Is Babbel Free?

Is Babbel Free To Use?

The answer to the question of whether Babbel is free to use is complicated. Yes, you can technically use the Babbel app for free up to a certain point; however, once you reach a certain threshold, you’ll have to sign up for one the company’s paid subscription options.

Therefore, while technically it is free, the answer is really no, in reality. Babbel is not free. If you want complete access to one of the company’s language courses, you’ll have to spend money. Luckily, as you will find out below, the company’s plans are actually quite affordable.

Does Babbel Have A Free Trial?

Yes, Babbel does offer a free trial. That is what I was alluding to above. You can register with Babbel for free, and when you do so, you automatically get access to one free lesson per language course.

Given that Babbel offers around 14 different courses, that means you can in theory get free access to 14 Babbel lessons. That being said, I doubt you want one free lesson for 14 separate languages.

The free trial really exists so that you can see what the Babbel app is all about, what their lessons are like, and whether their learning framework might be a good fit for you.

After you complete the free lessons, you’ll be prompted to sign up for one of their paid subscription plans, which cost around $7 to $15 per month on average.

Why Isn’t Babbel Free?

As Babbel’s primary competitor, Duolingo, offers a free version, a lot of people wonder why Babbel doesn’t have a free version as well. Well, the company itself lists three reasons why they do not offer their language courses for free.

First, Babbel claims that their language courses are created by real people, not machines or AI. In other words, real costs go into crafting each of their language courses, so it doesn’t make sense to offer the resulting product for free.

That’s fair enough, and actually hits on one of my biggest complaints about Duolingo. Their course is clearly chock full of AI-generated drills, and it gets really annoying. So, fair point Babbel.

Second, unlike the free version of Duolingo, the Babbel language programs do not incorporate ads. The Babbel language experts claim that ads disrupt and hinder the learning process. Therefore, since the company does not generate any advertising revenue, they have to charge consumers for access.

Again, seems fair to me. I hate ads anyway.

Lastly, unlike other language learning apps, Babbel does not sell your data and personal information to third parties. I actually didn’t know that other language apps sold your info until I saw this statement on the Babbel website. And when I looked it, sure enough, other language apps do. Scary stuff.

Is The Babbel App Free?

Yes, it is free to download the Babbel app. It does not cost any money to download their mobile app from the app store on iOS or Android.

Once you download the app and create an account for yourself, you will be able complete one lesson per language course absolutely free. You do not have to enter your credit card info before this point.

However, once you complete your free lesson, you will have to pay from that point on for complete access to their language courses, regardless of whether you attempting to learn Spanish, Italian, French, or German.

Is Babbel Free For Students?

No, Babbel is not free for students. There might be confusion around this topic because at one point Babbel did offer students three months of access to their language courses for free.

Yes, you read that correctly. You used to be able to get a voucher code for three free months of Babbel access by proving that you were a United States citizen and that you currently attended a college or university located within the United States.

Unfortunately, Babbel removed this promotion sometime within the past 18 to 24 months. We’re not entirely sure why Babbel decided to stop giving students free access. Kind of a bummer. 😞

The good news though is that Babbel does give students a major discount now, so it’s not a complete loss. Last I checked, students can sign up for Babbel and pay around $16 for three months of access, which is cheaper than their standard pricing model.

Babbel Free vs Paid

Given that Babbel offers a free trial, there is often confusion around the differences between their free version and their paid version.

Well, the short answer is that Babbel’s free version is just access to one of the lessons (the first lesson) from the full course. And obviously, the paid version includes full access to their language courses, including all of Babbel’s lessons, grammar instruction, and games.

That is the primary difference between the two options. It’s pretty simple really. Same content, just limited access.

How To Get Babbel For Free

Although some people on message boards claimed to have hacked the system and gained access to Babbel’s courses for free, this is likely false information (fake news!). The company does not allow access to their complete courses without paying (similar to Pimsleur and Rocket Languages).

However, there is one trick you can use, depending on your needs and circumstances. Many people are unaware that Babbel offers a 20 day money back guarantee.

Therefore, if you simply want to learn a few useful words and phrases for your upcoming trip to Italy or France, then you may want to sign up for the Babbel monthly plan. From there, you can complete lessons everyday for the next 20 days, and then cancel your subscription and get your money back.

That is how you can essentially get backdoor access to Babbel’s full course for free.