Busuu vs Ling
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Busuu
Learn new languages through bite-sized lessons and interactive exercises. Connect with native speakers for feedback and practice, and track your progress with personalized study plans and official certificates.
- Learn up to 14 languages
- Connect with native speakers
- Expert-designed courses
- Personalized study plans
- Smart review for vocabulary and grammar
- Official language certificates
- Specialized courses
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Busuu helps you communicate with confidence from day one. Combine expertly designed language lessons with feedback and tips from our global community of native speakers and harness the power of learning together. Looking for the best way to learn a new language on your phone? You’ve just discovered it, with Busuu, a Chegg service – we’re the app that makes learning new languages easier, more fun and more effective for all. Whether you’re learning to get confident having new conversations, for a higher grade, a career boost, or for mind-blowing travel experiences, Busuu’s got your back. We’re already helping millions of people overcome their learning struggles, from lack of time and motivation to problems with grammar and vocab. We help our learners achieve their goals, one milestone at a time – and we want to do the same for you. DOWNLOAD THE APP NOW FOR FREE LANGUAGE LEARNING ================ How are we doing this? We’re glad you asked. Whether you’re learning on your iPad or iPhone, Busuu helps you… – Learn up to 14 languages That’s right, 14! We’ve got complete courses in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish, Russian, Arabic, Dutch or Turkish with Busuu. – Master languages with real people You want to learn the relevant language, right? You’re in luck: we’ll connect you with our community of native speakers so you can get localized language knowledge and support. Feel even better when you help other learners in return. – Learn from the experts Busuu’s online courses are created by our ingenious language experts. Learn step-by-step with bite-sized lessons, plenty of practice and lots of opportunities to test your progress. – Say hello to useful language skills Learn the language that will really take you places! With regularly updated content, video flashcards featuring real people and useful cultural tips, you’ll be fully immersed in no time. – Kiss goodbye to stressful timetabling We’re serious. We organize your learning time for you with a personalized Study Plan. Simply tell us when you want to study and for how long, and we’ll send you notifications to keep you on track. – Revise with ease There’ll be no forgetting on our watch. Smart Review cleverly saves all the grammar and vocab you learn in lessons and stores them in one handy place, so you can make those tricky words and rules stick. – Show off achievements with official certificates With our Busuu language certificates, you’ll have actual proof of your language capabilities. – Access specialized courses for language lovers You’ve learned the basics, and now you’re hungry for more. Learn about manga, advance your pronunciation or add travel-specific phrases to your skillset, plus much more. ================ DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT. See what others have to say about Busuu: ● EDITOR RATING: EXCELLENT - PC MAG ● Named 'Best Buy' language learning app by the Independent in 2021 ● Language Learning App of the Year at the EdTech Breakthrough Awards 2020 ================ PLEASE NOTE A lot of the features are free, but you will need a subscription in order to get access to all features of this app. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current payment period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your Account Settings. You can manage your subscriptions through your Account Settings after purchase. Privacy policy: https://www.busuu.com/en/privacy/ Terms of Service: https://www.busuu.com/en/terms/
Ling
Master over 70 languages with fun, bite-sized lessons. Develop speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills with native speaker audio and cultural insights. Science-backed methods ensure retention, making even difficult languages accessible.
- 70+ languages available
- Bite-sized lessons
- Native speaker audio
- Cultural insights
- Speaking, reading, listening, writing skills
- Science-backed learning methodology
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Finally, a language-learning app that helps beginner to advanced learners speak, read, write, and listen in 70+ languages. Download Ling for FREE and start learning… Afrikaans • Albanian • Amharic • Arabic • Armenian • Azerbaijani • Bengali • Bosnian • Bulgarian • Burmese • Cantonese • Catalan • Cebuano • Chinese Simplified • Chinese Traditional • Croatian • Czech • Danish • Dutch • English • Estonian • Finnish • French • German • Georgian • Greek • Gujarati • Hebrew • Hindi • Hokkien • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ilocano • Indonesian • Irish • Italian • Japanese • Javanese • Kannada • Kazakh • Khmer • Korean • Lao • Latvian • Lithuanian • Macedonian • Malaysian • Malayalam • Maori • Marathi • Mongolian • Norwegian • Nepali • Polish • Portuguese • Pashto • Persian • Punjabi • Romanian • Russian • Serbian • Sinhala • Slovak • Slovenian • Somali • Sorbian • Spanish • Sundanese • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tamil • Telugu • Thai • Turkish • Ukrainian • Urdu • Uzbek • Vietnamese • Yoruba Build speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills all in one place, plus… - Hard languages made easy: Find languages not commonly featured in other apps and enjoy lessons that make learning simple - Cultural insights: Understand the beautiful cultures behind lesser-known languages with our Culture Notes feature - Native speaker guidance: Learn correct pronunciation with audio from native speakers - Science-backed learning: Our methodology ensures you retain what you learn, making even the most difficult languages stick - Motivating: Track your progress, set language goals, and earn rewards as you practice and grow - Daily practice: Turn language learning into a habit with daily lessons that fit into your routine Experience more of Ling... https://ling-app.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ling_app/ https://www.youtube.com/@LingLearnLanguages https://www.tiktok.com/@ling_app?lang=en https://www.facebook.com/Ling.learn.languages/ https://www.quora.com/Ling-Language-Lessons If you have any comments, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to reach out at support@ling-app.com Terms of Use: https://ling-app.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://ling-app.com/privacy-policy/
Screenshots
Verdict
Busuu and Ling both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Busuu's written reviews are positive against 61% of Ling's. Busuu also leads on ratings volume (101K vs 15K). Ling's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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
Both are free to download. Busuu sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Ling sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Busuu against 4.6 for Ling. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Busuu has 101K ratings behind it against 15K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Busuu's written reviews are positive against 61% of Ling's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Busuu | Ling |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (101K ratings) — better | 4.6 (15K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.4% of reviews — better | 60.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 101K — better | 15K |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #80 | #66 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 267 MB | 176 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Busuu Limited | SIMYA LABS COMPANY LIMITED |
Customer experience
Busuu
Ling
User reviews
Busuu
From 101K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💯 Best resource for learning
- 🎓 Structured lessons and review
- 👥 Helpful community feedback
- 🎨 Engaging visuals and content
- 🗣️ Realistic native speaker audio
Room to improve
- 🤖 Inconsistent AI-generated corrections
- 🔒 Limited access without premium
- 🔀 Difficulty navigating between lessons
- 📚 Lack of advanced content and review
- 🔊 Issues with audio and pronunciation
Ling
From 15K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Bite-sized lessons
- 🎮 Gamified learning
- 📚 Offers rare languages
- 🗣️ Good pronunciation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy, glitchy
- 💰 Expensive, pay to learn
- 🤖 Robotic voices
- 🧠 Lessons not in logical order
- 🔍 Lack of basic vocabulary and grammar
Bugs and requests
Busuu
Reported bugs
3 issues- Incorrect or missing translations
- Inconsistent lesson progress tracking
- Bugs with voice recognition and feedback
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to learn multiple languages simultaneously
- More detailed grammar explanations and practice
- Customizable review and flashcard features
- Improved community features and messaging
- Offline access to downloaded lessons
Ling
Reported bugs
5 issues- Progress resets to zero
- Incorrect translations and pronunciations
- Lessons skipping ahead unexpectedly
- Microphone issues, can't record properly
- Sync issues across devices
Requested features
5 requests- Allow retry/go back in lessons
- Improve speech recognition
- Add grammar explanations
- Provide more review and practice options
- Introduce alphabet/writing system first
In-app purchases
Busuu
- Monthly Subscription$6.991 Month
- Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month
- Monthly Premium Plan$23.491 Month
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 12 Months Premium$70.001 Year
- Annual Subscription7 Days trial$79.991 Year
- 14 Day Trial - Premium Plus14 Days trial$89.991 Year
- 12 Months' Premium7 Days trial$138.991 Year
- 12 Months Premium7 Days trial2 variants$138.991 Year
- 12 Months Premium Plus7 Days trial2 variants$139.991 Year
Ling
- Ling Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
- Monthly Language Learning Plan$10.991 Month
- Ling Monthly Subscription2 variants$14.991 Month
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Ling Pro 1 Month Subscription$16.991 Month
- Ling Half Yearly Subscription$39.996 Months
- Ling 3 Month Subscription$39.993 Months
- Learn Language Pro Yearly 77 Days trial$48.991 Year
- Ling Pro Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$54.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription$59.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Black Friday Offer7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial2 variants$79.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription$79.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$79.991 Year
- Ling Pro 12 Month Subscription7 Days trial$89.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$99.991 Year
- Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$119.991 Year
- Ling Pro Lifetime Plan$199.99








