Comparison

italki vs iFY

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

iFY

This platform helps newcomers to the US learn about health, safety, laws, and daily life through videos in 18 languages. Earn badges as you gain knowledge and personalize your learning experience. Access content offline and sync with your phone's calendar for reminders.

Highlights
  • Multilingual video content
  • Health, safety, and law education
  • Personalized profile and layout
  • In-app calendar with US holidays
  • Offline access
  • Video sharing
  • Progress tracking with badges
Features
Read full description

IFY is a multilingual learning platform for newcomers to the US so you can learn about health, safety, laws, and everyday life and customs in your new home. Select from 18 languages and watch hundreds of videos in that language, earning badges as your knowledge increases. Personalize your profile by taking a photo or choosing one from your phone’s photo library. Organize and customize your layout so you can focus on the topics that are most important to you. Use the in-app calendar feature to be alerted to holidays and important dates in the US and watch videos related to them. Sync the app’s calendar with your phone’s calendar to enable reminders with Siri voice commands and access content even when you’re offline. Easily share videos with friends via social media and messaging apps directly from the app. Notifications alert you when a new video is added to the app, so you’ll never miss out on important information. iFY organizes videos into intuitive categories like Employment, Health, Weather and Climate, and Transportation, and marks them using universal symbols, making the app accessible to people of all literacy levels. English videos are captioned for increased accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing users. iFY content has been vetted by health, legal, and safety experts and the Vermont Language Justice Project (a nonprofit), and is translated by highly-qualified professionals living and working in the US. You can watch videos to learn about everything from driving safely in winter, to getting a mammogram, to opening a bank account, to taking care of your dental health, to calling 911, to staying safe during a flood. iFY is available in English, Arabic, Burmese, Dari, French, Haitian Kreyol, Kirundi, Mandarin, Maay Maay, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali, Pashto, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. The ease of toggling back and forth between languages makes iFY a useful teaching tool for educators and service providers working with immigrants and refugees. Adjusting to life in a new country is challenging and iFY’s engaging audiovisual content and user-friendly design makes it fun and easy for newcomers to advance on the path of learning. Watching and listening to videos on a huge range of important topics, sharing them with friends and family, and earning badges to celebrate your achievements all make the learning and adjustment process more enjoyable and effective

Screenshots

italki4 screens
iFY4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iFY at none against italki's 4. iFY also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). italki's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (9.8K vs 4). On price and 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

Both are free to download. italki sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. iFY asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

iFY holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: italki has 9.8K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

italki ships an update weekly, iFY every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 2 level
italki versus iFY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteritalkiiFY
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (9.8K ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Number of ratings9.8K — better4
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size307 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeritalki HK LimitedAlison Segar

Customer experience

italki

All ratings9,847 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative3.0%

iFY

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

iFY

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

iFY

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is italki free?
italki is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iFY free?
iFY is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, italki or iFY?
iFY is rated higher. italki averages 4.8 out of 5 from 9.8K ratings, while iFY averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do italki or iFY have ads?
italki shows ads; iFY does not.
Which is updated more often, italki or iFY?
italki ships an update weekly, and iFY every 4 months. Most recently, italki was updated on October 12, 2026 and iFY on October 9, 2026.

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