These days, it seems so easy to learn a language. You Google to find the best language-learning app of the day, sign up, and dive into lessons.
But not every platform is right for you, and you may only find that out once you’ve paid for a subscription.
I’m a language-learning app tester and polyglot, and my latest expeditions included thoroughly testing out Babbel and Busuu to see how they stack up against each other.
If you’re curious, here’s my detailed and honest Busuu vs Babbel comparison.
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What Is Busuu?
Busuu was created in 2008 and its headquarters are in London, the U.K.
The language-learning platform is named after Busuu, an endangered language spoken in Cameroon.
Busuu differentiates itself from other language learning apps with its community feature, allowing learners to interact with native speakers for real-time feedback and conversational practice.
Additionally, it offers personalized study plans and grammar lessons, complemented by McGraw-Hill Education certification for certain languages, providing a more structured, classroom-like learning experience with a focus on practical language use.
Here are key facts about Busuu:
Learn your new language on the Busuu website or its Android or iOS mobile app.
The website is available in 15 languages.
More than 10 million language learners have downloaded the mobile app from Google Play.
Over 5.3 million people checked out the Busuu website in February 2024. (similarweb)
Most of the website traffic came from the United States, Brazil, and Poland.
With Busuu, you can:
Complete interactive lessons
Learn better with the AI-powered grammar trainer
Join the online community to improve fluency and pronunciation with insider language tips
Get certificates to show your progress
PROs
- Interactive lessons feature video clips of native speakers
- Compact lessons for flexible learning
- Clear explanations of vocabulary, grammar, and culture
- Certificates available for progress tracking
CONs
- Suitable mainly for beginners to intermediate learners
- No family plan; individual subscriptions required
- Community feature lacks quality control
- Primarily relies on translation and memorization
The Language-Learning Approach of Busuu
Busuu’s languages courses are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which is an internationally recognized standard.
The app wants you to take charge and fit learning a new language into your life. Experts created bite-sized lessons with video bites and checkpoint quizzes to help motivate you and achieve your goals by committing only a few minutes every day.
The Community feature is also there to help you learn more, and it’s an opportunity to ask questions about the language.
Busuu’s Target Audience
The main target audience of Busuu is beginner students. Most of the language courses cover content up to levels A1 and A2, but there are some courses that go further up to the B1 and B2 proficiency levels.
Pre-intermediate and intermediate students can also benefit by using Busuu to review their language skills.
What Is Babbel?
Babbel, officially called Babbel GmbH, was created in 2007. The company’s headquarters are located in Berlin, Germany.
Babbel distinguishes itself in the language learning app market by concentrating on real-world conversational skills, teaching through dialogues that reflect everyday situations and cultural contexts.
Its courses, crafted by linguistic experts, are structured and in-depth, offering a more traditional, lesson-based approach compared to the gamified style of some other apps.
Additionally, Babbel integrates speech recognition technology to refine pronunciation, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience that balances reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Here are key facts about Babbel:
You can learn on the website and the Android or iOS mobile app.
More than 50 million people have downloaded the mobile app, making Babbel a popular language-learning platform.
The website is available in 9 languages.
Nearly 11 million people visited Babbel’s website in February 2024.
Most of the website traffic comes from the United States, followed by Germany and Italy.
With Babbel, you can:
Complete interactive lessons, play games, listen to podcasts, watch videos, or enjoy live group classes
Download the free web browser, Toucan, to make every online search immersive
Set goals
Learn online and offline
PROs
- Interactive lessons with diverse learning resources
- Effective vocab review feature
- Audio recorded by native voice actors
- Structured language course with topic-specific lessons
CONs
- Subscriptions cover only one language
- Limited Asian language courses
- Lacks detailed grammar explanations
- Limited feedback on pronunciation
The Language-Learning Approach of Babbel
Babbel’s language courses align with CEFR, and 150+ experts designed the courses.
The app wants you to learn authentically, via native audio and real-world conversations, and with proven techniques so you can remember what you’ve learned.
Babbel’s Target Audience
Babbel’s main target audience are teens and adults who are beginner students. If you are at a pre-intermediate or intermediate level, you can use Babbel to revise what you’ve learned before and get some extra practice.
Busuu vs Babbel: Which Languages Can You Learn?
Babbel and Busuu offer 14 language courses. Here’s a breakdown of where they overlap and diverge:
Languages | Busuu | Babbel |
Arabic | Yes | No |
Chinese | Yes – Mandarin | No |
Danish | No | Yes |
Dutch | Yes | Yes |
English | Yes – British | Yes – British |
French | Yes | Yes |
German | Yes | Yes |
Indonesian | No | Yes |
Italian | Yes | Yes |
Japanese | Yes | No |
Korean | Yes | No |
Norwegian | No | Yes |
Polish | Yes | Yes |
Portuguese | Yes – Brazil | Yes – Brazil |
Russian | Yes | Yes |
Spanish | Yes – Europe | Yes – Europe & Latin America |
Turkish | Yes | Yes |
There’s quite an overlap of language courses between Busuu vs Babbel.
But Busuu is the better choice if you want to learn Arabic and Asian languages, while Babbel is best if you want to learn Scandinavian languages.
Price Comparison: Busuu vs Babbel
Babbel and Busuu cost about the same per month; however, you can do more with Busuu’s free plan.
Busuu
You can learn for free on Busuu, but you’ll have to watch an ad before every lesson.
There’s also a Premium subscription option, which:
Removes ads
Unlocks all the lessons so you can learn what you want
Gives you personalized practice and review
Provides quicker feedback from the community
Offers special Premium-only lessons
Issues certificates to prove your skills
Busuu’s Premium subscription (undiscounted) costs US$13.90 per month.
There are three subscription options to choose from:
Monthly, so you pay US$13.90 every month
6-monthly, so you pay a once-off US$83.40
Yearly, so you pay a once-off US$166.80
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Babbel
Babbel has a free-trial, so you can complete a couple of interactive lessons and 2 live group classes.
There are 2 main subscription options: Babbel Self-Study and Babbel Live.
Read more: How Much Does Babbel Cost?
The Babbel Self-Study subscription includes interactive lessons, videos, planning tools, and podcasts.
Without a discount, the Self-Study subscription costs US$13.95 per month, and you can only learn one language. Pay monthly or a once-off total every 3, 6, or 12 months.
The Lifetime subscription is pricey at an undiscounted US$599.99, but you get access to all of Babbel’s 14 language courses.
Babbel Live costs US$99.00 per month (not discounted), and you can pay a once-off total every 3, 6, or 12 months. You can also only learn one language.
The Live option includes everything in Babbel Self-Study, plus live group classes.
Excited to learn more? Explore my reviews listed below:
Busuu's Pros and Cons
Busuu
Pros
- There’s a freemium version.
- I liked the video clips of natives in the interactive lessons.
- The lessons are compact, so you can fit some language-learning into your day, no matter how busy you are.
- You can set personalized language goals.
- Get explanations of the target language’s vocab, grammar, and culture.
- You join a social community, so you don’t just learn a new language in a void.
- Get certificates to illustrate your progress in a target language; however, certification is only available for Spanish, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, and English and not formally recognized.
- The language courses are well structured.
Cons
- Only ideal for beginner, pre-intermediate, and intermediate students.
- The language of instruction is English, so if you want to learn Spanish as a Chinese native, you’re outta luck.
- It’s not clear what English the app teaches. Sometimes you see the American flag, while other times you see the U.K. flag.
- No family plan or family sharing, so you need a subscription for every person in your family.
- While the Community feature is great, you may not always get the answers you need and there’s no quality control.
- Not every lesson offers enough cultural context.
- Not every language course offers the same quality. For example, some features, like placement tests, are only available for some languages.
- No immersion in the language besides what the community feature can offer. So you mainly learn via translation and memorization, which isn’t ideal for most language students
Babbel
Pros
- Beginner students who are teens and adults will benefit the most.
- Access the free trial to test out the platform.
- Interactive lessons with various language-learning resources to keep you busy.
- Great vocab review feature.
- Mainly focuses on developing and improving your speaking and listening skills, so Babbel is a good option if you are traveling or need to communicate with locals ASAP.
- Native voice actors recorded the audio.
- Can learn via the interactive lessons and/or live group classes.
- Structured language course, and you can complete topic specific lessons.
Cons
- The subscription options are for one language only, so if you like learning many languages simultaneously, Babbel is expensive.
- Not suitable for upper-intermediate or advanced students.
- No Asian language courses, besides Indonesian.
- No detailed grammar explanations, but that may benefit some learners.
- Not ideal for kids, unless you want to hand-hold.
- No family plans.
- The mobile app doesn’t offer the same functionality as the website version does.
- No feedback on your pronunciation despite Babbel’s “state-of-the-art” speech recognition software.
- Not all the content is relevant to everyday life.
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Final Verdict: Which Language Learning App Is Worth It?
On surface level, Busuu and Babbel are very similar. They offer compact interactive lessons, 14 language courses, some free features, native audio, and structured language courses. Both apps are also ideally suited for beginners and don’t have family plans.
When you dive deeper, there are various factors that set Babbel and Busuu apart.
Busuu has an online Community feature, which is great if you like to interact with people. You can also learn Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
On the other hand, Babbel has more resources like the games, podcasts, and Toucan, and you can opt for live group classes. Babbel is also better if you want to learn Danish, Norwegian, and Indonesian.
Ultimately, only you know which app is right for you – and it helps that Busuu and Babbel offer free trials.
Happy learning!
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Disclaimer: I select and review independently. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions that help support my testing at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.
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