# Babbel vs The Great Courses

The clearest difference is monetization model: The Great Courses at free with in-app purchases against Babbel's subscription. The Great Courses also leads on ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 2). Babbel's advantage is ratings volume (754K vs 17K) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and The Great Courses sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Babbel against 4.8 for The Great Courses. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 754K ratings behind it against 17K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of Babbel's written reviews are positive against 40% of The Great Courses's.

Babbel ships an update every 4 days, The Great Courses fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Babbel | The Great Courses |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (754K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babbel-language-learning/id829587759/reviews) | **[4.8 (17K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-great-courses/id1017813651/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **754K** | 17K |
| Positive reviews | **43.7% of reviews** | 39.9% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Fortnightly |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Best chart rank | **#8** | #109 |
| Size | 263 MB | 120 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Babbel GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/357018535) | [The Great Courses](https://appshunter.io/developer/636818508) |

## What reviewers say

### Babbel

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babbel-language-learning/id829587759)

**Currently charting:** #8 Top Grossing · Education, #65 Top Free · Education (US App Store)

Master a new language with expert-designed, bite-sized lessons that fit your schedule. Build conversational confidence quickly through interactive practice and a smart review system. Learn Spanish, French, German, and more for travel, work, or fun.

**Highlights:** Bite-sized lessons, Expert-built courses, Interactive conversation practice, Smart review system, Grammar in context, Offline mode, Learn 14 languages

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (12)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mexican Spanish – 1-month plan | $17.99 | per month |
| Spanish 1 month | $17.99 | per month |
| French 1 month | $17.99 | per month |
| Italian 1 month | $17.99 | per month |
| Mexican Spanish - 1-month plan | $19.99 | per month |
| Mexican Spanish – 3-month plan | $45.99 | per 3 months |
| Learn French – 3-month plan | $45.99 | per 3 months |
| Learn Spanish – 3-month plan | $45.99 | per 3 months |
| All Languages – 3-month plan | $53.99 | per 3 months |
| Mexican Spanish – 1-year plan | $89.99 | per year |
| All Languages – 12-month plan | $107.99 | per year |
| All Languages – 12-month plan | $107.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent structured learning
- 🚀 Effective vocabulary and grammar teaching
- 👍 Helpful pronunciation guides
- 👍 Engaging and practical lessons
- 👍 Useful review and repetition features

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Inconsistent voice recognition
- 🐛 Lack of flexibility in lesson progression
- 🐛 Confusing user interface and navigation
- 🐛 Overly strict scoring and lack of forgiveness for minor errors
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly

**Reported bugs**

- Lessons sometimes freeze or crash the app
- Subscription cancellation process is overly complicated
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between languages
- Keyboard issues and inability to use system keyboard

**Requested features**

- Add more language options, especially Asian languages like Japanese, Korean, and Chinese
- Improve review and practice tools to better reinforce learned material
- Provide more customization options for lesson pacing and content
- Implement a more forgiving scoring system and allow users to revisit past lessons
- Add a dark mode and optimize the app for better readability


### The Great Courses

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-great-courses/id1017813651)

**Currently charting:** #109 Top Grossing · Education (US App Store)

Access thousands of educational videos from world-renowned professors and experts. Explore a vast range of subjects, from history and science to personal development, with flexible learning options available online and offline. Start your learning journey with a free trial.

**Highlights:** Thousands of educational videos, Courses by world-class professors, Diverse subject matter, Online and offline access, Flexible learning pace, Free trial available

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| TGCPlus Monthly Subscription | $19.99 | per month |
| Quarterly Subscription | $44.99 | per 3 months |
| TGCPlus Annual Subscription | $149.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fantastic, use it all the time
- 👍 Excellent content and Outstanding Educators
- 👍 best app you'll ever subscribe to
- 👍 Math courses are phenomenal!
- 👍 Loving the content in the app!

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Ok content, weak app
- 🐛 Broken
- 🐛 Technical problems trying to cast
- 🐛 Great content, poor streaming
- 🐛 Far fewer courses than before? App VERY buggy

**Reported bugs**

- Login screen freezes
- Incompatible with older devices
- Audio goes out of sync with video
- App constantly logs users out
- Downloading content doesn't work offline

**Requested features**

- Can we get a ton of courses on AI please, it's a mite urgent
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
- Allow audio-only downloads
- Ability to download an entire course in one go


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Babbel free?

Babbel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is The Great Courses free?

The Great Courses is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Babbel or The Great Courses?

The Great Courses is rated higher. Babbel averages 4.7 out of 5 from 754K ratings, while The Great Courses averages 4.8 from 17K ratings.

### Do Babbel or The Great Courses have ads?

Babbel shows ads; The Great Courses does not.

### Which is updated more often, Babbel or The Great Courses?

Babbel ships an update every 4 days, and The Great Courses fortnightly. Most recently, Babbel was updated on September 24, 2026 and The Great Courses on September 24, 2026.

### Which is more popular, Babbel or The Great Courses?

Babbel currently peaks at #8 in the App Store charts, and The Great Courses at #109. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*