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ALTERNATIVES TO ELSA SPEAK

Alternatives to ELSA Speak for English learners

ELSA drills pronunciation well, and pronunciation is one skill of eight. Here is what to check.

Join the early-access list Carna vs ELSA Speak

ELSA Speak drills your pronunciation

The short answer The rows of the table below that decide between ELSA Speak and Carna.
Question ELSA Speak Carna
Use ELSA when pronunciation and accent are your goal and a few free lessons to start appeal.
Free tier, no credit card ELSA Speak: 8 free lessons once, and a 7-day Premium trialCarna: The app will open with a free plan Partly No
Use Carna when you want all eight skills scored, pronunciation among them, on a levelled path from A1 to C2.
All eight skills No Yes
Full A1 to C2 curriculum No Yes

See all 7 rows Checked May 2026; free plan and price on 27 September 2026

— WHY PEOPLE LEAVE

Three reasons, and what to check.

These are the reasons learners look elsewhere. Under each is the question from the comparison that tests it, answered for ELSA Speak and for Carna as checked in May 2026.

  1. Pronunciation only

    ELSA's focus is pronunciation. Grammar, writing and the rest of the English skill set sit outside it.

    What to check All eight skills

    ELSA Speak
    No
    Carna
    Yes

  2. No conversation practice

    Isolated pronunciation drills do not develop fluency in a real conversation, where vocabulary and grammar matter as much as sounds.

    What to check Real conversation practice

    ELSA Speak
    No
    Carna
    Yes
    Live speaking practice with Mia, the AI tutor

  3. No curriculum

    ELSA's column in the comparison has no A1 to C2 curriculum, so it works best alongside a course rather than as one.

    What to check Full A1 to C2 curriculum

    ELSA Speak
    No
    Carna
    Yes

— SIDE BY SIDE

What to check before you switch.

The same questions we ask of every app, answered for ELSA Speak and for Carna. Where Carna falls short, its column says so.

Carna and ELSA Speak, feature by feature, checked May 2026
Feature ELSA Speak Carna
What you learn
All eight skills No Yes
Full A1 to C2 curriculum No Yes
Real conversation practice No Yes . Live speaking practice with Mia, the AI tutor
Pronunciation feedback Yes Yes . Scored from your own voice, one of eight skills
Essay & writing evaluation No Yes . Writing scored by AI on four criteria
IELTS / TOEFL exam prep No Partly . An IELTS band on a practice grading, not a course
How you get it
Free tier, no credit card Partly . 8 free lessons once, and a 7-day Premium trial No . The app will open with a free plan

Checked ; free plan and price on 27 September 2026

The ELSA Speak column reflects the plans and features ELSA Speak publishes. Products change quickly: check its own site for the latest. The full comparison, Carna vs ELSA Speak, explains how the table was built.

Running in schools today

The path the speaking sits on.

A speaking app gives you the loop; Carna gives you the curriculum around it. In Carna for Schools, which runs today, every module a student is assigned wears its CEFR level and the list runs soonest due first, so a learner always knows which rung of the A1 to C2 ladder they are working on.

Book a demo See Carna for Schools

A student's Learn screen in Carna for Schools: the assigned modules, each with its CEFR level and the skills it works on, sorted by due date. Carna School London is a sample school; the names, courses, levels and scores are demo data.

— THE FIELD

Where the other options sit.

Alternatives to ELSA Speak come in four kinds, and each kind has a strength. Carna is one option among them: a structured English tutor with an A1 to C2 path, in early access for individuals and running in schools and teams today.

Which alternative to ELSA Speak fits you?

  • If you want pronunciation and conversation together, Speak, Praktika, Loora and TalkPal answer yes to both.
  • If accent is still the goal, BoldVoice coaches accents for a professional context.
  • If you want a course around the sounds, Babbel and Rosetta Stone teach a full A1 to C2 curriculum, each with pronunciation practice.
  • If you want the rest of your English scored too, Carna scores pronunciation from your own voice as one of eight skills, on a path from A1 to C2; the Carna app is in early access.
Free
8 lessons, once, and a 7-day Premium trial
Paid, from
$89.99 a year

Checked on 27 September 2026 on elsaspeak.com/en/elsa-subscription.

FAQ

Common questions.

Straight answers about ELSA Speak and Carna, including what the individual tutor cannot do yet.

Should I stop using ELSA if I switch to Carna?

You do not have to choose. ELSA's sound-by-sound drill is strong for accent work. Carna scores pronunciation as one of eight skills, with the rest of your English and the path from A1 to C2 around it. Use ELSA for sound-by-sound precision and Carna for the whole of your English.

Does Carna's pronunciation scoring reach ELSA's level of detail?

Not sound by sound: ELSA goes deeper on individual sounds, and that is its specialism. Carna scores your pronunciation from your own voice as one of eight skills, beside the rest of your English.

How does getting started compare with ELSA's limited free access?

ELSA's free access is limited to a small set of lessons. The Carna app will open with a free plan; it is in early access now, and joining the list is free.

EARLY ACCESS

Ready for the switch?

Weighing alternatives to ELSA Speak? Carna's personal tutor is not open to individual learners yet: leave your name on the early-access list and we write once, when it opens. Schools and teams run on Carna today and can book a demo.

Join the early-access list Book a demo
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