Comparison

Babbel vs RadioLingo

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

RadioLingo

Learn languages like Spanish, French, and German through podcasts that leverage subconscious learning. Listen to native speakers discuss various topics while you multitask, improving comprehension and pronunciation effortlessly.

Highlights
  • Subconscious learning through podcasts
  • Learn multiple languages
  • Content on diverse topics
  • Native speaker pronunciation
  • Beginner to advanced levels
  • Listen while multitasking
Features
Read full description

Learn Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, German, English, Arabic, Turkish, and more through podcasts that teach you these languages using your subconscious mind. Listen to conversations throughout the day while doing your daily activities. Start Your Language Learning Journey Easily and Quickly with RadioLingo! Are you looking for an easy and enjoyable way to learn languages? Look no further than RadioLingo! Our app is based on subconscious learning, where you can listen to interesting podcasts in different languages to learn extra words and phrases effortlessly. Studies have shown that listening to suitable language learning content for 30 minutes a day can improve listening and comprehension skills. What makes RadioLingo unique? Subconscious learning: Listen to the language you want to learn in the background while browsing social media or using other apps, and let your subconscious mind do the rest! Diverse content: Explore over 100 conversations covering various topics from daily life, such as travel, culture, English business, and technology. Correct pronunciation: Learn from native speakers and improve your pronunciation naturally. Multiple levels: Choose from beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels to suit your language proficiency and progress in your language learning journey. Most widely spoken languages: RadioLingo offers many languages, including: Spanish Podcast: Learn Spanish easily with RadioLingo. This Spanish learning app provides a fun and immersive way to learn Spanish and practice Spanish speaking. RadioLingo is perfect for Spanish learning for beginners, even if you're just starting with the alphabet learning Spanish. Get comfortable with Spanish speaking practice through engaging conversations. English Podcast: Learn English easily with the RadioLingo English learning app and enjoy diverse English conversations covering daily life topics, ranging from Hello English and asking for help to more complex subjects like travel, dating, culture, English business, technology, and even English proverbs. RadioLingo is a perfect free English learning app for all ages, including learn English for kids. It provides a unique feature of Arabic-English words with American English pronunciation, making it easier for both children and adults to learn English vocabulary and understand the English language. French Podcast: Join RadioLingo to learn French for beginners and discover the features of the best free French learning app. You can learn French at all levels, starting from learning French for beginners. RadioLingo provides French verbs conjugations to help you learn and practice verb forms. Learn common French idioms and expressions. Italian Podcast: Enjoy learning Italian easily with RadioLingo and learn Italian for beginners. Turkish Podcast: Join RadioLingo to learn Turkish free and practice Turkish. Russian Podcast: Learn Russian for beginners with RadioLingo. Our podcasts are created by the best Russian tutors. Arabic Podcast: Learn Arabic with RadioLingo! Our podcasts provide a fun and effective way to practice Arabic language skills, from pronunciation to conversation. Learn Arabic vocabulary and even the Arabic alphabet with ease! German Podcast: RadioLingo is the best German learning app that relies on real conversations to learn German for beginners and helps in conversational German. All you have to do is download the app, select your native language and the language you want to learn and enjoy a unique learning experience! RadioLingo is: Easy to use: No need to memorize words or language rules in a boring way. Just listen to RadioLingo and let the language flow into your subconscious mind. Convenient: You can learn languages while commuting, exercising, or doing household chores. Effective: The subconscious learning method has proven its effectiveness in helping people learn languages quickly and easily. Join RadioLingo today and start your language learning journey!

Screenshots

Babbel4 screens
RadioLingo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: RadioLingo at free with in-app purchases against Babbel's subscription. RadioLingo also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (75% vs 44%). Babbel's advantage is ratings volume (754K vs 2K) and update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, rating, in-app purchases and 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

Both are free to download. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and RadioLingo sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. 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 — 4.7 for Babbel against 4.6 for RadioLingo. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 754K ratings behind it against 2K, 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 75% of RadioLingo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Babbel ships an update every 4 days, RadioLingo fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Babbel versus RadioLingo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBabbelRadioLingo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (754K ratings) — better4.6 (2K ratings)
Positive reviews43.7% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings754K — better2K
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size263 MB70 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBabbel GmbHNeronet Academy AB

Customer experience

Babbel

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

RadioLingo

All ratings2,025 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative15.0%

User reviews

Babbel

From 754K App Store ratings

What 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

RadioLingo

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing
  • 👍 Useful and informative
  • 👍 Great app
  • 👍 Good application

Room to improve

  • 🔊 Volume issues
  • 🤖 AI-generated voices
  • 🛑 Ads prevent progress

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

RadioLingo

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App doesn't work
  • Not working

Requested features

2 requests
  • Increase font size
  • Improve accessibility for screen readers

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
4 purchases

RadioLingo

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly Ad-Free Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Monthly Ad-Free Subscription.3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • 3-Month Ad-Free Subscription.3 Days trial$12.993 Months
Show 1 more
  • Annual Ad-Free Subscription.3 Days trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Babbel free?
Babbel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RadioLingo free?
RadioLingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Babbel or RadioLingo?
Babbel is rated higher. Babbel averages 4.7 out of 5 from 754K ratings, while RadioLingo averages 4.6 from 2K ratings.
Do Babbel or RadioLingo have ads?
Babbel shows ads; RadioLingo does not.
Which is updated more often, Babbel or RadioLingo?
Babbel ships an update every 4 days, and RadioLingo fortnightly. Most recently, Babbel was updated on September 24, 2026 and RadioLingo on September 23, 2026.

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