Babbel vs Russian
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.
Russian
Master Russian pronunciation and fluency with extensive audio and video lessons. Practice speaking by listening to native speakers and recording your own voice, with progress tracking and engaging mini-games to reinforce learning.
- Over 9999 sentences and phrases
- Video and audio lessons
- Native speaker pronunciation practice
- Speech recording and comparison
- Progress tracking tools
- Interactive mini-games
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Russian - Listening Speaking is the ultimate language learning app designed to help you speak Russian confidently and fluently through video and audio lessons. With Russian Speak & Listen, you have access to a vast collection of familiar Russian phrases, featuring over 9999 sentences and phrases covering various categories and relevant topics. Our app provides an easy and effective method for you to become a native Russian speaker. Simply listen and repeat, and then record your speech to compare it with the app's native Russian speakers. Repeat this process over and over again while tracking your progress with our supported tools, and you'll see the difference in just a few days. Russian - Listening Speaking offers a range of features, including playing entire conversations subject-by-subject with both male and female voices, replaying conversations as many times as you like, and recording and replaying your own speech. We also offer several mini-games that help you to remember what you have learned and make learning fun. Our app is designed for anyone who wants to improve their Russian skills quickly and effectively. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, our dynamic and immersive approach to language learning is perfect for you. Plus, with our convenient and interactive platform, you can access our audio and video lessons from anywhere, anytime, so you can practice and improve your Russian skills at your own pace. Russian - Listening Speaking is completely free, and we take full responsibility if you become addicted to vocabulary learning from our app. If you like our app, please help others find it by introducing it to everyone around you. We also appreciate your feedback. Features: - Over 9999 sentences and phrases covering various categories and relevant topics - Video and audio lessons - Listening and speaking practice with native Russian speakers - Recording and replaying your own speech - Mini-games to help you remember what you've learned Designed for: - Beginners to advanced Russian learners - Anyone who wants to improve their Russian skills quickly and effectively Privacy Policy: https://api.ivoca.io/public_static/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://api.ivoca.io/public_static/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Babbel at 44% against Russian's 0%. Babbel also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (757K vs 2). Russian's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month and Russian 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 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Babbel has 757K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of Babbel's written reviews are positive against 0% of Russian's.
Babbel ships an update every 5 days, Russian every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Babbel | Russian |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (757K ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 44.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 757K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #11 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.5 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 272 MB | 222 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Babbel GmbH | Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hang |
Customer experience
Babbel
Russian
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
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
Russian
- Premium Monthy Upgrade$5.991 Month
- Premium Yearly Upgrade$29.991 Year
- Premium Lifetime Upgrade$79.99
Questions
Is Babbel free?
Is Russian free?
Which has better reviews, Babbel or Russian?
Do Babbel or Russian have ads?
Which is updated more often, Babbel or Russian?
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