Comparison

NAWL Builder vs LanGeek | Learn Languages

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NAWL Builder

This app helps English language learners master academic vocabulary using the New Academic Word List (NAWL). It provides tools for downloading, organizing, and studying words with definitions, pronunciation, and progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Study tools for NAWL words
  • Download and organize word lists
  • Progress tracking
  • Email progress reports
  • Native English pronunciation
  • Simple English definitions
Features
Read full description

NAWL Builder: This application is designed to help learners and teachers make use of one of the most important lists of academic vocabulary words for second language learners of English, the New Academic Word List (NAWL). The list is open source and is used with permission of the authors. The app contains simple tools to help you download, email and organize the NAWL, as well as science-based study tools to quickly and efficiently learn the words, keep detailed record of your progress and the ability to email your progress to yourself or a teacher. The original definitions are written in simple English and the app also give you pronunciation of each word by a professional voice talent who is a native speaker of English of North American English. About the NAWL: The first version of the New Academic Word List (NAWL 1.0), published by Dr. Charles Browne, Dr. Brent Culligan is finished and available at the following link (www.newgeneralservicelist.org). The list is available in alphabetical order, with inflected forms, and with Standard Frequency Indices (Carroll, Davies, & Richman, 1971; Carroll, 1971). How many words are in the NAWL? The NAWL is a list of 963 words derived from an academic corpus containing about 288 million words. What are the components used in building the corpus? The first major component of the corpus is the Cambridge English Corpus. This corpus is comprised of academic journals and non-fiction, student essays, and academic discourse. According to Cambridge English Corpus website, the corpus includes “text from academic books and journals from the UK and US covering a wide range of disciplines and topics.” This part of the Corpus contained about 249 million words and yielded a single word list with frequencies. The rest of the corpus was assembled from other sources. The oral part of the corpus used was compiled from two corpora of spoken English, the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE), and the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus. These corpora were put together and re-sorted into four categories, namely Arts and Humanities, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Physical Sciences, giving four separated word lists and frequencies. The third and final part, Textbooks, was assembled from a corpus of published textbooks including many of the top 100 best-selling textbooks. The textbooks were also divided into the same four categories as the spoken English corpus and generated four word lists with frequencies. The steps to get the list were as follows. The final corpus was analyzed using procedures outlined in Carroll, Davies, and Richman (1971) and Carroll (1971) to obtain D, an index of dispersion over the nine word lists, U, an adjusted estimation of the occurrence of the word frequency per million, and the SFI, the Standard Frequency Index. The words from the New General Service List (NGSL) were accounted for and a list of candidates was selected based on frequency, dispersion, and appropriateness. About Intelligent Flashcards: The app also contains an Intelligent Wordlist Maker and Intelligent Flashcard system. The Intelligent Wordlist Maker helps you to quickly and efficiently pick only the words you don’t know for study in the flashcard system. Rather than force you to go through the entire list at once, Intelligent Wordlist Maker guides you through the list by frequency bands, allowing you to add words little by little, just as you need them or when you have time. Based on the well documented science of “spaced-repetition”, the Intelligent Flashcard system systematically and efficiently helps you to review the words several times over a period of a month, giving you extra time with the words that are giving you difficulty. References Carroll, J. B. (1971). Statistical analysis of the corpus. In The American Heritage Word Frequency Book (pp. xxi – xl). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

About

LanGeek | Learn Languages

Master English with interactive lessons, personalized learning paths, and extensive vocabulary and grammar resources. Improve pronunciation, reading comprehension, and speaking fluency with tools like flashcards and spaced repetition.

Highlights
  • CEFR aligned vocabulary lists
  • Topical and function-based vocabulary
  • Idioms, phrasal verbs, and collocations
  • Grammar rules from basic to complex
  • Pronunciation exercises
  • Reading comprehension texts
  • Flashcards and spaced repetition
Features
Read full description

LanGeek is a complete language learning app that helps you learn vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and reading through structured lessons and smart practice tools. Learn English, Spanish, French, and German in one app. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, LanGeek gives you clear content, organized wordlists, visual learning tools, and interactive exercises to make language learning easier and more effective. LEARN VOCABULARY Study thousands of words and expressions organized by level, topic, frequency, function, and learning goal. Depending on the language and available content, you can explore: • CEFR-based vocabulary from beginner to advanced levels • Topic-based wordlists for daily life, work, travel, school, and more • Common words and useful expressions • Academic and test-preparation vocabulary • Coursebook-based vocabulary lists • Idioms, phrasal verbs, collocations, slang, and proverbs Each vocabulary entry may include clear definitions, translations, natural examples, images, audio pronunciation, word forms, grammar details, usage notes, and related words. PRACTICE WITH SMART TOOLS LanGeek helps you review and remember what you learn with: • Word Review • Flashcards • Spelling exercises • Quizzes • Pronunciation practice • Grammar-form exercises These tools help you practice meaning, spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and usage together. VISUAL PICTURE DICTIONARY Learn words faster with images, examples, pronunciation, translations, and study tools. LanGeek’s Picture Dictionary helps you connect words to meaning and remember vocabulary more easily. GRAMMAR LESSONS Study grammar with simple explanations, examples, visuals, and quizzes. Learn sentence structure, parts of speech, tenses, verb forms, word order, and other grammar topics depending on your target language. PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE Listen to audio pronunciation, practice saying words, and improve your speaking confidence. LanGeek helps you connect written words with spoken language through audio examples and pronunciation-focused exercises. READING PRACTICE Improve reading comprehension with texts organized by level and topic. Learn vocabulary in context, review grammar naturally, and check your understanding as you read. DAILY WORDS AND REVIEW Use Daily Words and spaced repetition to review vocabulary at the right time and remember it for longer. PERSONAL WORDLISTS Save important words, create your own wordlists, bookmark content, and build a vocabulary collection that matches your goals. OFFLINE LEARNING Download available content in the mobile app and keep learning without an internet connection. Study vocabulary, flashcards, quizzes, images, examples, translations, and audio offline when available. PROGRESS TRACKING Stay motivated with learning stats, study streaks, achievements, saved content, and progress sync between mobile and web. WHY LANGEEK? • Learn English, Spanish, French, and German • Study vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, reading, and expressions • Use CEFR-based, topic-based, frequency-based, and goal-based wordlists • Learn with images, examples, audio, definitions, and translations • Practice with review, flashcards, spelling, quizzes, and pronunciation tools • Build personal wordlists and save useful content • Review with Daily Words and spaced repetition • Study online or offline • Sync your progress across devices Download LanGeek and make language learning clearer, smarter, and easier every day. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://langeek.co/en/privacy-policy

Screenshots

NAWL Builder4 screens
LanGeek | Learn Languages4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NAWL Builder at none against LanGeek | Learn Languages's 3. NAWL Builder also leads on iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.6). LanGeek | Learn Languages's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (528 vs 4). On price, rating, ads 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. LanGeek | Learn Languages sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. NAWL Builder asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for NAWL Builder against 4.9 for LanGeek | Learn Languages. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LanGeek | Learn Languages has 528 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NAWL Builder ships an update every 8 months, LanGeek | Learn Languages every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
NAWL Builder versus LanGeek | Learn Languages: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNAWL BuilderLanGeek | Learn Languages
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better4.9 (528 ratings)
Positive reviews—95.3% of reviews
Number of ratings4528 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS7.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEFL TechnologiesMohammed Ridha Al Rubaye

Customer experience

NAWL Builder

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

LanGeek | Learn Languages

All ratings514 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews254 reviews
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.2%
Negative3.5%

Bugs and requests

NAWL Builder

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

LanGeek | Learn Languages

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Internal server errors
  • Sections not functioning properly after updates
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add British accent
  • Implement Leitner system for flashcards
  • Integrate AI-powered sentence generation and word meaning exploration
  • Add more language support, especially for native languages of users
  • Introduce customizable word lists and learning history tracking

In-app purchases

None

NAWL Builder

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

LanGeek | Learn Languages

Subscriptions1
  • Yearly Premium Subscription2 variants$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • LanGeek Lifetime Premium$44.99

Questions

Is NAWL Builder free?
NAWL Builder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LanGeek | Learn Languages free?
LanGeek | Learn Languages is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NAWL Builder or LanGeek | Learn Languages?
NAWL Builder is rated higher. NAWL Builder averages 5.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while LanGeek | Learn Languages averages 4.9 from 528 ratings.
Do NAWL Builder or LanGeek | Learn Languages have ads?
Neither NAWL Builder nor LanGeek | Learn Languages shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NAWL Builder or LanGeek | Learn Languages?
NAWL Builder ships an update every 8 months, and LanGeek | Learn Languages every 3 weeks. Most recently, NAWL Builder was updated on October 24, 2026 and LanGeek | Learn Languages on October 30, 2026.

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