- courses in 15 languages
- 16
- language pairs, according to Lingvist
- 50+
- downloads on Google Play
- 1M+
- revenue in 2025
- €1.73M
About Lingvist
Lingvist is a vocabulary app from Tallinn, founded in 2013 by CERN physicist Mait Müntel with Ott Jalakas and Andres Koern. It teaches the most frequent words of a language first, on cards with a gap in a real sentence, and spaced repetition brings each word back. One subscription opens 16 courses in 15 languages and, according to Lingvist, more than 50 language pairs. Custom Decks turns any text into a personal course. In the EU the plan costs €9.99 a month or €79.99 a year, and the yearly plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
Lingvist teaches vocabulary on cards. Each card shows a sentence with one word missing, and the learner types or says the word. The app ranks words by how often they appear in subtitles, articles and other texts, so the most frequent words come first. A placement test sets the starting level, and spaced repetition returns words just before the learner forgets them. Custom Decks builds a course from any words or text the learner uploads.
Mait Müntel worked at CERN on the team that found the Higgs boson. He lived in the French-speaking part of Switzerland for years and did not learn French. He built a prototype with the statistics and machine learning he used in physics, studied French with it for 200 hours and passed a high-school French exam. In 2013 he started Lingvist in Tallinn with Ott Jalakas and Andres Koern, and in 2014 the company joined Techstars London.
Rakuten led an $8 million Series A in 2015 and in 2017 offered Lingvist to English learners in Japan through Rakuten Super English. In 2021 Rubio Impact Ventures led a €5.1 million round. Lingvist Technologies OÜ reported revenue of €1.73 million for 2025 and a profit of €82,670, its first profit since 2020. Lingvist Inc. of the United States holds all its shares, and Müntel remains the only management board member.
History
- 2012 Keel 24 OÜ is entered into the Estonian register on 28 December. It later becomes Lingvist Technologies OÜ.
- 2013 Receives a €9,900 Prototron grant in March and builds the proof of concept.
- 2014 Joins Techstars London and raises €1 million from SmartCap, Inventure and Techstars in April.
- 2015 Receives €1.6 million from the EU Horizon 2020 programme and releases the Android and iPhone apps in May and June.
- 2015 Raises an $8 million Series A led by Rakuten in November. Lingvist counts about 100,000 users.
- 2017 Rakuten launches Rakuten Super English in Japan with Lingvist on 21 April. Lingvist has 600,000 registered users. In March it signs a partnership with PChome in Taiwan.
- 2019 Wins the Tech Edvocate Award for Best Language Learning App or Tool.
- 2020 Opens its educator tools for free during the COVID-19 outbreak and becomes a finalist for the UNESCO ICT in Education Prize.
- 2021 Raises €5.1 million led by Rubio Impact Ventures, with Rockaway Ventures Fund and Metaplanet Holdings.
- 2022 Publishes a new Estonian course for English speakers with more than 3,700 words.
- 2026 Files 2025 accounts on 30 June: revenue €1.73 million and a profit of €82,670.
Lingvist funding and investors
- April 2014
- March 2015
- November 2015
- October 2021 Venture round €5.1 million
Lead: Rubio Impact Ventures Rockaway Ventures FundMetaplanet Holdings
Source: Lingvist blog
The sum of three disclosed rounds: €1 million seed, $8 million Series A (Work in Estonia gives €7.4 million) and €5.1 million in 2021. EU Horizon 2020 grants come on top. Wikipedia mentions more money from Rakuten in 2017 without an amount.
Leadership
- MM Mait Müntel Co-founder, CEO, management board member
Mait Müntel has been the only management board member of Lingvist Technologies OÜ since 28 December 2012. The register names him and Jaan Tallinn as indirect beneficial owners. Wikipedia lists Ott Jalakas and Andres Koern as co-founders. Their current roles are not public.
How Lingvist teaches
- of everyday situations covered by the most common words, according to Lingvist
- 80%
- or 50 cards a day suggested by Lingvist
- 10 min
- words in the Estonian course for English speakers
- 3,700+
- Words ordered by frequency
- Placement at the right level
- Fill-in-the-gap cards with example sentences
- Audio for every sentence
- Speech recognition
- Spaced repetition
- Custom Decks from any text
- Grammar notes on cards
- French verb conjugation exercise
- Ultra-slow audio playback
- Optional strict diacritics
- Progress statistics
- No ads
Lingvist says its goal is to make language learning 10 times faster with big data and AI. Mait Müntel passed a high-school French exam after 200 hours with his prototype. We found no independent study of the method.
Lingvist languages: 15 to learn
Video, blogs and resources
Products
- Lingvist app Vocabulary cards with a gap in a real sentence, audio for every sentence, speech input and spaced review, on iPhone, Android and the web. Open lingvist.com
- Custom Decks Upload a text or a list of words and Lingvist turns it into a course. One click adds 20 related words to the deck. How Custom Decks work
- Lingvist Classroom Teachers create a class, invite students by link, build lessons with Custom Decks and follow progress on a dashboard. The tool is marked as beta. About Classroom
- Lingvist for Business Language training for teams with an admin panel, bulk user management, learning statistics, monthly invoicing and courses on industry vocabulary. About Lingvist for Business
How much is Lingvist?
- Monthly €9.99/mo €9.99, charged every month Base monthly price
- Best value Annual €6.67/mo €79.99, charged every 12 months, after a 14-day free trial Save 33% vs Monthly
Is Lingvist free?
No free plan. The yearly plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and the level test is free.
Prices on lingvist.com/pricing and the Lingvist product catalogue for a visitor in the Netherlands (EEA), in euros with VAT, on 6 October 2026. The US App Store lists in-app items of $9.99 for 1 month and $79.99 for 12 months, among other items from $19.99 to $199.99. Google Play shows in-app items from $8.99 to $350.00. Students get 50% off on request.
How to cancel Lingvist
Lingvist terms of service- lingvist.com ↗
- Log in to Lingvist on the web
- Open Account, then Subscriptions
- Turn off auto-renewal, or write to hello@lingvist.io
- App Store ↗
- Open Settings on the iPhone or iPad and tap your name
- Tap Subscriptions
- Select Lingvist and confirm the cancellation
- Google Play ↗
- Open Google Play and tap the profile icon
- Choose Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions
- Select Lingvist and tap Cancel subscription
- Lingvist bills a renewal in the 24 hours before the current period ends.
- After a free trial the first charge also comes in the last 24 hours of the trial. Cancel before that and Lingvist charges nothing.
- Cancelling inside that 24-hour window stops future renewals.
- After cancelling, the paid plan stays active until the end of the period.
- The free trial needs payment details because the plan renews automatically.
Refund rules
- All paid plans
- Refund on request within 14 calendar days of the original purchase, through customer support.
- After 14 days
- Cancel at any time. No refund, access stays until the end of the period.
- Gift cards
- Unused gift cards are refundable within 14 days of purchase. Plans paid with a gift card are not refundable.
- App Store and Google Play
- The stores handle cancellations and refunds of in-app subscriptions.
From the Lingvist terms of service and the pricing FAQ, checked on 6 October 2026.
Lingvist for Business
Lingvist for Business- 01The same language courses as the app
- 02Vocabulary courses for your industry on request
- 03Dedicated account manager
- 04Add and remove users one by one or in bulk
- 05Learning statistics for any period, with downloads
- 06Monthly invoicing from the admin panel
Price on request.
Apps and ratings
- iPhone and iPad4.6 on the App Store, US, iOS 15.0 or later
- Android4.6 on Google Play, 1M+ downloads, APK also on lingvist.com
- WebCourses, Custom Decks and checkout at learn.lingvist.com
App details, App Store US
- Current version
- 2.65.3 on iOS, released 15 April 2026
- Android update
- 5 October 2026
- First release
- 31 May 2015 on Google Play, 1 June 2015 on the App Store
- Size
- 97 MB on iOS
- Age rating
- 9+ on the App Store, Everyone on Google Play
- App Store categories
- Education, Travel
- Downloads
- 1M+ on Google Play
- Awards
- Editors’ Choice on Google Play
- Seller
- Lingvist Technologies OÜ
- Price
- Free to download, with in-app purchases and no ads
Is Lingvist worth it?
What learners like
- Spaced repetition brings back weak words until they stick.Jakub Krajnak, Trustpilot, November 2025
- A short daily routine that does one job.Greg Robson, Trustpilot, May 2025
- 4.6 from 69,301 ratings on Google Play.Google Play, October 2026
- A 14-day refund right on every paid plan.Lingvist terms of service
What learners criticise
- New words ran out after about 15 months of a 10-year plan, and support refused a partial refund.Melanie Mueller, Trustpilot, April 2026
- Flashcards and custom decks fail to load on some days.Cassie, Trustpilot, August 2026
- A charge after the subscription was cancelled.Studio Eveline, Trustpilot, February 2026
- The free trial comes only with the yearly plan.Lingvist pricing FAQ
What users write in reviews, not our rating. App stores give Lingvist 4.5 to 4.7. On Trustpilot half of 48 reviews give 1 or 2 stars, and most of them are about billing, cancellation and support.
Lingvist reviews
- The best language app so far
“It gives you back the words you don’t remember reliably until they stick to your brain.”
Jakub Krajnak · 23 November 2025 · App Store - Great little app to build vocabulary
“It doesn’t try to do too much and what it does do, it does well.”
Greg Robson · 29 May 2025 · App Store - Be cautious with long-term subscriptions
“However, after approximately 15 months, the platform stopped introducing new vocabulary entirely.”
Melanie Mueller · 3 April 2026 · App Store - Too many bugs here and there
“Some days the flashcards don’t work, now the custom decks don’t load.”
Cassie · 7 August 2026 · App Store
Latest news
- 2022Google Play Editors’ Choice
- 2021HolonIQ, top 50 EdTech companies in the Nordic-Baltic region
- 2020UNESCO Prize for ICT in Education, finalist
- 2020EdTech Digest Cool Tool Award, finalist
- 2019Tech Edvocate Awards, Best Language Learning App or Tool
- 2017EdTechXGlobal, All Stars Rise Award
- 2015Tallinn Entrepreneurship Awards, Brightest Startup
- 2014Techstars London
- Lingvist Technologies OÜ files 2025 accounts: revenue €1.73 million, profit €82,670
- A new Estonian course for English speakers
- Lingvist raises €5.1 million led by Rubio Impact Ventures
- Mait Müntel receives an award from the CERN Alumni Network
- Rakuten launches Rakuten Super English with Lingvist in Japan
- Lingvist secures $8 million from Rakuten, Jaan Tallinn and others
Contacts and company data
- Subscriptions and supporthello@lingvist.io
- Press and eventsmedia@lingvist.io
- Schoolsschools@lingvist.io
- Businesspartners@lingvist.io
- Help centrelingvist.com/help
- Legal entity
- Lingvist Technologies OÜ, J. Poska tn 10-17, 10121 Tallinn, Estonia
- Registry code
- 12397511, Estonian e-Business Register
- Registered
- 28 December 2012, former name Keel 24 OÜ
- Legal form
- Private limited company (OÜ), share capital €3,413
- VAT number
- EE101611398
- Activity (EMTAK)
- 72201 Research and experimental development on social sciences and humanities
- Shareholder
- Lingvist Inc., United States, 100%
- Revenue 2025
- €1,726,246, down 9% from €1,894,501 in 2024
- Result 2025
- Profit €82,670, after a loss of €1,050,985 in 2024
Programs and documentsStudent discount, 50%Affiliate programmeLingvist Classroom for teachers
Lingvist vs Babbel, Busuu and others
| Lingvist |  Babbel |  Busuu |  Duolingo |  Memrise |  Lingoda | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 | 2007 | 2008 | 2011 | 2010 | 2012 |
| Headquarters | Tallinn | Berlin | London | Pittsburgh | London | Berlin |
| Languages | 15 (16 courses) | 14 | 14 | 42 | 32 official courses | 5 + Business English |
| Live classes with teachers | No | Yes, Babbel Live | Business accounts only | No | — | Yes, every class is live |
| Free access | 14-day trial with the yearly plan | First lesson of each course | All courses, Premium paid | Yes, most features with ads | Yes | — |
| Plan for companies | Lingvist for Business | Babbel for Business | Busuu for Business | Schools only, closing in 2027 | — | Yes, B2B programmes |
| App Store rating, US | 4.6 (3.7K) | 4.7 (755K) | 4.7 (101K) | 4.7 (5.5M) | 4.8 (217K) | 4.8 (177) |
“—” 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 Lingvist
- Memrise🇬🇧 United Kingdom Also vocabulary-first, with videos of native speakers and an AI chat partner, from London. →
- Babbel🇩🇪 Germany Full courses with grammar and dialogues, plus live classes with teachers, from Berlin. →
- Busuu🇬🇧 United Kingdom 14 languages with CEFR levels and corrections from native speakers in the community. →
- DuolingoUnited States Most features free with ads, courses in 42 languages. ↗
- Lingoda🇩🇪 Germany Live classes with teachers in small groups or one to one, from Berlin. →
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
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