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18 comparisons, each asking the same seven questions of both columns.
Schools and teams run on Carna today; individuals join the early-access list Carna held to the same standard: where it falls short, the table says so Every column checked May 2026 or October 2026, and dated on its page
Find your app
Language-learning apps
General tools and round-ups
Platforms for schools
18 comparisons, each checked May 2026 or October 2026
— AT A GLANCE
Every comparison asks these seven questions of both columns. Carna's row is the reference; a product's name opens the full comparison, with its notes and the month it was checked.
| Product | All eight skills | Full A1 to C2 curriculum | Real conversation practice | Pronunciation feedback | Essay & writing evaluation | IELTS / TOEFL exam prep | Free tier, no credit card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carna Schools and teams today; early access for individuals | Yes | Yes | Yes Live speaking practice with Mia, the AI tutor | Yes Scored from your own voice, one of eight skills | Yes Writing scored by AI on four criteria | Partly An IELTS band on a practice grading, not a course | No The app will open with a free plan |
| AI speaking apps Apps built around speaking out loud to an AI: drills, scenarios and accent work. | |||||||
| Speak Speak drills conversation out loud | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No . A 7-day trial |
| ELSA Speak ELSA Speak drills your pronunciation | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Partly . 8 free lessons once, and a 7-day Premium trial |
| BoldVoice BoldVoice coaches your accent | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Praktika Praktika offers realistic AI avatars | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Partly . Three avatars and limited practice |
| Loora Loora is a conversation tutor for professionals | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partly . One full lesson, no payment details |
| TalkPal TalkPal is a multi-language conversation app | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partly . 10 minutes a day, and a 14-day Premium trial |
| Language-learning apps Course and vocabulary apps for many languages, with English as one of them. | |||||||
| Duolingo Duolingo is the gamified app that gets you started | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes . All courses are free |
| Babbel Babbel teaches through a polished, structured course | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Busuu Busuu's community corrects your exercises | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Memrise Memrise builds vocabulary with spaced repetition | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Rosetta Stone Rosetta Stone built its name on immersion lessons | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Live tutor marketplaces Human tutors and classes booked by the hour or on a timetable. | |||||||
| Cambly Cambly connects you with native speakers on a schedule | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partly . Self-study activities and a $1 trial lesson |
| Preply Preply is a tutor marketplace paid by the hour | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| italki italki connects you with tutors by the hour | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lingoda Lingoda runs scheduled live classes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| General tools and round-ups A general assistant used for English, and the round-up of the popular apps. | |||||||
| ChatGPT ChatGPT is a brilliant general assistant | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Top English Apps The most popular English apps each do one thing well | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Platforms for schools Products built for a teacher and a class, not for one learner on their own. | |||||||
| Duolingo for Schools Duolingo for Schools is free for the classrooms it already has, takes no new ones and closes on 31 July 2027 | No | Partly . Courses set to CEFR levels; top level not stated | No . Not stated by Duolingo | Partly . Listen-and-repeat exercises; feedback not stated | No . Not stated by Duolingo | No . Not stated by Duolingo | Yes . Free for those who already have access |
Every column checked May 2026 or October 2026, and the free plans of 8 products again on 27 September 2026 and 5 October 2026. Each product's page explains its own "Partly" and notes, and asks the questions only some products answer, such as live human teachers.
The questions Carna answers partly or no, with the limit on each.
Running in schools today
Five of Carna's seven answers are a yes. Here is one of them, the path from A1 to C2, in Carna for Schools, which runs today: every module a student is assigned wears its CEFR level and the skills it works on, soonest due first.
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.
FAQ
Straight answers about the method, about Carna's own no, and about what you can use today.
How Carna handles school and learner data is written down in Trust and privacy.
Every page asks the same questions of both columns: what you learn, and how you get it. The other product's column reflects the plans and features it publishes, checked in May 2026 or October 2026 and dated on the page. Carna is held to the same standard, so where it falls short its column says so, and a "Partly" always names the limit under the row.
Because it is true today. The Carna app is in early access, so no individual can use it yet; it will open with a free plan, and joining the early-access list is free. Carna does not connect you to live human teachers either. A table that could only say yes would not be worth reading.
Every row on a product's page carries the month its column was checked, and the other column reflects what that product publishes on its own site, so you can read it yourself. Carna's column is answered from Carna's own apps, Carna for Schools and the Carna app in early access, and where an answer falls short of a yes, the limit is named. If you find a row that is out of date, tell us and we will change it and re-date the page.
Schools and teams can: Carna for Schools and Carna for Business run today, and a demo is one click away. Individual learners join the early-access list and hear from us once, when the personal tutor opens.
Then a multi-language app is the better buy, and the tables say so. Carna teaches English only, from A1 to C2, and it is built for the learner who wants that one language scored and taken somewhere. If you want ten languages and a streak, Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu each have a page here explaining what they do well.
They are the products English learners and schools actually weigh against Carna, in the five groups this page lists: AI speaking apps, language-learning apps, live tutor marketplaces, general tools and round-ups, and platforms for schools. The list is not a ranking and it is not exhaustive; when a product earns a place, it gets a page with the same seven questions and its own checked date.
EARLY ACCESS
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.