# Babbel vs Spanish ー Listening・Speaking

The clearest difference is update cadence: Babbel at every 5 days against Spanish ー Listening・Speaking's every 2 months. Babbel also leads on ratings volume (758K vs 42) and chart position (#14 vs unranked). Spanish ー Listening・Speaking's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 44%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Babbel sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and Spanish ー Listening・Speaking sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Babbel holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 758K ratings behind it against 42, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 44% of Babbel's written reviews are positive against 67% of Spanish ー Listening・Speaking'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, Spanish ー Listening・Speaking every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Babbel | Spanish ー Listening・Speaking |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (758K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/babbel-language-learning/id829587759/reviews)** | [4.5 (42 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spanish-listeningspeaking/id1482588636/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **758K** | 42 |
| Positive reviews | 44.1% of reviews | **66.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 days** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#14** | — |
| Size | 301 MB | 125 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 12+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Babbel GmbH](https://appshunter.io/developer/357018535) | [Ha Ho](https://appshunter.io/developer/1474321556) |

## What reviewers say

### Babbel

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

**Currently charting:** #14 Top Grossing · Education, #39 Top Free · Education (US App Store)

Learn a new language through real-life conversations and bite-sized lessons. This award-winning app, built by language experts, offers courses tailored to your native tongue and features an AI conversation partner for pronunciation practice. Start speaking in as little as 3 weeks.

**Highlights:** Tailored courses for native speakers, Real-life conversation practice, AI conversation partner with feedback, Bite-sized lessons (10 mins/day), Grammar explained in context, Offline mode, Smart review system

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| 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 – 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 |
| 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


### Spanish ー Listening・Speaking

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spanish-listeningspeaking/id1482588636)

Master Spanish speaking and listening with daily dialogues and interactive lessons. Imitate native speakers to improve pronunciation, intonation, and vocabulary. Suitable for all levels, from beginner to advanced, with features like transcripts, translations, and practice games.

**Highlights:** 750+ daily Spanish dialogues, Native speaker audio and scripts, Show/hide transcript and translation, Sentence highlighting with audio, Playlist mode for passive learning, Sentence completion practice game, Learn through news and stories

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (6)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $7.99 | per month |
| Annual | $59.99 | per year |
| Upgrade to Silver package | $4.99 | one-time |
| Buy PRO version | $9.99 | one-time |
| Upgrade to Gold package | $12.99 | one-time |
| Upgrade to platinum package | $24.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Babbel free?

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

### Is Spanish ー Listening・Speaking free?

Spanish ー Listening・Speaking is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Babbel or Spanish ー Listening・Speaking?

Babbel is rated higher. Babbel averages 4.7 out of 5 from 758K ratings, while Spanish ー Listening・Speaking averages 4.5 from 42 ratings.

### Do Babbel or Spanish ー Listening・Speaking have ads?

Both Babbel and Spanish ー Listening・Speaking show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Babbel or Spanish ー Listening・Speaking?

Babbel ships an update every 5 days, and Spanish ー Listening・Speaking every 2 months. Most recently, Babbel was updated on November 5, 2026 and Spanish ー Listening・Speaking on November 3, 2026.

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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.*