Comparison

Woodpecker vs italki

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Woodpecker

Learn languages by watching videos in your target language. Touch words in subtitles for instant definitions and save them for review. Explore content from YouTube and Netflix to immerse yourself in native-speaker material.

Highlights
  • Interactive video subtitles
  • Instant word definitions
  • Save vocabulary for review
  • YouTube video discovery
  • Netflix integration (iPad)
  • Offline bilingual dictionaries
  • Flashcard creation
Read full description

Watch and understand thousands of videos in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. When you don’t know a word, simply touch it in the subtitles. Use Woodpecker tools on any subtitled video on Youtube and all videos on Netflix (with a Netflix account and when using Woodpecker on an iPad). Touch any word, see its meaning, and easily save it to your history for review. Woodpecker’s bilingual dictionaries are free to use, work offline, and have no ads. Move on from your textbooks. Immerse and understand videos, shows, and movies meant for native speakers from around the world. Choose your target language: Immerse in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. Discover videos: Woodpecker filters Youtube to show you only videos in your target language with accurate subtitles. Browse videos by category, from popular channels, or made by popular Youtube teachers. Quickly find videos created for native speakers. Watch and improve your language skills. Watch with confidence. Woodpecker tools let you: + Touch any word to look it up while watching + Save any word or phrase to your word history + Touch a timestamp to jump to that section or rehear a phrase easily + Jump back 5 seconds if you missed something in a video + Touch to hear a phrase in the video repeated again and again + Slow down a video to 75% speed + Add multiple subtitle streams (when available) to follow along in your own language + Browse popular news sites in your target language, touch any word to look it up Subscribe to Woodpecker Tools to unlock unlimited web browsing, saved word exports, and flash cards! Make and practice your language skills with flash cards you make from words you saved! Try free today for 7 days. Build confidence with Woodpecker: • Discover videos in the language you’re learning. Explore by topic, channel name, or view videos by popular teachers on Youtube • Woodpecker filters Youtube to show only the videos in the language you’re learning • Have a Netflix account? Subscribe to the Unlimited Player in Woodpecker on your iPad to watch your favorite shows on Netflix. Touch any word in the subtitles to see its meaning and use Woodpecker Tools when you watch Netflix. • Perfect for intermediate to advanced learners, gain confidence as you watch something you love • Touch any word to see its meaning while your video pauses; Woodpecker automatically identifies proper names, popular expressions, idioms, and phrases • See all the words and expressions you’ve looked up in your word history; review them and practice with pronunciations • Browse popular news sites in the language you’re learning with the Woodpecker web browser, touch any word to see its meaning • Upgrade the app with tools to export your word history and browse any web page and create flash cards for review from your saved word history. • Watch videos with two subtitle streams (when available) to follow along in English as well as your target language • Dive deeper in a definition, expand the popup and touch any word in a definition to see its meaning • Browse the Teacher Section to see videos by popular Youtube teachers in your target language • Find all the videos you’ve watched in the video history section (data stored locally on your device) • Woodpecker’s bilingual dictionaries support: English speakers learning French, Mandarin, Spanish, German, and Vietnamese. And also support speakers of Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese learning English. • Touch any timestamp in the subtitles to rehear a phrase or jump to that phrase in a video • Discover content easily and dive into what you want to watch without the restrictions of a lesson plan • Improve your language skills while watching Youtube and Netflix with Woodpecker Start watching videos made for native speakers by native speakers. Immerse confidently in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. Try Woodpecker today!

About

italki

Connect with qualified native teachers for personalized language lessons. Learn Spanish, English, French, and over 150 other languages at your own pace and schedule. Practice conversation, master grammar, and immerse yourself in new cultures.

Highlights
  • Private tutoring with native teachers
  • Learn over 150 languages
  • Customizable lesson plans
  • Flexible class scheduling
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing
  • Video call tutoring
Features
Read full description

Start learning or keep improving your Spanish, English, French or any other language with private tutoring, thanks to qualified native teachers. With italki, enjoy an immersive learning experience with native teachers, and learn Spanish, French or any other language by sharing a real and human connection with your teacher. Do you want to learn a new language? Would you like to study English with a native teacher? You speak a bit of French and you’re not sure how to keep on learning? Language academies don’t fit your schedule? Download italki, register for free and learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and more languages. Customize the way you learn languages; connect with native teachers according to your interests, work experience, etc. In italki you’ll find qualified language teachers to learn the language you like best (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean…). Make the most of this opportunity to learn languages, practice your conversation skills, get to know new cultures and grow professionally. Aside from the italki’s community’s support, video call tutoring with native teachers is the best tool for you to learn a language. italki, the app to learn languages with tutoring More than 150 languages available with native teachers - Spanish - English - French - Japanese - Korean - German … and much more! ◉ Language classes where and when you want Do you want to make the most of your lunch break at work or your daily walk to learn Spanish? Choose the class duration (30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes) and adjust it to your schedule. Use italki Classroom, Skype, Zoom or another platform for your online language classes and start speaking the language you always wanted to learn, or practice the languages you want to get better at. ◉ Master the language skills you need the most italki's qualified teachers tailor their language classes to your current level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). They will build every lesson based on your personal needs and weaknesses, to ensure you progress fast. Choose a course that fits your priorities: conversation, business, grammar, creative writing, exam preparation… You have lots of options available for each language! ◉ Pay as you go Forget about paying a lot without knowing if you’ll be able to attend all the classes. With italki, you pay per class. You can also buy credits to spend them little by little or buy a package and save on the final price. Educators set their own prices, from less than $10 for qualified teachers to less than $5 for tutors. You also have three classes for less than $5 each to try, so you can make sure it’s right for you! ◉ An immersive learning experience Learn and exchange with native teachers who will teach you everything you need to know about the language and its culture, and with whom you can create a real human connection, far beyond mechanical language learning. Whether you want to learn Spanish, English, Japanese or any other language, progress quickly with a total immersion. ◉ Connect with thousands of native teachers Find Spanish, English, French, Japanese, German, Italian and Korean teachers, and teachers of many more languages. Choose your teacher according to their interests, specialization, or even their accent: British or American English, to learn English and any other language you need. Some teachers use language-teaching materials in their tutoring classes, such as books, videos, cards, etc. ◉ Learning together with your friend Invite your friends to join italki to study a language, and earn $10 every time one of them spends their first $20. They will also earn $5 for adding you as their referrer. Study online, learn languages with native tutors in italki and expand your world. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Woodpecker4 screens
italki4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Woodpecker at none against italki's shown. Woodpecker also leads on review sentiment (82% vs 68%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). italki's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (9.8K vs 1K). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Woodpecker sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and italki sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Woodpecker against 4.8 for italki. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: italki has 9.8K ratings behind it against 1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Woodpecker's written reviews are positive against 68% of italki's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Woodpecker ships an update every 5 weeks, italki weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Woodpecker versus italki: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWoodpeckeritalki
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1K ratings)4.8 (9.8K ratings)
Positive reviews81.7% of reviews — better67.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1K9.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB306 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperWoodpecker Learning Limiteditalki HK Limited

Customer experience

Woodpecker

All ratings1,036 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative14.7%

italki

All ratings9,782 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews1,457 reviews
Positive67.6%
Neutral5.1%
Negative27.2%

User reviews

Woodpecker

From 1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for learning a new language
  • 👍 Good for practicing speaking and listening
  • 👍 Diverse content selection
  • 👍 Useful for improving vocabulary and reading skills
  • 👍 Enjoyable and engaging learning experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Subtitle issues (not working, inconsistent)
  • 💰 Confusing or expensive pricing
  • 🐛 App crashes or doesn't work properly

italki

From 9.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great platform to connect with native speakers
  • 🚀 Flexible scheduling and easy to use
  • 💰 Affordable lessons
  • 🎓 Helpful for improving language skills
  • 🤝 Positive learning experience with great teachers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy app with glitches and connectivity issues
  • 💳 Concerns about pricing changes and fees
  • 🕰️ Unreliable teachers who cancel or don't show up
  • 🤖 Poor customer service and lack of support
  • 📆 Difficulty with scheduling and calendar integration

Bugs and requests

Woodpecker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Netflix subtitles not working
  • App crashing or not opening
  • Inconsistent subtitle display

Requested features

4 requests
  • Support for more languages
  • Improved subtitle synchronization
  • Clearer pricing structure
  • Better user interface and navigation

italki

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes and freezes
  • Inaccurate teacher availability information
  • Issues with login and account management
  • Problems with video/audio quality during lessons
  • Syncing and integration problems with other platforms

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved calendar and scheduling functionality
  • Better notification system for lessons
  • Ability to search for and connect with language partners
  • More transparency around teacher availability and cancellations
  • Streamlined payment and refund process

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Woodpecker

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited Video Player Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Woodpecker Tools Subscription7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Unlimited Video Player Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time2
  • Export Word History$0.99
  • Woodpecker Web Browser$14.99
4 purchases

italki

Subscriptions4
  • italki Plus - 1 Month$5.991 Month
  • Plus Monthly Plan with Trial1 Month trial$5.991 Month
  • italki Plus - 1 Year$59.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Plus Yearly Plan with Trial1 Month trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Woodpecker free?
Woodpecker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is italki free?
italki is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Woodpecker or italki?
Woodpecker and italki are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1K and 9.8K ratings respectively.
Do Woodpecker or italki have ads?
italki shows ads; Woodpecker does not.
Which is updated more often, Woodpecker or italki?
Woodpecker ships an update every 5 weeks, and italki weekly. Most recently, Woodpecker was updated on September 13, 2026 and italki on September 25, 2026.

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