Comparison

Earworms vs OptiLingo

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

Head to head
About

Earworms

Learn languages effectively using the "earworm effect" with catchy music and lyrics. This method anchors foreign language words and phrases into your long-term memory through engaging, brain-based audio-visual lessons. Improve vocabulary and grammar with bite-sized tracks and native speaker pronunciation.

Highlights
  • Learn languages with music and lyrics
  • Brain-based learning technique
  • Audio-visual experience with karaoke lyrics
  • 6-9 minute learning tracks
  • Content-rich language based on CEF
  • Native speaker pronunciation
Features
Read full description

Do you know what “earworm effect” is? Experience it while you learn languages with catchy music and lyrics that you just can't get out of your head. This highly effective award-winning learning technique uses music as the medium to transport words and phrases of a foreign language into your long-term memory. Start your language learning now! Learn Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, Maltese, Dutch, Greek, Russian, Arabic, or Turkish and improve your vocabulary and grammar using the power of music. Earworms plant the words of a foreign language into your head with easy language courses. Try our language learning with music lyrics demo for free. THE EARWOMS METHOD 1. Brain-based: The Earworms method not only provides the words, phrases and grammar that you need for language learning, it also actively anchors them into the auditory cortex of your brain! It’s much more than language courses, it's language learning! Learn French, Spanish, English, Italian, German or Dutch listening to music lyrics. 2. Music is the key: Using music as the medium to learn languages is not only fun, it is also effective. Firstly, music puts the learner into the optimum state of consciousness for learning different languages. Secondly, music lyrics learning allows repetition (a prerequisite for language learning). On top of that, music engages and stimulates both hemispheres of the brain, unleashing more learning potential. 3. Chunking: Instead of language learning in terms of individual words and grammar, the Earworms approach immerses the learner in real-life dialogues and expressions with lyrics. These are broken down into bite-size chunks, practiced rhythmically with music and then reconstructed into full sentences. This gives the learner a strong sense of how real language courses are constructed and learning French, Spanish, German, Italian, English and other different languages and their vocabulary becomes easy. IMPORTANT FEATURES * Developed by language teaching experts. * Convenient. 6-9 minute tracks. Listen and learn track by track, any time, anywhere. * Audio-visual experience with 'karaoke-like' live lyrics feature. * Specific unambiguous goals. 200+ optimally selected sets of words and phrases for language learning. * Measurable. Easy tracking of progress of your language courses. * Target language spoken by native speakers - so correct pronunciation is acquired automatically. * Relevant. Carefully chosen content-rich language. Based on the CEF (Common European Framework) and immediately useful to the learner. * Time-bound. The musical memory method enables real rapid progress. E.g. you can learn to count up to 999 in Mandarin in an hour (!) or retain and recall words, phrases and structures in one language level within a couple of weeks. * Educational discounts are available. Visit https://www.earwormslearning.com/edu LANGUAGES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE French + German + Italian + Spanish (European) + Spanish (Lat. American) + Mandarin + Cantonese + Japanese + Arabic + Portuguese (European) + Portuguese (Brazilian) + Russian + Greek + Turkish + Polish + English + Dutch LEVELS There are 3 learning levels available, which will take you up to intermediate level (CEF level A2). * Volume 1. Within a few hours of listening to this volume, you'll have enough vocabulary knowledge of a language to be able to deal with real-life situations like taking a taxi, at the hotel, at the restaurant, requesting, polite phrases, finding your way, numbers, dealing with problems and so on. * Volume 2. This language course will soon have you talking about yourself, chatting and even flirting! * Volume 3. Here you learn more useful everyday situations while going more into the structure, the grammatical rules of the language while improving your vocabulary. NB. The app includes a demo album, full tracks of all languages available – and is free to download. You can then in-app purchase full courses.

About

OptiLingo

Master new languages through natural conversation and speaking practice. This app focuses on real-world phrases and native pronunciation, making learning fun and effective for all levels. Start speaking confidently with short, engaging lessons.

Highlights
  • Learn through speaking, not typing
  • Focus on everyday phrases
  • Improve native-like pronunciation
  • Short, engaging lessons
  • Learn 20+ languages
  • Track progress
Features
Read full description

Learn languages in an easy, fun and effective way with OptiLingo: Language Learning through Speaking app. Become a master of conversations in many world languages: from Chinese, Danish, Circassian, Turkish and 16 more languages. Learning new vocabulary is a piece of cake when placed in a meaningful context. Acquiring native-like pronunciation is child’s-play when words, phrases and sentences are learned naturally. That’s how the OptiLingo: Language Learning Through Speaking app aims to help you improve your existing knowledge of a language. It can even give you a great start if you are a beginner and taking up a foreign language learning. It’s simple. Just Listen, repeat, speak and master with ease. Pick a language to learn and start your free trial today! OptiLingo currently offers these languages: Arabic, Chinese, Circassian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish OptiLingo: Language Learning through Speaking app is made for you: • Typing is out, speaking is in! You’ll be speaking phrases and sentences in any of our 20 languages in no time. • OptiLingo is not loaded with boring drills and memorization. Learn a language naturally by focusing on phrases native speakers use every day. • High frequency words and phrases are repeated in different contexts to make it more memorable for you. • Learn and speak wherever you are. Listen and repeat while driving, doing chores or shopping. • 100 easy and useful lessons to choose from. Start from a simple “Hola” or “Ciao” and track your progress to full-on conversational sentences. • 1500 useful everyday phrases in Korean, German, Icelandic, French, Hindi, Russian and 14 other languages. • Over 30 hours of audio lessons with amazing, easy to follow pronunciation to help you master languages faster. • Foreign language lessons are short, so it’s easy to stay focused and optimized for best learning. 20 minutes per lesson, 5 days a week gives you free weekends with no school! OptiLingo: Language Learning through Speaking app helps both beginners and advanced learners learn a language in a fun, meaningful way. Listen to words, phrases and sentences, learn pronunciation and speak like a native. Improve vocabulary. Gain confidence in your speaking skills. OptiLingo offers exciting lessons and language learning in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Circassian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish Learn the lingo. Learn the language. Speak like a native. Ideas or feedback? Email us at contact@optilingo.com

Screenshots

Earworms4 screens
OptiLingo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Earworms at 4.8 against OptiLingo's 4.0. Earworms also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (357 vs 59). OptiLingo's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months). On price, review sentiment, 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. Earworms sells 16 one-off in-app purchases and OptiLingo sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Earworms holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Earworms has 357 ratings behind it against 59, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of Earworms's written reviews are positive against 67% of OptiLingo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Earworms ships an update every 5 months, OptiLingo every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Earworms versus OptiLingo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarwormsOptiLingo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (357 ratings) — better4.0 (59 ratings)
Positive reviews72.3% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings357 — better59
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.411.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerearworms LtdOptiLingo, LLC

Customer experience

Earworms

All ratings357 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews83 reviews
Positive72.3%
Neutral10.8%
Negative16.9%

OptiLingo

All ratings59 ratings
Positive69.5%
Neutral10.2%
Negative20.3%
Written reviews39 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral10.3%
Negative23.1%

Bugs and requests

Earworms

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App crashes every few minutes on iPhone
  • Network error on startup despite internet connection
  • Infinite loop on initial setup screen
  • App closes unexpectedly during playback
  • Restore purchases feature not functioning
Show 6 more
  • Activation code cannot be claimed in app
  • Tracks download corrupted or fail to load
  • Text display shows English instead of native script
  • Phrase book download button subscribes to email instead
  • App no longer works after OS updates
  • Category selection feature removed in newer version

Requested features

11 requests
  • Additional volume levels for existing languages
  • More lessons and expanded content library
  • Autoplay feature for continuous listening
  • Repeat single track functionality
  • Ability to select specific lesson categories
Show 6 more
  • Business-focused lesson modules
  • Emergency/medical/police interaction lessons
  • Grocery shopping and tradesperson lessons
  • More Cantonese, Maltese, Hindi, and Finnish content
  • Improved booklet formatting and accessibility
  • Direct email contact option for support

OptiLingo

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Earworms

One-time16
  • Try before you buyFree
  • Essayez avant d’acheterFree
  • Álbum de demostraciónFree
Show 13 more
  • French Vol. 1$11.99
  • Italian Vol. 1$11.99
  • Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1$11.99
  • Portuguese Vol.1$11.99
  • French Vol. 2$11.99
  • Dutch Vol. 1-2$19.99
  • Japanese Vol. 1-2$19.99
  • Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1-3$27.99
  • Bundle deals, French Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle deals, German Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle deals, Italian Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Bundle, Spanish Eu. Vol. 1-3$28.99
  • Portuguese Vol.1-3$28.99
8 purchases

OptiLingo

Subscriptions8
  • Single Language$4.991 Month
  • All Languages$9.991 Month
  • Monthly$11.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • 3 Months$23.993 Months
  • 6 Months$41.996 Months
  • Single Language Annually$49.991 Year
  • Annual$71.991 Year
  • All Language Annually$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Earworms free?
Earworms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is OptiLingo free?
OptiLingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Earworms or OptiLingo?
Earworms is rated higher. Earworms averages 4.8 out of 5 from 357 ratings, while OptiLingo averages 4.0 from 59 ratings.
Do Earworms or OptiLingo have ads?
OptiLingo shows ads; Earworms does not.
Which is updated more often, Earworms or OptiLingo?
Earworms ships an update every 5 months, and OptiLingo every 5 weeks. Most recently, Earworms was updated on October 11, 2026 and OptiLingo on October 7, 2026.

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