. | $11.99, Start course | — |
| Ouino | Course app | A free demo in the browser: one sample lesson from each part of the course, such as definite articles, colours, a key verb and a conversation. | $6.99, a 12-month pass paid once | — |
| Pleco | Vocabulary and flashcards | The dictionary is free for good, with two dictionaries, handwriting lookup, 500 stroke-order animations and no ads; the full flashcard system, camera lookup and the document reader are add-ons you buy once. | $29.99, Basic Bundle | — |
| Rocket Languages | Course app | A free trial; the page does not say what it includes or for how long. | $99.95, Rocket Sign Language | — |
| SignSchool | Course app | Everything: the lessons on its website, the dictionary and the review games, with a free account. | — | — |
| Speaky | Language exchange | Everything: finding partners and talking with them by text or voice, with a free account. | — | — |
What paying removes and adds
The descriptions above name the same handful of things over and over. Paying removes ads (Duolingo, HelloTalk, Busuu, Ling). Paying lifts a cap: daily limits at Duolingo and HelloTalk, the saved-word and lesson caps at LingQ, the play-time cap at Drops, the daily sentence limit at Clozemaster. Paying unlocks the rest of the course where the free tier was a sample (Babbel, Memrise, Mango Languages). And paying adds tools the free tier lacks: Busuu names review tools, Clozemaster names advanced features.
What paying rarely changes is the lessons themselves. For a course app whose free tier is the whole product, the paid plan buys comfort and continuity, not different teaching. That is the honest reason to pay: you will use the app more without ads and caps, and the cost of using it more is what you are comparing. Offline access is the one feature that changes what you can do rather than how pleasant it is; the "Works offline" filter on the full table shows which apps state it.
Free through a library
Mango Languages and Transparent Language Online are the two apps we cover whose paid product can be had free through an institution. Mango: 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. Transparent Language's site searches the libraries that give its courses free in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. If your public library subscribes, the whole course library is free with your card; each app's plan table (Mango, Transparent Language) shows what the same access costs when you buy it yourself.
When free is enough
- A daily habit. If the job is ten minutes a day you will actually do, a free tier that is the whole product with ads is the product. Decide later whether the ads bother you enough to pay.
- Vocabulary. Capped or limited free tiers of vocabulary apps cover a daily session; the cap bites only when you want long sessions.
- A conversation partner. Exchange apps are free at their core; the paid tier at Tandem and HelloTalk lifts limits and adds translation and visibility, and does not change who you talk to.
- Deciding whether you like a method. First-lesson samples exist for this. Use them for what they are and do not expect to progress on them.
When to pay, and the cheapest way
Pay when a cap stops you doing the work you sat down to do, when you need offline access, when you want the structured path rather than the sampler, or when you want a person. Then pay the cheapest honest way: the annual plan, per month, is the lowest published figure for nearly every app, and the how-to-choose guide's annual-versus-monthly table shows how much the monthly plan costs on top.
Among the apps with a free tier, the lowest published paid prices per month at annual billing are:
- uTalk, $2.08 a month (vocabulary and flashcards)
- Quizlet, $3 a month (vocabulary and flashcards)
- Language Reactor, $3.33 a month (immersion (video, audio, reading))
- Tandem, $3.33 a month (language exchange)
- Mondly, $4 a month (course app)
Note the kinds in that list. The cheapest paid tiers belong to vocabulary and exchange apps because they are narrow products; a full course app costs more because it is a different thing, not because it is overpriced. Compare within a kind before comparing across kinds.
When free is not enough: what will the paid plan cost you?
Total billed over 12 months
$108.48 less on annual billingOne yearly payment of $107.40.
What each plan covers. Monthly: one language. Yearly: all languages.
Trial and refund terms
91 apps publish a trial or refund term; 8 publish none on their own pages (Conversation Exchange, Gus on the Go, Intersign ASL, Intersign BSL, Pleco, Pocket Sign, SignSchool and Speaky), which is recorded as "not stated" rather than as "no refunds". Each row sums up the app's own terms. Apps with no free tier are marked, because for them the trial is the only way to look before paying. Where we have written one, each row links the app's cancellation guide: the steps on its website, in the App Store and in Google Play, and what happens to your money.
| App | Free tier | Trial and refund terms | Cheapest paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| uTalk | Yes | 28-day money-back guarantee How to cancel uTalk | $2.08 |
| Quizlet | Yes | A 7-day free trial with a yearly Quizlet Plus or Plus Unlimited plan, not with a monthly or Family plan; it renews unless you cancel at least a day before. Bought on Quizlet's website: its terms make subscriptions non-refundable except where the law requires, though its help centre takes refund requests and decides each one. App Store and Google Play purchases follow Apple's or Google's rules. How to cancel Quizlet | $3 |
| Language Reactor | Yes | A Pro free trial ends by returning you to free mode, with no charge; Pro is an auto-renewing subscription you can cancel after paying. No refund policy is published. How to cancel Language Reactor | $3.33 |
| Tandem | Yes | 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 How to cancel Tandem | $3.33 |
| Mondly | Yes | 7-day free trial How to cancel Mondly | $4 |
| Readlang | Yes | No free trial of Premium is described; the free plan stays free. Premium renews each month or year until you cancel in your account settings; you keep it to the end of the period you paid for, and partial periods are not generally refunded. In the EU and EEA you have 14 days to withdraw, but if you start using Premium in that time, the right can end once the service has been provided. How to cancel Readlang | $4 |
| Speakly | Yes | A 7-day free trial. Bought on Speakly's website: 14 days to withdraw if you live in the EU, the EEA or the UK, and the Lifetime page promises a full refund if you email within 14 days. App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google. How to cancel Speakly | $4 |
| Human Japanese | Yes | The first eight chapters of each course are free, with no card and no time limit. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time; its pages give no refund terms. | $4.08 |
| Beelinguapp | Yes | Refunds on request by email within 14 days of a first purchase of a paid plan bought from Beelinguapp (not renewals); App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded by Apple or Google. How to cancel Beelinguapp | $4.16 |
| Bunpro | Yes | A 30-day free trial of Premium with no card. A refund for any reason within 30 days of buying a yearly or lifetime plan, or within 7 days of a monthly one, by contacting Bunpro. How to cancel Bunpro | $4.17 |
| Renshuu | Yes | Free for good, so there is nothing to try before paying. Renshuu publishes no refund terms of its own; pro bought in the App Store or Google Play is refunded under Apple's or Google's rules. How to cancel Renshuu | $4.17 |
| SpanishDict | Yes | A 7-day free trial of Premium, which turns into the plan you chose unless you cancel first. Bought on SpanishDict's website, a full refund can be asked for within 30 days of buying; purchases through Apple or Google are not covered. How to cancel SpanishDict | $5 |
| Studycat | No | A 7-day free trial with no payment required to start; App Store purchases follow Apple's rules. How to cancel Studycat | $5 |
| Memrise | Yes | 30-day money-back guarantee; monthly plans have a 14-day refund window. Apple purchases require a refund from Apple. How to cancel Memrise | $5.17 |
| Drops | Yes | 7-day free trial on the Yearly plan; affiliate terms reference a 14-day refund period How to cancel Drops | $5.83 |
| HelloChinese | Yes | Yearly plans bought on HelloChinese's website or through its customer service have a 30-day money-back guarantee; monthly plans are not refunded. Purchases in the iPhone or Android app are final with HelloChinese and follow Apple's or Google's rules. How to cancel HelloChinese | $5.83 |
| Readle | Yes | A 7-day free trial. Bought on Readle's website: a refund if you ask within 14 days of your first subscription payment, and 30 days' money back on Lifetime. App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google. How to cancel Readle | $5.83 |
| SuperChinese | Yes | No free trial is named; the free lessons stay free. SuperChinese's terms and FAQ give no refund terms: a subscription bought in the App Store or Google Play follows Apple's or Google's refund rules, and one bought on its website (Alipay, WeChat Pay or PayPal) is cancelled by writing to SuperChinese. How to cancel SuperChinese | $5.83 |
| MosaLingua | Yes | A free trial first, then a 30-day money-back guarantee on website and Android purchases; not on App Store purchases. How to cancel MosaLingua | $5.99 |
| Busuu | Yes | 14-day money-back guarantee on the initial Premium payment; no renewal refunds. Apple and mobile-operator purchases require a refund from that provider. How to cancel Busuu | $6.08 |
| Jumpspeak | Yes | Premium bought on Jumpspeak's website: a 100-day money-back guarantee (30 days for Premium AI and family plans). App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google. How to cancel Jumpspeak | $6.58 |
| Clozemaster | Yes | 30-day money back guarantee on the Yearly plan; no refunds on Monthly plans How to cancel Clozemaster | $6.67 |
| HelloTalk | Yes | Occasional randomly offered 3-day free VIP trial; refunds handled by Apple or Google for in-app purchases How to cancel HelloTalk | $6.67 |
| Langotalk | Yes | A 7-day free trial with the yearly plan only. Bought on Langotalk's website: a full refund within 14 days of purchase, on any plan, by email (its home page's answers say 3 months; the refund policy says 14 days). App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded by Apple or Google. How to cancel Langotalk | $6.67 |
| Lingvist | Yes | 14-day free trial on the annual plan; cancel before it ends and you are not charged How to cancel Lingvist | $6.67 |
| News in Slow | Yes | A 7-day free trial of Full Access for first-time subscribers, with an email two days before it ends. Its refund policy offers no refund on an individual subscription: you cancel the renewal and keep access to the end of the month paid for. · Trial terms from the subscription page: "7 day free trial … Cancel anytime during the free trial and you won’t be charged. We'll remind you by email 2 days before your trial ends … Only first-time subscribers are eligible for the free trial." How to cancel News in Slow | $6.90 (Audio Only, one edition) |
| Lingopie | No | 7-day free trial; yearly subscription is charged after the trial and cannot be refunded How to cancel Lingopie | $6.99 |
| Promova | Yes | A free trial for new subscribers. Refunds for website and Google Play purchases are asked for by email; App Store purchases go through Apple. How to cancel Promova | $7 |
| Speak | Yes | 7-day free trial; refunds for App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google, and website purchases through Speak support How to cancel Speak | $7 |
| Talk To Me In Korean | Yes | A 7-day free trial on the Standard and Monthly plans. TTMIK's terms give a full refund if you ask within 7 days of the start of a subscription and have not used it, and otherwise a part refund, less each day used; Paddle takes the payments. How to cancel Talk To Me In Korean | $7.12 |
| Satori Reader | Yes | The first month is free in the iPhone app (one per customer). Satori Reader publishes no refund terms: a subscription bought in the App Store follows Apple's refund rules. Cancel any time and you keep Pro to the end of the period you paid for. How to cancel Satori Reader | $7.42 |
| WaniKani | Yes | No separate trial: levels 1 to 3 are free. You can ask for a refund for any reason within 60 days of a payment, on monthly, annual and lifetime plans. How to cancel WaniKani | $7.42 |
| ELSA Speak | Yes | A 7-day free trial with no card. Bought on ELSA's website: a refund if you ask within 7 days; App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google. How to cancel ELSA Speak | $7.50 |
| Ling | Yes | 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) How to cancel Ling | $7.50 |
| Talk In Arabic | Yes | Free lessons with a free account. A 30-day money-back guarantee on a first membership payment and on add-ons; after 30 days refunds are at its discretion, and forgetting to cancel is not a reason. How to cancel Talk In Arabic | $7.95 |
| Fluent Forever | Yes | The free version has no time limit. A subscription bought on Fluent Forever's website can be cancelled at any time and stays open to the end of the term, with no refund promised; App Store and Google Play purchases follow Apple's or Google's rules. Online Coaching is refundable for 24 hours after the first purchase, and renewals are not. How to cancel Fluent Forever | $7.99 |
| LingoDeer | Yes | 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. How to cancel LingoDeer | $8 |
| Migaku | No | A 10-day free trial with no card. A full refund if you tell Migaku within 14 days of buying, by email to its support address. How to cancel Migaku | $8 |
| Teacher AI | No | A 3-day free trial with the monthly plan, 7 days with the longer plans. Bought on Teacher AI's website: a full refund if you ask within 7 days of buying, by email to [email protected]. App Store and Google Play purchases are refunded by Apple or Google. How to cancel Teacher AI | $8.08 |
| ASL Bloom | Yes | ASL Bloom 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. How to cancel ASL Bloom | $8.25 |
| Auslan Wiz | Yes | Auslan Wiz'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. How to cancel Auslan Wiz | $8.33 |
| Skritter | Yes | A 7-day free trial, then a 30-day money-back guarantee on a first purchase made with Skritter; App Store and Google Play purchases follow Apple's and Google's rules. How to cancel Skritter | $8.33 |
| Yabla | Yes | A 7-day free trial. Yabla's terms refund a subscription cancelled in its first 7 days, once a year; its FAQ says 14 days if you did not start with a trial. How to cancel Yabla | $8.33 |
| Bright BSL | Yes | 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. How to cancel Bright BSL | $8.58 |
| Babbel | Yes | 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. How to cancel Babbel | $8.95 |
| Yoyo Chinese | Yes | A 7-day money-back guarantee on a first purchase made on yoyochinese.com: email [email protected] within 7 days of paying. No refunds on renewals; App Store purchases are refunded by Apple. How to cancel Yoyo Chinese | $8.99 |
| Jiveworld | Yes | One story is free to try. Jiveworld refunds any charge if you ask by email within seven days of it. How to cancel Jiveworld | $9.92 |
| Praktika | Yes | A refund if you ask within 48 hours of a charge, Praktika's help centre says; its terms otherwise make fees non-refundable. How to cancel Praktika | $9.99 (Praktika Premium, 1 month) |
| Du Chinese | Yes | A subscription started on Du Chinese's website is refunded in full if you ask within 15 days; App Store purchases cannot be refunded by Du Chinese. How to cancel Du Chinese | $10 |
| LingQ | Yes | Full refund during the first 30 days of an initial Premium subscription; no partial-month or unused-month refunds afterward. How to cancel LingQ | $10 |
| Lingvano | Yes | 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. How to cancel Lingvano | $10 |
| Mango Languages | Yes | Free trial on Individual and Family plans; cancel before it ends and you are not charged How to cancel Mango Languages | $10 |
| Talkpal | Yes | 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. How to cancel Talkpal | $10 |
| Univerbal | Yes | A 7-day free trial on every pass, after 3 free days on a new account. Refunds follow Apple's or Google's rules; Univerbal says it will usually send a refund request to the store. How to cancel Univerbal | $10 |
| Pimsleur | No | A 7-day free trial on subscriptions. Pimsleur's 30-day money-back guarantee covers only a subscription bought on pimsleur.com or by phone without a free trial of 7 days or more, once per customer; App Store and Google Play purchases are not covered. How to cancel Pimsleur | $11 |
| Cambly | No | $1 trial lesson; 7-day money-back guarantee on a first plan; after that, cancel any time and pay only for days used, with long-term discounts forfeited on early cancellation How to cancel Cambly | $12 |
| FluentU | No | 14-day free trial with no payment up front, plus a 20-day money-back guarantee How to cancel FluentU | $12 |
| Hack Chinese | No | A 21-day free trial with no card, then refunds within 30 days under its refund policy. | $12 |
| Langua | Yes | 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. How to cancel Langua | $12.50 |
| Transparent Language Online | Yes | A 14-day free trial. Cancel any time: Transparent Language gives a full refund for the current subscription period if you ask before the next billing date; earlier periods are not refunded. How to cancel Transparent Language Online | $12.50 |
| Rosetta Stone | Yes | A one-time 7-day free trial in the app. Bought from Rosetta Stone: a 14-day money-back guarantee, refunded by its Memberships team by email or phone. App Store purchases go through Apple; a retailer's follow that retailer's policy. How to cancel Rosetta Stone | $13.25 |
| Rockalingua | No | A 14-day free trial with no card, and nothing is charged when it ends unless you choose a plan. Bought from Rockalingua: a full refund if you ask within 30 days of your first purchase, by email or phone. · The pricing page: "Your account will simply pause. ... You will never be charged automatically unless you choose to subscribe." How to cancel Rockalingua | $15.75 |
| Dinolingo | No | A 7-day free trial; cancel before it ends and nothing is charged. How to cancel Dinolingo | $16.58 |
| Glossika | Yes | 7-day free trial with no credit card; monthly payments are non-refundable, annual plans refundable pro rata within 60 days of purchase How to cancel Glossika | $16.58 |
| Kwiziq | Yes | A 7-day money-back guarantee for new paying subscribers. A renewal you forgot to cancel is refunded if you ask within 7 days and have not used the account since it renewed. How to cancel Kwiziq | $16.75 |
| ChinesePod | Yes | A 14-day trial of Premium. ChinesePod's terms let you cancel a subscription you are not satisfied with in the first 30 days after ordering, and say there is no right to a refund after that. How to cancel ChinesePod | $20.83 |
| Gymglish | No | A 7-day free trial with no commitment to buy. After you pay, its terms give 14 days from the order to withdraw for a refund, only if you have not used the lessons; its shop says "15 days to change your mind". Otherwise a subscription is a commitment for its whole length, and nothing is refunded for lessons you don't take. · Terms of sale v5.2, 27 Sept 2024. Purchases in the App Store or Google Play follow those stores' rules. How to cancel Gymglish | $24 |
| 90 Day Korean | No | No free trial; a full refund if you email within 30 days of signing up, no questions asked. After 30 days its terms refund nothing for a change of mind. How to cancel 90 Day Korean | $24.92 |
| BaseLang | No | The first week costs $1. Within 35 days of first signing up, BaseLang refunds Real World and Real World Lite in full and adds $20, but you can't rejoin later; after 35 days, no refund. Bootcamp has no trial; BaseLang's FAQ allows a refund in its first 24 hours, but its terms say Bootcamp is never refunded. How to cancel BaseLang | $99 (Real World Lite) |
| Anki | Yes | Free on computers and Android; AnkiMobile is a one-time App Store purchase. | $24.99, AnkiMobile (iPhone and iPad) |
| Assimil | Yes | The first 7 lessons of each course are free to try. A course bought in the app is paid through the App Store or Google Play, so a refund is asked of the store; Assimil's terms of use for the app give no refund terms of their own. | $41.99, French course |
| Auslearn | Yes | Auslearn refunds nothing itself: its terms send you to Apple or Google, under their own refund rules. | — |
| Coffee Break French | Yes | The podcast is free to try any season. No refund once a course has been downloaded: its policy says all sales are then final; within 7 days it will consider swapping a course for another level if it is too easy or too hard. | $269, One season's online course |
| Coffee Break German | Yes | The podcast is free to try any season. No refund once a course has been downloaded: its policy says all sales are then final; within 7 days it will consider swapping a course for another level if it is too easy or too hard. | $269, One season's online course |
| Coffee Break Italian | Yes | The podcast is free to try any season. No refund once a course has been downloaded: its policy says all sales are then final; within 7 days it will consider swapping a course for another level if it is too easy or too hard. | $269, One season's online course |
| Coffee Break Spanish | Yes | The podcast is free to try any season. No refund once a course has been downloaded: its policy says all sales are then final; within 7 days it will consider swapping a course for another level if it is too easy or too hard. | $269, One season's online course |
| Dreaming Spanish | Yes | Free plan with no time limit; Premium is monthly, with no yearly or family plan. How to cancel Dreaming Spanish | — |
| Duolingo | Yes | 1 week free trial on Super How to cancel Duolingo | — |
| DW Learn German | Yes | Free; nothing to buy. | — |
| Endless Spanish | Yes | Six words are free to try before you buy a word pack. Word packs are bought in the App Store or Google Play, so refunds follow Apple's or Google's rules. | $5.99, One word pack |
| italki | No | 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 How to cancel italki | $4 to $10 per lesson |
| Language Transfer | Yes | Free; nothing to buy. | — |
| Lingoda | Not stated | Free 7-day trial How to cancel Lingoda | €54.99, Group classes, 4 classes |
| LingoHut | Yes | Free; nothing to buy. | — |
| Michel Thomas Method | Yes | A refund or exchange within 14 days of buying, if you have not finished the course; the Start course is not refunded if you then buy Foundation. | $11.99, Start course |
| Novakid | No | A free trial lesson first. Novakid's US price list promises money back within 14 days on a 3-month plan, 28 days on 6 months and 48 days on 12 months; its terms give 14 days to withdraw from a first plan, even after a class, with the classes taken deducted from the refund. How to cancel Novakid | From $9 per lesson |
| Ouino | Yes | Try the free demo first. Lifetime access comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee and the 3-, 6- and 12-month passes with 30 days: if you're not satisfied, Ouino refunds your purchase. | $38.97, 3-month access (one language) |
| Pingo AI | No | A free trial before you subscribe. Pingo publishes no refund terms of its own: its terms send refund requests to the store or payment provider you paid through, under that provider's rules. How to cancel Pingo AI | — |
| Preply | No | 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 How to cancel Preply | $3 to $50 per lesson |
| Rocket Languages | Yes | A free trial; 60-day money-back guarantee on purchases. How to cancel Rocket Languages | $99.95, Rocket Sign Language |
| StoryLearning | No | A 7-day free trial of each Uncovered course, then one payment with a 365-day money-back guarantee; bundles have 30 days. The StoryLearning App's page gives no trial or refund terms. How to cancel StoryLearning | $297, Uncovered Beginner course |
Three shapes recur. A free trial that converts to a paid plan unless you cancel, which is the common one and the one that catches people. A money-back window, which several apps limit to annual plans and deny on monthly plans. And refunds handled by Apple or Google, which means the app's own generosity does not apply if you bought inside the app store. Where you buy matters as much as what you buy: the same subscription can be refundable on the web and not on your phone.
Questions people ask
Is any language app completely free with no catch?
Almost every app whose free tier is the whole product limits it somehow: ads, a daily cap on some action, or features held back for the paid plan. Language Transfer is the exception: every course it has released is free, with no ads and no sign-up, and it runs on donations; it teaches by audio, in fewer languages. Busuu's free account also includes its complete courses, holding back review tools, offline lessons and ad-free learning for Premium. What each app's pages say is free is in the first table. Mango Languages and Transparent Language Online are the two cases where full paid access can be free, through a participating library.
Does the paid plan make the lessons better?
Usually not. In most course apps the lessons are the same on the free and paid tiers; paying removes ads and caps and adds tools such as offline downloads or review sessions. The exceptions are apps whose free tier is a sample, where the paid plan is the course itself.
What is the cheapest way to pay?
The annual plan, per month, is the cheapest published figure for almost every app; the monthly plan is priced higher to push you to commit. A lifetime plan can beat both after its break-even, which the how-to-choose guide calculates per app.
Can I get a refund if I pay for a year and stop?
It depends on the app and on where you bought it. Several apps state a money-back window on annual plans; some state none; purchases made through Apple or Google follow those stores' rules. The trial and refund table on this page sets out what each app says.
Is a free trial the same as a free tier?
No. A free tier stays free; a trial ends and, in most apps, converts to a paid plan unless you cancel. Glossika, Lingvist and Speak describe a trial as their free offer, so they are counted with the free tiers here, each with what its offer includes; the trial terms of every app are in the refund column.
Where to go next
- The free tiers for one language: Spanish, French and Japanese
- How to choose a language app
- Every app in one sortable, filterable table
- Our picks, and every app in one table
- How the data is collected