The best Italian vocabulary app depends on where your words come from. LingQ saves words from Italian texts you read, MosaLingua and Drops give you ready-made lists, Clozemaster puts each word in a sentence, and Anki holds cards you write yourself. This page compares how each app gets words to you and how it brings them back. For courses, tutors and speaking, see our Italian app comparison.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Italian. You learn from Italian you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Italian lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so you meet them in new contexts.
- Ask Poppy to explain an Italian sentence you can't follow.
- Words you save in Italian lessons come back in new lessons through Regenerative Review™, and you can send them to Anki with example sentences.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn your favorite Italian novel into a lesson. But Poppy will explain a page you screenshot or paste.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
LingQ
LingQ suits learners who already have Italian texts or audio to import. You are responsible for having the right to use what you import.
- Italian audio comes with matching transcripts, and the app tracks the words you know.
- Tap an unfamiliar Italian word and save it as a LingQ for spaced review.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
MosaLingua
MosaLingua combines supplied cards with your own. Its cards sync between phone and web. The all-language Premium subscription covers web and mobile, while one-time app purchases made before 2020 are separate.
- MosaLingua's Italian page offers ready-made Italian flashcards with timed review.
- Premium MosaDiscovery saves words from pages and videos onto personal cards.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Clozemaster
Clozemaster suits learners who want to meet an Italian word inside a full sentence. Its sentences and translations come from Tatoeba.
- The Italian course fills a gap in a sentence, and it has a listen-before-reading mode.
- Sentences you have seen come back later at spaced intervals.
MobileWeb
Drops
Drops sorts Italian words into topics and turns each word into a short game. Drops makes the word sets.
- The Italian page names more than 2,000 words, each linked to a picture.
- Favorites, Quiz and Word Collection let you go back over words you chose.
Mobile
uTalk
uTalk gives you topic word sets with pictures and recall games. The topics are made by uTalk.
- The Italian page names human recordings and lets you slow them down.
- Its reviews focus on the Italian words you find hard.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- ReWordThe iPhone app sorts Italian words into categories and lets you add your own words and categories. It uses a learning algorithm and works offline.
- AnkiPut any Italian word or sentence on a card, with sound or a picture, and review it on a schedule set by SM-2 or FSRS.
- QuizletMake Italian flashcard sets or pick shared ones, then use its learning and test modes.
Anki, Quizlet and ReWord hold your own Italian words. With Anki and Quizlet you type the Italian spelling, the English meaning and any sentence yourself, and a shared set is only as good as its author. Add each noun's article to the card yourself. Desktop Anki and AnkiWeb sync are free, and AnkiMobile on iPhone is a one-time purchase. For help setting up decks, read Is Anki good for language learning?.
| App | Word source | Review | Sentence and audio | English help | Free boundary | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Lessons Poppy writes | Saved words return in new lessons | Words appear in new sentences | Partly | Lessons by other learners are free to read; unlimited custom lessons need Pro | iOS, Android |
| LingQ | Text and audio you import | Spaced repetition | Matching text and audio | Yes | 20 saved words, 5 imported lessons | iOS, Android, web |
| MosaLingua | Supplied cards, plus words saved with MosaDiscovery | Timed review | Translations, examples, images and audio | Yes | 7-day trial, then Premium | iOS, Android, computer |
| Clozemaster | Sentences with a gap | Review of sentences you saw | Translation and audio modes | Yes | Free to start; Pro adds more | iOS, Android, web |
| Drops | Topics made by Drops | Favorites, Quiz, Word Collection | Pictures and audio | Yes | 5 minutes every 10 hours | iOS, Android |
| uTalk | Topics made by uTalk | Recall games | Human recordings, slow playback | Yes | Starter words and one unlockable topic are free; the rest is paid | iOS, Android, web |
| ReWord | Italian categories, plus your own words | Learning algorithm | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Free version with a cap | iOS |
| Anki | Cards you make | SM-2 or FSRS | Only if the card has them | Your own cards | Desktop and AnkiWeb free; AnkiMobile paid once | iOS, Android, web, computer |
| Quizlet | Sets you make or pick | Study and test modes | Whatever the set holds | Your own sets | Free to start; Quizlet Plus is paid | iOS, Android, web |
If you read Italian before you save words, our Italian comprehensible input app comparison covers reading and listening apps. For vocabulary methods in any language, see vocabulary apps compared.
Which Italian vocabulary app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Italian, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or choose Drops for a ready-made picture list. Choose Anki if you want to make cards from the Italian you meet.
Can I keep the sentence an Italian word came from?
LingQ lessons pair each Italian text with audio, and you tap a word in the text to save it. MosaLingua's Premium MosaDiscovery saves words from pages and videos onto personal cards. With Anki, a card holds the sentence only if you put it there.
Can I add my own Italian words?
Anki, Quizlet and ReWord let you add words. MosaLingua offers custom flashcards, and Clozemaster Pro adds custom collections. Drops and uTalk use the word sets their makers wrote.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- AnkiMobile: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Anki manual: scheduling and cards
- Drops: Italian course
- Drops: what's free
- Clozemaster: expand Italian vocabulary
- Clozemaster: FAQ
- LingQ: learn Italian
- LingQ: what's free
- uTalk: Italian course
- MosaLingua: Italian
- MosaLingua: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- ReWord: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Quizlet: iPhone App Store listing
- Bubblegum
- MosaLingua
- uTalk
