Comparison

Drops vs Citizen Science

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

Citizen Science

Contribute to real scientific research by easily entering data for various surveys. Participate in projects like snow depth measurement or storm assessment, with your submissions visible on a dedicated website. This platform facilitates public involvement in scientific discovery and data collection.

Highlights
  • Public data entry for scientific surveys
  • Variety of seasonal and year-round projects
  • View submissions on the Citizen Science website
  • Data usable by professional and amateur researchers
  • Surveys can be restricted to specific user groups
  • Data accessible via comprehensive API
Features
Read full description

NIWA Citizen Science App Citizen science projects allow members of the public to work on important scientific research. NIWA’s new Citizen Science App makes this easier than ever by enabling simple data entry for science surveys. How does the App work? When a researcher creates a citizen science survey, it is immediately available, through the Citizen Science App. Users can choose from a variety of surveys. Some, such as snow depth or storm assessment, will come and go during the year - others will remain year-round. Once surveys are completed, users can see their submissions on the Citizen Science website. Other research groups – professional or amateur – can also use this data for other scientific projects. Surveys can be restricted to specific user groups if required. As the data set grows it will become a useful tool for scientists all over the country through NIWA’s comprehensive API. If you're interested in finding out more, please email citizenscience@niwa.co.nz.

Screenshots

Drops4 screens
Citizen Science3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drops at 75% against Citizen Science's 0%. Drops also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 4 months) and chart position (#128 vs unranked). Citizen Science's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Citizen Science asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drops ships an update every 8 days, Citizen Science every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Drops versus Citizen Science: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDropsCitizen Science
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (72K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews74.7% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings72K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#128 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size198 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPLANB LABS OUNEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE FOR EARTH SCIENCE LIMITED

Customer experience

Drops

All ratings71,671 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews2,236 reviews
Positive74.7%
Neutral9.6%
Negative15.7%

Citizen Science

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

Citizen Science

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Citizen Science

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Citizen Science free?
Citizen Science is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Drops or Citizen Science have ads?
Drops shows ads; Citizen Science does not.
Which is updated more often, Drops or Citizen Science?
Drops ships an update every 8 days, and Citizen Science every 4 months. Most recently, Drops was updated on October 19, 2026 and Citizen Science on October 16, 2026.

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