Drops vs italki
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Gamified vocabulary learning
- Visual learning aids
- 55+ language options
- Progress tracking and rewards
- Native speaker pronunciations
- Customizable learning goals
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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
italki
Connect with qualified native teachers for personalized language lessons. Learn Spanish, English, French, and over 150 other languages at your own pace and schedule. Practice conversation, master grammar, and immerse yourself in new cultures.
- Private tutoring with native teachers
- Learn over 150 languages
- Customizable lesson plans
- Flexible class scheduling
- Pay-as-you-go pricing
- Video call tutoring
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Start learning or keep improving your Spanish, English, French or any other language with private tutoring, thanks to qualified native teachers. With italki, enjoy an immersive learning experience with native teachers, and learn Spanish, French or any other language by sharing a real and human connection with your teacher. Do you want to learn a new language? Would you like to study English with a native teacher? You speak a bit of French and you’re not sure how to keep on learning? Language academies don’t fit your schedule? Download italki, register for free and learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and more languages. Customize the way you learn languages; connect with native teachers according to your interests, work experience, etc. In italki you’ll find qualified language teachers to learn the language you like best (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean…). Make the most of this opportunity to learn languages, practice your conversation skills, get to know new cultures and grow professionally. Aside from the italki’s community’s support, video call tutoring with native teachers is the best tool for you to learn a language. italki, the app to learn languages with tutoring More than 150 languages available with native teachers - Spanish - English - French - Japanese - Korean - German … and much more! ◉ Language classes where and when you want Do you want to make the most of your lunch break at work or your daily walk to learn Spanish? Choose the class duration (30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes) and adjust it to your schedule. Use italki Classroom, Skype, Zoom or another platform for your online language classes and start speaking the language you always wanted to learn, or practice the languages you want to get better at. ◉ Master the language skills you need the most italki's qualified teachers tailor their language classes to your current level (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2). They will build every lesson based on your personal needs and weaknesses, to ensure you progress fast. Choose a course that fits your priorities: conversation, business, grammar, creative writing, exam preparation… You have lots of options available for each language! ◉ Pay as you go Forget about paying a lot without knowing if you’ll be able to attend all the classes. With italki, you pay per class. You can also buy credits to spend them little by little or buy a package and save on the final price. Educators set their own prices, from less than $10 for qualified teachers to less than $5 for tutors. You also have three classes for less than $5 each to try, so you can make sure it’s right for you! ◉ An immersive learning experience Learn and exchange with native teachers who will teach you everything you need to know about the language and its culture, and with whom you can create a real human connection, far beyond mechanical language learning. Whether you want to learn Spanish, English, Japanese or any other language, progress quickly with a total immersion. ◉ Connect with thousands of native teachers Find Spanish, English, French, Japanese, German, Italian and Korean teachers, and teachers of many more languages. Choose your teacher according to their interests, specialization, or even their accent: British or American English, to learn English and any other language you need. Some teachers use language-teaching materials in their tutoring classes, such as books, videos, cards, etc. ◉ Learning together with your friend Invite your friends to join italki to study a language, and earn $10 every time one of them spends their first $20. They will also earn $5 for adding you as their referrer. Study online, learn languages with native tutors in italki and expand your world. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Drops at #137 against italki's unranked. Drops also leads on ratings volume (72K vs 9.8K). italki's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and italki sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Drops against 4.8 for italki. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 9.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Drops's written reviews are positive against 68% of italki's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drops | italki |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (72K ratings) | 4.8 (9.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.7% of reviews — better | 67.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 72K — better | 9.8K |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #137 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 191 MB | 307 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PLANB LABS OU | italki HK Limited |
Customer experience
Drops
italki
User reviews
Drops
From 72K App Store ratingsWhat 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
italki
From 9.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great platform to connect with native speakers
- 🚀 Flexible scheduling and easy to use
- 💰 Affordable lessons
- 🎓 Helpful for improving language skills
- 🤝 Positive learning experience with great teachers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy app with glitches and connectivity issues
- 💳 Concerns about pricing changes and fees
- 🕰️ Unreliable teachers who cancel or don't show up
- 🤖 Poor customer service and lack of support
- 📆 Difficulty with scheduling and calendar integration
Bugs and requests
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
italki
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes and freezes
- Inaccurate teacher availability information
- Issues with login and account management
- Problems with video/audio quality during lessons
- Syncing and integration problems with other platforms
Requested features
5 requests- Improved calendar and scheduling functionality
- Better notification system for lessons
- Ability to search for and connect with language partners
- More transparency around teacher availability and cancellations
- Streamlined payment and refund process
In-app purchases
Drops
- Genius for a month$7.991 Month
- Premium$9.991 Month
- Premium$11.991 Month
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- 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
- Unlimited time for all Languages!$59.99
italki
- italki Plus - 1 Month$5.991 Month
- Plus Monthly Plan with Trial1 Month trial$5.991 Month
- italki Plus - 1 Year$59.991 Year
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- Plus Yearly Plan with Trial1 Month trial$59.991 Year








