LanguaTalk vs iTalki - Which one is better? [head-to-head comparison]
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Table of Contents
LanguaTalk overview
iTalki overview
What iTalki & LanguaTalk have in common
LanguaTalk vs iTalki - head-to-head comparison
Final verdict
The well-established iTalki and the newer LanguaTalk are the two hottest platforms to find tutors for 1-on-1 online language lessons right now .
Back in 2018 when I started taking online lessons iTalki was the only option.
Since January 2021 (when LanguaTalk launched), that’s not the case anymore.
LanguaTalk has emerged on the scene and quickly become a serious competitor.
Is iTalki still the nr 1 online language platform?
Or has LanguaTalk surpassed them?
Which one is the best one?
Let’s dive into a head-to-head battle to find out which one comes out on top!
LanguaTalk Overview
Languages offered: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai
Like:
Highest quality tutors (less than 10% of teacher applications are accepted)
Clean, intuitive, and user-friendly website
Free 30-minute trial lessons (no credit card needed)
Transparent pricing and excellent refund policies
Easy-to-understand FAQ
Dislike:
Currently only offer 16 languages
No dedicated phone app
No instant bookings for the same day (though you can ask your tutor & they can reschedule to the same day if they're free)
Get started with LanguaTalk.
iTalki Overview
Languages offered: 130 different languages
Like:
Offers teachers in 130 different languages
Dedicated phone app
Lets you book lessons on short notice (less than 24 hours)
Extremely affordable lessons for those on a tight budget
Dislike:
Teachers can be hit or miss
An overwhelming amount of teachers in the most popular languages
No refund policy
iTalki Classroom isn’t 100% reliable
Get started with iTalki
What iTalki & LanguaTalk have in common
Both iTalki and LanguaTalk are platforms where you can find 1-on-1 tutors for online video call lessons.
The layout and design of their websites are quite similar in that both let you…
…browse different teachers
…read about the teachers (to learn about them and what they have to offer)
…watch teacher introduction videos (to get a feel for who they are)
…read reviews from the teachers’ students
…easily book private online video lessons at a time that’s convenient to you.
LanguaTalk vs iTalki - head-to-head comparison
As someone who has taken over 100 lessons (in 3 different languages), and personally taught close to 600 lessons in Swedish and English on the iTalki platform, I’m very familiar with language lessons from both a student’s and teacher’s perspectives.
At first, it seemed to me that LanguaTalk was a bit of an iTalki clone. But after actually spending time on the platform it turns out that’s definitely not the case!
To determine which platform is the best there are several categories to look at:
Which one is best in each category?
Which one is best overall?
By doing a side-by-side comparison in each category you will get a clear picture of each platform’s strengths and weaknesses.
That way you can be well-informed and with peace of mind choose which platform to take lessons on.
Let’s get into each category and compare the two!
(You can also click on the jump links at the top of this page if you want to check a particular category)
Download my guide (for free) on how to learn languages intuitively:
What languages do they offer?
Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Thai.
All of the above ones + 114 additional languages.
LanguaTalk right now offers 16 of some of the most common languages that people learn.
(By the time you read this, they may already have added more languages)
iTalki offers an impressive and by far the biggest selection of different languages, making them the clear winner in this category.
Winner: iTalki
Website & design
LanguaTalk:
LanguaTalk’s teacher browse page
Aesthetically speaking, LanguaTalk is super clean and offers a straight-forward approach when browsing teachers. It doesn’t have anything unnecessary.
Their website responds faster than iTalki’s, giving you a smoother experience.
It’s a pure joy to use.
iTalki:
iTalki’s teacher browse page
While similar, iTalki has more “stuff” everywhere. There are more things to distract your eyes.
It gets the job done, but when compared to LanguaTalk it feels a little bit 2017.
Christian’s take:
Both websites are similar in their layouts and how they work.
At first glance, they seem almost identical. But after using them side by side, you’ll notice a difference.
Both platforms offer filters when searching for the right teachers. While these filters are similar, LanguaTalk does the best job in its choice of questions. There’s nothing unnecessary, but just the right ones to help you find the right teacher for you.
One thing I do like on iTalki is seeing an overview of the teacher’s available times (to the right) when hovering over each teacher.
LanguaTalk provides the best overall user experience. Less clutter and better design make it more pleasant to browse their website.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Teacher selection
Both platforms include the same information such as a teacher introduction video, a brief written introduction, and student reviews.
These are presented in a very similar manner.
iTalki:
Out of the two platforms, iTalki has way more teachers to choose from. The more the better right?
Well, it depends.
While it can be nice to have a lot to choose from, I often find I just spend too much time browsing different teachers. Just to find one I like to take lessons from.
It’s a bit like going to a restaurant that has too many different dishes to choose from. Instead of going to a restaurant that does a few dishes really well.
When learning less commonly learned languages this doesn’t become a problem on iTalki. A language like Finnish (for example) only has 24 teachers at this moment.
Compare that to English which has almost 5,000.
Now that’s an overwhelming amount of choice!
While there are many great teachers on iTalki, the quality varies greatly.
LanguaTalk:
On LanguaTalk, it’s like having a filter to only see the best tutors. As a platform, they are way more selective than iTalki about the teachers they accept (less than 10% of teacher applications are approved).
The difference in overall quality becomes obvious when you watch the teacher introduction videos on LanguaTalk.
Christian’s take:
As I was scrolling through the Spanish tutor videos on LanguaTalk I felt like I could happily take a lesson from any of them. Something I haven’t experienced on the iTalki platform, where I would need to spend more time to find a teacher I like.
I like the confidence of knowing that LanguaTalk’s teachers have been vetted by people who know exactly what to look for in a good tutor. Chances are much higher that you’ll find a good teacher right away when using their platform.
Because of this, LanguaTalk wins this category.
It does however depend on the language you’re learning since iTalki offers a lot of languages that LanguaTalk doesn’t yet offer.
Winner: LanguaTalk (although depends on the language)
Lesson booking
iTalki:
Booking a lesson on iTalki is pretty straightforward. You select the lesson type and length, your lesson time, and your preferred communication tool. Then you confirm the lesson on the payment page.
A plus with iTalki is that they let you book lessons on short notice (less than 24 hours until the lesson start time), as long as the teacher is available at the time.
If they are available within 24 hours, their earliest available time will conveniently be displayed right next to their lesson price.
On iTalki the teacher has to accept the lesson after you book it. While it doesn’t necessarily happen often, the teachers can decline your booking, which is annoying. Especially since you have to wait for the teacher to accept your lesson request, only to then reject it.
LanguaTalk:
Booking a lesson through LanguaTalk is even easier. You purchase the amount of lessons you want, and then you book your time slot.
What I really like is that when booking a lesson you fill out questions such as your age, your current level, and why you’re learning your target language.
It’s really good information for the teacher to know so they can be well-prepared for the lesson.
iTalki does not have you fill out these questions. Whenever I take a lesson through them with a new teacher I manually send them a private message. Letting them know the same exact things that LanguaTalk has already had me fill out.
The fact that LanguaTalk already includes these questions in the process is a big plus. You really feel that they know exactly what you as a student need to have the best possible lesson.
On LanguaTalk, once you book a lesson, it’s booked. No need to wait for the teacher to accept the lesson. The available times the teachers set are times they are for sure available.
Christian’s take:
I like the possibility of being able to book lessons within 24 hours on iTalki.
However, having to wait for the teacher to accept or reject your lesson requests on iTalki is frustrating. The fact that LanguaTalk’s teachers auto-accept your lesson requests makes it much easier to plan out your language lessons. It really speaks of their professionalism and is, in my opinion, a much bigger pro.
Tip:
Even though LanguaTalk doesn’t offer bookings on short notice (less than 24 hours), you can ask your tutor and they can reschedule your lesson to the same day if they're free.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Trial Lessons
iTalki:
iTalki do not offer free trial lessons, but most teachers offer a 30-minute trial lesson at a reduced price (you will also receive $10 iTalki credits after your first paid lesson by signing up using any of the links in this post).
You have 3 trial lessons to spend total.
LanguaTalk:
The majority of teachers on LanguaTalk offer a 30-minute completely free trial lesson. You’ll have one free lesson credit to spend on any teacher of your choice.
The teachers who don’t offer trial lessons for free offer trials at only 30% of the full price.
Christian’s take:
LanguaTalk definitely wins this one. Being able to book a 30-minute trial completely free of charge without even needing to enter any credit or debit card details is just incredible.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Pricing
The pricing is up to the teacher to decide on both platforms.
iTalki:
$4 - $80 /hour.
On iTalki the price that is displayed is the lowest price out of all the lesson types that they offer (which could be something like “Article correction: no video call”).
This can be a bit misleading because the prices for actual conversational lessons might be completely different. Because of this, it’s more difficult to get a quick overview of each teacher’s pricing (it often looks cheaper than it actually is).
LanguaTalk:
$8 - $60 /hour (although minimum rates can be up to $13 in some languages).
Pricing is more transparent on LanguaTalk.
iTalki has fees when buying credits that are not shown (which needs to be taken into consideration).
The prices shown on the browse page are consistent with the ones you see on the payment page on LanguaTalk. No extra charges.
Tip:
On both platforms, you can buy several lessons in advance from teachers at a discount. This will also lock in your lessons at a certain price (before the teacher might raise their prices).
These lessons can then be scheduled later at your convenience.
Christian’s take:
Both platforms have similar prices (as you can see from the teacher who teaches on both platforms). However, you won’t find teachers who offer lessons for $5-6 on LanguaTalk. iTalki on the other hand offers extremely low prices for some tutors.
It might look like iTalki has the cheaper pricing. While true at times, it’s not necessarily the case.
LanguaTalk is more transparent with their pricing by including card payment fees in the prices on the teacher’s profile. So there are no extra hidden fees. The price you see is the one you’ll actually pay in the end.
Those on an extremely tight budget will be able to find the cheapest lessons on iTalki. However, you typically get what you pay for (although not always the case).
This also raises the question of:
What’s ethical?
For me personally, I don’t feel comfortable paying only $5/hour of someone’s time. But I also understand that everyone has different financial situations and the value one gets from each USD varies greatly from country to country.
Because of their transparency and no-nonsense approach, LanguaTalk wins the pricing category.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Payment
iTalki:
iTalki uses “iTalki credits”.
You purchase as many credits as you want (a minimum of $10 is required at each purchase. An extra fee of around 5% of the credit amount you purchase is also charged).
LanguaTalk:
LanguaTalk lets you pay directly using a debit or credit card. No need to buy any separate credits.
There are fewer payment steps to take on LanguaTalk and also no extra hidden card fees. It makes their payment process more straightforward and transparent, making it a better experience.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Refunds
If there’s a problem with a lesson (such as the teacher not showing up), then you will be refunded on both platforms.
On iTalki your credits will be refunded.
On LanguaTalk you will be refunded directly to your payment card.
iTalki:
iTalki credits are non-refundable. If you buy $100 worth of credits, and you only take 1 lesson for $25, you won’t be able to get the $75 back.
LanguaTalk:
Let’s say you buy a pack of 5 lessons from someone, but after 1 lesson you decide you don’t want to take any more lessons. LanguaTalk then gives you two options:
Transfer the remaining balance to another teacher.
Get a full refund of your balance.
LanguaTalk’s excellent refund policies make them the much safer option.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Cancellations & rescheduling
Both platforms offer a 24-hour cancellation policy. This means you can only cancel lessons if there are more than 24 hours until the lesson start time. The same applies to rescheduling lessons.
This is to protect the teachers because a late cancellation (or rescheduling) means they won’t find a replacement student at that particular time, which means lost income for them.
(As a former iTalki teacher, I can say this is an important policy. As late cancellation requests are quite common)
iTalki:
Just as with booking lessons on iTalki, the teacher has to accept a reschedule or cancellation request.
They have the power to decline any of these. In that case, they will receive the funds for the lesson whether you’re able to attend or not
On iTalki you can’t reschedule or cancel lessons if it’s less than 24 hours until the start time. Even if the teacher wants to make an exception they won’t be able to manually do this themselves.
LanguaTalk:
On LanguaTalk you don’t need to wait for the teacher to accept your reschedule or cancellation requests (they are automatically accepted). You can freely change the lesson time to your liking (within the 24-hour rule).
If it’s less than 24 hours to the lesson, and the teacher decides to make an exception, he can then go in and manually reschedule or even cancel the lesson for the student.
It is still up to the teacher to decide whether they will accept these late reschedule-request. Most will abide by the 24-hour rule, but they have the freedom to make exceptions.
LanguaTalk clearly wins this one by providing much more flexibility than its competitor.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Lesson types
Both platforms offer 60-minute lessons, with the option for teachers to also offer 30-minute lessons. Some iTalki teachers also offer 45-minute lessons as well as 90-minute lessons. You can however book back-to-back lessons on LanguaTalk if you prefer longer ones.
iTalki:
iTalki lets the teachers create different lesson types.
Some might even have 5-6 or more to choose from. This has its pros and cons.
If you’re looking for something very specific then the chances are there are teachers who will offer that. While it could be beneficial for some it also makes lesson booking more confusing, especially for new students.
iTalki offer group classes with different focuses as well.
LanguaTalk:
LanguaTalk offer one lesson type:
1-on-1 private lessons “tailored to your needs”.
They keep it simple and straightforward to avoid confusion and overwhelm of choice. The customization comes through discussing your needs with your teacher, not in choosing a particular lesson type.
They do not offer group lessons.
Christian’s take:
I’m not a fan of group classes as I think it gives the student “the wrong idea” about learning a language. A language can’t be taught, but only caught.
I can see how if you’re looking for something specific (such as “writing corrections”), then iTalki might be where you find the specific lesson type for just that. I’m a bit torn on having different lesson types the way iTalki offers them though. I can see it being valuable in some cases.
I find the majority of lesson distinctions completely unnecessary though. In 99% of cases, it would be easier to just book a lesson and then communicate with the teacher what you specifically want to work on.
However, it could serve the teacher if they want to charge different rates for different lesson types.
LanguaTalk’s teachers are very experienced and qualified though. I’m sure they are able to cater to just about everybody’s needs.
The majority of people are typically booking online lessons to either:
Get speaking practice with a native
Or:
Get help or structure in their learning from a professional.
For this reason, LanguaTalk is the winner as it simplifies and removes potential confusion when booking lessons. Creating a much more streamlined experience.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Communication tools
LanguaTalk:
Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, Whereby
iTalki:
iTalki Classroom, Skype, QQ, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, WeChat
Christian’s take:
Both offer plenty of options to meet most peoples’ needs. Which one you prefer will come down to most likely where you’re from.
iTalki offers tools such as QQ and WeChat, which are going to cater more to people in China.
iTalki also has its own communication tool called “iTalki Classroom” (which is required for all teachers to include as an option). This tool does have issues from time to time so I recommend using a different tool when booking lessons.
LanguaTalk have two options that you can use directly in your web browser without having to download any apps (Google Meet, Whereby).
When choosing a communication tool, LanguaTalk also provides helpful information about each tool (that is good for you to be aware of). This is definitely a nice touch and good customer service.
Which one you prefer will in the end most likely depend on your location. LanguaTalk edges it out because of their helpful tool information as well as only using quality tools.
Winner: LanguaTalk (although depends on where you live and personal preferences)
Phone app
iTalki has its own dedicated app, which is great.
LanguaTalk doesn’t, but its website is well-adapted for phone use and is easy to navigate on a phone.
Christian’s take:
For me personally, an app is not a deal-breaker. Because I book and take my lessons using my computer.
It is however nice to have a dedicated app for the platform. That way you can book your lessons, message teachers, and manage everything directly from the app.
Winner: iTalki
Support
iTalki provides good support, although not necessarily the most personal one.
LanguaTalk is known for their personalized support and respond very quickly to your requests and messages.
iTalki’s FAQ section is at times confusing to read while LanguaTalk’s is very easy to understand.
Winner: LanguaTalk
Head-to-head total score:
iTalki - 2/13
LanguaTalk - 11/13
Final verdict
When taking everything into consideration, the overall winner is definitely LanguaTalk.
With their intuitive, beautiful, and smooth website. Their high-quality tutors. The effortless process of booking and rescheduling lessons. Their refund policies. From beginning to end, their platform just provides a superior experience.
If they keep it up and add more languages, I can see them being the industry leaders in the near future.
It might seem that iTalki isn’t that good, but that’s not the case.
It’s just that LanguaTalk does 80-90% of it better.
The big advantage iTalki has is the sheer amount of languages they offer. Which could be a deal-breaker depending on the language you’re learning (for obvious reasons).
iTalki was the first to popularize online language lessons, paving the way for both teachers and students. They made it accessible to everyone in a way it wasn’t before. They have pretty much been the only option for a long time.
LanguaTalk is now taking that blueprint from iTalki, improving on it, and taking it to the next level for the future.
There’s a professionalism, freshness, and excitement on LanguaTalk that I don’t see on other platforms.
It basically comes down to this:
Are you learning any of the 16 languages LanguaTalk offers? Go with LanguaTalk.
Are you learning a less common language that they don’t offer? iTalki will most likely have it and is a good option.
Did your questions about iTalki and LanguaTalk get answered?
Still have questions? Let me know in the comments below!
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