Comparison

FluentU vs Drops

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

Head to head
About

FluentU

Learn languages through engaging, real-world videos like movie trailers and music clips. Interactive subtitles and vocabulary tools make comprehension and speaking natural. Connect with culture while mastering a new language.

Highlights
  • Interactive video lessons
  • Real-world content
  • Tap-to-translate subtitles
  • Vocabulary review tools
  • Bilingual dictionary
  • Cultural immersion
Features
Read full description

Start your 2-week free trial of FluentU now! Cancel anytime. Tired of boring language learning textbooks? FluentU brings languages to life with real-world interactive videos! Learn to read and speak Spanish, French, English, Mandarin Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, Korean and Italian with FluentU. FluentU turns music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks into an amazing language learning experience. Experience an immersive education that teaches you to speak and comprehend new languages in a natural way. Now you can learn a new language while connecting with the culture. No matter what your skill level or interest, FluentU has you covered. FLUENTU FEATURES: LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE - Immerse yourself in a foreign language to understand how it’s used - Connect with the language through real-world videos - Quiz yourself on the vocabulary - Learn to speak the language instead of scripted phrases - Stay motivated to learn each day WATCH, LISTEN & LEARN - Put the textbooks away and learn from experience - Watch videos with subtitles and translations to learn the language - Tap on any word or phrase to learn its meaning - Add words to your vocabulary list for review - Listen to audio dialogues to gain an understanding of the language BILINGUAL DICTIONARY - Look up any word and see how it’s used in a sentence - Search content by title or grammar and vocabulary points AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: - Chinese (Mandarin) - English - French - German - Italian - Japanese - Korean - Russian - Spanish WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING "Great app. To my knowledge the best on the market. You created something unique and new!" - Felix Wedel "It is more helpful than any other tool I've used. I had been using podcasts before and trying to make flashcards, and that worked pretty well. But it ended up that I was spending more time making the flashcards than studying. FluentU really solves this." - David Brown "FluentU has quickly become one of my favorite language-learning tools. Great job on an aesthetically pleasing app and an incredibly functional one." - Justin Price "This concept in FluentU is amazing. It's such a great way to help you understand a spoken language and the way you break it down is amazing." - Demi Pradolin "This app is so fun and useful - the best Chinese language learning app I've ever used." - Richard Jun PLUS SUBSCRIPTION FluentU is available as a monthly ($29.99 for Plus) or yearly subscription ($239.99 for Plus). If you enjoy FluentU, do nothing and your membership will automatically continue for as long as you choose to remain a member. You can easily cancel anytime, online. Just sign up to get started! If you subscribe via iTunes: Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy policy: http://www.fluentu.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: http://www.fluentu.com/terms/

About

Drops

Learn new languages through engaging games and visual aids. Practice vocabulary and common phrases in over 55 languages, from beginner to expert levels. Track progress, unlock achievements, and enjoy professionally curated lessons with native speaker pronunciations.

Highlights
  • Gamified vocabulary learning
  • Visual learning aids
  • 55+ language options
  • Progress tracking and rewards
  • Native speaker pronunciations
  • Customizable learning goals
Read full description

Join over 50 million people who use Drops for free language lessons. It’s fast, fun, and easy! Practice vocabulary in Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, Chinese, German, English. Discover 55+ different new languages with Drops! Learn new languages while playing games. You can become fluent, learn vocabulary and common phrases in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi. Set goals, unlock achievements, and get rewards! • Become fluent in a foreign language with this language learning app • Learn to read characters and scripts from different alphabets like Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi • Custom illustrations for each vocabulary word makes it easy to remember • From beginner to expert levels, grow your foreign language vocabulary • A professionally curated vocabulary list with more than 3,000 words and phrases • Game-like language lessons that make language learning fun and effective • Level up! Track your progress and get rewards • Professional voice artists and sound design with correct dialect pronunciations • Learn to speak languages like Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English (British), English (American), French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish (Mexican), Spanish (European), Tagalog, Ainu, Arabic (Egyptian), American Sign Language (ASL), Basque, Bosnian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chti, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, Galician, Greek, Greenlandic, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Maori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Samoan, Sanskrit, Serbian, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and even Yoruba! "By focusing on visually appealing games and vocab, Drops aims to lower the barrier preventing users from exploring a new language and, ultimately, accessing the social and economic benefits knowing that language may provide." - TechCrunch We are featured by CNET, Forbes, VentureBeat and many other places too! Try Drops Premium with a 7 day free trial. Download the app to learn about different membership options, and register to learn all about exclusive discounts. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of Drops premium. Afterwards your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. You can cancel your subscription anytime, and you won't be charged in the next billing cycle. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html

Screenshots

FluentU4 screens
Drops4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Drops at free with in-app purchases against FluentU's subscription. Drops also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (75% vs 56%). FluentU's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. FluentU sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drops holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 2.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of FluentU's written reviews are positive against 75% of Drops's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FluentU ships an update fortnightly, Drops weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
FluentU versus Drops: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFluentUDrops
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (2.8K ratings)4.7 (72K ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.3% of reviews74.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.8K72K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank—#170 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size549 MB191 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperEnux Education LimitedPLANB LABS OU

Customer experience

FluentU

All ratings2,783 ratings
Positive83.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews1,067 reviews
Positive56.3%
Neutral9.0%
Negative34.7%

Drops

All ratings71,502 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews2,192 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative15.8%

User reviews

FluentU

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Engaging learning experience
  • 🎓 Effective for language learning
  • 👍 Variety of content and features
  • 💡 Innovative learning approach

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
  • 🔍 Lack of transparency around pricing and cancellation
  • 📱 Compatibility issues on mobile devices

Drops

From 72K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Vocabulary learning
  • 👍 Unique and engaging learning activities
  • 👍 Wide range of languages
  • 👍 Customizable learning experience
  • 👍 Effective for building vocabulary

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate translations or pronunciations
  • 🔒 Subscription model issues
  • 👎 Limited to vocabulary, lacks grammar/sentence structure
  • 👎 Repetitive and not enough variety in exercises

Bugs and requests

FluentU

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Subscription issues and unexpected charges
  • Syncing and login problems
  • Inconsistent performance across devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more language options
  • Improve user interface and navigation
  • Provide better guidance and progression for learners
  • Enhance audio and speech recognition capabilities

Drops

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login issues and lost progress
  • Crashes and performance problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more grammar and sentence-level learning
  • Improve accuracy of translations and pronunciations
  • Provide more flexibility in time limits and review sessions
  • Integrate more conversational practice
  • Improve user interface and navigation

In-app purchases

12 purchases

FluentU

Subscriptions12
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$17.991 Month
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$20.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$23.991 Month
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Month
  • FluentU Super Monthly14 Days trial$39.991 Month
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$71.991 Year
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$119.991 Year
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial$139.991 Year
  • FluentU Super Annual14 Days trial$199.991 Year
  • FluentU Plus14 Days trial2 variants$239.991 Year
13 purchases

Drops

Subscriptions12
  • Genius for a month$7.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Premium$14.991 Month
  • Curious for a month$22.991 Month
  • Holiday premium!$39.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$62.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • All Language Learning Plans7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlimited time for all Languages!$59.99

Questions

Is FluentU free?
FluentU is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, FluentU or Drops?
Drops is rated higher. FluentU averages 4.3 out of 5 from 2.8K ratings, while Drops averages 4.7 from 72K ratings.
Do FluentU or Drops have ads?
Drops shows ads; FluentU does not.
Which is updated more often, FluentU or Drops?
FluentU ships an update fortnightly, and Drops weekly. Most recently, FluentU was updated on September 22, 2026 and Drops on September 24, 2026.

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