Comparison

Drops vs Phrases

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

Phrases

Master a new language with engaging exercises and a smart learning algorithm. Offers ready-made or custom lessons, a built-in dictionary, and hands-free learning options. Track progress, earn rewards, and achieve fluency in just 20 minutes a day.

Highlights
  • 8 unique exercises
  • Customizable lessons
  • Built-in dictionary
  • Accurate pronunciations
  • Smart learning algorithm
  • Progress tracking and rewards
  • Hands-free and offline modes
Features
Read full description

Phrases - Your Ultimate Language Learning Companion! With over 10 years of experience, we've created an app that is motivational, easy to use, and built for your success. Do you want to master a new language quickly and confidently? Phrases is your best choice for learning English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian! Why Phrases is the best app: - 8 Unique Exercises: Master specific skills with short and fun lessons. - Ready-made & Custom Lessons: Learn with expert-created lessons or make your own. - Built-In Dictionary & Examples: Get instant translations and see word usage. - Accurate Pronunciations for all phrases. - Smart Learning Algorithm: Personalised training for faster learning. - Achievements & Statistics: Track progress, earn rewards and stay motivated. - Hands-Free Mode: Learn on the go while shopping, walking, or commuting. - Offline Mode: Study anywhere, even without the internet. - iCloud Sync: Learn across all your devices. - Unlock Your Potential in Just 20 Minutes a Day. Make the most of your free time with Phrases. Learn new phrases only 20 minutes a day and boost your language fluency. Improve your language skills. Engaging exercises make learning feel like play. Each session targets skills like listening, spelling, and speaking, while our smart algorithm helps you practice tricky phrases until you master them. Earn points, win rewards, and see your progress grow! Thematic Blocks. Tailor your learning to what's most relevant right now, from people, food, and health to nature, clothing, and money and many more. Superfood for Your Brain. Join millions of users who are improving their language skills and building strong learning habits. Phrases is your fastest path to a language fluency. Subscription Information The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, and the cost of the renewal will be provided. Subscriptions may be managed by the user. Auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s iTunes 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. Support: support@ulilab.com Site: https://ulilab.com Privacy policy: https://ulilab.com/privacy Terms of use: https://ulilab.com/terms

Screenshots

Drops4 screens
Phrases4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Phrases at none against Drops's shown. Drops's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (72K vs 140). On price, rating, review sentiment 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 Phrases sells 19 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. 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 4.6 for Phrases. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 140, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 75% and 75% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drops ships an update weekly, Phrases every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Drops versus Phrases: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDropsPhrases
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (72K ratings) — better4.6 (140 ratings)
Positive reviews74.6% of reviews74.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings72K — better140
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#149 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB199 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPLANB LABS OUAndrey Lebedev

Customer experience

Drops

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

Phrases

All ratings140 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral2.1%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews95 reviews
Positive74.7%
Neutral4.2%
Negative21.1%

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

Phrases

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
19 purchases

Phrases

Subscriptions18
  • Premium Plus$4.997 Days
  • Premium Plus3 Days trial$5.997 Days
  • Premium (English)$13.991 Month
Show 15 more
  • Premium (Spanish)$19.991 Year
  • Premium (English)$19.991 Year
  • Premium (German)$19.991 Year
  • Premium Plus2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Premium (English)2 variants$39.993 Months
  • Premium (Spanish)2 variants$39.993 Months
  • Premium (French)$39.991 Year
  • Premium (German)$39.991 Year
  • Premium Plus$47.991 Year
  • Premium (Russian)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium (German)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium (English)$79.991 Year
  • Premium (English)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium (Spanish)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium Plus7 Days trial$95.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Plus$129.99

Questions

Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Phrases free?
Phrases is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drops or Phrases?
Drops is rated higher. Drops averages 4.7 out of 5 from 72K ratings, while Phrases averages 4.6 from 140 ratings.
Do Drops or Phrases have ads?
Drops shows ads; Phrases does not.
Which is updated more often, Drops or Phrases?
Drops ships an update weekly, and Phrases every 2 months. Most recently, Drops was updated on September 25, 2026 and Phrases on September 24, 2026.

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