Comparison

Memrise vs Woodpecker

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

Head to head
About

Memrise

Learn over 40 languages through immersive lessons that simulate real-life conversations and cultural experiences. Practice vocabulary, listening, and speaking with AI-powered bots and native speaker videos to build confidence and speak like a local.

Highlights
  • Real-life conversation simulation
  • Cultural insights
  • Vocabulary and listening practice
  • Speaking practice with AI
  • Native speaker videos
  • Learn over 40 languages
Features
Read full description

Memrise is a language learning app for people who have a specific reason to learn. Trusted by 80 million learners, Memrise offers specialised courses for your goals: passing an exam, speaking confidently at work, building relationships, or discovering cultures you love. Unlike gamified apps with robotic voices, it's built around real native-speaker videos - so you learn to speak like real people. Learn Spanish, Korean, Japanese or 136 other languages in lessons that teach you vocabulary, listening and speaking as if you were a local living in the country. 15 NEW languages to learn from: Afrikaans, Ancient Greek, Latin, Finnish, Irish, Czech, Hungarian, Cantonese, Romanian, Esperanto, Croatian, Kurdish, Serbian, Bulgarian, Azerbaijani * Showing you how to piece together natural sentences, preparing you for everyday conversation * Giving you a place to practice role-play and gain confidence * Teaching you the cultural nuances you need to feel like a local Memrise is the best language-learning app for beginners that are starting to learn a language from scratch, intermediate learners that want to build on their listening and speaking, and advanced learners who are looking to improve their conversational skills. Download Memrise so that you can confidently: * Connect with your partner and their family * Have a better time while travelling * Sharpen your mind if you’re learning a language for brain health * Prepare for a language exam * Connect with work colleagues * Better understand different cultures How do we help you have conversations in other languages? * Choose from hundreds of real-life scenarios * Practice listening to native speaker videos using what you’ve just learned * Then build confidence speaking with AI Buddies, your personalised language learning bots - Helping 80+ million learners speak confidently - Featured in BBC World Service, Forbes, The Verge, The Financial Times, and more What other learners are saying "I've been using Memrise for about two years, studying European Portuguese. I have the paid version - it's a solid learning tool, and it has been my primary resource ever since got it. I find the Learn with Locals feature to be especially useful, more so as my Portuguese improves. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks in Portugal a few months ago, and we were able to handle all of our transactions - stores, restaurants, markets, car rental, etc!" - Voloúre Need to speak a new language soon? Get the practice you need with Memrise Pro - Unlock all vocab lessons - Unlock all native speaker videos - Unlimited speaking practice - Ad free Compare with our Free Plan - Limited vocab lessons - Limited videos and conversations - Ads Download our app for free and start learning with Memrise today: Learn French, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Mexico), German, Korean, Japanese, Japanese (no script), Turkish, Italian, Chinese (simplified), Dutch, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Danish, Slovenian, Icelandic, Yoruba, Mongolian, English (UK) and English (US)! ------ *PLEASE READ: A Memrise Pro subscription are designed for Memrise-approved courses. A subscription is required in order to access all our learning features. These features may vary depending on your device's language and language pair. Once purchased, subscriptions will automatically renew unless cancelled before the end of the current payment period. Subscriptions can be managed or cancelled in your Apple App Store account. In-app Permissions – To enable some of the features of the Memrise app we may need to ask for your permission. For example, we'll ask to access your microphone if you'd like to practice your pronunciation skills. You can change permissions at any time in your settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.memrise.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.memrise.com/terms/

About

Woodpecker

Learn languages by watching videos in your target language. Touch words in subtitles for instant definitions and save them for review. Explore content from YouTube and Netflix to immerse yourself in native-speaker material.

Highlights
  • Interactive video subtitles
  • Instant word definitions
  • Save vocabulary for review
  • YouTube video discovery
  • Netflix integration (iPad)
  • Offline bilingual dictionaries
  • Flashcard creation
Read full description

Watch and understand thousands of videos in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. When you don’t know a word, simply touch it in the subtitles. Use Woodpecker tools on any subtitled video on Youtube and all videos on Netflix (with a Netflix account and when using Woodpecker on an iPad). Touch any word, see its meaning, and easily save it to your history for review. Woodpecker’s bilingual dictionaries are free to use, work offline, and have no ads. Move on from your textbooks. Immerse and understand videos, shows, and movies meant for native speakers from around the world. Choose your target language: Immerse in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. Discover videos: Woodpecker filters Youtube to show you only videos in your target language with accurate subtitles. Browse videos by category, from popular channels, or made by popular Youtube teachers. Quickly find videos created for native speakers. Watch and improve your language skills. Watch with confidence. Woodpecker tools let you: + Touch any word to look it up while watching + Save any word or phrase to your word history + Touch a timestamp to jump to that section or rehear a phrase easily + Jump back 5 seconds if you missed something in a video + Touch to hear a phrase in the video repeated again and again + Slow down a video to 75% speed + Add multiple subtitle streams (when available) to follow along in your own language + Browse popular news sites in your target language, touch any word to look it up Subscribe to Woodpecker Tools to unlock unlimited web browsing, saved word exports, and flash cards! Make and practice your language skills with flash cards you make from words you saved! Try free today for 7 days. Build confidence with Woodpecker: • Discover videos in the language you’re learning. Explore by topic, channel name, or view videos by popular teachers on Youtube • Woodpecker filters Youtube to show only the videos in the language you’re learning • Have a Netflix account? Subscribe to the Unlimited Player in Woodpecker on your iPad to watch your favorite shows on Netflix. Touch any word in the subtitles to see its meaning and use Woodpecker Tools when you watch Netflix. • Perfect for intermediate to advanced learners, gain confidence as you watch something you love • Touch any word to see its meaning while your video pauses; Woodpecker automatically identifies proper names, popular expressions, idioms, and phrases • See all the words and expressions you’ve looked up in your word history; review them and practice with pronunciations • Browse popular news sites in the language you’re learning with the Woodpecker web browser, touch any word to see its meaning • Upgrade the app with tools to export your word history and browse any web page and create flash cards for review from your saved word history. • Watch videos with two subtitle streams (when available) to follow along in English as well as your target language • Dive deeper in a definition, expand the popup and touch any word in a definition to see its meaning • Browse the Teacher Section to see videos by popular Youtube teachers in your target language • Find all the videos you’ve watched in the video history section (data stored locally on your device) • Woodpecker’s bilingual dictionaries support: English speakers learning French, Mandarin, Spanish, German, and Vietnamese. And also support speakers of Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese learning English. • Touch any timestamp in the subtitles to rehear a phrase or jump to that phrase in a video • Discover content easily and dive into what you want to watch without the restrictions of a lesson plan • Improve your language skills while watching Youtube and Netflix with Woodpecker Start watching videos made for native speakers by native speakers. Immerse confidently in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, or English. Try Woodpecker today!

Screenshots

Memrise4 screens
Woodpecker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Woodpecker at none against Memrise's shown. Woodpecker also leads on review sentiment (82% vs 68%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Memrise's advantage is ratings volume (217K vs 1K) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks). On price, rating, 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. Memrise sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Woodpecker sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. 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 — 4.8 for Memrise against 4.8 for Woodpecker. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Memrise has 217K ratings behind it against 1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of Memrise's written reviews are positive against 82% of Woodpecker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Memrise ships an update fortnightly, Woodpecker every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Memrise versus Woodpecker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMemriseWoodpecker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (217K ratings)4.8 (1K ratings)
Positive reviews68.0% of reviews81.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings217K — better1K
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#165 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size238 MB29 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperMemrise LimitedWoodpecker Learning Limited

Customer experience

Memrise

All ratings216,707 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews2,890 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral8.8%
Negative23.2%

Woodpecker

All ratings1,036 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative14.7%

User reviews

Memrise

From 217K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for learning basics
  • 👍 Engaging and fun learning experience
  • 👍 Effective memorization techniques
  • 👍 Useful for supplementing language learning
  • 👍 Variety of languages available

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription is too expensive
  • 🔒 Limited functionality without subscription
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches in the app
  • 🤖 AI conversations are not very helpful
  • 🤔 Transition from basics to more advanced content is too abrupt

Woodpecker

From 1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for learning a new language
  • 👍 Good for practicing speaking and listening
  • 👍 Diverse content selection
  • 👍 Useful for improving vocabulary and reading skills
  • 👍 Enjoyable and engaging learning experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Subtitle issues (not working, inconsistent)
  • 💰 Confusing or expensive pricing
  • 🐛 App crashes or doesn't work properly

Bugs and requests

Memrise

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes or freezes during lessons
  • Inconsistent performance across devices
  • Issues with syncing progress across devices
  • Incorrect translations or pronunciations in some courses

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more advanced content and courses
  • Improve AI conversation feature
  • Allow more control over review and repetition
  • Provide offline access to courses
  • Improve search and discovery of community courses
Show 1 more
  • Add support for writing practice and handwriting recognition

Woodpecker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Netflix subtitles not working
  • App crashing or not opening
  • Inconsistent subtitle display

Requested features

4 requests
  • Support for more languages
  • Improved subtitle synchronization
  • Clearer pricing structure
  • Better user interface and navigation

In-app purchases

14 purchases

Memrise

Subscriptions10
  • Weekly Language Learning Plan$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Language Learning Plan$24.991 Month
  • 3-Month Language Learning Plan$24.993 Months
Show 7 more
  • 30% off Annual Memrise Pro$42.991 Year
  • Memrise Subscription Offer$58.991 Year
  • Memrise Subscription Offer1 Month trial$59.991 Month
  • Annual Language Learning Plan$61.991 Year
  • Memrise Annual Pro$61.991 Year
  • Memrise Subscription Offer1 Year trial$61.991 Year
  • Memrise Subscription Offer$79.991 Year
One-time4
  • Lifetime Plan Offer$98.99
  • Lifetime Plan Offer$131.99
  • Lifetime Plan Offer$164.99
Show 1 more
  • Lifetime Plan$329.99
5 purchases

Woodpecker

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited Video Player Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Woodpecker Tools Subscription7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Unlimited Video Player Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time2
  • Export Word History$0.99
  • Woodpecker Web Browser$14.99

Questions

Is Memrise free?
Memrise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Woodpecker free?
Woodpecker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Memrise or Woodpecker?
Memrise and Woodpecker are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 217K and 1K ratings respectively.
Do Memrise or Woodpecker have ads?
Memrise shows ads; Woodpecker does not.
Which is updated more often, Memrise or Woodpecker?
Memrise ships an update fortnightly, and Woodpecker every 5 weeks. Most recently, Memrise was updated on September 27, 2026 and Woodpecker on September 13, 2026.

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