italki
Ranked 6 of 12 language learning apps by recommenders
People recommend it for booking affordable one-on-one lessons and conversation practice with native-speaker tutors. The main caveat raised is the cost and scheduling friction of regular lessons.
People recommend it for booking affordable one-on-one lessons and conversation practice with native-speaker tutors. The main caveat raised is the cost and scheduling friction of regular lessons.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 89%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy conversation practice with natives
“There are a couple of websites that make it easy to book short conversation practice with native speakers.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “The Whole App is a Blob” “Hellotalk or italki are great for this.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “Japan implements language proficiency requirements for certain visa applicants” Weekly lessons from home
“Mix into that a weekly lesson with italki from your home and you can learn any language at any age.”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “Learning another language may be one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy” “I really liked 1:1 online interactions.”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Learning another language may be one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cost and scheduling friction
“but then you run into Cost, scheduling and the same spend ten minutes to catch up and review minimum”
Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “I Canceled My French Tutor and Built an LLM Tool That Does It Better”
Other language learning apps people recommend
The four most recommended other language learning apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duolingo | 39 | 111 | 26% | 12 | 3 yrs4 owners | — |
| 9M Mandarin tone speech model | 14 | 5 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| Language Transfer | 13 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Pimsleur | 9 | 4 | 69% | 6 | — | — |
| italkiThis page | 8 | 1 | 89% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I really liked 1:1 online interactions.”
“Mix into that a weekly lesson with italki from your home and you can learn any language at any age.”
“but then you run into Cost, scheduling and the same spend ten minutes to catch up and review minimum”
“having it confirmed by a tutor was nice”
“Hellotalk or italki are great for this.”
“they're really affordable on Italki or Preply ($10-15/hr)”
“There are a couple of websites that make it easy to book short conversation practice with native speakers.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.