Best AI for language learning: 10 tools compared by languages taught

Which AI is best for language learning?

Gemini Live is the best free speaking partner, and a course app like Praktika or Speak is the best daily plan. A chatbot voice mode costs nothing to talk to. A course app gives you the plan a chatbot won't. We read each tool's own page in October 2026, and prices are US App Store prices.

Two columns decide most cases. Look at the language column first. If your language isn't on a tutor app's list, no plan fixes that. Then look at speaking practice, which is where AI helps most and where the free tools are strongest. For a first month, Gemini Live plus one course app covers both jobs for under $20.

How many languages does each AI tutor cover?

The AI tutor apps teach 1 to 13 languages, while the open conversation tools list 20 to 130+. Duolingo is the exception on breadth, with 40+ courses, but its AI Video Call runs in only 9 of them. That gap is the one fact most lists skip, and it decides the choice for anyone learning a language outside the big six.

Praktika's App Store listing names English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Polish and Dutch. Speak's lists Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English, French and Italian. Duolingo's blog, dated 14 January 2026, says Video Call covers "English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean, and Chinese on iOS." So a learner of Greek, Hindi or Swahili gets no AI tutor or video call from Praktika, Speak or Duolingo. Duolingo does teach Greek, but not with Video Call.

The big chatbots handle the long tail, but only Google writes it down. Its developer guide for the Live API lists 99 languages, from Afrikaans to Zulu. OpenAI's voice FAQ gives no list. It says only that "Choosing the language you speak most often can help ChatGPT understand your speech more accurately." Anthropic's help center is blunter: "Support for languages other than English is in beta."

Talkpal's count needs a footnote. Its App Store headline says 130+, but the same listing's language section names 51. Treat 130+ as the vendor's claim, not a checked figure.

Is ChatGPT good for language learning, or do you need an app like Duolingo?

ChatGPT is good for conversation and explanations, and it's weak at structure. A chatbot will talk about anything, at any level, for as long as your limit lasts. It won't plan your next lesson, track your weak words or nag you to come back tomorrow. Course apps exist to do exactly that.

Duolingo shows where the two worlds meet. It launched Max in March 2023 on GPT-4 with two AI features, Explain My Answer and Roleplay. Video Call came later, in September 2024, as a Max feature. In its Q2 2026 shareholder letter, released on 5 August 2026, Duolingo wrote that "most new Super Duolingo subscribers now have access to Video Call, and we expect to extend that access to existing Super subscribers later this year." The AI call that defined Max is moving down a tier.

The company also says speaking now runs through the whole app. Its Q1 2026 letter reports that average words spoken per user in Video Call "more than doubled" over a year. Duolingo averaged 58.7 million daily users in the quarter to June 2026, and it had 12.7 million paid subscribers. No chatbot ships that kind of habit loop.

The split that works for most people is simple. Use a course app for the daily plan and vocabulary. Use a chatbot when you want to talk, ask why a sentence is wrong, or practise a real situation. If you mainly need to read or write in another language, our guide to using AI to translate covers the prompts for that.

What is the best free AI for language learning?

Gemini Live is the best free AI for language practice, because it's a full voice call in the free Gemini app. Google made its camera and screen sharing free for Android users in April 2025, per 9to5Google. That lets you point the phone at a menu and ask about it in the language you're learning. Google's help center says Live isn't available in the Gemini web app, so plan on using the phone.

ChatGPT and Claude both include voice on their free plans. OpenAI lists free voice as limited access, counted over a rolling 24 hours, and the limits "may change." Claude's voice mode runs on every plan, Free included, and it counts toward your normal usage limits. For a side by side of the two big free assistants, see Gemini vs ChatGPT.

Two free options sit outside the chatbots. Duolingo's core course costs nothing. Google Translate added a practice beta on 26 August 2025, built for English speakers working on Spanish and French. It also serves Spanish, French and Portuguese speakers practising English. Google's post gives no price, so check the app before you count on it.

How do you turn a chatbot into a conversation tutor?

Tell it the language, your level and how to correct you, in the first message. Without that, a chatbot answers in English the moment you stumble. Google's Live API guide says its native audio models "automatically choose the appropriate language," and that you can restrict them by saying so in the instructions. Paste this, swap the language and level, then start talking:

```

You are my Spanish conversation partner. I am at A2 level. Speak only Spanish, in short sentences, even if I switch to English. After each of my turns, repeat my sentence back with any mistakes corrected, then keep the conversation going with one question. Every five turns, teach me one new word and use it in a sentence. If I say "pausa", explain my last mistake in English.

```

Use it in a voice mode for speaking, or in text for writing practice. A few changes make it sharper. Ask for a role ("you're a waiter in Madrid") to practise a real scene. Ask for a list of your mistakes at the end, then paste that list into your next session. And keep sessions short and daily, since that's the pacing every course app is built around.

Where does Whizi fit for language practice?

Whizi is our product, so here's where it helps and where it loses. Its voice mode runs on Google's Gemini Live API, the model with 99 listed languages, and it's included on every paid plan. Starter at $15.99 a month includes 10 voice minutes, Pro at $29.99 includes 80, and Powerhouse at $49.99 includes 500. Free accounts get no voice at all. A single session stops at 15 minutes. Whizi saves facts you share to memory and loads them into each voice session, so it can know your level without being told again. It loses on structure. There's one preset voice, no pronunciation score and no course, and free Gemini Live costs nothing. Whizi earns its place when you also want ChatGPT and Claude for text work on one bill. How voice mode works has the details.