Speak vs ELSA Speak vs Duolingo Max
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
Speak
AI conversation tutor for language learners — talk first, drill later
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ELSA Speak
AI pronunciation coach that scores your English at the phoneme level
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| RECATOOLS Score | 7.8 / 10 | 7.8 / 10 | 7.8 / 10 |
| Capability | |||
| Value for money | |||
| Ease of use | |||
| ASEAN readiness | |||
| API quality | |||
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free tier | 7-day free trial with full feature access; no permanent free tier | Limited daily exercises; access to a small subset of lessons; no AI tutor | Core Duolingo app is free with ads and limited hearts |
| Paid from | Premium ~$18/mo or ~$84/yr; Premium Plus ~$40/mo or ~$165/yr | Annual ~$159.99/yr list (~$13.33/mo equiv), often ~$74.99-$79.99/yr; monthly ~$11.99-$21.99/mo | ~$14/mo (annual, $168/yr); ~$30/mo (monthly); Family ~$240/yr (US) |
| Has API | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Open source | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free to use | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Users | 10M+ registered users globally (2024); some 2026 listings cite 15M+ downloads | 90M+ downloads globally as of January 2026; 195 countries | Hundreds of millions of registered users; tens of millions of paid subscribers |
| Founded | 2016 | 2015 | 2011 |
| Maker | Independent (no parent company) | ELSA, Corp | Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ: DUOL) |
| Verdict | Speak's pitch holds up in the roleplay mode: dropping a learner into a coffee-shop or job-interview scenario and reacting in real time via OpenAI's Realtime API beats static flashcard apps for anyone who actually needs t... |
ELSA Speak is the strongest dedicated pronunciation tool for ASEAN learners of English. Its phoneme-level AI, trained on accent data from non-native speakers across 195 countries, surfaces the exact sounds that trip up V... |
Duolingo Max closes the single biggest gap in app-based language learning: speaking practice. Pairing GPT-4 with Duolingo's proven gamification engine, Roleplay and Video Call are genuinely novel at this price point, and... |
| Full review → | Full review → | Full review → |
Comparisons cover up to 4 tools. Scores are RECATOOLS editorial assessments; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.