Pick Speak for a guided course from day one, feedback on how you sound, or an Android phone. Pick Smort to turn the words from each chat into flashcards, review them with spaced repetition, bring your Anki decks, or talk in German.
Publisher disclosure: Smort publishes this page and is one of the two apps in it. We say where Speak is the better pick. Smort’s status: Private beta. It requires an iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
Smort vs Speak, side by side
How each app gets you talking, what you keep, and how you review it.
| Topic | Speak | Smort |
|---|---|---|
| How you talk | A step-by-step course: learn phrases from a teacher, repeat them, then use them with Speak Tutor. Free Talk adds roleplay with animated characters. | 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 | Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Italian, and Chinese (Simplified). | Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, French, German, and more. |
| Feedback when you speak | Feedback on pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. Pronunciation Coach is only for people learning English. | 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 sentences and words to Saved Lines, or to the Tutor tab. | Pick up to 10 words. Smort drafts the flashcards, and you edit them before you save. |
| How you review | Smart Review, plus custom lessons based on your goals and mistakes: up to 3 a day on Premium, unlimited on Premium Plus. | Say or type each card from memory before you see the answer. Spaced repetition brings it back when it’s due. |
| Your own material | Ask Speak Tutor for a lesson on any topic. Custom Courses are in closed beta. | Make cards from a topic, your notes, or a screenshot. Import Anki .apkg decks. |
| Price | Premium or Premium Plus, monthly or yearly, with a 7-day free trial. Speak shows its prices in the app. | 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 16 or later, and Android 8 or later. No desktop app. | iPhone with iOS 26 or later. |
When Speak is the better pick
- You want a course to follow
- Speak’s expert-made course goes lesson by lesson, for beginners up to advanced learners.
- You want feedback on how you sound
- Speak rates pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. Smort checks your words, not your accent.
- You use Android, an iPad, or an older iPhone
- Speak runs on iOS 16 and Android 8. Smort needs an iPhone with iOS 26.
When Smort is the better pick
- You forget words after the chat
- Keep up to 10 words from each Voice Chat as flashcards, then say them from memory until they stick.
- You have Anki decks
- Import an .apkg with the study progress Smort supports. Text cards come across. Images, audio, and custom card templates don’t.
- You learn Japanese or Mandarin
- Answer in kana or kanji. Simplified and traditional characters count as the same word.
- You learn German
- Speak’s courses for English speakers don’t include German. Smort’s Voice Chat does.
Methodology and sources
Criteria: How each app gets you talking, what you keep afterward, how you review, your own material, price, and devices. Speak 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. Speak changes often, and some of its features are in beta, so check its help center for the latest.
Primary sources: Speak websiteSpeak on the US App StoreSpeak languages helpSpeak Premium vs Premium PlusSpeak saved lines helpSpeak Tutor helpSpeak Free Talk helpSpeak Custom Courses betaSpeak free trial helpSpeak device help