Babbel vs Learn Russian Language & Vocab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Bite-sized lessons
- Expert-built courses
- Interactive conversation practice
- Smart review system
- Grammar in context
- Offline mode
- Learn 14 languages
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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.
Learn Russian Language & Vocab
Learn Russian vocabulary and the Cyrillic alphabet through engaging, visually-driven mini-games. Sessions are designed to be short and addictive, fitting into busy schedules. Focuses on practical words with beautiful illustrations and native speaker pronunciations.
- Illustrated vocabulary learning
- 5-minute daily sessions
- Gamified learning experience
- Rapid swipe and tap controls
- Focus on practical words
- Cyrillic alphabet instruction
- Native speaker pronunciations
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Drops makes language learning an effortless fun. Practical vocabulary is bound to your memories through beautiful graphics and quick mini-games. The crazy part? You have only 5 mins per day to learn Russian. Might sound insane but works like a charm! :) These are the ingredients of the secret sauce: 100% illustrated: Pictures directly carry the meaning - you don’t have to use your native language at all! No intermediary. Faster, more effective and of course more fun for Russian learning process! :) 5 min sessions: limiting practice time sounds crazy but it it makes it incredibly addictive - which is cool thing for learning. The barrier of entry is close to zero so you can’t have any excuses: you’ll have 5 minutes even on the busiest day! Effortless play: We know why games are fun and addictive and distilled the essence into Drops. The result is a truly immersive experience but it’s not waste of your time while you play because you build a valuable knowledge. Quick: Keyboard typing is painfully slow. Welcome rapid swipes and taps! Especially for Russian vowels, and consonants. Trust us, you’ll need those extra seconds during the quick learning session ;) Vocabulary only: Zero grammar, just handpicked practical words. That’s our focus and we do it extremely well. The app teaches the Russian alphabet as well. Forge a habit: Drops wants to make you language learning addict. Effectiveness is nothing without a well established habit. We help you build one! We are extremely proud of our lovely word pronunciations by seasoned voice talents! Drops is free for casual learners: more than 2700 words in 150+ topics are all available for everyone. Hardcore language learners can subscribe for premium to progress faster with unlimited Russian language learning time. Our goal is to empower people of the world via language knowledge by providing a special tool that utilizes the universal language we all speak: pictures. ----------------- Keep tuned as even more languages are in the works! Payment information: 1 month - $13 1 quarter - $30 1 year - $90 - Payment will be charged to your 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 - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Have questions? Feel free to contact us at sup@languagedrops.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/language_drops Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnwithDrops Blog: https://medium.com/languagedrops Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/language_drops/ Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
Babbel and Learn Russian Language & Vocab both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 94% of Learn Russian Language & Vocab's written reviews are positive against 44% of Babbel's. Learn Russian Language & Vocab also leads on monetization model (freemium vs subscription) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 17.0). Babbel's advantage is ratings volume (754K vs 5.3K) and chart position (#8 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and Learn Russian Language & Vocab sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 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 Learn Russian Language & Vocab. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 754K ratings behind it against 5.3K, 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 94% of Learn Russian Language & Vocab's.
Babbel ships an update every 4 days, Learn Russian Language & Vocab weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Babbel | Learn Russian Language & Vocab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (754K ratings) | 4.8 (5.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.7% of reviews | 94.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 754K — better | 5.3K |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Freemium — better |
| Best chart rank | #8 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 263 MB | 155 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Babbel GmbH | PLANB LABS OU |
Customer experience
Babbel
Learn Russian Language & Vocab
User reviews
Babbel
From 754K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent structured learning
- 🚀 Effective vocabulary and grammar teaching
- 👍 Helpful pronunciation guides
- 👍 Engaging and practical lessons
- 👍 Useful review and repetition features
Room to improve
- 🐛 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
Learn Russian Language & Vocab
From 5.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Visually appealing design
- 🔁 Effective repetition and review system
- 🎓 Helpful for beginners learning Russian
- ⏱️ Bite-sized 5-minute lessons
- 🎉 Fun and engaging learning experience
Room to improve
- ⏳ Limited free time (5 minutes per day)
- 💰 Expensive subscription required for full access
- 🔊 Pronunciation audio could be improved
- 🤔 Unclear English translations for some words
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
Learn Russian Language & Vocab
Reported bugs
2 issues- Sound files failing to load for some users
- Syncing issues between devices
Requested features
4 requests- More flexible time limits for free users
- Ability to practice writing/typing Russian words
- Option to learn through native language instead of English
- Placement test to determine appropriate starting level
In-app purchases
Babbel
- Mexican Spanish – 1-month plan$17.991 Month
- Spanish 1 month$17.991 Month
- French 1 month$17.991 Month
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- 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
Learn Russian Language & Vocab
- Daily 10 minutes bonus$2.991 Month
- Unlimited time!$7.991 Month
- Premium$9.991 Month
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Unlimited time for all Languages!$12.991 Month
- Premium$12.991 Year
- Premium2 variants$29.993 Months
- Premium$39.991 Year
- Premium$54.991 Year
- Premium$69.991 Year
- Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Premium7 Days trial$89.991 Year
Questions
Is Babbel free?
Is Learn Russian Language & Vocab free?
Which has better reviews, Babbel or Learn Russian Language & Vocab?
Do Babbel or Learn Russian Language & Vocab have ads?
Which is updated more often, Babbel or Learn Russian Language & Vocab?
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