Free alternatives to Duolingo for speaking English, compared
Duolingo builds the habit and the vocabulary; speaking to an AI is not on its free plan, and on Max it is a subscription above Super. These are the apps where you actually talk, free, what each gives you, and what it corrects.
Every figure in the table was read on each app's own pricing page or store listing, on the date above. Prices and free tiers move; this table is re-checked and re-dated when they do.
| App | What it is | What is free | What it costs after | What it corrects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duolingo | Gamified course app; AI conversation only on Max | The course, with energy limits; no AI conversation on the free plan | Super from $9.99 a month; Max, with Video Call and Roleplay, sits above Super | Exercise answers on the free plan; Roleplay feedback on accuracy and complexity only on Max |
| ChatGPT (voice mode) | General assistant with voice conversation | Voice included on the free plan, with a daily and monthly cap on minutes | Plus, around $20 a month | Whatever you ask for, if you ask each session; no memory of your mistakes |
| Gliglish | AI conversation partner | 10 minutes a day, no sign-up | Paid plans remove the cap | Feedback on the conversation; pronunciation feedback is paid |
| Fluvia | Spoken conversation with 18 AI voices in seven accents, correcting you as you speak | Conversations free with no expiry, no account and no card; listening tests, dictation, writing correction, idioms, phrasal verbs and vocabulary unlimited | From US$5 a month, billed yearly | Grammar, vocabulary and phrasing the moment you slip; the mistakes you repeat come back |
| ELSA Speak | Pronunciation coach, with sample conversations | Limited daily lessons and sample AI conversations | Premium, around $13 a month billed yearly | Sounds and accent, sound by sound; grammar barely |
| TalkPal | AI tutor for 130+ languages, English among them | 10 minutes a day on the free plan, with an account; 14-day Premium trial | Premium, monthly or yearly; prices vary by country | Chat feedback and a pronunciation assessment tool; daily AI feedback is Premium |
| Speak | Guided speaking course with AI | 7-day trial; no permanent free tier | Premium, around $18 a month or around $84 a year | Inside its lessons, sentence by sentence |
| Praktika | AI avatar tutors | 7-day trial that asks for a card first | Around $8 a month billed yearly | Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, at the end of each turn |
| HelloTalk | Language exchange with real people | Most of the app | VIP, around $7 a month | Whatever your human partner chooses to correct |
Why people look past Duolingo when they want to speak
Because Duolingo is a course, not a conversation. The free plan drills vocabulary and grammar with energy limits; the AI conversation features, Video Call and Roleplay, belong to Duolingo Max, a tier above Super Duolingo, which itself starts around $9.99 a month. Many people finish a long streak able to read and still unable to hold a two-minute conversation.
The search behind this page is usually “Duolingo alternative for speaking English”, and the honest answer is that the alternatives are not better courses. They are apps whose main mode is talking.
Free with a daily cap, or a trial that ends
The first family has a permanent free tier with a cap: ChatGPT (voice minutes per day), Gliglish (ten minutes a day), TalkPal (ten minutes a day, with an account), HelloTalk (nearly everything) and Fluvia (first conversations with no expiry, and everything that is not speaking unlimited). You can use them every day without ever paying; what you buy is the removal of the cap.
The second is “try, then pay”: Speak, Praktika and Loora. The trial lasts a few days and after that nothing is free. Praktika and Loora also ask for a card before you start and charge the full plan when the trial ends unless you cancel.
If your question is “what can I talk with every day without spending anything”, the answer is only in the first family.
What Duolingo does better
The habit. Nothing in the table is as good at making you open it every day, and for a beginner its vocabulary and grammar drills are a fine foundation. If you are at A1 or A2, keep it and add one speaking app rather than replacing it.
What the alternatives replace is the part Duolingo charges Max for: a spoken conversation with an AI that answers and corrects you.
Which alternative for which problem
Talk today, free, no account: Gliglish or Fluvia. Both open in the browser.
Free-form conversation on anything: ChatGPT’s voice mode with a teacher prompt.
Pronunciation: ELSA Speak, sound by sound.
A course with an order to it, like Duolingo but built around speaking: Speak.
Correction while you talk, with your repeated mistakes brought back: Fluvia. First conversations free with no expiry, no account or card, and the rest of the app unlimited.
How we compared
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a free alternative to Duolingo for speaking English?
- Yes. Gliglish gives ten minutes a day with no sign-up, ChatGPT includes voice minutes on its free plan, TalkPal ten minutes a day with an account, and Fluvia its first conversations free with no expiry, no account and no card.
- Does Duolingo teach speaking?
- It has speaking exercises where you repeat sentences, and on Max, a paid tier above Super, Video Call and Roleplay with AI characters. On the free plan there is no conversation with an AI.
- Which alternative is closest to Duolingo?
- For a structured course, Speak: lessons in order that build up to conversation, as a subscription. For the daily-habit feel with actual talking, Gliglish’s ten free minutes a day.
- Should I stop using Duolingo?
- Not if it is working for vocabulary and habit. Add a speaking app for the part it does not do for free. None of the table’s free options will ask you for a card.