Comparison

ELSA Speak vs Basic English

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

Head to head
About

ELSA Speak

This AI-powered English tutor helps you practice conversations, improve pronunciation, and build vocabulary for real-life scenarios like job interviews and presentations. It offers personalized learning paths and instant feedback to boost your speaking confidence.

Highlights
  • AI-powered English tutor
  • Conversation practice
  • Pronunciation training
  • Grammar and vocabulary building
  • Personalized learning paths
  • Exam preparation (IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC)
  • Real-time feedback
Features
Read full description

Meet ELSA - Your personal AI-powered English tutor. ELSA Speak is a leading AI-powered language coach designed to help professionals and learners speak English with confidence using our essential AI learning tools and custom learning pathways. If you are looking to learn English to help you engage in real-time speaking scenarios to practice job interviews, presentations, meetings, exam preparations, and more. Reinforce your skills with interactive AI-powered games that make learning engaging and effective. Learn English with 8,000+ lessons, and learn proper pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Download the best AI-powered English learning app today and start your journey to confident English communication! ELSA SPEAK'S TRUSTED AI LANGUAGE LEARNING APP FEATURES: THE TOP SOLUTION FOR IMPROVING ENGLISH COMMUNICATION & PRONUNCIATION - Learn English with a Career-Specific Focus – Speak English and learn vocabulary that is tailored to your field - Utilize Speech Analyzer - Speak freely with instant detailed feedback. See what you missed and how to fix it. - Interview Coach - Start practicing today to sound sharp, calm, and confident for your next role. - Exam Preparation – Prepare for IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, EIKEN, CEFR, and more with targeted practice to boost fluency with Elsa’s AI English tutor. Available with ELSA Premium(*). PERSONALIZED LEARNING PATHS FOR ENGLISH PRACTICE - Customized Language Coach - Start learning English today using ELSA Speak’s AI conversation coach, pronunciation coach, and grammar coach. - Personalized language learning – Succeed in workplace interviews, presentations, meetings, client calls, and having daily conversations. - AI-Driven Conversations & Open-Ended Dialogues – AI gives you personalized language learning with realistic conversation practice. REAL-LIFE ENGLISH CONVERSATION PRACTICE - English Grammar & Study Vocabulary – AI-driven conversation helps you build a solid foundation in English grammar and vocabulary. Adaptive AI adjusts to your progress so you learn exactly what you need. - Improve English accent and fluency with role-plays, open-ended dialogues, and real-life scenarios. Leave language misunderstandings with English conversations behind. - Pronunciation Training – Conquer tricky sounds with each daily English practice. - Learn with Personalized English Study Sets – Save words, phrases, or sentences from lessons or create your own, explore and share sets - Accent Training - Learn English with accent choices: American, British, Australian, and more. INSTANT FEEDBACK & AI ENGLISH CONVERSATION COACH - Indepth Analysis & Progress Tracking – Monitor your improvement with data-driven insights showing your pace, hesitation, and grammar score. - Pronunciation & Word Stress Guidance from our AI English Coach – Receive real-time feedback to sound more natural as you speak English. ENGLISH TUTOR BENEFITS - Enhanced Global Collaboration: Bridge language gaps with international colleagues or friends. - Career Potential: Impress clients and colleagues with polished English communication. - Expand Your Network: Practice English, build relationships, and explore global opportunities. - Beyond English Pronunciation: Learn grammar, vocabulary, and communication techniques to succeed academically, personally, or professionally. --- (*) ELSA PREMIUM - Access all advanced features such as exam preparation and targeted courses. - Take your English skills to the next level and start for free with a 7-day trial. Yearly and Monthly Memberships are available. --- TRUSTED BY ENGLISH LEARNERS AND INDUSTRY EXPERTS: - Honorable Mention in the AI and Data category of Fast Company's 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards - Top 100 Influencers in State of EdTech Report by EdTech Digest 2020 - Mentioned by TechCrunch, Forbes, Mashable, VentureBeat, Yahoo, Salma Hayek, and more --- Connect With Us Email: support@elsanow.io Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Basic English

Learn to speak English fluently and confidently with interactive lessons, audio, and quizzes. Improve speaking, listening, and vocabulary through step-by-step instruction and real-world conversation practice, even offline.

Highlights
  • Offline learning support
  • Interactive lessons with audio and quizzes
  • Real-world conversation practice
  • Vocabulary and grammar expansion
  • Speaking practice with recording
  • Listening practice via radio
Features
Read full description

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SPEAK ENGLISH FLUENTLY + Support iPhone and iPad. + iOS 13.0 above + Can use offline. ● Do you feel nervous or shy when you speak English? --> The app can help you learn English and improve your speaking without taking a class. --> All the lessons include images, slideshows, audio files, and quizzes to help you learn in an easy way. If you are a beginner or low intermediate English learner, then this app will be perfect for you. ● Do other people sometimes not understand you when you speak English? --> The app will improve your English skill speaking, listening and understanding. All the lessons were created in a step-by-step manner teaching simple words and sentences in the beginning and slowly getting harder in later lessons. ● Do you want to practice English speaking even when you have nobody to practice with? --> The app have many conversations for you practice speak English naturally and confidently for work, travel, or daily life ... ● Would you like to know how to use English in real world situations? --> Become a confident English speaker by seeing, hearing, and participating with interactive lessons ●●● Main features - Over 5000 conversations. - Support learning offline without internet - Expand vocebulary, grammar through videos channel. - Practice speaking and record to listen again. - Quizzes test will helpful for you test what did you know. - Bookmarks: group the lessons to a package. - History, Favorite will be better for you learn again. - Take note on lesson. - Support 3000 words for speaking. - Practice listening via English radio. ●●● BEST GOAL: The app can help you after completing - You will be able to speak English. - Feel confident when you speak English. - Speak natural English with clear pronunciation. - Improve your English speaking even when you are alone. - Learn all the grammar and vocabulary you need to communicate in English. - Speak smoothly and fluently without stopping or pausing. - Learn English for specific situations like travel or business meeting. ### Purchase to unlock features and ads free on the app ### - Privacy policy: https://mobilephl.com/eslcourse/privacy.php - Terms of Use: https://mobilephl.com/eslcourse/term_of_use.php - And read more USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (about EULA) at here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ELSA Speak4 screens
Basic English4 screens

Verdict

The call

ELSA Speak and Basic English both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 91% of Basic English's written reviews are positive against 42% of ELSA Speak's. Basic English also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). ELSA Speak's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (114K vs 5.9K). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. ELSA Speak sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Basic English sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 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 — 4.7 for ELSA Speak against 4.7 for Basic English. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ELSA Speak has 114K ratings behind it against 5.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 42% of ELSA Speak's written reviews are positive against 91% of Basic English's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ELSA Speak ships an update weekly, Basic English every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
ELSA Speak versus Basic English: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterELSA SpeakBasic English
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (114K ratings) — better4.7 (5.9K ratings)
Positive reviews41.5% of reviews90.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings114K — better5.9K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#90 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size266 MB198 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperElsa CorpNguyen Thi Hoai Thu

Customer experience

ELSA Speak

All ratings114,206 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews2,122 reviews
Positive41.5%
Neutral11.0%
Negative47.5%

Basic English

All ratings5,851 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.6%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral6.6%
Negative2.6%

User reviews

ELSA Speak

From 114K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent for improving pronunciation
  • 👍 Helpful feedback on pronunciation issues
  • 💡 Covers a wide range of topics
  • 🤖 Effective AI-powered speech recognition

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • 🔌 Slow loading times and connectivity issues
  • 🤖 Inconsistent and unreliable scoring system
  • 🇺🇸 Only supports American English accent

Basic English

From 5.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Excellent learning tool
  • 💡 Helpful for improving English
  • 🤩 Great app
  • 🥰 Love the app

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads disrupt usage
  • 🤔 Incorrect quiz answers
  • 🤷‍♀️ Premium not connected

Bugs and requests

ELSA Speak

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Microphone not working after phone calls
  • Inability to add words to personal playlists
  • Inconsistent behavior when repeating the same phrase
  • Subscription issues and lack of clear cancellation process

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add support for British English accent
  • Improve dictionary with more word meanings
  • Provide option to switch between male and female voices
  • Implement more structured learning path and progress tracking

Basic English

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Audio issue during use
  • Repeated audio lessons

Requested features

2 requests
  • Option to speak slowly
  • Desktop version for online classes

In-app purchases

10 purchases

ELSA Speak

Subscriptions10
  • Monthly$19.991 Month
  • 3 months7 Days trial$39.993 Months
  • 3 months Elsa Premium$47.993 Months
Show 7 more
  • 3 months$58.003 Months
  • 1 year$71.001 Year
  • One year Premium membership1 Year trial$99.991 Year
  • 1 Year Elsa Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • 1 Year ELSA Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • 1 year7 Days trial$109.991 Year
  • 1 year7 Days trial$129.991 Year
3 purchases

Basic English

Subscriptions2
  • Month$6.991 Month
  • Year$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium$11.99

Questions

Is ELSA Speak free?
ELSA Speak is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Basic English free?
Basic English is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ELSA Speak or Basic English?
ELSA Speak is rated higher. ELSA Speak averages 4.7 out of 5 from 114K ratings, while Basic English averages 4.7 from 5.9K ratings.
Do ELSA Speak or Basic English have ads?
Neither ELSA Speak nor Basic English shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ELSA Speak or Basic English?
ELSA Speak ships an update weekly, and Basic English every 3 weeks. Most recently, ELSA Speak was updated on November 6, 2026 and Basic English on November 2, 2026.

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