Duolingo alternatives for French: what each one offers

Duolingo alternatives are easy to find and hard to choose between, because each app is built to fix a different problem. This page reads Babbel, Busuu, Memrise and Pimsleur from their own pages, says what Duolingo does well, and matches each option to the reason you left. For free ways to study, see Learn French for free. For games, see French learning games. For a wider list, see French learning resources.

What are the best Duolingo alternatives for French?

There is no single best one. Each app below describes its own approach, and the right pick depends on what you want from French next. Everything in this section comes from the app’s own page, opened on 22 October 2026.

• Babbel calls itself a subscription app and lists French among its languages. It offers courses at Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels, and its page mentions grammar tips, speech recognition for pronunciation, dialogues and podcasts [3].
• Busuu says its lessons are short and that you can “connect with a community of native speakers”. It lists speaking practice with pronunciation feedback and a study plan [4].
• Memrise teaches with video clips of native speakers, so you hear how people talk “slang, speed, emotion and all”. It lists pronunciation, verb conjugation, sentence building and listening practice [5].
• Pimsleur is built around audio lessons: “Listen & learn in 30 minutes”, with hands-free use in the car through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also lists flash cards and a pronunciation feedback tool [6].

Is Duolingo good for French?

Duolingo is a reasonable place to start French, and its own page says why. It lists French among its courses and describes “quick, bite-sized lessons” where you “earn points and unlock new levels” [1]. It also says it uses “game-like features, fun challenges, and reminders from our friendly mascot” to make a language habit easy to form [1]. Its page says it teaches reading, writing, listening and speaking [1].

If the daily game is what keeps you coming back, that is a real strength, and an alternative that drops it may not suit you. The usual complaints about Duolingo are about specific parts of it, not the idea. Those parts are listed in the next section, and they are general observations, not measured figures.

Which app is like Duolingo but better for what you disliked?

Apps like Duolingo keep short lessons and a sense of progress, but change one thing. Start from the thing that bothered you.

Two cautions. First, each app lists its own features, and a feature on a page is not a promise about how it feels to use. Second, Babbel says you can try the first lesson of every course for free, and “up to 80 free lessons” depending on the language [3]. Busuu says “Learn for free” and Memrise says you can start free and that a paid plan unlocks extra features [4][5]. Pimsleur offers a free lesson and sells subscriptions [6]. Read the conditions in each app before you rely on “free”.

What is a good Duolingo French alternative if you need to speak?

Start with the apps that put speaking first on their own pages. Pimsleur is built on listening and answering aloud, and it lists real-time pronunciation feedback [6]. Busuu lists speaking practice with pronunciation feedback and a community of native speakers [4]. Memrise lists speaking practice alongside its native-speaker video [5]. Babbel lists speech recognition and conversation dialogues [3].

None of these replaces talking with a person. A lesson with a tutor or a conversation group gives you something an app cannot: someone answering you in real time. Treat an app as practice before that, not instead of it.

How many French words do you already know?

Before you switch apps, find out where you stand. A word count tells you what to study next. The free 3-minute word test asks you to pick the meaning of 24 French words and gives you a number out of the 4,000 most used. It is free and needs no account.

Try the quick check below first. These three words look like English and do not mean what you expect. Tap to hear the first one.

Say them aloud once: actuellement, demander, bonjour.

What is Lingwell?

Lingwell is a French app for iPhone, in early access through a waitlist. It opens with a three-minute check of how many French words you know. Then it brings you a few new words at a time, in small rounds with a short sentence for each. It keeps the streak, the points and the combos, so the game stays in. It is not in the App Store yet.

Learn French for real this time. Take the free 3-minute word test: how many French words do you already know? Or join the Lingwell waitlist.

Common mistakes

• Choosing by a ranking. Lists of Duolingo alternatives, including this one, put different apps first for different reasons. Choose by what you need next.
• Switching apps without naming the problem. If you freeze when you speak, a vocabulary app will not fix it. Name the missing skill first.
• Assuming “free” means the same everywhere. Each app limits free use in its own way [3][4][5][6].
• Treating an app as a replacement for people. Speaking with a person gives feedback no lesson can.
• Trusting an app’s page as a promise. A page describes features; what you experience depends on how you use it.
• Relying on this comparison without checking the dates. App pages change. Compare each app’s own page with the date at the top of this one.

See also: Duolingo French review and best language learning apps.

See also: Babbel vs Duolingo for French.

See also: the Lingwell learn French app.

Sources