Comparison

Babbel vs Pocket Enigma

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. 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.

About

Pocket Enigma

Features
Read full description

Pocket Enigma puts a working World War II-era rotor-cipher simulator in your pocket. Choose the three-rotor M3 or four-rotor naval M4 machine, configure its daily key, and press the keys as you would on the original machine. Watch the moving rotors step, see the output lamp illuminate, and follow each letter through the complete electrical signal path. CONFIGURE THE MACHINE - Switch between M3 and M4 - Choose three different moving rotors from I through VIII - Select the stationary Beta or Gamma wheel in M4 - Use wide B/C reflectors in M3 or thin B/C reflectors in M4 - Set every rotor window and ring setting - Connect up to ten plugboard pairs FOLLOW THE SIGNAL Pocket Enigma shows plaintext and ciphertext in traditional five-letter groups. After each key press, open the signal trace to follow the letter through the plugboard, rotors, reflector, and return path. BUILT FOR EXPLORATION Machine settings are validated before they are applied and stored locally on your device. The simulator includes documented rotor turnover behaviour, including middle-rotor double stepping and the dual notches of rotors VI, VII, and VIII. Pocket Enigma works entirely offline. It has no account, advertising, analytics, or tracking. Pocket Enigma is an educational historical simulator. The Enigma cipher is obsolete and must not be used to protect real information. This app is not affiliated with or endorsed by any historical manufacturer, museum, or government agency.

Screenshots

Babbel4 screens
Pocket Enigma4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Babbel at Free against Pocket Enigma's $2.99. Babbel also leads on chart position (#13 vs unranked). Pocket Enigma's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On device support and iOS requirement 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

Babbel is free to download; Pocket Enigma costs $2.99 up front. Babbel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $17.99 per month. Pocket Enigma asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Babbel ships an update every 6 days, Pocket Enigma daily. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Babbel versus Pocket Enigma: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBabbelPocket Enigma
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (756K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews44.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings756K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscription—
Best chart rank#13 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size255 MB5 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperBabbel GmbHAnders Mørk-Pedersen

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

Pocket Enigma

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Pocket Enigma

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Babbel free?
Babbel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket Enigma free?
Pocket Enigma costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Babbel or Pocket Enigma have ads?
Babbel shows ads; Pocket Enigma does not.
Which is updated more often, Babbel or Pocket Enigma?
Babbel ships an update every 6 days, and Pocket Enigma daily. Most recently, Babbel was updated on October 18, 2026 and Pocket Enigma on October 6, 2026.

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