Free alternatives to ELSA Speak for pronunciation (2026)
ELSA Speak is the best-known English pronunciation app, and most of it is paid. These are the best free English pronunciation apps and tools as alternatives to ELSA Speak, and what each one actually checks.
Checked 23 October 2026 against each app’s own pricing page or help centre; US App Store prices from our 21 October check. Prices move often and vary by country: take every figure as approximate.
| App | What it is | What is free | What it costs after | What it checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELSA Speak | Pronunciation coach, with AI conversations | The Welcome lessons and the first 2 lessons of every topic, free; a 7-day trial ELSA says needs no card | Premium $19.99 a month or from $71 a year on the US App Store; on ELSA’s website, $29.99 a year or $79.99 lifetime | Each sound, scored; the reference point |
| Speechling | Listen, record yourself, compare side by side | The whole curriculum and the side-by-side comparison; free coaching sessions exclude English | Unlimited coaching from $19.99 a month | Your recording next to a native one, side by side |
| YouGlish | Search a word and hear it in real YouTube videos, by accent | Everything | Nothing to pay | How real speakers say a word, by accent |
| Google Translate (Practice) | AI listening and speaking practice inside the Translate app (beta) | Free in the Translate app, for speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, French, German and a few more learning English, in supported countries | Nothing to pay | Speaking activities at your level, with AI |
| BoldVoice | American accent training: AI pronunciation feedback and video lessons from dialect coaches | A 7-day free trial | A subscription after the trial; the price is shown in the app | Accent and clarity, with AI feedback and coach videos (paid after 7 days) |
| Fluvia | Spoken conversation with an AI that corrects you as you speak | A trial conversation and the first conversations, which do not expire, with no account and no card; listening tests, dictation and the level test unlimited | From US$5 a month, billed yearly | Connected speech (gonna, wanna) with audio, and mistakes in conversation |
What ELSA does that is hard to replace
Sound-by-sound scoring of your pronunciation, with a learning path built from a pronunciation test. The free version keeps the Welcome lessons and the first 2 lessons of every topic; the rest is Premium, $19.99 a month or from $71 a year on the US App Store.
Free alternatives, by what they check
Speechling: record yourself and compare with a native speaker side by side, free. YouGlish: hear any word in real YouTube videos, by accent, free. Google Translate’s Practice mode: free speaking activities for speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi and others. Fluvia: connected-speech drills with the same sentence slow and fast, free, and correction in conversation.
BoldVoice is the closest paid alternative: AI pronunciation feedback and lessons from dialect coaches, with a 7-day free trial.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a free alternative to ELSA Speak for pronunciation?
- Speechling (free side-by-side comparison), YouGlish (free real-speaker audio), Google Translate Practice (free, for some native languages) and Fluvia’s connected-speech drills.
- What is better than ELSA Speak for accent?
- BoldVoice is the main paid alternative for American accent, with AI feedback and coach videos, after a 7-day free trial.
- Is ELSA Speak free?
- Partly: the Welcome lessons and the first 2 lessons of every topic are free, plus a 7-day trial. Premium is $19.99 a month or from $71 a year on the US App Store.