Comparison

HelloTalk vs Tutor Lily

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

Head to head
About

HelloTalk

Practice languages with native speakers through chat, voice, and live events. Connect with locals worldwide to improve fluency and cultural understanding. Features include translation tools, instant captions, and interactive Voicerooms.

Highlights
  • Practice with native speakers
  • Live video lessons
  • Interactive Voicerooms
  • Translation tools
  • Instant captions
  • Global community
  • Cultural insights
Features
Read full description

Practice languages with native speakers on HelloTalk! We recently introduced HelloTalk Live and Voiceroom - interactive language and culture events to help you master languages through the content you love! HelloTalk, the original language exchange app, connects you with native speakers to practice languages (English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese and 260+ more) for FREE! HelloTalk equips you with learning tools such as translation and instant captions so you can learn by chatting with native speakers. Learn languages from locals around the world through livestreams and Voicerooms. Connect with expert hosts to discuss interesting topics with language partners in the learning community! Why HelloTalk? ► Real language learning atmosphere Whether you're focused on a widely spoken language or a less common one, HelloTalk caters to your needs. The system smartly matches you based on your native language and proficiency, while allowing you to filter ideal language partners according to various criteria such as age, location, and gender. Plus, with built-in translation and transliteration tools, you can communicate confidently without any language barriers. ► A powerful tool for sharpening your language skills Acquiring new words through conversations with native speakers is more effective than rigid memorization. Whether you're a student preparing for exams like the CET, GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, planning to study abroad, or a professional seeking career advancement through language skills, HelloTalk offers native speakers who match your proficiency level for engaging interactions and valuable learning experiences. ► Immersive multi-person language chat rooms If you choose to learn Spanish, for example, every Voiceroom you enter on HelloTalk gathers Spanish learners and Spanish native speakers from around the world to discuss interesting topics. Here, only your voice needs to be heard, creating a comfortable, introvert-friendly atmosphere. Here, sharing mutual interests allows everyone to freely express themselves and share personal experiences, fostering both language intuition and authentic expression skills. It's incredibly addictive! ► Diverse global Livestreams HelloTalk features handpicked foreign language hosts who offer online video lessons, share language insights, and provide glimpses into their lives abroad. You can even join them on stage for one-on-one video conversations with fellow language learners. Whether you're grappling with pronunciation, speaking speed, or shyness, these hosts will assist you in refining your language skills and guiding the conversation. For rapid improvement in spoken language, there's no substitute for direct communication with native speakers! ► International Moments HelloTalk's Moments offers real-time posts covering learning, lifestyle, and cultural insights from around the world. It's your ticket to discovering fresh perspectives and gaining deeper insights into diverse cultural customs, all from the comfort of your home. Don't forget to engage with posts that catch your interest! What the world is saying about HelloTalk “One of the best apps to help you learn a new language.” - 9to5Mac "When you're ready to experiment with a foreign language, HelloTalk provides an excellent opportunity for interaction with other speakers." –PCMag START PRACTICING LANGUAGES RIGHT AWAY!!! Learn more about the HelloTalk app: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hellotalk/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellotalkapp Send any feedback to support@hellotalk.com - Privacy Policy: https://www.hellotalk.com/privacy-policy - Terms of Use: https://www.hellotalk.com/terms-of-service

About

Tutor Lily

Engage in natural conversations to build real language fluency. This AI tutor remembers your progress and interests, adapting sessions to your goals and mistakes. Practice real-world scenarios and receive gentle corrections for effective learning.

Highlights
  • Natural conversation practice
  • Personalized learning based on goals
  • Real-time, gentle corrections
  • Smart vocabulary building
  • Adaptive difficulty levels
  • Practice real-world scenarios
  • Pronunciation coaching
Features
Read full description

How long have you been telling yourself you'll learn English? Spanish? French? Let's make this the year it actually happens. Not from 400 owl reminders. Not from tapping pictures of fruits and animals. From real conversations — from your very first day. You'll be speaking with confidence in weeks, not years. Just 10 minutes a day with me. You speak or type. I match your level in real time. Use your target language, your native language, or a mix of both as you get more comfortable. MISTAKES ARE WELCOME It's actually how we learn. Make all your mistakes with me first. Then you won't have to make them with real people. When you slip up, I don't shame you. No red Xs. No buzzers. I give you real-time feedback on grammar, pronunciation, and word choice. I use a three-step method I call the Lily Method: I nudge, then I hint, and only then do I give you the answer. Learners fix their own mistakes 46% of the time with this method (Lyster & Ranta research). Other apps just feed you the correct answer — so you learn nothing. With me, you learn it because YOU found the answer. The biggest mistake you can make is being afraid to make one. Duolingo punishes you for mistakes — I reward you for making them. LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE Whatever you want to talk about — I'm like a friend who happens to speak 50+ languages. The movie you watched last weekend. Your day at work. The trip you're planning. Your favorite K-drama. The book you can't put down. The song stuck in your head. Personal conversations stick. Generic lessons don't. Pack me for the trip. I'll be your travel buddy who already speaks the language. Want to practice a specific moment — ordering at a Parisian café, checking into a Tokyo hotel, meeting your partner's parents? Just ask me to roleplay it. I REMEMBER YOU Other apps forget you the moment you close them. I don't. I remember the word you stumbled on last Tuesday. I remember your sister's wedding next month. I remember you work in marketing and your dog's name is Bean. Session 100 with me is smarter than session 1 — because I've been paying attention. You told me in onboarding you have a trip to Italy? Today let's talk about what you're packing. You mentioned you're nervous about a presentation? Walk me through it — I'll help you fix the rough spots. EARN STREAKS FOR REAL PRACTICE Streaks earned by real messages, not by tapping a button to keep a number alive. All the motivation. None of the guilt trips. No hearts. No leaderboards. No "you broke your streak!" notifications. 50+ LANGUAGES, NATIVE ACCENTS English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Turkish, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Greek — and 40+ more. Each with native accent variants (British or American English, Latin American or European Spanish, etc.) — so you sound like you actually live there, not like a textbook. STOP STUDYING. START SPEAKING. Babbel scripts you. ChatGPT forgets you. A human tutor costs $30-60 an hour and needs scheduling. I'm available 24/7. I'm 50× cheaper than a private tutor. I remember every word you've ever said to me. And I'll never make you feel stupid for not knowing something — that's the whole reason you're here. Five minutes on your coffee break. Thirty on the train home. I fit your day, not the other way around. Open the app. Say hi. I'll take it from there. — Lily Privacy Policy: https://tutorlily.com/privacy License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

HelloTalk4 screens
Tutor Lily4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Tutor Lily at none against HelloTalk's shown. Tutor Lily also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 36%). HelloTalk's advantage is ratings volume (44K vs 239) and chart position (#28 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. HelloTalk sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and Tutor Lily sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for HelloTalk against 4.6 for Tutor Lily. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HelloTalk has 44K ratings behind it against 239, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of HelloTalk's written reviews are positive against 50% of Tutor Lily's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
HelloTalk versus Tutor Lily: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelloTalkTutor Lily
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (44K ratings)4.6 (239 ratings)
Positive reviews36.1% of reviews50.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings44K — better239
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#28 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size753 MB60 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperHELLOTALK FOREIGN LANGUAGE EXCHANGE LEARNING TALK CHAT APPTutor Lily Inc.

Customer experience

HelloTalk

All ratings43,831 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews2,556 reviews
Positive36.1%
Neutral11.9%
Negative52.0%

Tutor Lily

All ratings239 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral4.2%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral11.8%
Negative38.2%

User reviews

HelloTalk

From 44K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app for language learning
  • 👍 Helpful features like translation and correction
  • 💡 Ability to connect with native speakers
  • 🤝 Friendly and supportive community
  • 🌍 Exposure to different cultures

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 💰 Overly aggressive monetization
  • 🔒 Concerns about privacy and censorship
  • 🚫 Difficulty changing account details
  • 🤖 Issues with bots and fake accounts

Tutor Lily

From 239 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for language practice
  • 👍 AI is personable and engaging
  • 👍 Provides corrections and explanations
  • 👍 Wide range of language options
  • 👍 Natural sounding AI voice

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and glitches
  • 🐛 Freezes often
  • 🐛 Hands-free mode is glitchy
  • 🐛 Incorrect translations at times
  • 🐛 Robotic and artificial voices

Bugs and requests

HelloTalk

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Disappearing messages and chat history
  • Inability to create new accounts on same device
  • Inconsistent app performance across platforms
  • Incorrect language detection and translation
  • Unexpected account suspensions or bans

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve messaging and notification features
  • Allow more flexibility in language settings
  • Enhance moderation and reporting systems
  • Provide better customer support channels

Tutor Lily

Reported bugs

27 issues
  • App settings change and can't contact support
  • Recent update removed roleplay/topics
  • App is buggy
  • Makes users answer same questions each time
  • App locked behind paywall without notice
Show 22 more
  • Had to give payment info for free trial
  • Stopped working after paying for pro
  • No way to restore purchases
  • Automatic recording function is very poor
  • Correct statements understood and written incorrectly
  • App has loading dots without allowing use
  • Hands-free mode isn't useful
  • Translations are incorrect at times
  • Speak option only works best with built-in phone voice to text
  • Cancelled subscription but still got charged
  • No customer support reply
  • Voices are very robotic
  • Questions asked are very artificial
  • Hands-free mode is glitchy and poor
  • Message disappears/gets deleted when clicking to see mistakes
  • Freezes on 'evaluating sentence…'
  • Loading dots forever
  • Resetting conversation is only fix
  • Doesn't change input language to German for voice
  • Fails to record first response or delay in submitting
  • Doesn't know how to use formal 'You'
  • No sound on iPhone 13

Requested features

18 requests
  • Option to watch ads for more messages
  • Ability to see pre-corrected version of messages
  • Add Icelandic language
  • Improve hands-free mode
  • More natural sounding voices
Show 13 more
  • Fix slow audio for German and French
  • Provide more phrases for repetition
  • Better support for absolute beginners
  • Allow users to restore purchases
  • Improve automatic recording function
  • Fix formal 'You' usage
  • Fix delay in recording submissions
  • Allow viewing of original message before correction
  • Offer a cheaper alternative
  • Fix sound issues on iPhone 13
  • Improve input language switching
  • Make it easier to use while driving
  • Increase chat limit or offer unlimited option

In-app purchases

12 purchases

HelloTalk

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly auto-renewal VIP$12.991 Month
  • VIP Membership Monthly$12.991 Month
  • VIP Membership Yearly1 Year trial$79.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • VIP Membership$79.991 Year
  • VIP Membership Yearly3 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time7
  • 8 HT Coins$0.29
  • 64 HT Coins$0.99
  • 324 HT Coins$4.99
Show 4 more
  • 649 HT Coins$9.99
  • Pro Membership (3 Months)$29.99
  • 3249 HT Coins$49.99
  • 10334 HT Coins$149.99
15 purchases

Tutor Lily

Subscriptions15
  • Weekly PRO $1$0.997 Days
  • Weekly PRO Membership$4.997 Days
  • Monthly PRO Membership$9.991 Month
Show 12 more
  • Monthly PRO Membership$11.991 Month
  • Monthly PRO Membership$19.991 Month
  • Monthly PRO Membership$29.991 Month
  • Annual PRO Discount3 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Discount3 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • 6-Month PRO Membership$56.996 Months
  • Annual PRO Membership3 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Discount3 Days trial$71.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Membership$83.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Membership3 Days trial$83.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Membership3 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Annual PRO Membership7 Days trial$169.991 Year

Questions

Is HelloTalk free?
HelloTalk is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tutor Lily free?
Tutor Lily is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HelloTalk or Tutor Lily?
HelloTalk and Tutor Lily are both rated 4.6 out of 5 on the App Store, from 44K and 239 ratings respectively.
Do HelloTalk or Tutor Lily have ads?
HelloTalk shows ads; Tutor Lily does not.
Which is updated more often, HelloTalk or Tutor Lily?
HelloTalk ships an update fortnightly, and Tutor Lily fortnightly. Most recently, HelloTalk was updated on September 26, 2026 and Tutor Lily on September 22, 2026.

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