Looking for apps to learn Spanish? It seems that apps for learning Spanish are popping up more and more (maybe because it’s one of the most spoken languages). They all promise rapid progress & a fun experience, but do they deliver?

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best apps to learn Spanish. Some of these apps provide full courses for the Spanish language, and other apps focus more on reading and writing German, or improving your Spanish vocabulary.

Read on to discover the best apps for learning Spanish whether you’re already familiar with the language or a complete beginner.

List of the Best Apps to Learn Spanish

1. Spanish Translator +

Because it’s so rich in features (and free!), Spanish Translator+ is the first Spanish leaning app to have in your phone.

Spanish Translator+ is a comprehensive Spanish language learning app, with an advanced sentence translator, comprehensive dictionary, verb conjugator, phrasebook, flashcards, vocabulary quizzes, and even more. You can also personalize the app by adding notes, pictures, and audio to dictionary entries. 

Pros:

• Offline Phrase Translator using advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Take a picture and translate any text in the image
• Phrasebook with 20 categories such as Conversation, Asking Directions and Making Friends
• iPad Split Screen support so you can drag & drop words from other apps into Spanish Translator & Dictionary + to translate them

Cons:

• There are many phrases, conjugations, and grammatical concepts that are not included in the app

Variety: All Spanish varieties (Spain, Mexico, US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Ireland)

Price: Free or premium costs $9.99 per month

2. Hellotalk

HelloTalk is a language exchange app with quite a few attractive features. You can speak to your buddy on text, voice recordings, voice calls, or video calls in both your native languages. You can also take notes, favorite words, and phrases that come up in your conversations, translate your partner’s messages within the chat, and post “moments” (which are sort of like Instagram stories), among other things. 

Pros:

• Connect with native speakers for real-life talks
• Relaxed structure allows for freedom of conversation
• Several learning tools (translation, transliteration, grammar, and correction) to improve language skills

Cons:

• Ads can be a little annoying (you can remove them with the paid version)
• Partners can often be unreliable or absent

Variety: All varieties of Spanish

Price: The free version of HelloTalk is ad-supported. If you’re not a fan, you can get a VIP membership for $6.99 per month, $45.99 per year, or $175.00 for a lifetime membership.

3. Memrise

Memrise is a flashcard app that uses spaced repetition to help new words and phrases “stick” in your long-term memory. Lots of its flashcards are generated by users, so there are plenty to choose from. 

One of Memrise’s most appealing aspects is ‘Learn with Locals’ that pairs words and phrases with videos of native Spanish speakers talking. 

Pros:

• Huge amount of courses between the official Memrise courses and the user-created ones
• Video and audio of a variety of real native speakers to expose you to different accents
• Fast-paced reinforcement helps keep vocabulary fun and interesting
• Adaptive engine determines which words and phrases you need more help with

Cons:

• Weak grammatical explanations
• Some courses can be better quality than others
• Only useful if you commit to using it every day

Variety: European Spanish and Mexican Spanish

Price: Free or Memrise Pro costs $8.99 per month, $18.99 for three months, or $59.99 per year. 

4. SpeakEasy Spanish

SpeakEasy is essentially a phrasebook in an app form. But, instead of giving you the written-out versions of the phrases you’re looking for, you’ll get an audio recording so you can understand exactly how to pronounce it. There’s also a flashcard feature to help you drill the new phrases you learn.

Pros:

• Over 1,000 essential travel phrases with Spanish and phonetic translations, plus audio.
• Separate translations for both European Spanish and Latin American Spanish.
• Flashcards with English on one side and Spanish on the other side, that you can use to study and test yourself.
• All of the content of the app can be used offline

Cons:

• It has been specifically created for English speakers, so there are no other languages supported
• The app just teaches you how to say certain phrases in specific situations, but it doesn’t teach you grammar nor does it include any other learning content

Variety: European Spanish and Latin American Spanish

Price: $3.99

5. Busuu

Busuu is one of the largest language learning apps currently available. It boasts numerous features to help users reach fluency in their desired language. Some of these include a vocabulary trainer, specialized courses, as well as grammar review and study plan tools. The study plan feature and specialized courses make this the best app for anyone who is trying to fit learning Spanish into a busy schedule.

Pros:

• It has a strong community of very active users
• It includes native Spanish audio recordings
• All major language skills are covered
• You can learn at your own pace

Cons:

• Some of the speakers aren’t native
• Limited pronunciation and speaking exercises

Variety: European Spanish

Price: Busuu has a free version, but many more features are available to paying members. If billed monthly, Busuu Premium costs $9.99 and Premium Plus $13.99. For three months, Busuu Premium costs $24.99, and Premium Plus costs $28.98. For six months, Busuu Premium costs $34.92, and Premium plus costs $39.96. 

6. Duolingo

Duolingo is the most popular language-learning app out there, so chances are pretty good you’ve already tried it. It gives users 5-minute-long games to learn Spanish words and a little bit of grammar. It also allows you to practice your Spanish writing by completing sentences or spelling new vocabulary but mainly, the games involve translating sentences into Spanish from English or vice versa.

Pros:

• Structured to teach you the most important vocabulary of the language you choose
• You can set goals to measure progress
• Lessons are short enough to be finished in five minutes
• Learn the 1,500 most important Spanish words

Cons:

• Often contains translation errors
• The free version has many ads
• Mostly good for beginners so not suitable for serious learners

Variety: Mixed (no separation between European and Latin American Spanish in the same course). However, the vast majority of the course is based on Latin American Spanish, using words used in Latin America more often.

Price: Duolingo’s basic features are free, but Duolingo Plus costs $6.99 per month. 

7. HiNative

HiNative is the reddit of language learning apps. This tool provides beginners with a community where they can ask and answer questions about their target language, country, and culture. It’s one of the best ways to get instant feedback from native speakers. The app has several features, including the option to upload pictures for reading and writing assistance and audio recordings for natives to check your pronunciation.

Pros:

• It allows you to ask anything you want to know about the Spanish language and culture
• Users are eager to help
• Since it has users from all around the world, you can be sure to get answers to questions related to specific accents

Cons:

• There’s no actual learning content. It’s the community and its questions and answers what move the app forward
• Self-initiated learning – if you don’t use it actively, you won’t make a lot of progress

Variety: All Spanish varieties

Price: This app is completely free of charge and it supports over 100 languages.

8. Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is one of the most well-known Computer-aided Language Learning (CALL) software in the world.

It focuses on the auditory and visual aspects of language learning. Their course is almost exclusively a combination of images and recorded audio.

At the beginning of a lesson, you will be given a selection of images along with the written and spoken word or phrases that corresponds with it. Then throughout the lesson you will have to remember which word or phrase goes with which image.

The key feature of Rosetta Stone is that the course uses absolutely no English. There are no translations. All you have to work with are the Spanish words and pictures.

Pros:

• Complete Spanish immersion from the get-go
• Outstanding speech-recognition system
• It teaches grammar in a very non-demanding way

Cons:

• No translations or explicit grammar
• The advanced material isn’t very advanced
• Subscription necessary and fees are quite high

Variety: European Spanish and Latin American Spanish

Price: Three months costs $35.97, twelve months costs $119.88, and twenty-four-month costs $167.76. A lifetime package costs $199. 

9. Beelinguapp

Beelinguapp is reading-based and allows you to read texts in your native language and Spanish at the same time.

In addition to reading, you can also listen to recordings of the text by native Spanish speakers and highlight the text for playback. This is known as the “karaoke reading” function.

Pros:

• Unique concept that focuses on reading and comprehension
• Side-by-side reading is a very effective way to see how a language works internally
• Plenty of free materials included
• Everything can be downloaded and read offline

Cons:

• It mainly focuses on reading
• You’ll need a basic understanding of a language to use the app

Variety: All varieties of Spanish

Price: The free version is very good and works for most people. Beyond that, you can buy individual stories for a price of about $1, pay a monthly subscription fee of $1.99 per month to unlock all stories, or buy a lifetime subscription for $24.99. 

10.  Mondly

Mondly is a text and audio-based language learning app. The app uses a combination of course materials, augmented reality (AR) and chatbots in its lessons to help learners master a new language.

Mondly consists of a series of language lessons based on quick game-like activities. This includes activities such as swiping up or down to select your answers or selecting the correct word order. All of the games on Mondly are quick and effective, aimed at helping you to grow your vocabulary while keeping you entertained. 

Pros:

• It’s perfect for visual learners
• The chatbot and speech recognition features are out of this world
• It allows you to learn Spanish in your native language

Cons:

• No grammar explanations
• Not challenging enough for advanced learners
• Phrases are sometimes not perfectly correct and contradictory

Variety: European Spanish

Price: The Mondly app has a free version and a premium version. The free version only has really basic content, but it’s good if you want to see what it’s like to use the app. The premium version costs $9.99 per month (it’s cheaper if you get a longer subscription though), and includes all of the Spanish lessons and exercises.

11.  Pimsleur

Founded by Dr. Paul Pimsleur and owned by Simon & Schuster, Pimsleur Language Programs have been on the market in various forms since 1963.

Pimsleur is an audio-based language learning program, accessible online through its website or app. The content is divided into 30-minute lessons, and Pimsleur encourages you to complete one lesson a day. A majority of the content is audio, but each lesson is coupled with optional (but encouraged) short lessons in reading and pronunciation, along with games and flashcards to help you learn new vocabulary.

Pimsleur stresses conversational skills, introducing grammar and vocabulary through context. There are no lists of words to memorize, no conjugation charts, and almost no interaction with your screen.

All in all, Pimsleur is a boring but effective.

Pros:

• You can choose to study either Castilian or Latin American Spanish (they’re independent courses)
• You’ll be uttering Spanish words and sentences from day one
• It’s perfect for complete beginners
• It allows you to learn Spanish hands-free

Cons:

• Very little content for reading or writing
• No grammar explanations

Variety: European Spanish and Latin American Spanish

Price: A subscription to the Pimsleur app costs between $14.95 and $19.95 per month. If you prefer to buy an entire course upfront, you can also do that. The Spanish courses range from $119.95 to $550.00 for the entire course.

12.  Lupa

This podcast-style app works in partnership with NPR’s Radio Ambulante, a Spanish-language podcast that produces stories about Latin America. Via the Lupa app, learners are able to use several features to make these stories easier to understand, such as variable speeds, transcripts, translations, and definitions.

Pros:

• Native Spanish from all over South America
• Real stories, real people and a professional team behind the app
• Brief notes (like grammar explanations and cultural insights) before the stories
• A powerful player that will guide you from beginning to end
• You can download all your stories and learn with them offline

Cons:

• Too difficult for beginners and intermediate learners
• The vocab feature is extremely basic

Variety: Latin American Spanish

Price: $12/month zero-commitment or $99/year charged in one lump sum. Before you commit to a paid subscription, Lupa gives you two free stories to try out first, with all of the paid features included. 

The Best Apps for Learning Spanish: Conclusion

So, there you have it, now you know all of our top picks of Spanish learning apps. Why not try some of them out?

To learn Spanish fast, you will need to build a sizeable vocabulary, understand spoken Spanish and master elementary Spanish grammar. Then, it is good idea to use many of these apps at the same time. Also, you’d better don’t pay for any app at the first few weeks of learning Spanish because you may only keep studying for a few days. Otherwise, you are at the risk of wasting your money.