Readlang is a reading tool for language learners: you click words or phrases in any text or website to translate them, and the words you look up become flashcards. Bubblegum is a reading and listening app. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes the lessons for your level about topics you pick, and the words you save come back in new lessons.
How Readlang and Bubblegum Compare
Readlang helps you read texts you find, and Bubblegum writes texts for your level.
| Readlang | Bubblegum | |
|---|---|---|
| How you learn | Read web pages, articles, and books you choose, and click words to translate them | Poppy writes lessons, stories, and news at your level, and you read and listen |
| How words come back | Flashcards with spaced repetition, and you can export them to Anki | Regenerative Review™: saved words come back in new lessons |
| Read your own texts | Upload texts or read websites with its extension | No |
| Phone apps | Add the web app to your home screen | iPhone and Android |
| On the web | readlang.com and a Chrome extension | Free guides and alphabet courses |
| Languages | 100+ | 60 |
Who Each App Is Best For
Readlang
Readlang works on almost any digital text, from a news site to an entire novel. Its Chrome extension translates words on the web pages you visit, and you can practice the saved words in Readlang or export them to Anki. It works well for learners who already know some of the language and have things they want to read.
- Click any word or phrase on a page to translate it.
- AI explains words and phrases in the context they appear in.
- Upload your own texts, even whole novels, and read them in a clean reader.
- Words you translate become flashcards that adapt to how well you know them.
- Flashcards
WebBrowser extension
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is the best app for serious learners. You learn from text and audio you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Let Poppy, your AI tutor, know what you'd like to read, like a story about a bike trip or a chat at a bakery. She writes it at your level, so it's mostly words you know with a few new ones. You can hear it read aloud and ask her about anything.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read the article or novel you already have open. For reading your own texts and web pages, Readlang is the better choice.
- You don't need to find a text first, since Poppy writes one for your level.
- Every lesson comes with audio, so you hear the words as you read them.
- Ask Poppy what a line means and why it's written that way.
- Words you save come back in later lessons through Regenerative Review™.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- It can't open a web page, an article, or a book you found.
- 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™
Mobile
Choose Readlang if:
- You already have articles, books, or websites you want to read.
- You'd like to export your saved words to Anki.
- You want to use your favorite online dictionary while you read.
Choose Bubblegum if:
- You'd rather not hunt for texts at the right level.
- You want audio with everything you read.
- You'd like Poppy to explain lines and write about topics you choose.
Using Both Together
Bubblegum gives you lessons at your level while real articles are still too hard, and Readlang helps you read those articles once you're ready to try.
Common Questions
Which app 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 Readlang once you can follow simple texts and want to read pages you pick.
Is a Bubblegum lesson too easy if I already read a lot?
It doesn't have to be. Bubblegum has six levels, and the top ones are for people who read most things but still meet rare words. Pick the level that matches you, and Poppy writes lessons that stretch you a little.
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
- Readlang: Read what you love in 100+ languages
- Readlang: Features
- Readlang: About Readlang
- Readlang: Free and paid plans
- Readlang forum: Install Readlang on your iPhone, iPad or Android home screen
- Readlang Web Reader: Chrome Web Store listing
- Bubblegum: Every language you can learn
- Readlang
- Bubblegum
Checked on October 14, 2026 against each app's own pages.
