Busuu
Language lessons with feedback from native speakers in the community.
🇸🇦🇨🇳🇳🇱🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇹🇯🇵🇰🇷🇵🇱🇵🇹🇷🇺🇪🇸🇹🇷
- languages to learn
- 14
- registered users
- 120M+
- countries
- 160
- organisations on Busuu for Business
- 600+
About Busuu
Busuu is a London language learning app founded in Madrid in 2008 and owned by Chegg since 2022. It teaches 14 languages in lessons of 3 to 5 minutes, and native speakers in the community correct your exercises. All courses are free with ads. Premium costs from €4.83 a month on the 12-month plan, Premium Plus with AI conversations from €5.83. Companies buy Busuu for Business with live lessons and industry courses.
Busuu teaches languages in short lessons in an app and on the web. Lessons follow the CEFR scale, and each chapter ends with a checkpoint.
Learners send written and spoken exercises to the community, and native speakers of that language correct them. The company took its name from an endangered language of Cameroon.
Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti started Busuu in Madrid as the final project of their MBA at IE Business School. The headquarters moved to London in 2012. In January 2022 Chegg bought the company, and since 2025 Chegg reports it inside its Chegg Skilling unit.
History
- 2008 Bernhard Niesner and Adrian Hilti found Busuu in Madrid.
- 2009 Introduces a paid Premium membership.
- 2010 Releases the iPhone app in September.
- 2012 Raises a €3.5 million Series A and moves the headquarters to London.
- 2015 Raises a €6 million Series B led by McGraw-Hill Education.
- 2016 Launches a plan for companies and publishes a study with City University of New York.
- 2020 Buys Verbling, a video tutoring platform, and adds live lessons.
- 2022 Chegg completes the purchase of Busuu, announced at about $436 million in cash.
- 2023 Co-founder Bernhard Niesner steps down as CEO.
- 2024 Adds AI Speaking Practice in June and AI Conversations in October.
- 2025 Chegg ends its strategic review and keeps Busuu as a focus of Chegg Skilling.
- 2026 Karine Allouche becomes General Manager in February. In September Busuu presents a workplace version with AI coaching and tutors.
Busuu funding and investors
over €13.5 million raised in disclosed rounds
- 2011
- October 2012
- 2013
- July 2015
Sum of disclosed amounts: the €3.5 million Series A, €4 million from SevenVentures and the €6 million Series B. The 2011 angel round was under €1 million. In 2022 Chegg bought the company in a deal announced at about $436 million.
Leadership
- KA Karine Allouche General Manager, Language Learning
- BN Bernhard Niesner Co-founder, CEO until 2023
- AH Adrian Hilti Co-founder
Karine Allouche joined in February 2026 from Coursera, where she ran the enterprise business, and earlier led GlobalEnglish as CEO. Busuu has been part of Chegg since January 2022.
How Busuu teaches
- per lesson
- 3–5 min
- CEFR levels in English, French, German and Spanish
- A1–C1
- a day in a Study Plan
- 5–30 min
- Corrections from native speakers
- Vocabulary Review with spaced repetition
- Grammar Review (Premium)
- Offline mode (Premium)
- Certificates (Premium)
- AI Conversations (Premium Plus)
- Pronunciation feedback (Premium Plus)
- Study Plan (Premium Plus)
- Checkpoint after every chapter
- Placement test for 8 languages
In a 2016 study by researchers from City University of New York and the University of South Carolina, 22 hours of Busuu Premium equalled one college semester of Spanish. 196 beginners in London and New York took part.
Busuu languages: 14 to learn
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Dutch
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Turkish
Levels by language, CEFR scale
| Language | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 | C2 | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | C1 | ||||||
| French | C1 | ||||||
| German | C1 | ||||||
| Spanish | C1 | ||||||
| Arabic | B2 | ||||||
| Chinese | B2 | ||||||
| Dutch | B2 | ||||||
| Italian | B2 | ||||||
| Japanese | B2 | ||||||
| Polish | B2 | ||||||
| Portuguese | B2 | ||||||
| Russian | B2 | ||||||
| Turkish | B2 | ||||||
| Korean | A2 |
Course levels from the Busuu help center, 6 October 2026. Premium adds certificates, and they do not always reach the course level: German certificates stop at B2, Japanese at B1, Chinese and Russian at A1. A 5-minute placement test is available for Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
Video, blogs and resources
Products
- Busuu app Lessons of 3 to 5 minutes in 14 languages, with grammar and vocabulary review, on iPhone, Android and the web. Open busuu.com
- Community Learners send written and spoken exercises, and native speakers correct them. Free for every account. How corrections work
- AI Conversations Role-play dialogues with generative AI in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. A few free tries, then Premium Plus. Read about Conversations
- Live Lessons Private and group lessons of 45 minutes with tutors, up to 5 learners in a group. Only on business accounts. Read the help article
- Busuu for Business Language training for teams with workplace modules and industry courses for retail, nursing, logistics, healthcare and hospitality. business.busuu.com
How much is Busuu?
- Premium, 1 month €9.69/mo €9.69, charged every month Base monthly price
- Lowest monthly price Premium, 12 months €4.83/mo €57.99, charged every 12 months Save 50% vs Premium, 1 month
- Premium Plus, 1 month €11.90/mo €11.90, charged every month Base monthly price
- Premium Plus, 12 months €5.83/mo €69.90, charged every 12 months Save 51% vs Premium Plus, 1 month
Is Busuu free?
Free account: complete courses and the community, with a short ad before each lesson.
Prices on busuu.com for a visitor in the EU on 6 October 2026. The app sells 1- and 12-month plans.
How to cancel Busuu and get a refund
Help center- busuu.com ↗
- Log in, open Profile, then Settings
- Open Subscription and choose Cancel Premium
- Give a reason and confirm with Cancel anyway
- App Store ↗
- Open Settings on the iPhone or iPad and tap your name
- Tap Subscriptions
- Select Busuu and confirm the cancellation
- Google Play ↗
- Open Google Play and tap the profile icon
- Choose Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions
- Select Busuu and tap Cancel subscription
- Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal. Access stays until the end of the paid period.
- Plans paid with PayPal are cancelled in PayPal.
- Plans billed by a phone carrier are cancelled through the carrier. The help center lists contacts by country.
- Support answers by email at team@busuu.com and through a form. There is no phone line.
Refund rules
- First payment
- 14-day money-back guarantee. Web purchases are refunded through a form in the help center.
- Renewals
- No refunds for automatic renewals.
- Terms of use
- 14 days to cancel for any reason, minus the value of the service already used.
- Service changes
- If Busuu changes the service, you get 30 days to cancel and a refund for the unused part.
- App stores and carriers
- Apple, Google and phone carriers refund purchases made through them.
From the Busuu help center and terms of use, checked on 6 October 2026.
Busuu for Business
business.busuu.com- 01The same 14 languages, plus workplace modules and industry courses.
- 02Live private and group lessons of 45 minutes, available only to business accounts.
- 03ISO 27001 certification and hosting in the EU.
- 04More than 600 organisations use it, according to Busuu.
Prices on request, through the demo form on business.busuu.com.
Apps and ratings
- iPhone and iPad4.7 on the App Store, US
- Android4.6 on Google Play, 50M+ downloads
- WebCourses in the browser, AI Conversations only in the apps
- OfflineLessons without internet on Premium
App details, App Store US
- Current version
- 30.29.0, released 4 October 2026
- First release on iOS
- 21 September 2010
- Size
- 280.4 MB
- Age rating
- 12+ on the App Store, Everyone on Google Play
- App Store categories
- Education, Travel
- Downloads
- 50M+ on Google Play, Editors’ Choice
- Seller
- Busuu Limited
- Price
- Free to download, subscription inside
Is Busuu worth it?
What learners like
- Native speakers correct exercises, and reviewers single this feature out.Marian, Trustpilot, October 2026
- Grammar and pronunciation checks for the price.Margaret, Trustpilot, October 2026
- Well structured for beginners.Trustpilot review, October 2026
- 82% of Trustpilot reviews give 4 or 5 stars.Trustpilot, 19,815 reviews
What learners criticise
- Support emails go unanswered when billing goes wrong.Matthew, Trustpilot, September 2026
- Some content, such as Latin American Spanish, sits behind the higher Premium Plus tier.HazePro, Trustpilot, September 2026
- Renewals are not refunded, only the first payment within 14 days.Busuu help center
- AI Conversations work only in the apps, Mistake Repair only on iOS.Busuu help center
What learners write in reviews, not our rating. All courses are free with ads, and Premium starts at €4.83 a month on the 12-month plan.
Busuu reviews
- I love the app
“I love the app, especially the feedback from native speakers feature.”
Marian · 1 October 2026 · App Store - Busuu is a wonderful language learning app
“Good value for money. Helpful checks for grammar, pronunciation and understanding.”
Margaret · 3 October 2026 · App Store - Unable to cancel subscription
“I still have no reply and they charged my account today.”
Matthew · 29 September 2026 · App Store
Latest news
- 2020GSV Global EdTech 50
- 2020British Council ELTons, Digital Innovation, for Smart Review
- 2020Sunday Times Tech Track 100
- 2018EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year, Disruptor category, Bernhard Niesner
- 2016Google Play Editors’ Choice and Top Developer
- 2010European Language Label
- Busuu research on second-language anxiety at work and a new workplace version of the platform
- Chegg Q2 2026 results: Chegg Skilling, with Busuu, brings $17.5 million
- Chegg appoints Karine Allouche General Manager of Language Learning
- Chegg stays a standalone public company and keeps Busuu
- Busuu launches AI Conversations
Contacts and company data
- Customer serviceteam@busuu.com
- Presspress@busuu.com
- Legal noticesinfo@busuu.com
- Business enquiriesbusiness.busuu.com
- Careersbusuu.com/en/careers
- Legal entity
- Busuu Limited, 43 Worship Street, London EC2A 2DU, United Kingdom
- Company number
- 08172044, Companies House
- Incorporated
- 8 August 2012
- Parent company
- Chegg, Inc., NYSE: CHGG
- Spanish company
- Busuu Online S.L.
Busuu vs Babbel, Duolingo and others
| Busuu |  Babbel |  Duolingo |  Rosetta Stone |  Memrise |  Lingoda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 | 2007 | 2011 | 1992 | 2010 | 2012 |
| Headquarters | London | Berlin | Pittsburgh | Arlington, Virginia | London | Berlin |
| Languages | 14 | 14 | 42 | 25 | 35 official courses | 5 + Business English |
| Live classes with teachers | Business accounts only | Yes, Babbel Live | No | — | — | Yes, every class is live |
| Free access | All courses, Premium paid | First lesson of each course | Yes, most features with ads | — | Yes | — |
| Plan for companies | Busuu for Business | Babbel for Business | Schools only, closing in 2027 | — | — | Yes, B2B programmes |
| App Store rating, US | 4.7 (101K) | 4.7 (755K) | 4.7 (5.5M) | 4.8 (238K) | 4.8 (217K) | 4.8 (176) |
“—” means the public sources we checked do not say. Facts from Wikipedia and the companies’ websites, App Store ratings on 5 October 2026. Duolingo and Rosetta Stone are US companies outside the European catalogue.
Alternatives to Busuu
- Babbel🇩🇪 Germany Paid courses with grammar explanations, live classes with tutors for everyone, from Berlin. →
- DuolingoUnited States Most features free with ads, courses in 42 languages, no live teachers. ↗
- Lingoda🇩🇪 Germany Every class is live with a teacher, small groups or private, from Berlin. →
- Memrise🇬🇧 United Kingdom Vocabulary and speaking practice, 35 official courses, also from London. →
-
Lingvist🇪🇪 Estonia A vocabulary-first app from Tallinn. →
How we built this profile
- Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
- Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 6 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
- Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
- Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.
Other language learning companies
- Babbel🇩🇪 Germany
- Lingoda🇩🇪 Germany
- Memrise🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Lingvist🇪🇪 Estonia
- L Lingumi🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- e eTutor🇵🇱 Poland
More EdTech from United Kingdom
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Yes. A free account opens complete courses and the community, with a short ad before each lesson. Premium adds grammar and vocabulary review, offline mode and certificates.
On busuu.com for the EU on 6 October 2026: Premium costs €9.69 a month or €57.99 a year, Premium Plus €11.90 a month or €69.90 a year.
Premium Plus adds AI Conversations, pronunciation feedback, Mistake Repair, Study Plans, extra courses and streak protection.
On busuu.com open Profile, Settings, Subscription and choose Cancel Premium. Plans bought in the App Store, Google Play or with PayPal are cancelled there.
The first payment has a 14-day money-back guarantee. Automatic renewals are not refunded. App store purchases are refunded by Apple or Google.
English, French, German and Spanish go up to C1. Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish reach B2, Korean A2.
Chegg, Inc. bought Busuu in January 2022 in a deal announced at about $436 million. Karine Allouche has led Busuu as General Manager since February 2026.
Busuu has free courses and corrections from native speakers. Babbel charges from the second lesson and sells live classes to every learner, while Busuu offers live lessons only to companies.
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