Mondly vs Babbel: How Different Are These Language Apps?
Maria Claudia Alvarado
Published on January 8, 2024
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Using an app is a convenient way to learn a foreign language. If you’re looking for a high-quality language learning app to include in your study routine, you might have heard about Mondly and Babbel. Both apps provide dynamic exercises to make the learning process fun. But only one has all the features you need to practice all areas of your target language, and that’s Babbel.
Editor’s Choice
People compare Babbel and Mondly because they have quick lessons that you can complete during your free time. They offer flexible course structures and game-like features to keep language students engaged. However, there are key differences between both apps. We’ll take a closer look at their pros and cons to help you pick the the best language learning app for you.
Mondly vs Babbel: A Quick Breakdown
Mondly and Babbel have gamified features that make learning a new language fun and engaging. Both allow you to follow a structured lesson plan or choose what you want to study next. Mondly offers many languages and has vocabulary lists that teach you useful vocabulary for different topics like going shopping, going to the doctor, booking a hotel room, etc. With Babbel, you can start with the basics and practice vocabulary, grammar, listening, and speaking. Mondly has modern technology like a chatbot and AR and VR lessons you can use to improve your speaking skills and pronunciation. Babbel has quick lessons and grammar tips that show you how to apply the language.
The table below shows you a direct comparison of Mondly and Babbel based on the languages they offer, their price, and free trials.
| Mondly | Babbel |
|---|---|
| 41 languages | 14 languages |
| $9.99/month | $14.99/month |
| 7-day free trial | 1 free lesson |
 | |
Babbel vs Mondly: Cost Comparison
You can complete one Mondly lesson for free every day, but if you want to unlock all the content available on the app, you need to buy a subscription. A Mondly subscription costs $9.99 per month and gives you access to one language. The app also has an annual subscription for one language for $47.99 per year and a yearly subscription for all languages for $89.99 per year. Mondly offers a free 7-day trial to test the app before purchasing.
Babbel allows you to take the first lesson of each language course for free, but if you want to continue using the app, you must buy a subscription. Babbel has a monthly subscription available for $14.99 per month, but there are longer subscriptions that can save you some money. You can get 3 months for $35.99 ($11.99 per month), 6 months for $47.94 ($7.99 per month), and 12 months for $58.38 ($7.99 per month). Keep in mind that you can only study one language with these subscriptions. If you’d like access to all the languages on Babbel, you can buy Lifetime access to the app for one payment of $499.
In my opinion, Babbel offers a lot of value for its price. Most apps in the same price range won’t help you practice all the skills you need to become fluent. Mondly is still a good option, but it focuses too much on vocabulary and doesn’t include enough grammar practice. You can use Mondly to increase your vocabulary, but there is a big chance you will end up using an app like Babbel to fill in the gaps. Overall, I’d prefer Babbel.
If you’d like to see other options, don’t worry. We have plenty of app recommendations to help you become fluent. Here are some other alternatives.
Babbel vs Mondly: How They Work
Babbel and Mondly both have interactive exercises and dynamic features. However, Mondly has a heavier focus on vocabulary. Babbel provides comprehensive language courses that allow you to practice all the areas of language. With Mondly, you can quickly learn a lot of useful vocabulary for the topics that interest you the most. Babbel’s lessons have quick grammar tips that show you how to use the language while you practice.
Check out the table below to see how Mondly and Babbel rate across the web:
| Reviews | Babbel | Mondly |
|---|---|---|
| Langoly | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Apple Store | 4.7 | 4.8 |
| Google Play | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Trustpilot | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Average Score | 4.4 | 4.4 |
How Babbel Works
Babbel is a comprehensive language learning platform and app with lessons for students of all levels. Its structured courses follow a logical order and build on your previous knowledge. You can take Babbel’s placement test to find the best spot to begin studying, or skip around and choose what you want to learn next.
In its lessons, Babbel introduces you to new vocabulary. It uses images and audio voiced by native speakers to show you the meaning and correct pronunciation of each word and provides English translations to make the experience less overwhelming. Babbel has an advanced speech recognition tool, and quick grammar tips that teach you to apply grammatical rules while you practice.
There are many additional resources like flashcards, games, videos, quizzes, and listening and speaking practices that can develop all your language skills. Babbel also has interesting cultural notes to teach you more about the history and society of the language you are learning. If you want to practice speaking with a teacher, Babbel has online group lessons available on Babbel Live.
To learn more about the app, you can read this complete Babbel review.
How Mondly Works
Mondly is a language-learning app with a focus on vocabulary and grammar. It has a progressive course structure that starts you with the basics of the language but allows you to pick what you study next. With Mondly, you can learn vocabulary for topics like animals, shopping, booking a hotel room, and more.
The app has quick study sessions that last around 5-10 minutes and include interactive exercises like matching the words to their meaning and building a sentence in the correct order. Mondly has an advanced voice recognition tool that helps you practice speaking and improves your pronunciation. If you’d like to practice your grammar skills, there are conjugation tables that show you the different verb forms.
Mondly has additional features like a chatbot, flashcards, quizzes, and lessons in virtual reality and augmented reality that you can use to review and reinforce what you’ve learned. It’s easy to track your progress, which is a great way to stay motivated. Mondly also has career-specific language lessons so that you can learn vocabulary relevant to the medical field, business, customer service, and more.
If you want to learn more about the app, you can read this complete Mondly review.
Babbel: Pros and Cons
Babbel’s approach is the perfect way to practice using grammar while you learn a different language. Instead of introducing grammar topics through long, explanatory texts, Babbel focuses on integrated grammar tips that briefly explain how to apply different grammar rules. Then, you use the exercises to practice using the language. It’s much better than learning through memorization, and the app ensures you understand what you are doing before you move on.
I really enjoyed using Babbel’s voice recognition tool. Native speakers voice all audio on Babbel, and you can listen and repeat after them to train your pronunciation. If you have trouble with a word, Babbel marks it for later review to allow you to continue your practice. Now, most apps have their own speech recognition tools, but I haven’t seen many as accurate as Babbel. I tested it in Italian, German, and French, and it wouldn’t mark my pronunciation as correct unless I truly tried to mimic the audio.
For an app that has almost everything you need, it’s disappointing to see that they are missing writing practice for languages with different writing systems. If you want to become fluent in any language, you need to be able to write. You need to know the correct sentence structure, stroke order, and characters for languages like Russian. Right now Babbel has a review feature that allows you to practice building sentences, but that’s about it.
Depending on the language you are learning, Babbel might only help you get past the beginner level. Remember that the subscription price of Babbel is the same for each language, regardless of the available levels and features. This bothers me the most about Babbel because its trial is so limited that you can only try and see a small portion of what the course includes. In this case, I think it’d be best to contact Babbel’s support team to make sure your course has everything you need.
Mondly: Pros and Cons
Mondly has unique features that you won’t find in other apps. Its modern interface and tools make the learning experience fun and engaging. The AR and VR lessons simulate and prepare you for different scenarios you might find as a complete beginner, and the chatbot is a useful way to practice speaking.
One of the things I enjoyed the most while using Mondly was the app’s variety of vocabulary topics. You can learn useful vocabulary and start using what you’ve learned right away. Mondly uses only natural phrases, so you can be sure that you are learning the language how it’s spoken in real life.
While Mondly is a convenient tool to study on the go, it might be less beneficial for advanced and intermediate language students. The app has a heavy focus on vocabulary, which is great if you want to learn the basics before you travel, but not so much if you want to become fluent. I tried Mondly’s Japanese course and noticed little progression between the beginner and intermediate lessons. The lesson structure is similar for all levels, so the app isn’t too challenging. After a while, I felt the lessons were too repetitive and wanted to stop.
It’s also strange that Mondly doesn’t include more extensive grammar explanations. Most apps include brief grammatical explanations to help you understand how to apply grammatical rules. With Mondly, you click on a verb to see its different conjugations. That’s it. It isn’t nearly enough to help complete beginners understand how to apply the language. I’d recommend using different apps or other resources to tackle grammar or more advanced topics.
Mondly and Babbel: Which is better?
Babbel and Mondly are both great tools for different types of learners. They have similar features, but their features and tools make the experience different for each. I enjoyed using both, but there’s a big difference between what they can do for you and how far they can take you in your language-learning journey.
With the Mondly app, you can learn basic vocabulary and build a foundation of useful language. Since you can choose the topics you study, you can start using the language at your convenience. Mondly is a unique app with modern tools, like AR and VR lessons, you won’t find in many other places. It probably won’t help you much if you are already at an intermediate or advanced level, but it’s a helpful way for beginners to learn the language at their own rhythm.
Babbel uses a gamified experience, but it has more features to help you practice vocabulary, grammar, listening, and speaking. It keeps you engaged in the language learning experience with dynamic exercises, tips, games, flashcards, and more. Professional linguists develop all Babbel courses, so you can be sure that you are learning the language in the most accurate way. For all the value it offers, I’d recommend Babbel to language students of all levels.
Babbel and Mondly: FAQ
In general, Babbel is better than Mondly. Mondly and Babbel both have high-quality content and which one is better for you depends on your language goals and what language you are studying. Babbel has thorough courses that go from the complete beginner level up to the intermediate level or even advanced. But Mondly offers courses that can help you learn a lot of helpful vocabulary quickly and offers more language options.
The Babbel app isn’t free. You can take the first lesson of each language course for free but, if you want to continue using Babbel after that, you need to buy a subscription. A Babbel monthly subscription starts at $7.99 per month.
Mondly can teach you a lot of useful vocabulary, but you won’t become fluent using only one app. Mondly doesn’t provide any kind of writing or reading practice, which are necessary skills to reach fluency in any language. If you want to become fluent, you can use Mondly with other apps or resources like podcasts or textbooks.
If you’re learning a new language, there might be better apps than Babbel. Babbel has a comprehensive course structure, but some of its less popular languages like Swedish or Dutch have fewer units and tools available. You can use apps like Pimsleur, Duolingo, or Mondly to help you learn a language.
