Comparison

Drops vs EF Hello Speak

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

Head to head
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

About

EF Hello Speak

Practice English conversation with an AI tutor that provides instant feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and fluency. Engage in short, personalized lessons designed for real-life scenarios, helping you build confidence for work, study, or travel.

Highlights
  • AI English Tutor (Addi)
  • Real-time pronunciation and grammar feedback
  • Bite-sized 5-minute learning sessions
  • Personalized learning paths
  • Pronunciation Coach
  • Grammar Checker
  • Immersive listening exercises
Features
Read full description

On paper, you're great. Out loud, at speed, in a room full of people? That's the part nobody ever trained you for. So train it here first! Meet Addi, your AI language tutor. Addi builds a plan around the job you actually do and practices with you anytime, anywhere—until you speak up with confidence. YOUR PLAN, BUILT AROUND YOUR WORK Tell Addi your level, your goal and how much time you have. You get a path — what to practice today, what comes next — instead of a library to guess your way through. FIVE LANGUAGES, ONE TUTOR English, Spanish, French, German, Italian. Pick one and Addi builds your plan from there. FOR THE ROOM YOU'RE IN • Give the presentation — open strong, hold the room, handle the Q&A without freezing. • Write the email — say it directly and professionally, the first time. • Ace the interview — from "tell me about yourself" to the questions you ask back. • Run the meeting — disagree, interrupt politely, close the loop. PRACTICE OUT LOUD, 24/7 Addi is a patient tutor who never runs out of time. Role-play a real scenario over messages or in a live voice call, and get real-time feedback on pronunciation, grammar and fluency. No scheduling, no judgment, no waiting for a class to start. KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO FIX Every conversation ends with a score on pronunciation, fluency, grammar and how well you hit your goal — plus the exact lines you'd say better next time. "You're doing great" isn't feedback. This is. REAL VIDEO, REAL ACCENTS Watch short clips with subtitles and the key phrases pulled out, then practice saying them yourself. TEN MINUTES, OR THIRTY Commute, lunch break, before bed — one scenario takes ten minutes. Got a real block of time? Work through a full structured lesson: learn it, try it, then use it in conversation. AWARD-WINNING LANGUAGE LEARNING 2024 App Store Award Winner, rated 4.9 stars, and built on over 60 years of EF's language education expertise. TRY IT FREE FOR 7 DAYS Every feature unlocked, cancel anytime. Ten minutes a day is long enough to hear yourself say it. HERE TO HELP 24/7 Shake your phone inside the app or email efhello@ef.com, and we'll be there. Terms of Service: https://hello.ef.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://hello.ef.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Drops4 screens
EF Hello Speak4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: EF Hello Speak at none against Drops's shown. EF Hello Speak also leads on review sentiment (88% vs 75%) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). Drops's advantage is chart position (#160 vs unranked) and ratings volume (72K vs 9.4K). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and EF Hello Speak sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Drops against 4.8 for EF Hello Speak. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 9.4K, 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 88% of EF Hello Speak's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drops ships an update weekly, EF Hello Speak fortnightly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Drops versus EF Hello Speak: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDropsEF Hello Speak
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (72K ratings)4.8 (9.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.6% of reviews88.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings72K — better9.4K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterFortnightly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#160 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB125 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPLANB LABS OUSignum International AG

Customer experience

Drops

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

EF Hello Speak

All ratings9,401 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1,177 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral3.3%
Negative8.6%

User reviews

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

EF Hello Speak

From 9.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Engaging and easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive AI features
  • 💡 Practical real-life scenarios
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 👍 Helpful for improving language skills

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription required for full access
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance with voice recognition
  • 🐛 Inability to review past lessons
  • 🐛 Clunky interactions and meaningless quizzes
  • 🐛 Lack of language selection options

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

EF Hello Speak

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing issues when trying to access lessons
  • Inability to change language settings
  • Inconsistent behavior between app versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • More language options beyond English, Spanish, French, and German
  • Improved voice recognition and feedback
  • Better lesson review functionality
  • Customizable difficulty levels
  • Offline mode for lessons

In-app purchases

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
16 purchases

EF Hello Speak

Subscriptions16
  • 1 month access$9.991 Month
  • 3 months access$38.993 Months
  • 3 months premium$38.993 Months
Show 13 more
  • EF Hello Pro 3 Month Plan$39.993 Months
  • 6 months access$48.996 Months
  • Annual access$55.991 Year
  • Annual Pro access$55.991 Year
  • Annual premium$59.001 Year
  • EF Hello Pro Yearly Plan$79.991 Year
  • Learn Spanish: 1-year plan7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • 1 Year Access7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • 1 year Hello Pro$79.991 Year
  • 1 year access7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • 1 year premium7 Days trial$84.991 Year
  • EF Hello Pro Yearly Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year
  • EF Hello Pro Family Plan7 Days trial$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EF Hello Speak free?
EF Hello Speak is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drops or EF Hello Speak?
EF Hello Speak is rated higher. Drops averages 4.7 out of 5 from 72K ratings, while EF Hello Speak averages 4.8 from 9.4K ratings.
Do Drops or EF Hello Speak have ads?
Drops shows ads; EF Hello Speak does not.
Which is updated more often, Drops or EF Hello Speak?
Drops ships an update weekly, and EF Hello Speak fortnightly. Most recently, Drops was updated on September 24, 2026 and EF Hello Speak on September 24, 2026.

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