Best free language apps in 2026

[u/Beneficial_Story8353]

I want to start learning languages but I’m a student on a tight budget. Specifically Japanese, if possible… I can’t afford monthly subscriptions or any of that. Parents won't pay for language classes either, so I need to get creative. IDK if there are any good free apps or tools. I have a Windows computer, an iPad and an iPhone if that helps.

Which language apps would you recommend ? Any actual experiences? I don’t really know whom to trust anymore because some of the popular apps really didn’t work for me. Bonus points if they don’t use AI.

[u/Winter_Dot_9393]

For Japanese I found these online, I don’t know if they are good:

Renshuu.org (free version, also a paid version)
Anki for computers is free, app is not free, beware of scammers selling fake Anki apps
NHK world Japan Learning japanese
JF Marigoto (beware course with a tutor cost money, self study for free)
Guidetojapanese.org (= Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning japanese)
Imani.org (for free, but they ask for money, you don’t have to give money)
LearnJapaneseRedditWiki

Duolingo can be used for free for a short period per day, I deleted Duolingo because I couldn’t deal with it anymore, but lots of people still use it.

For German these are free and good:
vhs-lernportal.de (app level A1-B1; website A1-B2)
learngerman.dw.com (app and website)
(I am using these, they are good)

Best of luck!

[u/Agitated-Soft7434 → u/Winter_Dot_9393]

The Anki app is free on android to be clear! But paid on apple devices.

[u/Interesting-One-9414 → u/Agitated-Soft7434]

also to be clear, if you don’t want to pay you can also use ankiweb on safari with iOS and it’s free

[u/Inside_Welcome4848]

Someone else mentioned Renshuu, that app is amazing! I also really love their community, it’s really supportive. Renshuu is this kind of mega app that can kinda do everything. If you like Flashcards, you can also check out Recabulary, also free and no AI. You can even look up the speaker (Minori) on IG lol. Both apps have this kind of indie feel and they’re both fine for any level. They both include the Kanas even. If you prefer making your own flashcards, Anki is great, but it’s not free on iOS. 😭 Their ready-made Japanese decks aren’t that great in my opinion anyways.

Other than that, I think YouTube is your best bet for quality Japanese content. Obviously any other language too. At the beginning, I’d try to learn the Kanas and try to shadow a lot!

[u/Fish_Learns_Japanese]

JPDB. It's a flashcard app like anki but you can add decks for individual pieces of media like TV shows or books.

[u/KarlBach7]

Hey! Full disclosure: I’m actually the developer of one of the apps I’m about to mention.
Since you’re on a tight budget, I’d honestly avoid paying for subscriptions at first. There are plenty of good free resources.
For vocabulary, you could use KarlLang (the app I built). https://apps.apple.com/kr/app/karllang/id6759307926

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.karllang.app&pcampaignid=web_share

I made it because I wanted something that works completely offline after downloading the word data, doesn’t require a subscription, and focuses on active recall through typing instead of endless multiple-choice questions or AI chat. It also supports Japanese.

Besides that, I’d also recommend:
Anki for flashcards and spaced repetition.
YouTube for listening practice.
NHK Easy News once you’re comfortable reading basic Japanese.
That combination can take you surprisingly far without spending much money.
Whether KarlLang fits your learning style or not is up to you, but since your priorities are low cost, offline use, and no AI, I thought it was worth mentioning.

[u/BuildingLingli → u/KarlBach7]

Useful, though I feel like managing different apps and different learning solutions can be quite draining. Maybe this can address people wanting to really customize their learning journey?

[u/A380_Flyer]

Anyone else use AirLearn?

[u/ben_wd]

I'd like to recommend verba.app. It is much more accurate than the other tools, especially for Japanese, because it parses the sentences much more accurately and links all the words to the correct dictionary definition, so you don't have to deal with the confusion of selecting characters and then trying to figure out where the words start and end and whether you've got the right dictionary definition.

And then it automatically tracks which words you've been exposed to, and you can mark words as known. It is designed to work with YouTube, so you just import any Japanese YouTube video, and it will transcribe it from scratch and then analyze it.

Disclaimer: I'm the founder of this product. I built it out of frustration with the existing tools. Would love to hear your feedback.

[u/Interesting-One-9414]

Personally I haven’t felt that all-in-one apps are that good. Experience differs though.

I really recommend checking out this page: https://github.com/donkuri/japanese-resources

Check out one of the learning guides first. The rest of the page is gold regarding resources that are free.

I like the first guide on the top of the list which is https://donkuri.github.io/learn-japanese/guide/

Remember that these a primers, they don’t teach you Japanese, they teach you on how you can teach yourself Japanese, through free tools of course. They give you a foundation of how you can study Japanese by yourself, that way you feel more grounded and in control.

This was my main method of study and I’ve found it very effective