Best App to Learn Italian in 2026 (Music, Speaking and the CILS or CELI)

The short answer: Italian is one of the friendliest languages to start, because it is written almost the way it sounds; the work is in speaking it at speed and in its many verb forms. For a free daily habit, Duolingo. For structured lessons that get you speaking from the first one, Babbel or Busuu. For a free audio course, Language Transfer. For audio lessons on the go, Pimsleur. For learning through music, LyricsTraining and LingoClip with real songs, or Soma with original songs written for learners, every word explained in your own language. For flashcards you control, Anki. Most learners combine two: one for structure and one for listening.

Many people come to Italian through music, food, family or a trip, and want to understand and speak more than they want to drill grammar. This guide sorts ten apps, plus two of the Italian certificates, by what you actually need.

How we compared them

We looked at each app's own pages and store listings in October 2026 and asked five questions:

1. What do you actually do in it? Lessons, audio, songs, videos, flashcards.
2. Do you hear real Italian? Natural speech at natural speed, not single words.
3. Does it get you speaking? Italian rewards the mouth: rhythm, open vowels, double consonants.
4. Which language explains the Italian? For many learners in Latin America, India and the Arab world, English is a second language too.
5. What does it cost? Free, a free tier, or a subscription after a trial.

We don't quote prices, because they change by country and month. Each app's own page has the current price.

Italian learning apps compared

Italian through music

Italian and music grew up together. The words on a music score are Italian everyday words: piano (softly), forte (loudly), allegro (cheerful), crescendo (growing). Most Italian words end in a vowel, which makes the language easy to sing and, for a learner, easier to hear one word at a time. And songs make words stick: lab studies find that singing helps adults remember new phrases word for word (more in best apps to learn a language through music).

There are two ways to learn with songs, and they suit different levels:

• Real songs, as a game: LyricsTraining and LingoClip. You play a music video and fill in the missing lyrics as they are sung; LingoClip also lets you choose from options or just sing along in karaoke mode. It is great listening practice with music you already like. The limit: famous songs are fast and full of poetry, and these games test whether you hear a word, not whether you understand the line. Best from A2–B1 upwards.
• Songs written for learners: Soma. Soma's Italian songs are originals, written for learners, so the words are everyday Italian. Every line is sung word by word in karaoke with the translation under it; you can slow a song down, switch the vocals off and sing, and tap any word for its meaning and its dictionary form. The songs are made with AI for learners, and every lyric is checked by people. The trade-off: you won't find famous artists, so use these songs to build a base, then move on to real music.

Try one before you decide: Castagne Nel Fumo ("Chestnuts in the smoke") opens with Castagne che scoppiano piano nel buio ("Chestnuts that softly pop in the dark"); there's the piano of the music score, meaning softly. In the next line, tap danza and you get its dictionary form, danzare, "dance". The full karaoke is on the page, no sign-in needed.

Best free app to learn Italian

Language Transfer is the most generous free option. Intro to Italian is an audio course you can play on its site, in its app or on YouTube, with "no adverts, no sign-ups"; it is funded by donations.

Duolingo is free with ads and is good at one thing: making you open it every day. Its weakness is depth. Learners often finish a unit able to read sentences but not to follow an Italian at full speed.

Busuu's Italian course is free to start, and Babbel and Pimsleur each let you try a lesson free.

Soma is free for one language, with every song, story and picture in it. If Italian is your one language, you get all of the Italian. It runs in any browser on your phone or computer; native iOS and Android apps are coming soon.

Best app for speaking Italian

Italian looks easy to pronounce, and mostly is, with one trap: double consonants change the word. Pala is a shovel and palla a ball; sete is thirst and sette seven; caro is dear and carro a cart. You have to hold the double consonant, and you only learn that by saying words out loud and hearing yourself.

• Babbel has you speaking Italian from your very first lesson, and Babbel Speak helps you practise pronunciation in real conversations. Its lessons also cover when to say tu and when to say the formal Lei.
• Busuu has a separate Italian Pronunciation course, and feedback from Italian speakers.
• Pimsleur's 30-minute audio lessons focus on speaking and pronunciation, and they work hands-free, at the gym or in the car.
• Soma trains speaking through shadowing: you hear a sentence, say it back, and it scores your pronunciation word by word against Italian (it-IT). Scoring is on the Pro and Max plans. Spoken stories and dialogues come at four levels, and in a dialogue you can take one part and answer aloud.

Best app for listening to real Italian

• Soma gives you three kinds of listening: the songs above, spoken stories and dialogues at four levels, and YouTube, because an Italian YouTube video you paste becomes a lesson, with the same tap-for-meaning on every word.
• Lingopie does this with TV shows: tap a word in the subtitles to translate it and save it. It suits intermediate learners who can already follow a scene.
• LyricsTraining and LingoClip train your ear on real songs at full speed.

Best app if English isn't your first language

Most Italian apps explain Italian in English. If your strongest language is Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi or Arabic, you are learning Italian through a second language, and every explanation costs you twice. Spanish and Portuguese speakers in particular already understand a lot of Italian, and need explanations that start from there.

• Soma explains Italian in the language you choose. It offers 22, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. The app's menus switch to that language too.
• Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu: which language explains the Italian depends on the course, so check what each offers from your language.

Best app for Italian vocabulary

Italian verbs have many forms: è, sono, era and fu all belong to essere. Learn each verb in its dictionary form together with the form you met.

• Anki, if you like control. Free on desktop and Android, with the modern FSRS scheduler built in.
• Babbel's Review brings back the words from your lessons, using spaced repetition.
• Soma keeps every word or line you save in one spaced-repetition review, and each word comes from a song or story you heard, so it arrives with a melody and a sentence attached. A tap on è in a song already shows you essere.

And keep your reviews short and daily: see how to learn a language with spaced repetition.

Best app for the CILS and CELI

Be careful here: a general app is not an exam course. Two of the best-known certificates of Italian as a foreign language come from Italy's universities for foreigners.

• CILS, from the Università per Stranieri di Siena, has six levels: A1, A2, UNO (B1), DUE (B2), TRE (C1) and QUATTRO (C2). Every CILS exam tests listening, reading, writing, speaking and how you handle the structures of Italian. Its site has full past papers to download, with answer keys and marking criteria, for every level from A1 to C2.
• CELI, from the Università per Stranieri di Perugia, certifies general Italian at several levels and has versions for teenagers (A2 to B2) and for immigrants (A1 to B1). Registered candidates for the general CELI get an online practice pre-test.
• Babbel and Busuu follow CEFR levels, which helps you see where you stand.
• Soma doesn't do mock tests. What it adds is the listening and speaking that both exams test: hours of real Italian, and shadowing for the oral part.

Is Duolingo enough to learn Italian?

For a start, yes; for a real conversation, almost never on its own. Duolingo is excellent at habit and early vocabulary. It gives you little long, natural listening and little speaking under pressure, and Italians speak fast. Keep the streak if it motivates you, and add one listening tool and one way to speak. More options in Duolingo alternatives.

Frequently asked questions

Which app is best to learn Italian for free? Language Transfer's Intro to Italian is a free audio course with no ads and no sign-up. Duolingo is free with ads, and Busuu's course is free to start. Soma is free for one language, including all its Italian songs and stories.

Can I learn Italian with songs? Yes, as part of a routine. Songs make words and pronunciation stick because the melody carries them. For real hit songs, play LyricsTraining or LingoClip; for songs written for learners, with every line translated, use Soma. Then add reading, speaking and review.

Which app teaches Italian in Spanish or Portuguese? Soma explains every word and song line in Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi or 19 other languages, whichever you choose. For Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu, it depends on which courses exist from your language.

What is the best app for the CILS or CELI? There isn't one app for it. Start with the exam's own site (CILS's past papers can be downloaded there), use a course that follows CEFR levels for structure, and listen and speak every day for the listening and oral parts.

Is Italian hard to pronounce? Less than most languages: it is written almost exactly as it is said. The two things to practise are double consonants (sette, not sete) and the rhythm of a sentence, which is what shadowing trains.

How long does it take to learn Italian with an app? It depends on your hours, and on what you already speak: Spanish, Portuguese and French speakers start well ahead. Be wary of any app that promises fluency in a few weeks.

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Sources: vendor pages and store listings checked October 2026: babbel.com/learn-italian, busuu.com, languagetransfer.org, lingopie.com, lyricstraining.com, lingoclip.com, apps.ankiweb.net, cils.unistrasi.it, cvcl.unistrapg.it, and the App Store listings of Language Transfer, Pimsleur, Lingopie and Duolingo.

Comparing apps for another language? The same guide for Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.

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Try Soma free. Hear Italian in songs, stories and real YouTube videos, with every word explained in your own language and kept with spaced repetition. Play Castagne Nel Fumo first, no sign-in needed, then start at app.soma.ninja; plans are on the pricing page.

Drafted with AI, edited and fact-checked by a human.