Language Learning App Review 2025 — 12 Apps Compared

As a technology enthusiast and passionate language learner (currently fluent in 2 languages, proficient in 2 others, and learning 3 more), I have explored countless language learning apps — from gamified favorites like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, to customizable tools like Anki and LingQ.

This article shares my experience-based review of 12 widely used apps, focusing on their learning experience, cost-effectiveness, and long-term impact on real language growth.

1. Duolingo

⭕️ Pros: Massive community, strong gamification, and daily motivation. Users can follow friends’ progress, earn streaks, and enjoy a social learning vibe.

❌ Cons: Repetitive drills, AI voiced, and speaking exercises sometimes lack accuracy. Ads and error limits can only be removed through a subscription, no lifetime option available.

As the most well-known language learning app, Duolingo’s marketing and reward systems are brilliantly addictive — frequent algorithm updates keep the experience fresh, dynamic, and motivating.

2. Pimsleur

⭕️ Pros: Audio-based lessons perfect for multitasking or commuting. The program focuses on active recall through listening and repetition.

❌ Cons: Mostly audio, with little visual or interactive content. Available only through a subscription plan.

3. LingQ

⭕️ Pros: Offers a vast library of stories, podcasts, and videos. Users can also import YouTube clips to automatically generate transcripts.

❌ Cons: Transcript alignment can be inaccurate, and the AI voice for vocabulary review lacks clarity. The platform is available only through a subscription plan.

4. Memrise

⭕️ Pros: Uses real native-speaker videos, helping learners hear authentic pronunciation and natural reductions. Offers a lifetime plan.

❌ Cons: Not every topic has video support.

5. LingoDeer

⭕️ Pros: Excellent grammar explanations and easy review for forgotten words or grammar points by just clicking into the words directly. Offers a lifetime plan.

❌ Cons: Lessons feel repetitive and less interesting over time.

6. Rosetta Stone

⭕️ Pros: Offers a structured, progressive curriculum that teaches through image association rather than direct translation. A lifetime plan is available.

❌ Cons: Relies heavily on multiple-choice questions and lacks creative exercises.

7. Anki

⭕️ Pros: The ultimate flashcard powerhouse — fully customizable with own selected words, images, recordings, and tags. The spaced repetition system based review system perfectly tracks memory progress. A wide selection of pre-made vocabulary decks with audio and images can be easily downloaded online.

❌ Cons: Requires time investment to build personal decks.

A must-have for any serious learner. Adding personalized examples helps build deep, lasting memory.

8. Drops

⭕️ Pros: Provides clean themed vocabulary sets available for nearly every language. Includes fun trivia vocabulary facts. Offers a lifetime plan.

❌ Cons: Sentences paired with images can be hard to remember, and PvP “duels” feel AI-generated.

9. Busuu

⭕️ Pros: Offers detailed pronunciation modules and a supportive community where native speakers can review others’ recordings.

❌ Cons: Non-speaking lessons feel fairly standard, and it’s more difficult to receive advanced constructive feedback when looking to go beyond the basics.

10. Mango

⭕️ Pros: Uses color-coded grammar explanations to illustrate sentence structure and integrates pronunciation comparison tools for users’ own recordings.

❌ Cons: Lessons can feel repetitive within the same unit, and free users must progress sequentially without the ability to skip ahead.

11. EWA

⭕️ Pros: Incorporates movie and TV clips to teach short, memorable phrases. The use of authentic media makes lessons more engaging.

❌ Cons: The “energy limit” restricts free users, yet lesson previews are unavailable.

12. TalkMe

⭕️ Pros: Provides an AI-driven speaking partner for real-time conversation practice and offers grammar and pronunciation feedback.

❌ Cons: AI responses can glitch or repeat, and correction accuracy varies in quality.

Wrapping-Up

If there is one must-have, it is Anki: the tool that allows learners to build truly personalized vocabulary decks connected to their own memories. It forms the foundation of genuine learning motivation.

Beyond that, there might not be a single perfect app, but rather the right combination that fits different learning purposes. For instance, Duolingo is worth using not because it’s flawless, but because its social features and gamified design make daily practice sustainable. Pimsleur and TalkMe excel in listening and speaking fluency, LingQ strengthens contextual learning, Memrise builds daily vocabulary exposure, and LingoDeer supports structured grammar understanding.

Ultimately, long-term language learning is about keeping learning routine fresh and consistent.