Busuu
British-Spanish platform whose community of native speakers corrects your written and spoken exercises for free
Quick Overview
| Company | Busuu (Chegg) |
|---|---|
| Category | Language Learning |
| Headquarters | London / Madrid, United Kingdom / Spain |
| Founded | 2008 |
| EU Presence | Yes - UK and Spain; US parent company |
| Data Location | EU/UK |
| Open Source | No |
| GDPR Compliant | Yes |
| Self-Hosting | No |
| Main Features | 14 languages, native speaker corrections, McGraw Hill certificates, study plan, offline mode, grammar reference, speaking practice |
| Pricing | Free tier / Premium from about EUR 6/month |
| Best For | Learners who want free human feedback on what they produce |
| Replaces | Duolingo, Babbel, Memrise |
Detailed Review
Busuu's central idea is a fair exchange: you correct exercises written by people learning your language, and native speakers of your target language correct yours. That gives learners something no algorithm provides — a human telling them that what they wrote is technically correct but nobody would say it.
The company operates from London and Madrid, and its free tier is the most usable in this category.
Community Corrections
Written and spoken exercises are submitted to the community, and corrections typically come back within hours. The feedback is often more useful than a teacher's because it is idiomatic rather than grammatical — native speakers flag phrasing that is correct but unnatural, which is exactly what app-based learners get wrong.
Correcting others' work in your own language is also a surprisingly effective way to notice how your target language differs.
Certificates
Busuu offers McGraw Hill Education certificates on completion of levels, which gives the learning an external marker. For someone who needs to demonstrate a language level to an employer, that is more useful than an app streak.
Free Tier
The free version includes core lessons and community corrections, which makes Busuu the best starting point in this category for anyone unwilling to pay before knowing whether the format works for them.
Limitations to Consider
Correction quality varies — community members are native speakers, not teachers, and explanations can be thin or occasionally wrong. Busuu was acquired by Chegg, a US company, so while it operates from London and Madrid the ownership is American, which matters if strict European ownership is your criterion. Fourteen languages is a limited catalogue.
Who Should Use Busuu
Learners who want human feedback on what they produce without paying for a tutor, and anyone wanting to try a structured language course properly before committing to a subscription.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free corrections from native speakers
- Genuinely usable free tier
- McGraw Hill certificates
- Correcting others reinforces your own learning
- Structured study plans
Cons
- Correction quality varies by corrector
- US parent company (Chegg)
- Only 14 languages
Alternatives to Busuu
Other European language learning worth comparing before you decide:
Babbel
Germany · Conversation-first courses written by linguists
Lingoda
Germany · Live online classes with certified teachers
Memrise
United Kingdom · Vocabulary through spaced repetition and native-speaker video
Mondly
Romania · 41 languages with speech recognition and AR lessons
See all European language learning or compare them directly against Duolingo on our alternatives page.
Frequently Asked Questions
You submit written or spoken exercises and community members who speak that language natively correct them, usually within hours. In return you correct exercises from people learning your language.
It has the most usable free tier in this category, including core lessons and community corrections. Premium adds offline mode, grammar reference, certificates and the full course.
It operates from London and Madrid but was acquired by Chegg, a US company. So the operation is European and the ownership is American.
They are issued with McGraw Hill Education and provide an external marker of level. They are not formal qualifications like a CEFR examination, but they are more than an app badge.