Comparison

italki vs RuneKeys

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

Head to head
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/

About

RuneKeys

This app offers custom keyboards for writing in various runic alphabets, including Elder Futhark and Anglo-Saxon Futhork. It supports transcribing English and German, with additional characters and symbols available through press-and-hold gestures.

Highlights
  • Elder Futhark keyboards
  • Anglo-Saxon Futhork keyboards
  • English and German transcription
  • Extended characters via press-and-hold
  • No user accounts or personal data collection
Features
Read full description

RuneKeys provides keyboards for writing in runes: • Elder Futhark: - Keyboard for transcribing English - Keyboard for transcribing German - Pure Elder Futhark keyboard • Anglo-Saxon Futhork: - Keyboard for transcribing English - Pure Anglo-Saxon Futhork keyboard As the keys of the keyboards provided by the system do, keys of the rune keyboards reveal additional characters and symbols when pressed and hold. Among these are variations (e.g. of the *hagalaz rune), alternative transcriptions, and related characters (e.g. 2 and ²). P R I V A C Y   S T A T E M E N T I design my software following the principle to only collect, process, and store data that is actually needed for the software to serve its purpose. No single bit more than that. In German, the name of this principle is "Datensparsamkeit." A literal translation of this word is "data thrift". In effect, this means: • RuneKeys has no user accounts. RuneKeys will not ask you for personal data. • Data you enter in the RuneKeys app will not leave the app. In case of the provided keyboards, the characters you type will be passed to the operating system which will process them in order, for example, to insert them into a text field. • No personal data is collected or processed. • No user tracking of any kind is used.

Screenshots

italki4 screens
RuneKeys3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: italki at Free against RuneKeys's $3.99. italki also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). RuneKeys's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On device support 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

italki is free to download; RuneKeys costs $3.99 up front. italki sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. RuneKeys asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

italki holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: italki has 9.9K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of italki's written reviews are positive against 79% of RuneKeys's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

italki ships an update weekly, RuneKeys every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
italki versus RuneKeys: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteritalkiRuneKeys
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (9.9K ratings) — better4.0 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews67.8% of reviews78.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.9K — better18
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeritalki HK LimitedPierre Bongen

Customer experience

italki

All ratings9,847 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews1,471 reviews
Positive67.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative27.1%

RuneKeys

All ratings18 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%

Bugs and requests

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

RuneKeys

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

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
None

RuneKeys

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is italki free?
italki is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RuneKeys free?
RuneKeys costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, italki or RuneKeys?
italki is rated higher. italki averages 4.8 out of 5 from 9.9K ratings, while RuneKeys averages 4.0 from 18 ratings.
Do italki or RuneKeys have ads?
italki shows ads; RuneKeys does not.
Which is updated more often, italki or RuneKeys?
italki ships an update weekly, and RuneKeys every 2 months. Most recently, italki was updated on October 21, 2026 and RuneKeys on October 4, 2026.

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