The Best Free Language Learning Apps (What's Actually Free)

The language learning apps that are genuinely free to use long term are Duolingo (every course, with ads and a daily limit), Anki (free on desktop, Android and web), Language Transfer (free audio courses, no ads), and the free plans of language exchange apps like LangX, HelloTalk and Tandem. Busuu and Memrise have limited free tiers, while Babbel, Pimsleur, Speak and Praktika are really free trials: you get a taste, then a subscription.

“Free” on an app store means very little on its own. This guide shows what each free tier actually gives you, at the time of writing (September 2026), and where it stops. We do not quote prices.

We make LangX, a language exchange app, so its limits are listed as plainly as everyone else’s. If you only want apps for talking with native speakers, our separate list of free language exchange apps goes deeper on that one category: daily caps, ads and new-chat limits. This page covers the wider field: courses, flashcards, audio, AI and exchange.

#Free language learning apps at a glance

Everything here is from each company’s own site, help pages or app store listing, checked in September 2026. Free tiers change often, so check the listing before you commit.

#Apps you can use for free indefinitely

#Duolingo

Duolingo is the best-known free language app, and the free part is real: every language course is free. In April 2026, Duolingo made advanced content through B2 on the CEFR scale free in nine of its most popular courses: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Before that, most learners in those courses could only reach A2.

The catch is how much you can do in one sitting. The free version shows ads, and on mobile it uses a system called Energy that limits how many exercises you can do in a row before you wait or watch an ad. Super removes ads and the limit; Max adds AI speaking features.

Whether a free course is enough on its own is a separate question, answered in Can you become fluent with Duolingo?

#Anki

Anki is a spaced-repetition flashcard app and one of the few that is free and open source. The desktop app is free on every major platform, the Android app (AnkiDroid) is free and built by volunteers, and AnkiWeb syncs your cards for free. The iPhone app, AnkiMobile, is paid, and those purchases fund development.

There is nothing to unlock and no ads. You bring or download the cards. Our most common words lists rank the most frequent words in more than 50 languages with English meanings, and download in a format Anki imports, which makes a good free first deck.

#Language Transfer

Language Transfer offers audio courses in which a teacher explains how the language works and asks you to build sentences out loud. Its site says there are no price tags, no ads and no sign-ups; it runs on donations. Courses include Spanish, French, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Arabic and Swahili, and there is an app.

#Free language exchange apps

Exchange apps are the only free way to talk with real native speakers, because you trade practice instead of paying. The free plans differ mostly in daily caps and ads. Full detail is in free language exchange apps; the short version:

• HelloTalk: text and voice chat, calls, Moments (a feed where natives correct your posts) and Voicerooms are free. Translation, AI correction and voice-to-text have daily caps, and there are ads; VIP removes both. See Is HelloTalk free?
• Tandem: chat, corrections, voice messages and calls are free, with 10 new conversations and 3 translations a day and up to 60 minutes a day in Language Parties, plus ads. See Is Tandem free?
• LangX (ours): no ads on any plan. Text messages, replies and corrections are unlimited: your partner holds any message to correct it. The Free plan starts 5 new conversations and 20 translations per rolling 24 hours. There are no live calls on any plan; you use voice, photo and video messages instead. The community is much smaller than HelloTalk’s or Tandem’s. Paid plans are on the plans page.

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María Spanish → English POLYGLOT

Daniel German → English POLYGLOT

Kenji Japanese → English FLUENT

Sofia Portuguese → English POLYGLOT

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  Lucía M. 26 🇪🇸 41

  Spanish → English

  4 km away

  Madrid. I correct everything, sorry in advance.
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  Javier R. 31 🇪🇸 7

  Spanish, Catalan → English

  Teaching myself English from song lyrics. It is going badly.
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  Ana C. 24 🇪🇸

  Spanish → English

  Day one. Voice notes only — typing English takes me an hour.
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  Mateo P. 29 🇦🇷 122

  Spanish → English

  Buenos Aires. Happy to explain the subjunctive again.

#Free, but limited

#Busuu

Busuu teaches 14 languages and its best feature is its community: native speakers correct your writing and speaking exercises. Busuu’s help center says you can study for free by watching a short ad before each lesson. Free members can send a limited number of exercises for correction; Premium removes ads, unlocks the full set of features and makes submissions unlimited.

#Memrise

Memrise teaches vocabulary with short videos of native speakers and AI chat partners. Its App Store listing is unusually clear: the free plan has “limited vocab lessons”, “limited videos and conversations” and ads; Pro unlocks all of them. It is a pleasant free sampler rather than a complete free course.

#Dreaming

Dreaming, the comprehensible-input platform that grew out of Dreaming Spanish and now also covers French, has part of its graded video library free, including on YouTube. For a beginner that is many hours of listening at no cost; the premium plan unlocks the rest of the library.

#Free trials, not free apps

These are good products, but after a short taste you need a subscription.

• Babbel: the first lesson of every course is free when you sign up with an email, with no card required. Babbel says it does not offer a free trial beyond that. See LangX vs Babbel.
• Pimsleur: the first lesson is free on its website, and the app has a 7-day free trial. Its 30-minute audio lessons cover 51 languages.
• Speak: free to download with a free trial, then a subscription for the AI tutor and courses. See LangX vs Speak.
• Praktika: AI avatar tutors, a free trial, then a subscription. See LangX vs Praktika.

Tutor marketplaces are paid by nature. Browsing italki and Preply is free, and italki has a free Community area for written questions, but every lesson costs money. See LangX vs italki and LangX vs Preply.

#A complete free setup

You can learn a language to a solid conversational level without paying, if you combine free tools that do different jobs:

1. A course for structure: Duolingo, or Language Transfer if you prefer audio and explanation.
2. Flashcards for memory: Anki with a frequency list. The vocabulary tests tell you roughly how many words you already know.
3. People for speaking: one exchange partner on LangX, HelloTalk or Tandem. Our guide on how to find a language exchange partner helps you spend a limited number of daily first messages well.
4. Listening: free graded videos or podcasts you mostly understand.

What you give up by not paying is mostly convenience: ads, daily limits and some AI features. What you cannot get free anywhere is a professional teacher’s time. For a broader ranking that includes paid options, see the best language learning apps.

#FAQ

#Is there a completely free language learning app?

Yes. Anki (desktop, Android and web) and Language Transfer have nothing to buy for the core product; Anki’s iPhone app is the one paid exception. Duolingo’s courses are free too, with ads and a daily Energy limit on mobile.

#Is Duolingo really free?

Yes. Every course is free, including B2-level content in nine popular courses since April 2026. The free version has ads and limits how many exercises you can do in a row on mobile. Super and Max are optional.

#Is Babbel free?

Not really. The first lesson of every course is free with an email sign-up; after that you need a subscription.

#What is the best free app to practice speaking?

For speaking with real people, a language exchange app: LangX, HelloTalk and Tandem all have free plans. For speaking alone, Language Transfer has you build sentences out loud for free.

#Can I learn a language with only free apps?

You can get a long way. A free course, free flashcards and a free exchange partner cover structure, memory and speaking. The one thing free apps cannot replace is a paid teacher’s guidance, which matters most for exams and deadlines.

More comparisons: see every head-to-head on our comparison hub.