Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Falou vs Preply

Falou 4.8★ · Free + IAP 60
Winner Preply
Preply 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75

Preply is the better choice for serious language learners seeking personalized instruction, despite its problematic subscription model, while Falou offers a more accessible, app-based learning experience but struggles with content quality and technical issues.

Full reviews: Falou · Preply

Falou provides an interactive app experience for basic language learning but is plagued by content inaccuracies, poor voice recognition, and a restrictive free tier. Preply excels with live, personalized tutoring and a wide selection of teachers, though its subscription and refund policies are frequently criticized.

Head to head

Features and Content Quality edge: PreplyR6R7R9R13
Falou Falou is praised for its interactive nature and focus on pronunciation and conversation, with some users finding it more effective than Duolingo for speaking practice . However, a significant number of reviews highlight major issues with content quality, including unidiomatic, ungrammatical, and nonsensical sentences, incorrect grammar explanations, and limited vocabulary for practical situations R6R7R9R13. Some users also report that the app advances too quickly or expects knowledge of words not yet taught .
Preply Preply's core feature is live, personalized tutoring, which users highly value for engaging and effective learning R62R65R80. Tutors are often commended for their kindness, understanding, and ability to customize lessons R65R92. The platform offers a wide selection of tutors for various languages and subjects . However, some users desire more flexibility in recurring schedules and easier management of multiple tutors .
Ease of Use and Reliability tieR3R6R10R15
Falou Falou's interface is generally considered easy to use and friendly R6. However, it suffers from significant technical issues, particularly with voice recognition, which is frequently reported as slow, inaccurate, or completely unresponsive R3R18R24R39. Users also report bugs where the app incorrectly marks wrong answers as correct R15 and issues with progress not saving or syncing R10.
Preply Preply's app experience is mixed. While some find it interactive , others describe it as clumsy, difficult to navigate, and prone to bugs like freezing chats, audio issues on certain devices, and keyboard problems . The chat system is criticized for being suboptimal for efficient communication . Users also complain about being bombarded with notifications without granular control .
Price and Value tieR12R14R16R29
Falou Falou offers a free tier, but many users express frustration with its limitations, such as daily lesson limits and frequent ads, pushing them towards a paid subscription R12R16R30R34. Some users initially found it free or better than Duolingo's free tier R14R29. However, there are complaints about features previously included in a purchase being moved to a more expensive 'Premium+' subscription .
Preply Preply's value comes from its personalized live tutoring, which many find highly effective R80. However, its subscription model is a major point of contention, with numerous users calling it a 'scam' or 'unethical' due to automatic renewals, expiring credits, difficulty in canceling, and charges even after cancellation R63. Users are often forced to buy multiple lessons at once and schedule them within a short timeframe .
Customer Support tieR13R22R63R73
Falou Falou's customer support is widely criticized as poor or non-existent, with users reporting no responses to emails, useless AI bot replies, and difficulty getting refunds R13R22.
Preply Preply's customer service is a significant weakness, with many users reporting unhelpful, unresponsive, or non-existent support R63R73R79. Issues include difficulty getting refunds for canceled lessons or subscription problems R63R79R88R91 and accounts being randomly deactivated without explanation .
Pick Falou if

You are looking for a free or low-cost app-based experience to practice speaking and pronunciation, and are willing to overlook content inaccuracies and technical glitches .

Pick Preply if

You are a serious language learner who benefits from personalized, live instruction from a human tutor, and are prepared to navigate a complex and often frustrating subscription and billing system R62R65R80.

Evidence note: Reviews for Falou are heavily skewed towards recent negative experiences, particularly regarding content quality and technical issues, despite its higher lifetime rating. Preply's negative reviews primarily focus on its billing practices and customer support, rather than the quality of its core tutoring service.

Frequently asked

Is Falou truly free?
Falou offers a free tier, but many users report that free lessons are limited daily and interrupted by frequent ads, often pushing them to purchase a paid subscription R12R16R30R34.
Does Preply offer refunds?
Preply users frequently report significant difficulties in obtaining refunds, even when tutors cancel lessons or subscriptions are canceled before all lessons are taken R63R79R88R91.
How reliable is Falou's voice recognition?
Falou's voice recognition is a major point of frustration for many users, who report it is often slow, inaccurate, or fails to register their speech, even when spoken clearly R3R18R24R39.
Are Preply's tutors good?
Yes, many Preply users highly praise their tutors for being engaging, effective, kind, and able to customize lessons to individual needs R62R65R80R92.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R6] Falou 3/5 · US Good App, Bad Content: The interface this app is easy and the algorithm works well, but the content is a total mess. The transliteration of some of the Japanese words is in fact Chinese, and many of the sentences (and I mean many) are unidiomatic, ungrammatical, and outright nonsensical. It should not have been released before a rigorous quality assurance on content was made. I regret the purchase
  2. [R7] Falou 1/5 · US Uses AI to write nonsense: I have been studying korean and my wife is a native Korean speaker. The app seemed good at first but as the material got more complex the sentences became less intelligible. It started to have sentences which don’t have a sensible context and can’t be made with proper grammar. Don’t waste your time or money.
  3. [R9] Falou 3/5 · US Duolingo for Greek: This is the same as Duolingo. But Greek. So disappointed 10 chapters in still don’t know basic words like days of week numbers the only meal I can order is steak on a gyro or with bread and lemon or orange. I was hoping it would teach basics first . But I can say the big book is very good. I can’t say where is the bathroom or train station.
  4. [R13] Falou 1/5 · US AI Fail: I downloaded Falou because it had Slovak. The lessons were okay at first, but when I clicked on the grammar explanations they were wildly incorrect. I kept using it because the repetition was helpful. Then the sentences became more ridiculous and nonsensical, which is fine, until it started incorrect usage in the lessons. I emailed a few times with the screen shots and the replies were us
  5. [R3] Falou 3/5 · US Started good, got worse: There is nothing more frustrating than trying to use an app that refuses to understand what you’re saying. When I first got this app, it was absolutely terrific. I was learning a lot of words, and I was correcting my pronunciation as I went along. Now as I go back over words, I already know, I am no longer getting the same results from the AI that’s judging my pronunciatio
  6. [R10] Falou 1/5 · US Lost the (my words): After installing the chats, couldn’t connect it with my Falou account and the ( my word) turned gray
  7. [R15] Falou 3/5 · US needs improvement: has a ton of bugs and when i say the wrong word, it says that’s correct and after you buy your subscription, they’ll make you buy your a different subscription just use drops
  8. [R12] Falou 3/5 · US One flaw: Hello, dear creators of this app! I want to tell you that your app is quite excellent, but there's one flaw. It's the paid subscription. I can give you an idea: you could continue free lessons, but limit them to one per day. I think many users would like that, and I'd be very happy if you did it! For now, goodbye! · translated
  9. [R14] Falou 5/5 · US The best!: it’s really similar to Duolingo, but it’s a little better than Duolingo as well. I learned so much already. This was recommended to me a lot on my TikTok FYP. I recommend this app. This is a really good app. Does it have any ads? You don’t really have to pay for anything? It’s pretty free. five stars!!
  10. [R16] Falou 1/5 · US Makes you pay in the middle of the session: It won’t tell you but it will give you free lessons at first then when you are in the middle of learning your class and starting to learn Spanish it will make you pay or you can’t learn Spanish and it makes you feel like if you don’t pay and download another app you lose all your progress and you will feel like you need to pay even though you can just do
  11. [R29] Falou 5/5 · US The best app ever: This app is so good I’ve only used it for five minutes and I am already speaking sentences like it’s nothing. This app is awesome because you can use it as much as you want Duolingo you buy or you can only do it a certain amount of time.
  12. [R22] Falou 1/5 · US Zero customer support: I have reached out to support with email and have not received a response in regard to my purchase and what is included.
  13. [R63] Preply 3/5 · US No Refunds: the actual lessons are normal, but the customer service is terrible and you will not get a refund on lessons if your tutor canceled on you last minute or if you cancel your subscription before you take every lesson.
  14. [R73] Preply 1/5 · US Poor support: Honestly I wouldn’t recommend if you have any issues support is literally not helpful at all. I don’t enjoy their subscription model. The tutors can be great-really takes trial and error.
  15. [R30] Falou 3/5 · GB Good but too many adds.: This app is amazing and it teaches you to speak confidently really fast the only problem I have is the amount of adds. There’s an add after every lesson. And I understand it is for the app premium and it’s good marketing but it’s very annoying. I would recommend this app if you have the patience sit through adds or the money to pay £100+ a year.
  16. [R34] Falou 1/5 · US Don't fall for it: Bro so I was just having fun at first then after you get to like 20 minutes of practicing it say "Oh you reached your daily limit" and I had to wait 10 hours so at like 11pm I can start practicing you think I'm going to start practicing at 11pm NO I get tired at that time and you have to pay money to learn more Spanish you think I'm going to pay that NO! Fix this don't fall for
  17. [R79] Preply 1/5 · US SCAM! Be careful you will never get a refund: Be careful you will never get a refund! The teacher failed to show up for the lesson twice; I requested a refund through support, but they’ve been giving me the runaround for a week now, and I still haven't received it! Choose a different way to learn the language!
  18. [R88] Preply 1/5 · US They dont refund money: They dont refund money and i wait like more that hours to speak with a agent they never respond ...,,
  19. [R91] Preply 1/5 · US Rude Instructors: My experience with this app was highly negative. And, there seems to be no customer service. I complained about a teacher who was late and rude. No emails. Nothing. I just deleted the app. And, I still have credit on there. I tried it as an alternative to italki, but found I like italki better. At least italki will give you refunds and respond to CS requests.
  20. [R18] Falou 3/5 · US Good but slow: i love this app so far but sometime I would say the sentence and it would take a whole 5-10 sec before it registered it and accept it making it very frustrating because i don’t know if i did something wrong or if the app is just very slow. But otherwise I’m learning word in a very fun and easy to remember way.
  21. [R24] Falou 3/5 · US Listening: Great idea and generally is ok. But it definitely cannot hear you many times. Regardless of near or far, fast or slow you speak into the mic. If it listened better, it would be great. Being that basis of the program is to hear you speak, it is a frustrating weakness.
  22. [R39] Falou 3/5 · GB Ok. But problems with voice recognition: Good program but let down by poor voice recognition
  23. [R62] Preply 5/5 · US I love it that’s why I gave it⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I love it so much. I learn Spanish on Preply and my teacher is Diana. She is the best Spanish teacher I ever had I had Duolingo, but I don’t really like it cause I have to do it every single day but I love that you can do it from one day to five days a week. It’s really funny. You should try it. It’s really really fun. There’s a bunch of different tutors a
  24. [R65] Preply 5/5 · US Spanish: I’m learning such great Spanish so far and I cannot wait to learn more from Preply. There is a selection of languages but the teachers are great my teacher is truly a good one, nice to meet and overall not a rush. I appreciate everything she does for me like she is always kind and understanding. My teacher really takes consideration into her work and teaching. Also there is homework but i
  25. [R80] Preply 5/5 · US Learning Kiswahili: This app is so much better than Duolingo I am glad I found it. Lessons from live tutors on several subjects is engaging and prepares you for real life conversations and situations.
  26. [R92] Preply 5/5 · US Sena is amazing: Sena is an amazing teacher. My son has enjoyed every class with her and we love how she customizes the class to catch his attention. She is great at getting him engaged.

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store