I love comparing language learning apps, perhaps the same as I love learning languages. Wait, maybe that’s the real reason I enjoy reviews – they serve as a great excuse to try out a new language from my linguistic bucket list.

Be that as it may, this Glossika vs Speechling review allowed me to get started with Italian and (you'll never guess) – Catalan!

A few people I know who tried learning a language with one of these resources tried it with the other one as well. Some say they don't see much difference.

As an ardent language learner and teacher, I feel challenged to compare the two face-to-face and dig out the nuances that set them apart.

Are you with me on this Glossika vs Speechling review?

Ready? Steady? Go!

Disclaimer: If you’re not up for a 10-minute read, here’s my short conclusion – I’m team Speechling (tried and tested for three weeks). And here's my honest conclusion ahead of time: these language resources are more like a pea and a peach when tested side-to-side.

Meet the Competitors

Speechling and Glossika are sentence-bank resources, grounded in the idea that effective language learning is directly linked to memorizing target language sentences rather than isolated new words.

My name’s Speechling

Speechling, located in San Francisco, CA, has been around since 2017. The platform currently offers 10 languages and three language variants, but it claims that more are underway.

The platform’s creation story is truly inspiring. It was conceived by Chinese-born Hongyu Che as a non-profit company. The man’s family moved to the U.S. when he was young. Forced to learn English and Spanish without effective resources, he grew up with an ambition to democratize language learning. It felt great to provide aspiring language learners with a tool he wished he had back in his day. This noble motivation gives me goosebumps.

Speechling is mostly free of charge and otherwise very affordable. The company's profit comes from the services provided to schools rather than individual language learners.

The platform combines artificial intelligence and human feedback to make the language learning journey enjoyable and effective. While it offers slick mobile apps, IOS and Android, I prefer the website version.

My name’s Glossika

Glossika is a Taiwan-based platform with a decade-long history (founded in 2012).

The creator, Michael Campbell, was driven by the idea to offer more languages than any other business in the industry. His very noble aim has been to help preserve endangered languages and popularize rare ones. Well, I guess he’s managing this goal alright: Glossika features over 60 courses, nine of which are for languages at risk of disappearing.

Glossika positions itself as a sentence-bank platform that makes you start speaking the target language from day one.

Up until recently, there was no Glossika app. The developers only addressed this complaint in 2022 by introducing an IOS version (excluding Android users). As an iPhone owner myself, I’d still stick with the website version for now. The app seems a bit slow and glitchy.

Speechling

Pros:

- User-friendly interface

- Non-profit platform

- Decent free version and an affordable paid plan

- Lots of customizable content

- Great translation and audio quality

- Quality feedback from real tutors

- Spaced repetition algorithm

- Compatible with Anki decks

- Offline mode (in the unlimited plan)

- Slick app version

Cons:

- No grammar guides

- Fewer languages than on Glossika

- No placement test

- Repetitive activities

- No proper course structure

Glossika

Pros:

- User-friendly interface

- Wide selection of languages

- Many language pairs (for non-English speakers)

- Boosts endangered languages

- Natural audio examples and colloquial words

- Placement test

- Spaced repetition algorithm

- Equal value for all languages

- Customizable language topics

Cons:

- No grammar explanations

- No focus on writing and reading skills

- Monotonous exercises and no variety

- No workable offline mode

- Some incomplete translations

- No Android app

Face-to-Face Glossika vs Speechling Review

The Price – Speechling🏆

The Speechling Pricing

Intended to make language learning accessible to everyone, Speechling offers most features for free. There’s no trial – it makes no sense when you get so much at no cost already. That’s right, you receive teacher’s feedback for free, as well. It’s impressive.

You might wonder why anyone should choose the paid version (I’m not sure they should, to be honest).

But well, the unlimited plan gives you the following perks:

• Unlimited access to a human tutor (vs 35 sentences to correct)
• Access to all the languages simultaneously (instead of one language at a time)
• Downloadable materials (files, audio recordings, and Anki decks)

The price is $30/month, but it drops a bit if you order a quarterly or yearly subscription.

You can hardly disagree that $30/month is sinfully affordable compared to italki’s $10/hour. Without undue flattery, learning a language with Speechling is the cheapest option I've seen so far.

What’s especially noble is that Speechling offers scholarships for people in need. To apply for a free unlimited plan, upload a video introduction and explain why the paid version isn't affordable for you and how you can benefit from it. In the modern world, where we're often forced to buy so many overpriced services, this offer is worth its weight in gold.

The Glossika pricing

Glossika offers you a week-long trial to test the waters. Then, you have two options (three options if leaving and never coming back is another option): a monthly subscription at $30.99 or an annual one at $300(=$25/month).

I’d say, go for the latter confidently if you plan to learn more than one language. Can you even resist learning multiple languages when the list is so long?

Bottom Line: While it’s obvious Speechling's free version is a better option price-wise than Glossika's paid plan, having to pay for a service makes me feel more committed to learning. This is why I'm contemplating Speechling premium.

User Experience – Glossika 🤝

Speechling

First Impressions. Speechling pleases both your wallet and eye. I couldn’t believe something given out for free can be so easy to use and so nice to look at. From the first session, Speechling provided a confident pathway to my top aesthetically designed language apps (it might be silly, but I learn better when I like the look).

Signing up for Speechling is a piece of cake. You just answer a few standard questions: which language you want to learn and what you’d like to focus on.

As a beginner, you can start from scratch – pronunciation and basic vocabulary. If you’ve already had some contact with the target language, you can go straight to repeating sentences in the core curriculum. If you’re preparing a vacation and need some key travel phrases (that’s me before every trip), the Phrasebook has you covered. Mind that pronunciation will be prioritized in all of these.  

The system claims it can accommodate levels A1 (complete beginner) to C2 (a native language competence). I wouldn’t say it’s the best place for newbies though. With no grammar explanations, you might feel like a stray, blind puppy.

I, for one, can only tackle my beginner Italian because I speak Spanish. It gives me some patterns for Romance languages. I can hardly imagine starting Japanese on this platform.

The languages. Speechling only offers 10 languages and a few variants (two versions of Chinese, Spanish, and English). [The aforementioned "only" turns into "as many as" when you recall that this is a non-profit platform].

The system gives you a choice of the source language (a great feature if you’re not an English native speaker) and lets you pick the recording gender (male or female). It might be a minor thing, but having some control over these features makes you feel empowered as a learner.

As soon as you pick your native language and target language, you’re assigned a coach. They’ll give you feedback on pronunciation and sentence structure.

Glossika

First Impressions. Another beautiful interface (am I reviewing Pinterest or a language platform?) and easy navigation. You select the source language, the target language, and your current level (a complete beginner or someone who needs a placement test), and vois la – the Glossika owl mascot invites you inside the language castle.

The off-white and blue color palette is easy on the eye, and the layout slightly recalls that of Lingvist (another app I like).

The Languages. This is the feature where Glossika wins over most apps. The platform supports 66 languages, but the most appealing part is the variants of popular languages (e.g., Egyptian and Moroccan Arabic or European and Latin American Spanish) and rare languages (e.g., Catalan, Welsh, and Gaelic).

And now – wait for it – all the nine courses for endangered languages are free. It’s done with the noble intent of preserving and reviving them, recognizing their importance to the people’s identity, and encouraging others to speak these languages. Bravo, Glossika!

Another magical thing about Glossika languages is that you can learn any language using any language. You don’t need to be fluent in English to do so (which is a prerequisite for most other apps).

I decided to test a language at risk of extinction – Catalan – to see whether its functionality is broad. Imagine my excitement when I could use any base language and apply it to this rare choice! It’s a rare example of non-discriminatory treatment of all languages, regardless of their popularity. If there's one app that deserves praise here, it's Glossika. I’m giving it five stars.

Functionality and Variety – Speechling 🏆

Speechling

Despite promises to take you on a comprehensive language learning journey, Speechling is all about listening comprehension and pronunciation feedback. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a bad online platform. But be ready to practice reading and writing elsewhere if your language ambitions extend beyond mimicking native speakers.

What can you do on Speechling?

The Toolbox section features a variety of activities. They range from dictation and listening to flashcards and multiple choice. It all looks very structured. My only point of critique is that you have no curriculum to guide you. I mean, how do I know where to start and when to stop? 

Unlike Duolingo or Babbel, Speechling’s activities are all listening and pronunciation drills wrapped in different foils.

Some (e.g., the dictation) do require you to fill in the missing word, but let’s face the truth: it’s a spelling exercise, not a writing practice.

What’s useful is that you can access the Skill Tree tab and get a quick language shower with some core vocabulary. I love using this a few days before a trip.

For most activities, you can choose what to focus on: speaking, understanding, or lecture. You're never instructed on where to start, though.

Here’s a tip on how I use these exercises. I go with lecture (browsing through the deck to see whether I know some vocab). Then I switch to understand (listening to native speakers). Finally, I speak (record my own voice as I repeat after the speaker).

Any app calls for some personal approach. So, feel free to experiment on Speechling.

Glossika

If you tried Speechling first, Glossika might seem like its sister. It lives up to the title of a sentence-bank app. You’re here to listen to sentences and mimic native speakers. Don’t expect to enjoy a variety of activities or human feedback – there are none.

When you first sign in, you see the following tabs:

• Overview (your dashboard with goal setting and progress)
• Memory (the full practice mode)
• Topics (the areas of interest)

Memory is the only mode, so you might find these activities a bit monotonous. Here, you hear a sentence after a sentence, with no extra instructions. You’re provided with a translation in the source language (the one you picked in the beginning), and a transcription.

In the bottom left corner, you have two icons. Press the heart icon to mark the sentence as a favorite (meaning you'll see it more often to remember it) or the head icon (to mark it as easy and not see anymore). That’s your way of helping the Glossika algorithm adjust to your needs.

While Glossika offers a Review section to record your own sentences, you can just use a smartphone to do this – your sentence doesn’t go anywhere and sits there for you to listen to it and spot mistakes yourself (I’d say this feature needs some perfection). Here’s an obvious win for Speechling.

Unique Features: Speechling🏆

I embarked on these apps with the belief there would be nothing unique about them. After all, haven’t I reviewed more than two dozen similar products already? Imagine my excitement when I found several impressive extras deserving to be highlighted.

Speechling’s Aces

Always analyzed face-to-face with Glossika, Speechling offers far more activities. Here are my favorite show-offs:

• Answering questions and describing images. You can partake in a real-life dialogue to practice speaking. The system poses a question, usually one that requires some reflection (hardly suitable for a beginner). You can express your thoughts and send all your recordings to the coach for feedback on pronunciation, grammar, and structure.

• While describing an image, you’re given a visual clue prompting you to practice speaking. These activities are as close to real speaking as it gets. It’s where you challenge your brain to produce your own sentences instead of merely repeating them.

• Freestyle Mode allows you to describe any problems for the coach to address. Alternatively, you can record sentences to get valuable input on pronunciation and grammar structures. It’s exactly where you can take advantage of the benefits of a human tutor. I don’t know another app where professional feedback would be so affordable. You might need to wait for a few hours (sometimes a day or two) before you get feedback, but c’mon!

• Customization. Speechling is the first platform where I’ve seen so much customization. You can choose whether to see the translation or not and whether to hear the original sentences or not. You can adjust the speed of the text and decide whether you want a male or female speaker. All these make you feel appreciated (aren’t we all slightly egocentric?).

• The search function lets you search for any sentence in its database even if you haven’t covered it in the study mode yet. I find it marvelous. When I’m working on a word in Italian, I might want to see it in more contexts to explore its uses and shades of meaning. I strongly recommend playing around with this feature.

Glossika’s Aces

While Glossika loses to Speechling here (from my perspective at least), it still offers some extras many people enjoy:

• Nine free courses in endangered languages (e.g., Gaelic, Catalan, Welsh, Manx, and Hakka). For most of these, Glossika is the only resource to hear the natural pronunciation and colloquial phrases. Moreover, you can learn these smaller languages for free. I’m taking my hat off to you, Glossika!

• Resources. This is a great section with free content: a cultural blog (which I find very engaging) and fantastic downloadable guides on pronunciation, grammar, and other language aspects. Although the selection isn’t wide yet, the Glossika team seems to be working on providing a guide for every language offered. It's the very place I’d start with when signing up for Glossika.

• Selecting the topics. This is my favorite extra on Glossika. If I’m planning to travel to Barcelona and want to learn some Catalan (did you know they’d look down upon you for speaking Spanish there?), I’m not set on learning business and science words. I’m in need of some travel and social words.

The Verdict

The only thing where Glossika beats Speechling for me is its language representation.

I’ve been learning Italian and Catalan simultaneously (both as an absolute beginner), and I got the very same sentences and vocabulary with either. I could, therefore, clearly track my progress and challenges in both. Fantastic!

Other than this, I’m a fan of Speechling, its interface, its philosophy, and its method. I believe its free version is wonderful, and it’s one of the few language learning resources I recommend to every student (unless they strive to learn Gaelic – then Glossika is the obvious choice).

Now, what's your choice after this Glossika vs Speechling review?

Bottom Line

Don’t let my excitement about Speechling fool you. Nothing’s perfect in this world of imperfections. Well, I suspect our Flying Languages app (in the making) will get as close to perfect as it gets. Stay tuned not to miss it.

As for Speechling versus Glossika, I’d say, try both in a popular language and make your pick.  

We all love numbers. So, here they are. 5/5 stars for Speechling and 3/5 stars for Glossika.

What about for endangered languages? 5/5 for Glossika (I can forgive all faults when it comes to Catalan and Gaelic).