Babbel and Pimsleur are both paid, both well made, and both aimed at adults who want to speak. The difference is where you learn. Babbel happens on a screen: you read, tap, type and speak in short bursts, with grammar explained. Pimsleur happens in your ears: thirty minutes of listening and answering out loud, often without looking at anything. If you have a commute, Pimsleur. If you have ten minutes at a desk and want to understand the rules, Babbel.
A disclosure: I built PrettyFluent, which I mention at the end. I've used both of these apps for over a year each, and I'll say where each app is the better pick. Features and pricing were checked on each company's site on the date at the top; prices vary by country.
The short answer
| If you want... | Pick |
|---|---|
| Grammar explained | Babbel |
| Reading and writing | Babbel |
| Short sessions | Babbel |
| To speak from lesson one | Pimsleur |
| Hands-free, in the car or on a walk | Pimsleur |
| Asian languages | Pimsleur |
How Pimsleur works
Pimsleur's core is 30-minute audio lessons. You hear a phrase, you're prompted to say it, and older material comes back at spaced intervals. You're speaking out loud every few seconds. It covers 51 languages, works offline and with CarPlay and Android Auto, and the app adds reading lessons, flashcards and a Voice Coach AI. There's a 7-day free trial, then a subscription for one language or All Access for all of them (up to four people).
Falls short on: it's slow for reading and writing, it doesn't explain much grammar, and it moves in a fixed order.
How Babbel works
Babbel is 5 to 10 minute lessons built around situations, with grammar explained in English, speech recognition, and Babbel Speak, an AI conversation partner that's still in beta for a few languages. Around 14 languages, mostly European. It's a subscription, with the first lesson of each course free, and Babbel Live classes at extra cost.
Falls short on: most of your time is on-screen exercises, so speaking gets less practice than it does in Pimsleur.
Which one gets you speaking?
Pimsleur, clearly. The method is built on making you produce the language out loud, over and over, before you've seen it written. Babbel includes speaking, but it's one exercise type among many.
The catch is that Pimsleur's phrases come in its order, not yours. I've found that what moves my speaking forward is rehearsing the conversation I'm about to have: at language meetups, the sessions that helped were the ones I'd prepared for. General speaking practice builds the muscle; specific rehearsal gets you through the day.
Side by side
| Babbel | Pimsleur | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | On screen | Audio, hands-free |
| Lesson length | 5 to 10 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Grammar | Explained | Mostly absorbed |
| Speaking | Exercises, AI partner | Constant, the core of the method |
| Languages | About 14 | 51 |
| Free option | First lesson of each course | 7-day trial |
Which should you choose?
Pick Pimsleur if you drive, commute or walk a lot and speaking matters more than reading. It's also the better choice for Japanese, Mandarin or Korean, which Babbel doesn't teach.
Pick Babbel if you like to understand the rules, only have short gaps in your day, or want to read and write as well.
Many people use both, and it's a good pairing. It's how I used them: Babbel at my desk for the structure, Pimsleur on long walks to get the words out of my mouth. That combination did more than either one on its own.
Where PrettyFluent fits (ours)
PrettyFluent is the rehearsal part: one real situation per lesson, with native audio, practised as a spoken roleplay until you can do both sides without thinking.
In the French lesson on telling your landlord the hot water is broken, you open with Bonjour, j'ai un petit problème à l'appartement., explain L'eau chaude ne marche plus depuis ce matin. (The hot water hasn't worked since this morning.), and practise answering the landlord's follow-up questions. That's not a conversation any general course gets to, and it's one you'll have.
It covers French, Spanish, Italian, German, European Portuguese, Japanese and Mandarin, on iPhone and iPad. Pricing is from $8.99 a month on the web, or $13.95 a month in the App Store. It isn't a complete course, so use it next to Babbel or Pimsleur.
