Best app to learn Portuguese 9 apps for Brazilian and European Portuguese
For a free course, pick Busuu: Complete Portuguese has 140+ lessons of Brazilian Portuguese from A1 to B2, and native speakers correct your exercises. For Portugal, pick Memrise, whose European Portuguese course has 500+ lessons, or Pimsleur, which teaches the Lisbon accent in audio lessons. Babbel explains Brazilian grammar, Tandem connects you with native speakers from Brazil or Portugal, and Lingvist trains the most frequent Brazilian words.
Short answer
- BusuuA free Brazilian Portuguese course up to B2
- MemriseEuropean Portuguese words from native-speaker videos
- BabbelBrazilian Portuguese grammar explained in English
- PimsleurAudio lessons in a Lisbon or São Paulo accent
- DuolingoA free daily Portuguese habit
- TandemTalking with Brazilians or Portuguese for free
9 Portuguese apps at a glance
| Name | Best for | Price | Free plan | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busuu | A free Brazilian Portuguese course up to B2 | Free; Premium €57.99/yr, Premium Plus €69.90/yr | Yes: complete courses and community corrections, a short ad before each lesson | 4.7 on the App Store (101.1K) |
| Memrise | European Portuguese words from native-speaker videos | Free; Pro €69.99/yr, US $61.99/yr | Partly: limited lessons and videos, one speaking session a day, with ads | 4.8 on the App Store (217.2K) |
| Babbel | Brazilian Portuguese grammar explained in English | From €8.99/mo on the 12-month plan; US App Store All Languages $107.99/yr | Partly: the first lesson of every course | 4.7 on the App Store (755.2K) |
| Pimsleur | Audio lessons in a Lisbon or São Paulo accent | All Access $20.99, All Access Annual $164.99 (US App Store) | Partly: one free lesson | — |
| Duolingo | A free daily Portuguese habit | Free; Super has a 14-day trial | Yes: the whole course, with ads and limited energy | — |
| Tandem | Talking with Brazilians or Portuguese for free | Free; Pro $69.99/yr (US App Store) | Yes: partner search, chats, voice notes and corrections, with ads | 4.6 on the App Store (38.3K) |
| Mondly | Short Brazilian lessons with a chatbot | Free; $15.90/mo or $74.90/yr (US App Store) | Partly: Daily Lessons, the Hello category and one chatbot lesson | 4.7 on the App Store (33.2K) |
| Lingvist | The most frequent Brazilian words first | €9.99/mo or €79.99/yr; US App Store $9.99 and $79.99 | No, 14-day trial on the yearly plan | 4.6 on the App Store (3.7K) |
| Rosetta Stone | Brazilian Portuguese through immersion | €19.99/mo or €159/yr (EU web price) | No free plan on the price page | — |
- A free Brazilian Portuguese course up to B2
Busuu
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom · founded 2008Busuu started in Madrid in 2008 and now runs from London. Complete Portuguese teaches Brazilian Portuguese in 140+ lessons from A1 to B2. Native speakers in the community correct your written and spoken answers.
Pros
- Portuguese goes from A1 to B2 on the CEFR scale
- Native speakers correct your answers on the free plan
- A 5-minute placement test for Portuguese
Cons
- Brazilian Portuguese only
- Certificates and offline mode need Premium
- Price
- Free; Premium €57.99/yr, Premium Plus €69.90/yr
- Free plan
- Yes: complete courses and community corrections, a short ad before each lesson
- Rating
- 4.7 on the App Store (101.1K)
- European Portuguese words from native-speaker videos
Memrise
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom · founded 2010Memrise from London sells two Portuguese courses. Portuguese (Portugal) has 500+ lessons, 4,000+ words and 300+ videos. Portuguese (Brazil) has 200+ lessons, 2,000+ words and 75+ videos. Each course has 75+ conversations with MemBot, an AI partner.
Pros
- The European course is more than twice the size of the Brazilian one
- Native speakers say every word on video
- Lifetime costs €254.99 once
Cons
- Memrise does not give a CEFR level for its Portuguese courses
- No certificates
- Price
- Free; Pro €69.99/yr, US $61.99/yr
- Free plan
- Partly: limited lessons and videos, one speaking session a day, with ads
- Rating
- 4.8 on the App Store (217.2K)
- Brazilian Portuguese grammar explained in English
Babbel
🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany · founded 2007Babbel from Berlin explains grammar in lessons of about 15 minutes and checks pronunciation with speech recognition. Its Portuguese course is Brazilian. The help center puts the course at B1, with extra topic lessons up to B2.
Pros
- Topic lessons go up to B2
- Babbel Live adds online classes with tutors
- Lifetime access for €299.99 once
Cons
- No European Portuguese course
- The main course stops at B1
- Price
- From €8.99/mo on the 12-month plan; US App Store All Languages $107.99/yr
- Free plan
- Partly: the first lesson of every course
- Rating
- 4.7 on the App Store (755.2K)
- Audio lessons in a Lisbon or São Paulo accent
Pimsleur
🇺🇸 United StatesPimsleur is a US audio course published by Simon & Schuster. You listen and answer out loud. Pimsleur sells two Portuguese courses: Brazilian Portuguese teaches the São Paulo dialect, European Portuguese the Lisbon dialect.
Pros
- A separate course for each variant
- You speak out loud from the first lesson
Cons
- Pimsleur does not give CEFR levels or lesson counts on its Portuguese pages
- The App Store does not label the period of the $20.99 item
- Price
- All Access $20.99, All Access Annual $164.99 (US App Store)
- Free plan
- Partly: one free lesson
- A free daily Portuguese habit
Duolingo
🇺🇸 United StatesDuolingo is a US company. Its Portuguese course for English speakers is free, and Duolingo’s blog says it now goes up to B2, a Duolingo Score of 129. The course page does not say which variant it teaches.
Pros
- The whole Portuguese course is free
- Duolingo lists Portuguese among its nine courses that reach B2
Cons
- Duolingo’s official pages do not name the Portuguese variant
- No human teachers
- Price
- Free; Super has a 14-day trial
- Free plan
- Yes: the whole course, with ads and limited energy
- Talking with Brazilians or Portuguese for free
Tandem
🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany · founded 2015Tandem from Berlin pairs you with a native speaker who wants to learn your language. You chat, send voice notes and correct each other’s messages. The partner you pick decides the accent: Brazil, Portugal, Angola or any other country.
Pros
- Real conversations in the Portuguese of the country you choose
- Corrections and translation inside the chat
Cons
- No course or levels
- New members need Pro for audio and video calls
- Price
- Free; Pro $69.99/yr (US App Store)
- Free plan
- Yes: partner search, chats, voice notes and corrections, with ads
- Rating
- 4.6 on the App Store (38.3K)
- Short Brazilian lessons with a chatbot
Mondly
🇷🇴 Brașov, Romania · founded 2013Mondly from Brașov, Romania, belongs to Pearson. The Learn Portuguese app on the App Store teaches Brazilian Portuguese and promises the 5,000 most useful words and phrases. A chatbot and speech recognition let you practise short dialogues.
Pros
- Tap any verb to see its full conjugation
- One subscription opens 41 languages
Cons
- Brazilian Portuguese only
- Mondly does not give a CEFR level for the Portuguese course
- Price
- Free; $15.90/mo or $74.90/yr (US App Store)
- Free plan
- Partly: Daily Lessons, the Hello category and one chatbot lesson
- Rating
- 4.7 on the App Store (33.2K)
- The most frequent Brazilian words first
Lingvist
🇪🇪 Tallinn, Estonia · founded 2013Lingvist from Tallinn ranks words by how often they appear in real texts and teaches the most common ones first. Its Portuguese course is Brazilian. Custom Decks turns any text you upload into cards.
Pros
- No ads
- One plan opens 16 courses
- Students get 50% off on request
Cons
- No free plan
- Brazilian Portuguese only
- Price
- €9.99/mo or €79.99/yr; US App Store $9.99 and $79.99
- Free plan
- No, 14-day trial on the yearly plan
- Rating
- 4.6 on the App Store (3.7K)
- Brazilian Portuguese through immersion
Rosetta Stone
🇺🇸 United StatesRosetta Stone is a US company. Lessons use pictures and audio in Portuguese only, with no translation, and TruAccent checks your pronunciation. The price page lists Portuguese (Brazil) among 25 languages in one subscription.
Pros
- One plan opens all 25 languages
- Pronunciation check in every lesson
Cons
- No European Portuguese course
- Rosetta Stone does not give CEFR levels on its price page
- Price
- €19.99/mo or €159/yr (EU web price)
- Free plan
- No free plan on the price page
Brazilian or European Portuguese
The two variants differ most in sound. European Portuguese drops many unstressed vowels, so it sounds faster and more closed. Brazilians say você to most people, while in Portugal tu is common among friends. Everyday words change too: trem and ônibus in Brazil, comboio and autocarro in Portugal.
Pick the variant you will hear. For Brazil choose Brazilian Portuguese, for Portugal choose European. Most apps teach only Brazilian: Busuu, Babbel, Mondly, Lingvist and Rosetta Stone. Memrise and Pimsleur sell a separate European course, and Memrise’s European course is the bigger of its two. Duolingo’s official pages do not name the variant.
Each country runs its own official exam. In Portugal, CAPLE at the University of Lisbon sets exams from ACESSO (A1) and CIPLE (A2) up to DUPLE (C2). In Brazil, Inep runs Celpe-Bras twice a year in Brazil and abroad. It is a single exam with a written and an oral part, and your result sets the level on the certificate.
How to choose a Portuguese app
To reach a CEFR level, pick Busuu (Brazilian, A1 to B2, free) or Babbel (Brazilian, B1 course, topic lessons to B2). Duolingo also says its Portuguese course reaches B2.
To speak, use Tandem with native speakers or Pimsleur for audio drills in either accent. To build vocabulary, Memrise shows every word in a native-speaker video, Lingvist sorts words by frequency, and Mondly practises short dialogues with a chatbot.
On a zero budget, Busuu and Duolingo open whole courses for free, and Tandem is free for chats. For Portugal, Memrise’s free plan opens part of its European course.
How we picked
We took apps that people use to learn Portuguese and checked on official pages which variant each one teaches, its highest level, its lesson count and its prices, in October 2026. Six come from companies founded in Europe. Duolingo, Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone are US products, and we include them because a Portuguese list without them would leave out common choices. Lingoda is not on the list because it does not teach Portuguese.
More on the EdTech map
Comparisons
- Busuu vs Duolingo
- Babbel vs Busuu
- Memrise vs Duolingo
- Babbel vs Duolingo
- Babbel vs Rosetta Stone
- Babbel vs Pimsleur
- Tandem vs HelloTalk
- Mondly vs Duolingo
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Categories
Sources, checked on 7 October 2026
- Busuu Portuguese course
- Busuu Premium plans
- Memrise Portuguese (Portugal) course
- Memrise Portuguese (Brazil) course
- Memrise plans
- Babbel: learn Portuguese
- babbel.com/prices
- Babbel help center: languages and levels
- Babbel on the US App Store
- Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese
- Pimsleur European Portuguese
- Pimsleur on the US App Store
- Duolingo blog: courses teach advanced content
- Duolingo Portuguese course
- Super Duolingo
- Tandem FAQ
- Tandem on the US App Store
- Mondly Learn Portuguese on the US App Store
- Mondly on the US App Store
- Lingvist Portuguese course
- lingvist.com/pricing
- Lingvist on the US App Store
- Rosetta Stone plans and pricing
- CAPLE, University of Lisbon: exams
- Inep: Celpe-Bras
- Lingoda: languages
Best app to learn Portuguese: FAQ
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