Josh Hutcheson

QUICK VERDICT OUR RATING: 4 / 5 Bottom line: the most complete AI language product we have reviewed, and the most straightforwardly sold. Langua publishes a full price ladder, offers a real money-back guarantee, and does more than conversation practice. It is also the most expensive of the AI apps and by far the smallest

QUICK VERDICT OUR RATING: 3.5 / 5 Bottom line: a polished, genuinely likeable AI speaking app with strong independent ratings — whose central sales argument does not survive being checked. Praktika sells itself as “private-tutor results without the private-tutor price,” pricing a human tutor at ~$400 a month. Real tutors start at $5 an hour.

QUICK VERDICT OUR RATING: 3.5 / 5 Bottom line: a genuinely well-made speaking app with the best user ratings in its category — sold in a way we cannot recommend without a warning. Speak does not publish its price anywhere. Not on its website, not on the App Store listing, not in the Play Store

QUICK VERDICT OUR RATING: 3.8 / 5 Bottom line: a well-built speaking-practice app that does one job properly — getting you talking out loud without a person watching. Worth paying for only after you have proved you will actually use it, which the free tier lets you do at no cost. It loses points for

QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: there is no single best Duolingo alternative, because people leave Duolingo for five different reasons and each one has a different fix. Pick by the reason, not by the star rating. Can’t speak after 500 days: italki — real conversation, from $5 an hour Never understood the grammar: Babbel — $8.95/month

Last updated: August 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology. QUICK VERDICT Bottom line: AI language apps solve exactly one problem well — they give you unlimited, unembarrassing speaking practice for the price of a coffee a week. TalkPal is the pick for most people: it publishes its full price ladder,