Language Lab vs FluentU
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Language Lab
Enhance your language learning with interactive flashcards, quizzes, and audio exercises. Practice vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation with content from bestselling language programs. Study on-the-go and track your progress with this comprehensive tool.
- Flashcard sets with study and quiz modes
- Review quizzes for concept mastery
- Progress tracking and self-assessment
- Audio recordings of reading passages
- Pronunciation practice with native speaker comparison
- Text-to-speech pronunciation guidance
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This app helps you study vocabulary, grammar, verbs, and more from many of our bestselling language programs. Designed by our expert authors, these flashcards, quizzes, and audio recordings are perfect for study on-the-go! FEATURES: Depending on the program, this app supports McGraw-Hill books with: ● Flashcard sets, with study mode and quiz mode, for all vocabulary lists in the book. ● Review quizzes that provide additional practice and ensure mastery of key concepts. ● Progress checks that allow self-assessment of your understanding. ● Audio recordings of reading passages and exercise answers from the book. ● Record yourself function to compare your pronunciation with native speakers. ● Text-to-speech pronunciation guidance for most flashcards. LANGUAGES: English (ESL), French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Also, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean. PROGRAMS: The content in this app is designed to support bestselling books from the Trade division of McGraw-Hill, including programs in our "Practice Makes Perfect", "Easy Step-by-Step", "Easy Reader", and "The Ultimate Review and Practice" series.
FluentU
Learn languages through engaging, real-world videos like movie trailers and music clips. Interactive subtitles and vocabulary tools make comprehension and speaking natural. Connect with culture while mastering a new language.
- Interactive video lessons
- Real-world content
- Tap-to-translate subtitles
- Vocabulary review tools
- Bilingual dictionary
- Cultural immersion
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Start your 2-week free trial of FluentU now! Cancel anytime. Tired of boring language learning textbooks? FluentU brings languages to life with real-world interactive videos! Learn to read and speak Spanish, French, English, Mandarin Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, Korean and Italian with FluentU. FluentU turns music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks into an amazing language learning experience. Experience an immersive education that teaches you to speak and comprehend new languages in a natural way. Now you can learn a new language while connecting with the culture. No matter what your skill level or interest, FluentU has you covered. FLUENTU FEATURES: LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE - Immerse yourself in a foreign language to understand how it’s used - Connect with the language through real-world videos - Quiz yourself on the vocabulary - Learn to speak the language instead of scripted phrases - Stay motivated to learn each day WATCH, LISTEN & LEARN - Put the textbooks away and learn from experience - Watch videos with subtitles and translations to learn the language - Tap on any word or phrase to learn its meaning - Add words to your vocabulary list for review - Listen to audio dialogues to gain an understanding of the language BILINGUAL DICTIONARY - Look up any word and see how it’s used in a sentence - Search content by title or grammar and vocabulary points AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: - Chinese (Mandarin) - English - French - German - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Russian - Spanish WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING "Great app. To my knowledge the best on the market. You created something unique and new!" - Felix Wedel "It is more helpful than any other tool I've used. I had been using podcasts before and trying to make flashcards, and that worked pretty well. But it ended up that I was spending more time making the flashcards than studying. FluentU really solves this." - David Brown "FluentU has quickly become one of my favorite language-learning tools. Great job on an aesthetically pleasing app and an incredibly functional one." - Justin Price "This concept in FluentU is amazing. It's such a great way to help you understand a spoken language and the way you break it down is amazing." - Demi Pradolin "This app is so fun and useful - the best Chinese language learning app I've ever used." - Richard Jun PLUS SUBSCRIPTION FluentU is available as a monthly ($29.99 for Plus) or yearly subscription ($239.99 for Plus). If you enjoy FluentU, do nothing and your membership will automatically continue for as long as you choose to remain a member. You can easily cancel anytime, online. Just sign up to get started! If you subscribe via iTunes: Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy policy: http://www.fluentu.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: http://www.fluentu.com/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: FluentU at 4.3 against Language Lab's 3.2. FluentU also leads on review sentiment (56% vs 24%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). Language Lab's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 14) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. FluentU sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Language Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
FluentU holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FluentU has 2.8K ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of Language Lab's written reviews are positive against 56% of FluentU's.
Language Lab ships an update every 4 months, FluentU fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Language Lab | FluentU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (52 ratings) | 4.3 (2.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 24.1% of reviews | 56.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 52 | 2.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 549 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | McGraw-Hill | Enux Education Limited |
Customer experience
Language Lab
FluentU
User reviews
Language Lab
From 52 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Good companion to books
- 🚀 Helpful for practicing vocabulary and grammar
- 💡 Useful for hearing pronunciation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio issues (no sound, too fast playback)
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🐛 Incorrect answers and mistakes in content
- 🐛 Missing features from certain books
- 👎 Unintuitive and poor user experience
FluentU
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Engaging learning experience
- 🎓 Effective for language learning
- 👍 Variety of content and features
- 💡 Innovative learning approach
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
- 🔍 Lack of transparency around pricing and cancellation
- 📱 Compatibility issues on mobile devices
Bugs and requests
Language Lab
Reported bugs
4 issues- Audio not working
- App crashing when trying to record
- Incorrect answers in quizzes and flashcards
- Missing content for certain books
Requested features
5 requests- Add audio playback speed controls
- Improve stability and reduce crashes
- Proofread content and fix errors
- Ensure all books are supported
- Enhance user interface and navigation
FluentU
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes frequently
- Subscription issues and unexpected charges
- Syncing and login problems
- Inconsistent performance across devices
Requested features
4 requests- Add more language options
- Improve user interface and navigation
- Provide better guidance and progression for learners
- Enhance audio and speech recognition capabilities
In-app purchases
Language Lab
No in-app purchases
FluentU
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$14.991 Month
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$17.991 Month
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$20.991 Month
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- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$23.991 Month
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Month
- FluentU Super Monthly14 Days trial$39.991 Month
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$71.991 Year
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$95.991 Year
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$119.991 Year
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial$139.991 Year
- FluentU Super Annual14 Days trial$199.991 Year
- FluentU Plus14 Days trial2 variants$239.991 Year
Questions
Is Language Lab free?
Is FluentU free?
Which has better reviews, Language Lab or FluentU?
Do Language Lab or FluentU have ads?
Which is updated more often, Language Lab or FluentU?
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