Busuu is a course app for 14 languages, with lessons from level A1 to C1. Fluent speakers in the Busuu Community give feedback on your practice. On Reddit (r/languagelearning), one learner relearning high school German wanted to reach real conversation and asked what else to try. Another, a brand-new Russian learner, wanted to feel sure each lesson moved them forward.
This page groups other apps by what they help you do, and Busuu comes first.
What Busuu Does
Busuu
Busuu suits learners who want a clear path with a person checking their work now and then. Its site counts more than 2,500 hours of learning from A1 to C1. After the basics, you can add courses on topics such as travel phrases or pronunciation.
- Courses in 14 languages, including Chinese, Korean, and Turkish.
- Fluent speakers in its community give you feedback.
- Earn Busuu certificates to show your level.
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Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is the best app for serious learners. You learn from text and audio you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
In Bubblegum, Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons about what you care about. If you're relearning German for a trip to Berlin, ask for lessons about trains, food, and finding your way, and she writes them at your level.
The trade-off is that Poppy is your AI tutor, so Bubblegum has no person to talk with. For that, a tutor on italki or the community on Busuu is the fit.
- Every lesson Poppy writes fits your level and your interests.
- Stuck on a word ending? Ask Poppy, and she explains it inside the lesson.
- Stories and news give you more to read between lessons.
- Saved words show up again in later lessons through Regenerative Review™, with no deck to study.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't add an article or a book you found yourself.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
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Practice Real Conversations
Babbel
Babbel lessons can take as little as 10 minutes, and its App Store page counts over 60,000 lessons across its languages. You learn the language you'd use for travel, work, and everyday life.
- Guided Conversations walk you through a talk step by step.
- Babbel Speak lets you practice freely with an AI partner.
- Speech recognition listens as you say words out loud.
- Flashcards
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Learn With a Teacher
italki
italki connects you with teachers for more than 150 languages. You choose who you learn with and when, so a teacher can follow your goals, like a German exam or a talk with family.
- Pick a teacher for one-on-one lessons from more than 20,000 teachers.
- Choose your own schedule, with no subscription.
- Join group classes as well as private lessons.
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Hear and Copy Real Speakers
Memrise
Memrise teaches in three steps: hear a phrase, learn what it means, then copy how it's said. Its site has thousands of these short videos.
- Watch short videos of real people saying useful phrases.
- Record yourself, then compare your voice to theirs.
- Its site says each word and phrase is checked by people who speak the language.
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Read Stories at Your Level
Readle
Readle turns short news pieces and stories into lessons in seven languages. A beginner might read about a castle on a rock in Bavaria, and a B1 learner about who invented the currywurst.
- Each story is marked with a level, from A1 to C1.
- Fresh stories and news show up in its library every single day.
- Tap a word for its meaning in that story.
- Flashcards
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Other Apps We Looked At (4)
- PreplyFind a tutor from more than 100,000 on its site, for languages and more than 120 subjects.
- PimsleurThirty-minute audio lessons where you listen and answer out loud, in 51 languages.
- HelloTalkChat with people learning your language while you learn theirs, by text, voice, or video.
- DuolingoShort, game-like lessons in more than 40 languages.
Common Questions
Which Busuu alternative should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning a language, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Babbel if you'd like a set course with guided conversations, or with italki if you'd like a teacher from your very first lesson.
Which app gives feedback from a real person?
On Busuu, fluent speakers in its community comment on your practice. On italki, a teacher you choose works with you one on one, and on HelloTalk, chat partners can correct your messages.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Busuu: Learn languages for real life (A1 to C1, 120+ million registered users)
- Busuu: App Store listing (14 languages, certificates, specialized courses)
- r/languagelearning: Should I get Busuu?
- r/languagelearning: I wonder if keeping Busuu is a good thing
- Babbel: App Store listing (Guided Conversations, Babbel Speak)
- italki: One-on-one teachers and group classes in 150+ languages
- Memrise: Hear it, learn it, copy it
- Readle: Graded news and stories from A1 to C1
- Preply: 100,000+ tutors
- Pimsleur: 30-minute audio lessons
- HelloTalk: Language exchange
- Duolingo: App Store listing
- Busuu
- Bubblegum
- Babbel
Checked on October 14, 2026 against each app's own pages.
