Memrise vs Words
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Real-life conversation simulation
- Cultural insights
- Vocabulary and listening practice
- Speaking practice with AI
- Native speaker videos
- Learn over 40 languages
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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/
Words
Master vocabulary in 14 languages with flashcards and interactive exercises. Features native speaker audio and a structured learning list to reinforce memorization. Ideal for on-the-go language learning.
- 14 languages supported
- Thousands of words per language
- Native speaker audio
- Flashcard review
- Multiple choice exercises
- Spelling exercises
- Listening exercises
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Learn 1000's of words in 14 languages including French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Korean, German, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional scripts), Hebrew, Greek, Russian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese and now Inglés! * French - 4,400 words in 111 topics * Spanish - 3,800 words in 86 topics * Japanese - 6,500 words in 111 topics * Chinese (simplified and traditional) - 5,700 words in 125 topics * Italian - 5,000 words in 110 topics * Korean - 6,200 words in 126 topics * German - 2,400 words in 98 topics * Hebrew - 4,100 words in 139 topics * Greek - 4,500 words in 119 topics * Russian - 3,400 words in 105 topics * Brazilian Portuguese - 3,300 words in 83 topics * Portuguese - 3,100 words in 60 topics * Inglés! - 5,500 words in 141 topics Each language includes 1000s of words organised by topic, And each and every word with REAL native speaker audio. Start by reviewing the words in groups of ten (the learning list). Then jump into the exercises - multiple choice, spelling and listening. Get one answer wrong and you have to redo all the exercises for that word - reinforcing the words that words that need most attention. Features and benefits: * Every language includes 1000s of words. * Every word includes a native speaker's audio recording. * Flashcard review and exercises to aid memorization. * Strict Learning-List testing technique ensures word retention. With Declan FlashCards, learning a language is as simple as turning on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. Packed with over 1000s of words and phrases, Declan FlashCards is an easy way to learn a language's fundamentals, such as the days of the week, numbers, useful phrases and expressions, articles, verbs, and nouns. All words and phrases come with a native speaker's audio recording, making it easier for you to learn the correct pronunciation. So, whether you're a beginner, or simply need to polish up your language skills, pull out Declan FlashCards wherever you are -- on the bus, waiting at the doctor's office, or even in line at the supermarket. Details: The Learning List: The words are learned based on a Learning List. The Learning List contains a subset of all the words in the WordFile – 10 words by default (although this can be changed by users). The Learning List allows users to concentrate learning a small group of words at any one time. Once a word is learned (by reviewing the Learning List and completing the Exercises) it is removed from the Learning List and is replaced by another, as yet unlearned word from the WordFile. This continues until the whole WordFile is learned. Exercises: Words in the learning list should first be Reviewed using the “Review Learning List” option. Then users can move to the Exercises which include the Meaning Exercise, the Word Exercise, the Spelling Exercise and the Listening Exercise. Once all the exercises have been correctly completed, the word is marked as complete, removed from the Learning List and replaced by a new word. However, if the user gets one answer wrong in any of the exercises, then all the exercises must be completed again for that one word. This ensures comprehensive learning and retention. All personal data is handled under the terms and conditions of Declan Software's privacy policy here: declansoftware.com/privacy-policy.html and terms of use here: declansoftware.com/terms-conditions.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Words at none against Memrise's shown. Words also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.0). Memrise's advantage is ratings volume (218K vs 47) and review sentiment (68% vs 50%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Memrise sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Words sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Memrise holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Memrise has 218K ratings behind it against 47, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Memrise's written reviews are positive against 50% of Words's.
Memrise ships an update fortnightly, Words every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Memrise | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (218K ratings) — better | 4.6 (47 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 68.1% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 218K — better | 47 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #196 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 240 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Memrise Limited | Declan Software |
Customer experience
Memrise
Words
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 moreShow fewer
- Add support for writing practice and handwriting recognition
Words
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Memrise
- Weekly Language Learning Plan$2.997 Days
- Monthly Language Learning Plan$24.991 Month
- 3-Month Language Learning Plan$24.993 Months
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- 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
- Lifetime Plan Offer$98.99
- Lifetime Plan Offer$131.99
- Lifetime Plan Offer$164.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Lifetime Plan$329.99
Words
- Hebrew: 1 month subscription7 Days trial$7.991 Month
- Korean: 1 month subscription7 Days trial$7.997 Days
- Russian: 1 month subscription7 Days trial$7.991 Month
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- Italian: 1 year subscription7 Days trial$47.991 Year
- Hebrew: 1 year subscription7 Days trial$47.991 Year
- Korean: 1 year subscription7 Days trial$47.991 Year
- Ingles Lifetime Purchase$4.99
- French Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Chinese Lifetime Purchase$14.99
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- German Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Hebrew Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Italian Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Russian Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Brazilian Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Korean Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Traditional Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Japanese Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Spanish Lifetime Purchase$14.99
- Greek Lifetime Purchase$14.99









