Which language learning apps have no ads?

8 apps say on their own pages that they show no ads: Babbel, Rosetta Stone Classic, Pimsleur, Mango, Rocket Languages, Lingvist, Language Transfer and Verbamor. Duolingo, Busuu, Memrise, Drops and Quizlet each carry a "Contains ads" label on Google Play. Each one sells a paid plan with fewer ads or none.

Every fact about another app comes from that company's own site, help centre or store listing, read between 12 and 18 Oct 2026. Review quotes and counts come from App Store reviews, and the sources explain how. There are no affiliate links here.

A 1-star App Store review of Duolingo, from 2020, says the writer "watched literally a thousand ads to help support my free learning".

Two kinds of ad matter here. Third-party ads sell other companies' products. Upgrade prompts sell the app's own paid plan, and Google's ad label counts only the first kind.

Which language learning apps have no ads?

Prices are US prices. "App Store" prices come from each app's in-app purchase list, read 18 Oct 2026, with plan names in quotes as the company writes them. Where a name has no term, the table says so.

The table prints no price for Busuu, Memrise, Drops or Quizlet. I couldn't confirm a standing price for any of them on the company's own website.

Rosetta Stone's no-ads line is on its Classic app, which is for existing subscribers. The newer Sapphire app's listing says nothing about ads either way.

Is there a free language app with no ads?

Yes. 4 routes cost $0 and show no ads, and 3 of them come with a condition.

Language Transfer is a free audio course. Its site says it has "no adverts, no sign-ups", and it runs on donations.

Anki is free on desktop and Android, and AnkiDroid's Google Play page has no "Contains ads" label. On iPhone, AnkiMobile costs US$24.99 once. Anki ships no language content, so you make or find every card yourself. What Anki costs has the details.

Mango is $0 if your public library pays for it. Mango's site says "Many public libraries and schools" give full access with a library card, so ask your library first.

Quizlet is ad-free inside a school or class account. Its help centre says accounts in a Quizlet for Schools order "are ad-free", and a student pass lets a class study ad-free.

Some lists name Google's Little Language Lessons as a free option. Google calls it "an early-stage experiment", and its page says nothing about ads or price.

If your budget is $0, pick one of these routes and skip Verbamor. Verbamor is paid only.

How do I remove ads from Duolingo?

Pay for Super Duolingo. Duolingo's App Store listing says this about Super: "Learn a language fast with no ads". Super also comes with a 14-day free trial.

The US App Store lists Super Duolingo at $9.99, $12.99, $83.99, $95.99 and $119.99 (read 18 Oct 2026). The store doesn't label which price is which term.

On the free plan, lessons use energy, which replaced hearts. You refill it by watching an ad or by spending gems, and Super includes Unlimited Energy.

The full price picture is in what Duolingo costs. If you'd rather leave, apps like Duolingo compares the alternatives I could verify.

Does paying remove every ad?

Paying removes third-party ads in every app above that sells an ad-free plan. Upgrade prompts are a separate question.

Quizlet is the most exact. Its help centre says Plus subscribers "won't see third-party ads on Quizlet". That wording makes no promise about Quizlet's own upgrade prompts.

A 1-star App Store review of Quizlet says "you still receive unskippable ads even when subscribed".

Google's ad label has the same gap. Google says its "Contains ads" label "isn't meant to cover" offers "to make in-app purchases or upgrades".

Falou shows what that gap looks like. Its Google Play page has no "Contains ads" label, and its App Store description says nothing about ads.

On 17 Oct 2026, I collected 1-star and 2-star App Store reviews for 30 language apps. They date from 2010 to Oct 2026, so some are years old. 306 of them complain about ads, and 40 of those 306 are about Falou.

Only Duolingo (92) and Tandem (57) had more. A 2-star App Store review of Falou, from 2023, describes an "un-skipable advert video after every lesson pressuring you to pay".

So read "no ads" as no third-party ads. Then test the free plan yourself for upgrade prompts.

How can I check an app for ads before I install it?

You can run this check on any app before you install it.

1. Open the app's Google Play page, even if you use an iPhone.
2. Look under the app's name for the "Contains ads" label.
3. Open the app's App Store page.
4. Search the description for "ads".
5. Search the app's help centre for "ad-free".
6. Note which paid plan the help centre names.
7. Use the free plan for one full session.
8. Count the upgrade prompts.

Steps 1 and 2 find declared third-party ads. Google Play shows that label, and the App Store pages I read don't. Steps 7 and 8 find upgrade prompts, which no store label covers.

Where does Verbamor fit?

Verbamor shows no ads. It has no hearts or energy, and it has no leagues, gems or badges.

It does have a streak and XP. Missing a day resets the streak to 1. A daily reminder has an on/off switch and a time picker.

It's paid only, at US prices: Explorer is US$19.99 a month, and Native is US$129.99 a year. The 7-day free trial is on the yearly plan only.

It runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS 16.4 or later), with an Apple Watch app that records a lesson. There is no Android app and no web app.

It teaches 5 languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Russian.

So skip it if you use Android or need $0. Skip it too if your language isn't one of those 5.

Questions people ask

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