Comparison

Babbel vs Russian Sounds and Alphabet

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

Head to head
About

Babbel

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
Read full description

Speak a new language with real-life conversations. Babbel is the award-winning language learning app with courses tailored to your native language, built by 200+ language experts and trusted by millions worldwide. Because lessons are built for speakers of your language, an English speaker learning Spanish gets different lessons than a French speaker does. You learn to speak, listen, and understand grammar in context, then practice real conversations with Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner that gives you personalized feedback. Learn a new language faster with bite-sized lessons designed to fit your everyday life. With Babbel’s proven method, you could start having real conversations in as little as 3 weeks. Your language learning adventure starts with a lesson. WHY BABBEL WORKS • Tailored to your native language: Courses are created by language experts and tailored to your native language, so you learn naturally and efficiently. • Real-life conversations: Learn the language people actually speak, for travel, work, and everyday life. • Speak with confidence: Practice out loud with speech recognition and Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner to improve your pronunciation. • Research-proven results: Efficacy backed by researchers at Yale University: 100% improved their oral proficiency in 3 months.* TRUSTED BY MILLIONS • 25 million subscriptions sold • 1.5 million 5-star ratings (based on App store ratings) • After 10 hours with Babbel, 96% of learners saw better test scores on grammar and vocabulary** BUILT FOR REAL LIFE • Short, effective lessons: Learn in as little as 10 minutes a day • Lessons for every motivation: Learn for travel, work, or fun • Listen, speak, write: Options for every learning style • Stress-free conversation practice: Build confidence with Guided Conversations, then practice freely with Babbel Speak (Beta) • Smart review system: Boosts learning and retention • Grammar in context: Clear explanations exactly when you need them • Offline mode: Download lessons and learn anywhere, anytime • 5,000+ courses: Over 60,000 lessons across all languages LEARN 14 LANGUAGES Spanish (Latin American or Spain), French, Italian, German, Portuguese, English (American or British), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and Indonesian. TRY BABBEL TODAY Download Babbel now and take a free lesson. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS A subscription is required to access full courses for one language. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to your Apple account. Available plans: • 1 month • 3 months • 6 months • 12 months Privacy policy: https://about.babbel.com/en/privacy/ Terms of use: https://about.babbel.com/en/terms/ LEARN MORE Read Babbel Magazine for tips and insights: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babbelusa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Babbel.usa CONTACT US Questions or feedback? Email: support-mobile@babbel.com *Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Available at http://bit.ly/BabbelYale. **Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Available: http://bit.ly/BabbelMSU.

About

Russian Sounds and Alphabet

Master Russian pronunciation and handwriting with phonetic symbols, letter stroke animations, and over 400 common words. Features AI voice analysis and adjustable audio playback for effective learning.

Highlights
  • 42 Russian phonetic symbols
  • 33 Russian letters
  • Articulator animation for pronunciation
  • Stroke animation for handwriting
  • 400+ common words with audio
  • AI voiceprint analysis
  • Adjustable audio playback speed
Features
Read full description

The App can help you learning and mastering the pronunciation and handwriting of Russian. Key features as follows: • Include 42 standard phonetic symbols of Russian and 33 letters of Russian. • Use the articulator animation to show the process and techniques of pronunciation of each phonetic symbol. • Use the stroke animation to show order of handwriting of each letter. • Select over 400 common words to aid learning the pronunciation, and provide high-quality female and male sounds. • Provide some effective listening and pronouncing training on the pronunciation of Russian. • Provide exclusive physical voiceprint analysis of your sounds and the standard to help understand the essence of pronunciation. • Provide a powerful audio player that can adjust the rate of speed, arbitrary switching, single loop, list loop, and so on. • Provide AI based voice scoring.

Screenshots

Babbel4 screens
Russian Sounds and Alphabet4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Babbel at Free against Russian Sounds and Alphabet's $2.99. Babbel also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.9) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months). Russian Sounds and Alphabet's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Babbel is free to download; Russian Sounds and Alphabet costs $2.99 up front. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Russian Sounds and Alphabet asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Babbel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 754K ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Babbel's written reviews are positive against 65% of Russian Sounds and Alphabet's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Babbel ships an update every 4 days, Russian Sounds and Alphabet every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
Babbel versus Russian Sounds and Alphabet: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBabbelRussian Sounds and Alphabet
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (754K ratings) — better3.9 (27 ratings)
Positive reviews43.7% of reviews64.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings754K — better27
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
Best chart rank#7 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size263 MB41 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBabbel GmbH佩佩 伍

Customer experience

Babbel

All ratings753,872 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews2,638 reviews
Positive43.7%
Neutral13.9%
Negative42.3%

Russian Sounds and Alphabet

All ratings27 ratings
Positive74.1%
Neutral3.7%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral8.8%
Negative26.5%

Bugs and requests

Babbel

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

5 requests
  • 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

Russian Sounds and Alphabet

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Babbel

Subscriptions12
  • Mexican Spanish – 1-month plan$17.991 Month
  • Spanish 1 month$17.991 Month
  • French 1 month$17.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Italian 1 month$17.991 Month
  • Mexican Spanish - 1-month plan$19.991 Month
  • Mexican Spanish – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • Learn French – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • Learn Spanish – 3-month plan$45.993 Months
  • All Languages – 3-month plan$53.993 Months
  • Mexican Spanish – 1-year plan$89.991 Year
  • All Languages – 12-month plan$107.991 Year
  • All Languages – 12-month plan7 Days trial$107.991 Year
None

Russian Sounds and Alphabet

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Babbel free?
Babbel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Russian Sounds and Alphabet free?
Russian Sounds and Alphabet costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Babbel or Russian Sounds and Alphabet?
Babbel is rated higher. Babbel averages 4.7 out of 5 from 754K ratings, while Russian Sounds and Alphabet averages 3.9 from 27 ratings.
Do Babbel or Russian Sounds and Alphabet have ads?
Babbel shows ads; Russian Sounds and Alphabet does not.
Which is updated more often, Babbel or Russian Sounds and Alphabet?
Babbel ships an update every 4 days, and Russian Sounds and Alphabet every 4 months. Most recently, Babbel was updated on September 24, 2026 and Russian Sounds and Alphabet on September 14, 2026.

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