The best free apps to learn Spanish in 2026
You can get surprisingly far in Spanish without paying. Duolingo’s course is genuinely free with ads; Busuu has a limited free plan; Anki flashcards cost nothing on desktop and Android; Language Reactor adds free dual subtitles to Netflix and YouTube; and Lince — our app — has a free tier that teaches from short real video clips. What matters is what each free tier actually includes, so here it is, honestly.
Duolingo is the most complete free course. Lince teaches from real video for free: every lesson from A1 to B1 with a hearts system, with review and quizzes included. Busuu free adds human corrections. Anki is the best free memory tool. Language Reactor turns Netflix and YouTube into free study material. Every free tier has a ceiling — we say where each one is.
Free Spanish apps compared: what is free, levels and Spanish variety
| App | What the free tier includes and where it stops | Levels covered | Spanish variety |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lince | Every A1, A2 and B1 lesson and clip, challenge clips included, with hearts (5 at most, one back every 20 minutes). Plus adds unlimited hearts, +20% XP and the feria look. | A1 to B1 | Spanish from Spain |
| Duolingo | Every course is free (Duolingo’s iOS listing). Free learners see ads and a limit on mistakes (hearts or energy); Super removes both. | A1 to B2 (Duolingo blog, 22 April 2026) | Leans Latin American; other varieties are accepted as correct (Duolingo blog, 2022) |
| Busuu | Free: the essential course, Community feedback and basic progress tracking, with ads. Premium adds grammar and vocabulary review, offline mode and certificates, and removes ads; Premium Plus adds AI conversations and pronunciation feedback. | Courses run A1 to B2; Busuu’s Spanish guide says Free covers A1 and Premium the full course | Latin American and European, per Busuu’s Spanish guide |
| Anki / AnkiDroid | Desktop Anki (Windows, macOS, Linux) and AnkiDroid are free. AnkiMobile for iPhone and iPad costs US$24.99 on the US App Store. | No levels: you choose the deck | Whatever your deck uses |
| Language Reactor | Free: bilingual subtitles and a dictionary on Netflix and YouTube, a basic AI helper, saving words through PhrasePump. Pro adds machine translation (about 5 hours of new content a day), saving words everywhere and speech recognition. | No levels: you choose the video | Whatever the video uses |
Checked 11 November 2026 on each app’s official site, help center or store page. What an app does not state is left out.
What “free” actually means in language apps
Free tiers come in three kinds: genuinely free courses funded by ads (Duolingo), limited tasters designed around an upgrade (most subscription apps), and free tools that ask for your time instead of your money (Anki, YouTube). None of these is wrong — but knowing which kind you are using saves you the disappointment of meeting a paywall mid-lesson.
The 5 best free Spanish apps
Lince teaches Spanish from short scenes from real movies, cartoons and series — Spanish from Spain. Tap a word in the subtitles for its meaning, replay the key line until it sticks, and let the path, daily review, quizzes and leagues do the organising. We built it because free video was always abundant and free structure never was; the free tier gives you both. It is on the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android.
- Free tier with real clips, word help and line replay
- A learning path, review, quizzes, leagues and weekly duels included
- Short scenes you actually finish, not abandoned episodes
- Spanish from Spain only — no Latin American Spanish
- Covers A1–B1, not advanced levels
- Short scenes, not full episodes
Best for Learning from real video with structure, without paying.
What’s free: Every A1–B1 lesson, with hearts (5 at most, one back every 20 minutes). Optional Plus adds unlimited hearts, +20% XP and the feria look for your Lince.
The benchmark for free: every Duolingo course, Spanish included, is free — you watch ads, and a limit on mistakes (hearts or energy) paces free learners; Super removes both. Bite-size lessons, streaks and leagues make it easy to keep going. Spanish now runs to B2, with a Latin American lean. What the free plan does not change is the method: sentence drills rather than real speech, so for real speech you need a second resource alongside it.
- The full course is genuinely free
- Excellent habit-building — streaks, leagues, reminders
- Polished and very approachable
- Ads between lessons; a limit on mistakes (hearts or energy)
- Drills, not real native video
- Speech is slower and tidier than real life
- Leans Latin American Spanish, not Spanish from Spain
Best for A complete free course and a daily habit.
What’s free: Free with ads; optional Super plan.
Lince vs DuolingoBusuu’s help center lists the essential course, Community feedback and basic progress tracking as free, with ads; its Spanish guide says Free covers the A1 course and Premium the full course through B2. Its standout is the community, where native speakers correct your written exercises: genuine human feedback without a subscription.
- CEFR-structured lessons in the free plan
- Native speakers correct your exercises
- A clear study plan
- Ads in the free plan; grammar and vocabulary review, offline mode and certificates need Premium
- Conventional lessons, not video
- Feedback quality varies
Best for Free structure plus corrections from real people.
What’s free: Free plan with ads; optional Premium and Premium Plus.
Busuu alternativeThe reference spaced-repetition flashcard system: free and open source on desktop, and free on Android as AnkiDroid (the iOS app is paid and funds the project). Load a shared Spanish deck or build your own from words you meet in videos. It teaches nothing by itself — its job is making what you learn elsewhere permanent.
- Completely free on desktop and Android
- Spaced repetition, a method studied in memory research
- Unlimited decks and full customisation
- A steep learning curve and a dated interface
- Not a course — no listening, no grammar
- The iOS app is paid
Best for Making vocabulary stick, whatever you learn from.
What’s free: Free on desktop and Android; the iPhone and iPad app is paid (US$24.99 on the US App Store).
A free browser extension that adds dual-language subtitles, a pop-up dictionary and learner-friendly playback controls to Netflix and YouTube. Pro, its optional paid mode, adds machine translation (a daily quota of about 5 hours of new content), saving words across all features and speech recognition on Netflix; the core is free — an easy way to turn shows you already watch into study material.
- Core features are free
- Clickable dual subtitles with a dictionary
- Uses content you already enjoy
- Built around a Chrome extension; its FAQ says Disney+ and Amazon Prime are not supported yet
- Netflix needs its own subscription
- No course, review or quizzes
Best for Studying the shows you were going to watch anyway.
What’s free: Core features free; optional paid Pro.
What the free tiers actually include
Duolingo’s free plan includes every course — with ads and a limit on mistakes (hearts or energy). Busuu’s free plan includes its essential course and community corrections, with ads. Lince’s free tier includes real-clip lessons from A1 to B1 with word help, the path, review, quizzes and leagues; starting a lesson uses a heart, and hearts refill on their own. Lince Plus, an optional upgrade, adds unlimited hearts, 20% more XP on every lesson and the feria look for your Lince (every challenge clip is free too, with hearts). Anki and Language Reactor are free tools rather than tiers — no course, and no cap either. The pattern is consistent: free gets you started everywhere; what you pay for is comfort and depth, not the ability to learn.
Which free app should you pick?
- You want the most complete free courseDuolingo
- You want to learn from real video, freeLince
- You want human feedback without payingBusuu
- You want free flashcards that actually stickAnki
- You already have Netflix and a laptopLanguage Reactor
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free app to learn Spanish?
For a complete free course, Duolingo. For learning from real video with structure — clips, word help, review, quizzes — Lince’s free tier. You can combine a course with real native input, and both halves exist free.
Is Lince free?
Yes. Every A1, A2 and B1 lesson is free, with hearts (5 at most, one back every 20 minutes). Lince Plus adds unlimited hearts, +20% XP on everything you learn and the feria look for your Lince. Its price for your country is shown in the App Store or Google Play before you pay.
Can you learn Spanish completely free?
Yes — free courses, free video and free flashcard tools cover structure, input and memory between them. What free rarely buys is curation and feedback, so progress depends more on your own consistency.
Which free Spanish app teaches Spanish from Spain?
Lince teaches Spanish from Spain. Busuu’s Spanish guide lists Latin American and European Spanish. Duolingo leans Latin American and accepts other varieties as correct, according to its blog. Anki and Language Reactor use whatever the deck or the video uses.
Which free apps use real Spanish videos?
Lince teaches from short real clips with word help and review on its free tier. Language Reactor makes Netflix and YouTube clickable through its Chrome extension. YouTube itself with Spanish subtitles is the biggest free library — with no learner support built in.
Free, and actually fun.
Short real clips with word help, review, quizzes, leagues and weekly duels — free, no card.