Alternatives to Babbel
A subscription language learning app built around structured lessons focused on everyday conversation. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Babbel
A subscription language learning app built around structured lessons focused on everyday conversation.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Babbel.
Rosetta Stone
An immersion-based language-learning app with pronunciation feedback, conversation practice and flashcards.
Rosetta Stone is also a paid subscription, but it teaches through immersion without translation and adds speech recognition feedback and conversation practice for real-world scenarios.
Busuu
A language learning app with short expert-made lessons and feedback from native speakers.
Busuu adds feedback from native speakers and pronunciation practice, and has a free tier, though full course access still requires payment.
Duolingo
A language-learning app with short game-like lessons, plus courses in subjects such as chess.
Duolingo offers free short game-like lessons with streaks and reminders instead of a paid subscription, though its format is lighter than a structured course.
Pimsleur
An audio-first language-learning app built around 30-minute spoken lessons for conversational practice.
Pimsleur replaces screen-based lessons with 30-minute audio lessons that work hands-free and offline, covering 51 languages in one subscription shared by up to four users.
Memrise
A language learning app with courses built around spaced repetition and videos of native speakers.
Memrise focuses on vocabulary and listening with videos of native speakers and many rare languages, but it is web only in this catalog and has a free tier.
Speak
A language learning app that uses an AI tutor for spoken conversation practice.
Speak moves conversation practice to an AI tutor on Android and iOS, with feedback on each exchange, but it covers a limited set of languages.
Lingvist
A language-learning app that teaches vocabulary with adaptive algorithms and short daily sessions.
Lingvist concentrates on adaptive vocabulary training with more than 50 courses in one subscription, rather than full grammar courses, and runs on Android and the web.
Drops
A visual, game-like vocabulary trainer for over 55 languages, built around five-minute daily sessions.
Drops is a freemium mobile app with five-minute visual vocabulary sessions in over 55 languages, focused more on words than on the conversation skills Babbel targets.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
HelloTalk
A language exchange app for chatting with native speakers, with built-in translation and correction tools.
Tandem
A language exchange app that pairs you with native speakers who want to learn your language.
Clozemaster
A language-learning game that builds vocabulary through fill-in-the-blank sentences in over 50 languages.
Language Reactor
Browser extension and toolbox for learning languages from native videos on Netflix and YouTube.
LingQ
A language learning service built around reading and listening to real content such as books and podcasts.
Readlang
A web tool and browser plugin for learning languages by reading with click-to-translate and flashcards.
