Babbel vs Memrise
Babbel and Memrise teach different halves of a language. Babbel, from Berlin, builds conversational ability through structured, dialogue-based lessons written per language pair. Memrise, from London, builds vocabulary and listening through spaced repetition and thousands of clips of native speakers. Learners wanting a full course pick Babbel; those who need words and a trained ear pick Memrise.
Choose Babbel if
you want one course to carry you towards real conversation, with dialogues, a review manager and optional live classes, and you accept paying from the second lesson.
Read the Babbel reviewChoose Memrise if
your gap is vocabulary and understanding fast, natural speech, you want to begin on a free tier, and you will get grammar from somewhere else.
Read the Memrise reviewBabbel and Memrise side by side
| Babbel | Memrise | |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Babbel GmbH | Memrise Ltd |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany | London, United Kingdom |
| Founded | 2007 | 2010 |
| Jurisdiction | EU (Germany) | United Kingdom (adequacy decision, outside the EEA) |
| Where the data sits | EU | UK/EU |
| Pricing | From about €6/month on longer plans; Babbel Live higher | Free tier / Pro from about €8/month |
| Free tier or trial | First lesson free | Free tier |
| Source code | Closed source | Closed source |
| Usually replaces | Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, Memrise | Duolingo, Anki, Babbel |
| Position in our Language Learning guide | #1 of 12 | #4 of 12 |
Both are listed in our European Language Learning guide. The table is built from the same directory data as those entries; how we check it is described in the editorial process.
Where Babbel and Memrise differ
Across the four points below, Babbel has the edge on 2 points, Memrise on 1 point and one is a tie. A count like that is a summary, not a verdict: the point that matters to you may be the one the other product wins.
What you actually learn
Babbel teaches dialogue you might plausibly have, written by linguists for your language pair. Memrise is strongest at vocabulary and gives little help with structure: its grammar explanation is weak, so that has to be acquired elsewhere. As a single course for an adult who wants to hold a conversation, Babbel covers more of the job.
Edge: Babbel
Listening to real speech
Memrise uses thousands of clips of native speakers talking normally: fast, elided and regionally accented, not studio audio read slowly by a voice actor. It is described as the only app in the category that trains the ear this way. Babbel offers podcasts and speech recognition for pronunciation. For understanding how people really talk, Memrise is ahead.
Edge: Memrise
Jurisdiction and stability
Babbel GmbH is a German company under EU jurisdiction with EU data. Memrise Ltd is British: data sits in the UK and EU under an adequacy decision rather than EU establishment. Memrise has also changed product direction repeatedly, removing features some users relied on. On both counts Babbel is the steadier choice of the two.
Edge: Babbel
Trying it and paying for it
Memrise has a usable free tier, with Pro from about €8 a month. Babbel has no real free tier, only the first lesson, and starts from about €6 a month on longer plans. Memrise is easier to try and Babbel is cheaper once you subscribe for a long period, so the better deal depends on how long you will study.
No clear winner on this point.
When neither Babbel nor Memrise fits
Returning learners who already know part of a language waste time in both. Lingvist tests your existing vocabulary first and teaches only the words you lack, by frequency. For speaking under real pressure, Lingoda's live classes with certified teachers do what neither app can.
Babbel vs Memrise: questions
Memrise is the vocabulary tool: spaced repetition that needs no configuration, community courses that extend the catalogue, and real native-speaker clips. Babbel includes a review manager built on spaced repetition too, but inside a conversational course. If words are the gap, Memrise; if you need a course, Babbel.
Memrise has a usable free tier, with Pro from about €8 per month. Babbel has no meaningful free tier: only the first lesson is free, and subscriptions start from about €6 per month on longer plans. Babbel Live, with real teachers, is priced considerably higher.
No. Babbel GmbH is in Berlin, under German and EU jurisdiction, with data in the EU. Memrise Ltd operates from London, so it falls under United Kingdom law with an adequacy decision, outside the EEA, and its data sits in the UK and EU.