Babbel vs The Planet Speaks
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. 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: • 3 months • 6 months • 12 months • Lifetime 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.
The Planet Speaks
Learn new languages effectively with a scientifically proven spaced repetition system enhanced by machine learning. This app offers a diverse learning experience using visuals, audio, and video from native speakers to build strong connections to the content.
- Spaced repetition system with machine learning
- Audio and video from native speakers
- Over 70 hours of video content
- Covers 9 essential languages
- 5800+ essential words and phrases
- Privacy-focused data handling
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There is a myth that learning a new language is difficult. But that is not really true - with a little time and the proper tools, it is quite easy. The main problem with learning a new language is that people expect amazing results really quickly. This is a normal human desire, but it often distracts us from achieving good, retainable outcomes. The Planet Speaks - is a tool designed to provide solid learning results. We have specifically built our system to be as effective as possible by incorporating different learning methods. We start with a scientifically proven spaced repetition system. We push that system to the limits by using machine learning algorithms. The Planet Speaks app continuously monitors your answers, in order to generate the best lessons for you, and choose the words you need to learn. You will repeat words at the right time, and as frequently as you need, to really get a solid grasp of the lesson. It is widely known that you learn better when you have more connections to the content in different parts of your brain. You learn through visual images, audio presentation, how completely you are able to incorporate the content, and how often you are presented with material. Pronunciation of words, how they are used in phrases, even body movement - those factors all add to your learning efficiency. At The Planet Speaks, we utilize many different methods that your mind uses to learn - pictures, pronunciation or drawing, videos with native speakers, and so much more. We made the app that we would want to use to learn a new language. You will find: - 9 languages to learn - English, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, German. We are about to add more languages in future updates. - 5800+ most essential and frequently used words and phrases. We cover all topics that might occur in daily usage. - We provide audio and video for all words and phrases that are used in the lesson, spoken by real native speakers. You will have more than 70 hours of video for your learning experience. - This diverse learning system covers almost all of your senses, plus we have 10 additional exercises to reinforce your learning experience. - A spaced repetition system improved by machine learning, that will generate the right lessons for you. - Privacy - we don't collect and sell any of your data. It's just that simple. The Planet Speaks is a subscription-based app. You will be able to try it before you subscribe, with no commitments. We are a small team, and we are working hard to make a fair product that works well for you, and meets our teaching goals. We are open to any comments and suggestions. If you find a bug or something needs a correction, if you want to add some additional functionality in the app, if you want your language to be added, or if you just want to say Hi, please contact us. We are always happy to hear from you and meet new people. Contact us at hello@theplanetspeaks.com SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION The Planet Speaks - is a subscription based app. You will be able to try it before subscribing. We have 3 tiers that you can choose from - monthly, annually and quarterly. Prices are set according to your region and currency. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless it is cancelled at least 24-hours before the end of the current subscription period. Your account will be charged for renewal within the 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Automatic renewal will cost the same price you were initially charged for the subscription. You can turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. For more information, please visit: theplanetspeaks.app/privacy.html theplanetspeaks.app/terms.html https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: The Planet Speaks at 100% against Babbel's 44%. The Planet Speaks also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Babbel's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (757K vs 4). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and The Planet Speaks sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Babbel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 757K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Babbel's written reviews are positive against 100% of The Planet Speaks's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Babbel ships an update every 5 days, The Planet Speaks monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Babbel | The Planet Speaks |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (757K ratings) — better | 4.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 44.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 757K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 272 MB | 224 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Babbel GmbH | Alexey Demidov |
Customer experience
Babbel
The Planet Speaks
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
The Planet Speaks
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
The Planet Speaks
- Monthly$5.991 Month
- Quarterly$14.993 Months
- Annually$49.991 Year
Questions
Is Babbel free?
Is The Planet Speaks free?
Which has better reviews, Babbel or The Planet Speaks?
Do Babbel or The Planet Speaks have ads?
Which is updated more often, Babbel or The Planet Speaks?
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