Babbel vs Busuu:
two paid language courses side by side

Pick Busuu if you want to start for free and pay less: all courses are free with ads, and Premium costs €57.99 a year in the EU. Pick Babbel if you want live classes with tutors as a private learner or a lifetime plan: Babbel costs €107.88 a year or €299.99 once. Both teach 14 languages and rate 4.7 on the US App Store.

How Babbel and Busuu compare

Price per month

Babbel: €17.99 on the 3-month plan, the shortest one (EU, babbel.com)
Busuu: Premium €9.69, Premium Plus €11.90 (EU, busuu.com)

Free version

Babbel: First lesson of every course, up to 80 lessons per language.
Busuu: Complete courses and the community, a short ad before each lesson.

Languages

Babbel: 14, including Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Indonesian.
Busuu: 14, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Live classes with teachers

Babbel: Yes, Babbel Live, booked from any learner account.
Busuu: Only on business accounts: 45-minute private or group lessons.

How lessons work

Babbel: About 15 minutes, grammar explanations, speech recognition, spaced review.
Busuu: 3 to 5 minutes on the CEFR scale, a checkpoint after each chapter.

Trustpilot

Babbel: 4.4 from 33,124 reviews.
Busuu: 4.2 from 19,815 reviews.

Babbel vs Busuu: side by side

Price per month
€17.99 on the 3-month plan, the shortest one (EU, babbel.com)
Premium €9.69, Premium Plus €11.90 (EU, busuu.com)
Yearly plan
€107.88, or €8.99 a month (EU)
Premium €57.99, Premium Plus €69.90 (EU)
Free version
First lesson of every course, up to 80 lessons per language
Complete courses and the community, a short ad before each lesson
Languages
14, including Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Indonesian
14, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean
Live classes with teachers
Yes, Babbel Live, booked from any learner account
Only on business accounts: 45-minute private or group lessons
Feedback from people
—
Native speakers in the community correct exercises, free
AI speaking practice
Babbel Speak
AI Conversations in Premium Plus, apps only
How lessons work
About 15 minutes, grammar explanations, speech recognition, spaced review
3 to 5 minutes on the CEFR scale, a checkpoint after each chapter
Highest level
C1 in European Spanish, B2 in French, German and Italian
C1 in English, French, German and Spanish
App Store rating, US
4.7 (755K)
4.7 (101K)
Trustpilot
4.4 from 33,124 reviews
4.2 from 19,815 reviews
Refunds
14 days to withdraw in the EU. No pro-rata refund in the US
14-day money-back guarantee on the first payment. Renewals not refunded
Plan for companies
Babbel for Business, €90.65 per seat for 12 months
Busuu for Business, prices on request
Founded / HQ
2007, Berlin
2008 in Madrid, London. Owned by Chegg

Which one fits you?

Choose Babbel if:

You want live classes with a tutor without a company account. You prefer to pay once: Lifetime costs €299.99. You learn Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or Indonesian. Your company wants a public seat price: €90.65 per seat for 12 months.

Choose Busuu if:

You want full courses for free before you pay anything. You want the cheaper subscription: €57.99 a year against €107.88. You want native speakers to correct your writing and speaking. You learn Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Korean.

Price: Babbel vs Busuu

Busuu Premium costs €57.99 a year or €9.69 a month in the EU. Premium Plus adds AI Conversations and costs €69.90 a year. The free account opens complete courses with ads.

Babbel costs €107.88 for 12 months, €83.94 for 6 months or €53.97 for 3 months. Lifetime costs €299.99 once. Babbel’s free account opens only the first lesson of each course.

On the yearly plan Busuu Premium costs about half of Babbel. Babbel also sells a lifetime plan. Busuu does not list one.

Method: grammar lessons or community corrections

Babbel lessons last about 15 minutes. They explain grammar, check pronunciation with speech recognition and repeat words with spaced review. European Spanish goes up to C1.

Busuu lessons take 3 to 5 minutes and follow the CEFR scale. Learners send exercises to the community, and native speakers correct them. English, French, German and Spanish reach C1.

Live classes and plans for companies

Babbel Live sells online classes with tutors to any learner. Busuu offers live lessons of 45 minutes only on business accounts, in groups of up to 5 or one to one.

Babbel for Business costs €90.65 per seat for 12 months in its self-checkout shop, with a volume discount from 25 seats. Busuu for Business gives prices on request and says more than 600 organisations use it.

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FAQ

Babbel fits learners who want live tutors and grammar explanations. Busuu fits learners who want a free start, a cheaper subscription and corrections from native speakers. Both rate 4.7 on the US App Store.

Busuu. Premium costs €57.99 a year in the EU, Babbel €107.88. Busuu also opens complete courses for free with ads.

Both teach 14. Babbel has Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Indonesian, Busuu has Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Both teach Spanish, French, German, Italian, English, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian and Turkish.

Only for companies. Busuu Live Lessons work on business accounts. Babbel Live is open to any learner.