Pick Pimsleur for hands-free audio lessons, more than 50 languages, pronunciation scores, a one-time Lifetime purchase, or Android, the web, and Amazon Echo. Pick Smort for AI conversation in Japanese, Mandarin, and more on a topic you pick, or to make flashcards from your notes, screenshots, or Anki decks.
Publisher disclosure: Smort publishes this page and is one of the two apps in it. We say where Pimsleur is the better pick. Smort’s status: Private beta. It requires an iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
Smort vs Pimsleur, side by side
How each app gets you talking, what you keep, and how you review it.
| Topic | Pimsleur | Smort |
|---|---|---|
| How you talk | 30-minute audio lessons: you listen, then answer out loud. Speak Easy role-play with transcripts. An AI Conversation Coach (Beta) for All Access learners of Latin American Spanish and French. | Live Voice Chat on a topic you pick or type, with captions and translations. Tap Help me or ask Smort to slow down. Up to 100 minutes a month. |
| Languages for English speakers | More than 50 languages for English speakers, from Spanish, French, Japanese, and Mandarin to Cantonese, Ojibwe, and Twi. Feature availability depends on the language. | Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, French, German, and more. |
| Feedback when you speak | Voice Coach scores how well you recall and pronounce phrases from your lessons, with word-by-word colors in many languages. In others, you compare your recording with a native speaker’s. | Checks what you said, not your accent. Kana or kanji both count in Japanese. Simplified and traditional characters count as the same word in Mandarin. |
| What you keep after a chat | Save tough sentences to your Saved Vocabulary. Voice Coach saves a phrase to your Practice Set when you miss it 3 times in a session. | Pick up to 10 words. Smort drafts the flashcards, and you edit them before you save. |
| How you review | The audio lessons use spaced repetition. The Practice tab has flash cards, Quick Match, and Speed Round from the lessons you’ve completed. | Say or type each card from memory before you see the answer. Spaced repetition brings it back when it’s due. |
| Your own material | Practice comes from Pimsleur’s lessons: flash cards, Skills, and Bonus Packs. You build your Saved Vocabulary from them. | Make cards from a topic, your notes, or a screenshot. Import Anki .apkg decks. |
| Price | 7-day free trial. Subscribe to one language, as Audio-Only or Premium, or to All Access for all 51 languages. Or pay once: Japanese Premium lists at $150 a level or $575 for all 5, and All Access Lifetime lists at $798. | Subscription required: $7.99/month or $79.99/year (USD). One plan, with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. |
| Devices | iPhone and iPad with iOS 15.1 or later, Android, a web app for computers, and Amazon Echo. Download lessons in the mobile app for offline use. | iPhone with iOS 26 or later. |
When Pimsleur is the better pick
- You want to learn hands-free
- Pimsleur’s 30-minute audio lessons have a hands-free driving mode, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. You listen and answer out loud.
- You want pronunciation scores
- In most languages, Pimsleur’s Voice Coach scores each phrase from 1 to 100 in Challenge mode, for recall and pronunciation. Smort checks what you said, not your accent.
- You want to pay once
- Pimsleur sells every course as a lifetime purchase, and All Access Lifetime covers all 51 languages. Smort is a subscription.
- You use Android, a computer, or an Echo
- Pimsleur runs on Android, iPhone and iPad, a web app, and Amazon Echo. Smort needs an iPhone with iOS 26.
When Smort is the better pick
- You want AI conversation in Japanese or Mandarin
- Pimsleur’s AI Conversation Coach is in beta for All Access learners of Latin American Spanish and French. Smort’s Voice Chat talks in Japanese, Mandarin, German, and more, on a topic you pick or type.
- You want cards from your own notes, screenshots, or Anki decks
- Smort makes flashcards from your notes, a screenshot, or a topic, and imports Anki .apkg decks. Pimsleur’s flash cards and Saved Vocabulary come from its lessons.
Methodology and sources
Criteria: How each app gets you talking, what you keep afterward, how you review, your own material, price, and devices. Pimsleur facts come from its own pages, and Smort facts from its App Store description.
What we did not do: We didn’t score either app. Pimsleur changes often, so check its own pages for the latest.
Primary sources: Pimsleur FAQPimsleur home pagePimsleur Japanese courses and pricesPimsleur Voice Coach FAQ (PDF)Pimsleur on the US App Store