Comparison

phase6 vs Drops

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

Head to head
About

phase6

Master vocabulary and grammar for German language learning with a scientifically proven spaced repetition system. Align your studies with popular textbooks and track your progress with motivating statistics. Ideal for students in Germany and Austria, or those learning German as a second language.

Highlights
  • Vocabulary sets aligned with textbooks
  • Spaced repetition learning system
  • Grammar trainer with AI feedback
  • Progress tracking and statistics
  • Ad-free learning environment
  • Cross-platform compatibility
Features
Read full description

LEARN VOCABULARY SUCCESSFULLY With the phase6 vocabulary trainer, you can prepare perfectly for your next vocabulary test. Plus, you’ll also remember what you’ve learned for the long term ;-). Developed in Germany, phase6 is especially designed for students learning with German schoolbooks or attending schools in Germany and Austria. It also offers content for learners of German as a second or foreign language (DaZ / DaF) and includes materials from adult education courses such as the VHS. Our approach combines proven scientific methods with fun, motivating learning experiences – helping you learn vocabulary faster and more effectively. phase6 has been helping students succeed for over 20 years. • • • LEARN VOCABULARY EXACTLY AS IN YOUR TEXTBOOK Find vocabulary sets that match your schoolbooks from leading publishers like Klett, Cornelsen, C.C. Buchner, PONS, and more. Whether you’re learning with Green Line, Découvertes, À Plus!, Go Ahead, Lighthouse, Campus, or many others – we’ve got them all. That means you learn exactly the vocabulary covered in class. With over 1,400 vocabulary collections, your textbook is sure to be included. • • • YOUR VOCABULARY, YOUR PACE The app adapts to your individual learning progress to ensure stress-free, effective studying. phase6 repeats your vocabulary at increasing intervals – using a spaced repetition system based on the proven Leitner method – until every word truly sticks. • • • NEW – THE PHASE6 GRAMMAR TRAINER Your companion for mastering English grammar. Review and strengthen grammar topics from grade 5 onwards. Practice with vocabulary you already know and work through engaging, topic-based exercises. Our AI provides personalized feedback to help you master even tricky grammar points. • • • AN AWARD-WINNING LEARNING METHOD Trusted by over 15,000 teachers – and for good reason. phase6’s scientifically grounded spaced repetition learning system helps you store vocabulary securely in your long-term memory. So you’re not just learning for the next test – you’re learning for life ;-). The grammar trainer works the same way: with helpful hints, tips, and example sentences that guide you naturally to the right answer. phase6 has been recognized with the Comenius EduMedia Seal 2025. Independent research by hopp Marktforschung confirms that more than 87% of students improve their grades and 98% recommend phase6. • • • EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR LANGUAGE SUCCESS ■ 1,400+ vocabulary sets – perfectly aligned with your schoolbooks ■ Science-based learning – memorize vocabulary for the long term ■ Includes English grammar practice – because language is more than words ■ Motivating learning stats – track and celebrate your progress ■ Learn anywhere – at home or on the go, on desktop, smartphone, or tablet ■ Stay focused – a distraction-free, ad-free learning environment • • • YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS Notebook, tablet or smartphone – with phase6 you can learn vocabulary anytime, anywhere. Try the phase6 vocabulary and grammar trainer free for 7 days – full access, no commitment. For more information, resources, and language-learning tips, visit www.phase6.de.

About

Drops

Learn new languages through engaging games and visual aids. Practice vocabulary and common phrases in over 55 languages, from beginner to expert levels. Track progress, unlock achievements, and enjoy professionally curated lessons with native speaker pronunciations.

Highlights
  • Gamified vocabulary learning
  • Visual learning aids
  • 55+ language options
  • Progress tracking and rewards
  • Native speaker pronunciations
  • Customizable learning goals
Read full description

Join over 50 million people who use Drops for free language lessons. It’s fast, fun, and easy! Practice vocabulary in Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, Chinese, German, English. Discover 55+ different new languages with Drops! Learn new languages while playing games. You can become fluent, learn vocabulary and common phrases in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi. Set goals, unlock achievements, and get rewards! • Become fluent in a foreign language with this language learning app • Learn to read characters and scripts from different alphabets like Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi • Custom illustrations for each vocabulary word makes it easy to remember • From beginner to expert levels, grow your foreign language vocabulary • A professionally curated vocabulary list with more than 3,000 words and phrases • Game-like language lessons that make language learning fun and effective • Level up! Track your progress and get rewards • Professional voice artists and sound design with correct dialect pronunciations • Learn to speak languages like Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English (British), English (American), French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish (Mexican), Spanish (European), Tagalog, Ainu, Arabic (Egyptian), American Sign Language (ASL), Basque, Bosnian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chti, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, Galician, Greek, Greenlandic, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Maori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Samoan, Sanskrit, Serbian, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and even Yoruba! "By focusing on visually appealing games and vocab, Drops aims to lower the barrier preventing users from exploring a new language and, ultimately, accessing the social and economic benefits knowing that language may provide." - TechCrunch We are featured by CNET, Forbes, VentureBeat and many other places too! Try Drops Premium with a 7 day free trial. Download the app to learn about different membership options, and register to learn all about exclusive discounts. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of Drops premium. Afterwards your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. You can cancel your subscription anytime, and you won't be charged in the next billing cycle. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html

Screenshots

phase64 screens
Drops4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: phase6 at none against Drops's shown. phase6 also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). Drops's advantage is ratings volume (72K vs 204) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). 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. phase6 sells 62 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 3 months and Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drops holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 204, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 74% and 75% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

phase6 ships an update every 3 weeks, Drops weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
phase6 versus Drops: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterphase6Drops
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (204 ratings)4.7 (72K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.2% of reviews74.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20472K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#160 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB191 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerphase-6 GmbHPLANB LABS OU

Customer experience

phase6

All ratings204 ratings
Positive87.3%
Neutral6.4%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive74.2%
Neutral6.5%
Negative19.4%

Drops

All ratings71,502 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews2,192 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative15.8%

Bugs and requests

phase6

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Drops

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login issues and lost progress
  • Crashes and performance problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more grammar and sentence-level learning
  • Improve accuracy of translations and pronunciations
  • Provide more flexibility in time limits and review sessions
  • Integrate more conversational practice
  • Improve user interface and navigation

In-app purchases

62 purchases

phase6

Subscriptions8
  • phase6 Premium (Sync, Reports)$6.993 Months
  • phase6 cloud (12 Monate)$9.991 Year
  • phase6 Silber (12 months)2 variants$24.991 Year
Show 5 more
  • Silber (1 Jahr)$26.491 Year
  • Gold (1 Jahr)$31.991 Year
  • Platin (1 Jahr)$36.991 Year
  • Platin (1 Jahr)$39.991 Year
  • Diamant (1 Jahr)$49.991 Year
One-time54
  • Einfach gut! A1.1 - EN-DE$3.99
  • PONS Meine Diktatwörter Deutsch mit Audio-Diktaten$5.99
  • À plus! Nouvelle édition Audio$9.99
Show 51 more
  • Klett Découvertes Série jaune$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Série Jaune Band 2 (Audio)$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Bayern 1$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Bayern 2$9.99
  • Puente al Español NE 1$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Série jaune - Band 5 (Audio)$9.99
  • DaF kompakt A2 (Audio)$9.99
  • Klett Adelante Nivel elemental$9.99
  • Campus B neu - Band 1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Bayern 3$9.99
  • Découvertes (ab 2020) - Band 2$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Bayern 4$9.99
  • Vokabelbox - Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Audio)$9.99
  • Netzwerk A1 - EN$9.99
  • Linie 1 A1 - EN-DE (Audio)$9.99
  • English G Access 5 (Audio)$9.99
  • Norsk for deg neu A1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Langenscheidt Grundwortschatz Italienisch$9.99
  • Agite plus Bayern - Band 1$9.99
  • À plus! 3 Nouvelle édition BY$9.99
  • ¡Apúntate! Nueva edición 3$9.99
  • À plus! Charnières Neu (Audio)$9.99
  • Tous ensembles 1 Französisch$9.99
  • ¡Apúntate! Nueva edición 1$9.99
  • Aussichten A1 - EN (Audio)$9.99
  • Cornelsen À toi! 1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Cornelsen Encuentros hoy 2$9.99
  • Adeamus C - Band 1$9.99
  • Campus C neu - Band 1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Cornelsen English G Access BaWü - Band 2 (Audio)$9.99
  • Le cours intensif - Band1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Cornelsen Erweiterter Wortschatz (deutsch)$9.99
  • Green Line Bayern - Band 1 (Audio)$9.99
  • Green Line Bayern - Band 4$9.99
  • Cornelsen Encuentros hoy 1$9.99
  • Découvertes (ab 2020) - Band 1$9.99
  • Green Line Bayern - Band 3$9.99
  • Campus B - Band 3 (Audio)$9.99
  • Campus B neu - Band 3 (Audio)$9.99
  • Adeamus C - Band 2$9.99
  • Netzwerk neu A2 - EN$9.99
  • Klett Découvertes Série Jaune Band 3 (Audio)$9.99
  • Green Line Bayern - Band 2$9.99
  • Con gusto nuevo A1 (Audio)$9.99
  • À plus! 2 Neu (Audio)$9.99
  • À plus! 3 Neu (Audio)$9.99
  • Cornelsen Grundwortschatz (deutsch)$9.99
  • À plus! 1 Nouvelle édition BY$9.99
  • Netzwerk neu A1 - EN$9.99
  • ¡Apúntate! Nueva edición 2$9.99
  • À plus! 1 Neu (Audio)$9.99
13 purchases

Drops

Subscriptions12
  • Genius for a month$7.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Premium$14.991 Month
  • Curious for a month$22.991 Month
  • Holiday premium!$39.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$62.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • All Language Learning Plans7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlimited time for all Languages!$59.99

Questions

Is phase6 free?
phase6 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, phase6 or Drops?
Drops is rated higher. phase6 averages 4.5 out of 5 from 204 ratings, while Drops averages 4.7 from 72K ratings.
Do phase6 or Drops have ads?
Drops shows ads; phase6 does not.
Which is updated more often, phase6 or Drops?
phase6 ships an update every 3 weeks, and Drops weekly. Most recently, phase6 was updated on September 24, 2026 and Drops on September 24, 2026.

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