Comparison

Learn Russian (Hello vs Babbel

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

Head to head
About

Learn Russian (Hello

Master Russian with a research-based methodology developed with language professionals. Engage in conversational lessons, build vocabulary with interactive flashcards, and practice pronunciation and writing. Learn offline, anytime, anywhere, with a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • Research-based methodology
  • 30 conversational lessons
  • Interactive flashcards
  • Pronunciation and writing practice
  • Offline learning
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

LEARN RUSSIAN WITH THE # 1 APP FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING ON ITUNES Top-Selling Russian course in US, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, China, Russia, etc. Research-based methodology developed in collaboration with the most prestigious institution for language teachers and professionals: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages – ACTFL - INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY: Developed in collaboration with ACTFL - The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, which is the largest and most respected association for language teachers and professionals. ACTFL's guidelines are followed by all major universities in the USA. - COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Learn to communicate effectively from LESSON 1! Hello-Hello offers 30 conversational lessons based on real life situations rather then a collection of out-of-context words and phrases. Dialogues are presented and then broken down into sentence by sentence where you can practice pronunciation and writing skills - VOCABULARY BUILDING: Practice vocabulary with hundreds of fun and interactive Flashcards plus our innovative Build Your Vocabulary exercise where you can practice alternate words and phrases from within the dialogues - NOTES: Save your own notes from within the lessons to review later! - LEARN ANYTIME, ANYWHERE: No Internet required! All the content is stored in the app so that you have great responsiveness when you are ready to learn a language. You do not need to be connected to Wi-Fi or 3G networks to run the app. - BEAUTIFUL INTERFACE: user friendly interface with beautifully designed graphics - CONTACT US: We are constantly trying to improve the app and take feedback from our users very seriously. The app has a “Contact Us” icon so that you can contact us easily, so please do not hesitate and send us an email if you have any questions, comments, complaints or suggestions.  -- Try before you buy You can check out our content for free first and buy the rest later if you like it. Make sure to also check Hello-Hello Kids, our language learning app for children!  ABOUT US  Hello-Hello is an innovative language learning company that offers state-of-the-art online and mobile courses. Hello-Hello.com’s website couples social networking with language learning which allows users to interact with native speakers around the world. Hello-Hello’s iPad apps are among the top language learning apps on the iPad. Our conversational courses were developed in collaboration with The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which is the largest association of teachers and administrators of all languages at all levels, serving more than 12,000 educators. For more information, please visit their website at www.actfl.org.

About

Babbel

Master a new language with expert-designed, bite-sized lessons that fit your schedule. Build conversational confidence quickly through interactive practice and a smart review system. Learn Spanish, French, German, and more for travel, work, or fun.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized lessons
  • Expert-built courses
  • Interactive conversation practice
  • Smart review system
  • Grammar in context
  • Offline mode
  • Learn 14 languages
Features
Read full description

Speak a new language with real-life conversations. Babbel is the award-winning language learning app with courses tailored to your native language, built by 200+ language experts and trusted by millions worldwide. Because lessons are built for speakers of your language, an English speaker learning Spanish gets different lessons than a French speaker does. You learn to speak, listen, and understand grammar in context, then practice real conversations with Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner that gives you personalized feedback. Learn a new language faster with bite-sized lessons designed to fit your everyday life. With Babbel’s proven method, you could start having real conversations in as little as 3 weeks. Your language learning adventure starts with a lesson. WHY BABBEL WORKS • Tailored to your native language: Courses are created by language experts and tailored to your native language, so you learn naturally and efficiently. • Real-life conversations: Learn the language people actually speak, for travel, work, and everyday life. • Speak with confidence: Practice out loud with speech recognition and Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner to improve your pronunciation. • Research-proven results: Efficacy backed by researchers at Yale University: 100% improved their oral proficiency in 3 months.* TRUSTED BY MILLIONS • 25 million subscriptions sold • 1.5 million 5-star ratings (based on App store ratings) • After 10 hours with Babbel, 96% of learners saw better test scores on grammar and vocabulary** BUILT FOR REAL LIFE • Short, effective lessons: Learn in as little as 10 minutes a day • Lessons for every motivation: Learn for travel, work, or fun • Listen, speak, write: Options for every learning style • Stress-free conversation practice: Build confidence with Guided Conversations, then practice freely with Babbel Speak (Beta) • Smart review system: Boosts learning and retention • Grammar in context: Clear explanations exactly when you need them • Offline mode: Download lessons and learn anywhere, anytime • 5,000+ courses: Over 60,000 lessons across all languages LEARN 14 LANGUAGES Spanish (Latin American or Spain), French, Italian, German, Portuguese, English (American or British), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and Indonesian. TRY BABBEL TODAY Download Babbel now and take a free lesson. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS A subscription is required to access full courses for one language. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to your Apple account. Available plans: • 1 month • 3 months • 6 months • 12 months Privacy policy: https://about.babbel.com/en/privacy/ Terms of use: https://about.babbel.com/en/terms/ LEARN MORE Read Babbel Magazine for tips and insights: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babbelusa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Babbel.usa CONTACT US Questions or feedback? Email: support-mobile@babbel.com *Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Available at http://bit.ly/BabbelYale. **Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Available: http://bit.ly/BabbelMSU.

Screenshots

Learn Russian (Hello4 screens
Babbel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Babbel at 4.7 against Learn Russian (Hello's 4.2. Babbel also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (754K vs 12). Learn Russian (Hello's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ads (none vs shown). On price, in-app purchases 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. Learn Russian (Hello sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Babbel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 754K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Learn Russian (Hello's written reviews are positive against 44% of Babbel's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Russian (Hello ships an update every 3 months, Babbel every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on June 22, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Learn Russian (Hello versus Babbel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn Russian (HelloBabbel
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (12 ratings)4.7 (754K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews — better43.7% of reviews
Number of ratings12754K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank—#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB263 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperHello-Hello LLCBabbel GmbH

Customer experience

Learn Russian (Hello

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.3%

Babbel

All ratings753,872 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews2,638 reviews
Positive43.7%
Neutral13.9%
Negative42.3%

Bugs and requests

Learn Russian (Hello

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Babbel

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lessons sometimes freeze or crash the app
  • Subscription cancellation process is overly complicated
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between languages
  • Keyboard issues and inability to use system keyboard

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more language options, especially Asian languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese
  • Improve review and practice tools to better reinforce learned material
  • Provide more customization options for lesson pacing and content
  • Implement a more forgiving scoring system and allow users to revisit past lessons
  • Add a dark mode and optimize the app for better readability

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn Russian (Hello

One-time10
  • Lesson 2$1.99
  • Lesson 3$1.99
  • Lesson 4$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Lesson 5$1.99
  • Lesson 6$1.99
  • Lesson 11$1.99
  • Lesson 12$1.99
  • Lesson 24$1.99
  • Lesson 7$1.99
  • Complete Course$19.99
12 purchases

Babbel

Subscriptions12
  • Mexican Spanish – 1-month plan$17.991 Month
  • Spanish 1 month$17.991 Month
  • French 1 month$17.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Italian 1 month$17.991 Month
  • Mexican Spanish - 1-month plan$19.991 Month
  • Mexican Spanish – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • Learn French – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • Learn Spanish – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • All Languages – 3-month plan$53.993 Months
  • Mexican Spanish – 1-year plan$89.991 Year
  • All Languages – 12-month plan$107.991 Year
  • All Languages – 12-month plan7 Days trial$107.991 Year

Questions

Is Learn Russian (Hello free?
Learn Russian (Hello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Babbel free?
Babbel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn Russian (Hello or Babbel?
Babbel is rated higher. Learn Russian (Hello averages 4.2 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Babbel averages 4.7 from 754K ratings.
Do Learn Russian (Hello or Babbel have ads?
Babbel shows ads; Learn Russian (Hello does not.
Which is updated more often, Learn Russian (Hello or Babbel?
Learn Russian (Hello ships an update every 3 months, and Babbel every 4 days. Most recently, Learn Russian (Hello was updated on June 22, 2026 and Babbel on September 25, 2026.

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