Babbel review
7.7/10★★★★★Linguist-written courses with Babbel Speak AI speaking practice in its top languages
- Best for
- Learners who want a structured, grammar-aware course with some AI speaking practice
- Price
- Paid · from $17.99/month
Free: First lesson of each course - Platforms
- Web, iOS, Android
- Made by
- Babbel GmbH, Berlin, Germany · since 2007
- App store ratings
- iOS 4.7★ (755K) · Android 4.6★ (1.1M)
What it is
Babbel teaches 14 languages through short, practical lessons written by language experts. Since September 2025 Babbel Speak adds AI-guided speaking scenarios with live feedback, and an AI conversation partner covers Spanish, French, German and Italian.
Latest: Babbel launched Babbel Speak, its AI speaking trainer, in open beta in September 2025.
What the AI does
- Babbel Speak guided speaking scenarios
- AI conversation partner with feedback
- Speech recognition in lessons
Pros and cons
- Well-designed, practical curriculum
- Feedback on grammar and vocabulary in AI conversations
- Web and mobile apps sync
- AI speaking covers only the most popular language pairs
- Less speaking practice than conversation-first apps
- Almost no free content
How it scores
Strong course design; AI features are newer and narrower than at speaking-first rivals.
Feature checklist · 5 of 9
- Spoken, back-and-forth conversation with an AI tutor (yes)
- Real-life roleplay or scenario practice (yes)
- Pronunciation scoring or feedback (no)
- Corrects and explains grammar or word-choice mistakes (yes)
- Structured course path by level (yes)
- Spaced-repetition vocabulary review (no)
- Teaches 20+ languages (no)
- Some AI conversation practice on the free plan (no)
- Works on the web as well as phones (yes)
Alternatives
See all Babbel alternatives, ranked →
- Duolingo 8.6/10Beginners and casual learners who want a free daily habit, with optional AI speaking practice
- Speak 7.9/10Learners whose main goal is speaking confidently in a major language
- Busuu 7.6/10Learners who want a structured, level-based course with feedback from native speakers
- Praktika 7.6/10Beginner and lower-intermediate learners who want low-cost, low-pressure speaking practice
Duolingo vs BabbelSpeak vs BabbelBabbel vs Busuu