PhrasiGo vs Babbel · 2026

Babbel sells a syllabus. PhrasiGo gives you one, and lets you add your own sentences.

Follow a human-curated journey from A1 to B2, then add the exact lines you need for your job, your trip or your in-laws. Natural audio, FSRS reviews and an AI tutor are included. 35 languages, no subscription.

Get it on
Google Play
 See the comparison ↓
100% freeNo ads35 languagesNo account needed to start
Choose PhrasiGo if
  • You want a structured course and the freedom to add your own sentences to it.
  • Your language is not one of Babbel’s 14. PhrasiGo has 35, with a curated journey for 35 pairs.
  • You would rather spend $0 than $18 a month, and you do not want ads either.
  • You learn a gendered language and want both forms of every sentence.
Babbel still fits if
  • You want explicit grammar explanations written by linguists inside every lesson.
  • You want live group classes; Babbel Live is a separate paid product for that.
  • You are learning one of its 14 languages and want a very long, uniform curriculum.
  • You need an iPhone or desktop app today.
$0 vs $17.99
per month. Babbel’s monthly plan for one language [1]
35 vs 14
languages to learn
Yes vs no
adding your own sentences

Side by side

PhrasiGo vs Babbel, feature by feature

Both apps have a real course with real audio. One of them is a subscription; the other also learns your sentences.

Feature PhrasiGo Babbel
Learn your own sentences ✓ Type any sentence. It is translated, spoken aloud, split word by word and saved for practice. ✗ The curriculum is fixed; Review only holds vocabulary from lessons. [4]
Free tier ✓ Free. No paywall, no premium tier today. Fair-use limits: 100 new phrases and 200 speaking exercises a day, signed in. ◐ The first lesson of each level is free; the rest needs a subscription. [2]
Ads ✓ No ads, no ad SDK in the app at all. ✓ No ads; it is a paid product.
Guided course ✓ Learning Journey: 13 subjects, A1–B2, 120 units of 8 sentences per pair, 35 pairs. Human-curated. ✓ Deep, structured courses with grammar notes, 14 languages. [1]
Grammar explanations ◐ Word-by-word meanings and the AI tutor’s corrections, not grammar lessons. ✓ A strength: written explanations throughout.
Spaced repetition ✓ FSRS-4.5 on every phrase, yours or the course’s. Switched on for everyone, nothing to configure. 7-day forecast. ◐ Review with fixed stages: next day, 4, 7, 14, 60 days, 6 months. [4]
AI conversation practice ✓ Talk: 10 scenarios, A1–B1, briefed on your own saved phrases. 30 conversations a day signed in. ◐ Babbel Speak, in open beta since September 2025, for 5 languages; included with a subscription. [5]
Speaking practice ✓ Speech-checked word by word. A mumble is a free retry, never a false pass. ✓ Speech recognition in lessons.
Streaks ✓ Start with 2, earn more by practicing. Applied automatically on a missed day. ✓ Streaks; offline activity counts once you sync. [6]
XP and leagues ✓ 7 leagues, Bronze to Legend. You promote by clearing a weekly XP threshold; nobody is ranked against you. ✗ No leagues or XP system.
Masculine / feminine forms ✓ Every sentence is stored in both forms with a one-tap ♂/♀ toggle. Built for Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and friends. ✗ Sentences come as written in the lesson.
Works offline ✓ Saved phrases, their audio and your downloaded course work offline. Progress syncs when you are back. ✓ Lessons and Review items can be downloaded in the app. [7]
Languages ✓ 35 languages to learn, any pair for your own phrases. App interface in 11 languages. ◐ 14 languages; interface in 9. [8]
Platforms ◐ Android on Google Play today. iPhone version in testing, coming soon. ✓ iOS, Android and web.
Price ✓ Free, no paid tier. $ $17.99/mo; $89.99/yr for one language, $107.99/yr for all; Lifetime listed at $299.99, often on sale. US prices. [1]

Bracketed numbers point to the sources at the bottom of this page. Babbel details are as published on 2 September 2026; features and prices change, so check their site for today's terms.

The course

A journey people wrote, in 35 languages

Babbel’s curriculum is its product, and it is a good one, for the 14 languages it covers [1]. PhrasiGo’s Learning Journey takes a similar shape: 13 everyday subjects, from Basics to Health and Work, arranged along a trail of 120 units that unlock as you go, from A1 to B2. Every sentence was chosen and checked by people, recorded in a natural voice, and stored in both gendered forms.

It exists for 35 language pairs, from English to Spanish to Arabic to French to Japanese to Korean, and it costs nothing.

  • 13 subjects, A1 to B2, 8 sentences per unit
  • Stars, crowns and mastery rings per unit
  • Your own phrases ride along inside course practice

Beyond the syllabus

The sentence Babbel does not have

Every curriculum ends where your life begins: the allergy you need to explain, the phrase your boss used in the meeting, the way your partner’s grandmother says goodbye. In PhrasiGo you add that sentence and it becomes a card with translation, audio and word meanings, scheduled for review alongside everything from the course.

  • 100 new sentences a day, signed in
  • Folders for trips, work, family
  • Fix any translation; audio regenerates
PhrasiGo phrasebook showing user-added sentences with translations and audio

Memory

Adaptive intervals, not a fixed ladder

Babbel’s Review moves a word through six fixed stages: the next day, then 4, 7, 14 and 60 days, then six months [4]. PhrasiGo uses FSRS-4.5, which models each phrase’s own stability and difficulty and brings it back just before you would forget it. Easy phrases stretch out fast; the ones you keep missing come back sooner. The Progress tab forecasts your week.

AI tutor

Talk about your phrases, at your level

Babbel Speak, its voice-led AI practice, launched in open beta in September 2025 for five languages [5]. PhrasiGo’s Talk covers every language in the app, with ten scenarios and an A1 to B1 level selector. It is briefed on your saved phrases and steers the conversation so you use them, offers a more natural version when you slip, and ends with phrases worth saving.

PhrasiGo Talk: a French conversation with a gentle “more natural” correction

Making the move

Coming from Babbel? Your level carries over.

  1. 1

    Start the Journey where you are

    Units are grouped by CEFR band. If you finished Babbel’s A1, begin at A2 and let the mastery rings tell you what to revisit.

  2. 2

    Add the sentences the course skipped

    The ones from your actual week. They get audio and meanings and join the same review schedule.

  3. 3

    Set the daily goal

    60 XP is about four minutes. Streak freezes are applied automatically when life gets in the way.

  4. 4

    Talk daily

    Choose a scenario at your level; the tutor already knows your phrases.

Questions people ask

Is PhrasiGo really free, or is there a catch?
There is no paid tier in the app right now and there are no ads. Instead of a paywall, PhrasiGo has fair-use limits so nobody can run up the AI bill: signed in with Google, you can add 100 new phrases a day, do 200 speaking exercises a day and hold 30 AI conversations a day. Without an account the limits are lower. Everything else, including the whole guided course, is open.
Does PhrasiGo teach grammar like Babbel?
Not as written lessons. PhrasiGo teaches through whole sentences: word-by-word meanings, gendered forms, natural audio, and the AI tutor’s short explanations when it corrects you. If you want a textbook-style grammar track, Babbel does that better.
Which languages does PhrasiGo have that Babbel does not?
PhrasiGo offers 35 languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Greek, Romanian and the Nordic and Baltic languages. Babbel offers 14.
Is the PhrasiGo course as long as Babbel’s?
The Journey has 120 units of eight sentences per language pair, from A1 to B2, across 13 subjects. Babbel’s courses run longer in some languages. The difference is that PhrasiGo’s course continues with your own sentences once the trail ends.
Is PhrasiGo available on iPhone?
PhrasiGo ships on Android through Google Play today. The iPhone version is built from the same code and is in testing; it will appear on this site the day it is live on the App Store.

A course that ends
with your sentences

Download PhrasiGo for free. The whole Journey is open from day one.

Get it on
Google Play

Free · No ads · No account needed to start · iOS coming soon

Sources for the Babbel claims on this page

  1. Babbel on the App Store (14 languages, in-app purchase prices)
  2. Babbel: “Test Babbel for free” (first lesson of each level)
  3. Babbel promo pricing page (Lifetime list price)
  4. Babbel help: Review stages
  5. Babbel press release: Babbel Speak (open beta)
  6. Babbel help: Streak
  7. Babbel help: Offline mode
  8. Babbel help: Available languages (display languages)

Checked 2 September 2026. PhrasiGo claims describe the app as shipped on Google Play at the time of writing.