Best App to Learn Korean in 2026 (for Hangul, Speech Levels and the TOPIK)

The short answer: Korean needs three things from an app: Hangul, grammar that changes with who you are talking to, and a lot of listening. For a free official course, the King Sejong Institute's app. For a structured start from the alphabet, LingoDeer. For a free daily habit, Duolingo. For grammar explained step by step, Talk To Me In Korean. For a course with feedback from Korean speakers, Busuu. For listening to real Korean in songs, stories and YouTube, with every word explained in your own language, Soma. For flashcards you control, Anki. Most learners combine two: one for structure and one for listening.

In India, searches for "apps to learn Korean" are rising fast on Google Trends (October 2026), and TOPIK preparation comes up again and again on Reddit's r/Korean. This guide sorts nine apps, plus the official TOPIK site, 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 six questions:

1. What do you actually do in it? Lessons, drills, songs, videos, flashcards.
2. Does it teach Hangul? And does it lean on romanisation (Korean written in Latin letters) for longer than it should?
3. Do you hear real Korean? Natural speech at natural speed, polite and casual.
4. Which language explains the Korean? For many learners in India and Southeast Asia, English is a second language too.
5. Does it bring words back before you forget them (spaced repetition)?
6. 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.

Korean learning apps compared

Start with Hangul

Hangul is an alphabet. Its letters are grouped into syllable blocks, so 한 is ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ, and once you see the system it takes days or weeks to read, not months. Learn it first, and drop romanisation as early as you can: Korean sounds don't map neatly onto Latin letters, and a crutch you keep for months is hard to put down.

• LingoDeer starts "from the alphabet" and has you read and write Korean's own script.
• Busuu has a separate Hangeul course to learn how to read and write it.
• Talk To Me In Korean starts its Level 1 with Hangeul.
• The King Sejong Institute's app covers everything from Hangul to advanced grammar, free.
• Soma shows Korean only in Hangul, with no romanisation. It is for you once you can sound out the letters; from there, a tap on any word gives its meaning.

Speech levels: why Korean changes with the listener

Korean grammar changes with who you are talking to. The same verb ends differently in formal, polite and casual speech: to go is 갑니다 in the formal style of news and announcements, 가요 in the everyday polite style, and 가 between friends. On top of that come honorific words for people you show respect to, such as 드시다 instead of 먹다 for to eat.

A good order for learners: the polite -요 style first, because it is safe with strangers, shopkeepers and colleagues; then the formal style, which you will hear in announcements and interviews; then casual speech, which is what friends, dramas and songs use.

Songs are a good place to hear that casual Korean. In Soma's 옥상 여름밤, 좁은 방도 지금은 무대가 돼 ("Even a tiny room becomes a stage now") ends in casual 돼, where a polite sentence would end in 돼요. Tap 돼 and Soma shows its dictionary form, 되다, "become".

Best free app to learn Korean

The King Sejong Institute Foundation, which runs the King Sejong Institutes for Korean language and culture, has an official learning app that gives you the institute's own content free: a full course from Hangul to advanced grammar, AI tools that assess your speaking, handwriting practice, and review sets you build yourself. Its AI Teacher app lets you chat with a bot in Korean, also free.

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 spoken Korean at full speed.

Busuu's Korean course is free to start, and Talk To Me In Korean lets you try a full lesson free before a 7-day trial.

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

Best app for listening to real Korean

Textbook Korean is slow and careful. Real Korean is fast, drops sounds and joins words, and dramas and songs switch to casual speech whenever they like.

• Soma builds listening in three ways. Original Korean songs are sung word by word in karaoke, with the translation under every line; you can slow them down or switch the vocals off and sing. Spoken stories and dialogues come at four levels, and in a dialogue you can take a part and answer aloud. And a Korean YouTube video you paste becomes a lesson. Tap any word for its meaning; a conjugated verb shows its dictionary form (올라오는 shows 올라오다), and some glosses explain the particle too: tap 나는 and you get "I (as sentence topic)", 나 "I" plus the topic particle 는. The songs are made with AI for learners, and every lyric is checked by people.
• Lingopie does this with TV shows: tap a word in the dual subtitles to translate it and save it. It suits intermediate learners who can already follow a scene, and it gives you a few free minutes a week to try.
• Busuu has a K-drama course, built around a Korean drama.

Try one before you decide: 옥상 여름밤 ("Rooftop summer night"), a boom-bap rap song, opens with 도시 열기 올라오는 옥상 위 ("On the rooftop where the city heat rises"); tap 올라오는 and you get its dictionary form, 올라오다, "come up". The full karaoke is on the page, no sign-in needed.

Best app for speaking Korean

• Speak teaches Korean to English speakers through speaking: you say each phrase out loud, and an AI tutor gives real-time feedback on your pronunciation.
• The King Sejong Institute apps assess your speaking with AI and let you hold a chat with a bot in Korean, for free.
• Talk To Me In Korean builds a speaking step into every lesson, between learning and reviewing.
• Soma trains speaking through shadowing: you hear a sentence, say it back, and it scores your pronunciation word by word against Korean (ko-KR). Scoring is on the Pro and Max plans. In a dialogue you can also take one part and answer aloud.

Best app if English isn't your first language

Almost every Korean app teaches through English. If your strongest language is Hindi, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai or Bengali, you are learning Korean through a second language, and every explanation costs you twice.

• Soma explains Korean in the language you choose. It offers 22, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Japanese and Chinese. The app's menus switch to that language too.
• LingoDeer's app comes in 15 languages, among them Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian.
• Duolingo and Busuu: which language explains the Korean depends on the course, so check what each offers from your language.

Best app for Korean vocabulary

• Anki, if you like control. Free on desktop and Android, with the modern FSRS scheduler built in. If Anki feels like too much setup, see Anki alternatives.
• The King Sejong Institute's app lets you collect the words and grammar you've studied into your own review sets.
• 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.

Learn verbs in their dictionary form (the one ending in -다) together with the form you heard: Korean verbs change their endings so much that 돼, 되고 and 됐어 can all hide 되다. And keep your reviews short and daily: see how to learn a language with spaced repetition.

Best app for the TOPIK

Be careful here: a general app is not an exam course.

• Start with the official TOPIK site (topik.go.kr), run by Korea's National Institute for International Education. It publishes past questions you can try online, in listening and reading for both TOPIK I and TOPIK II, and lets you try the internet-based test and the TOPIK Speaking test. TOPIK is taken on paper or as an internet-based test, the Speaking test is separate, and results are valid for two years. Universities, employers and visa offices in Korea use it.
• Talk To Me In Korean has a TOPIK 1 course in its app.
• Soma doesn't do mock tests. What it adds is listening, which both TOPIK I and TOPIK II test.

Is Duolingo enough to learn Korean?

For a start, yes; for the TOPIK or 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 practice in switching between polite and casual Korean, and both are exactly what a conversation with Korean speakers demands. Keep the streak if it motivates you, and add a grammar course and one way to listen every day. More options in Duolingo alternatives.

Frequently asked questions

Which app is best to learn Korean for free? The King Sejong Institute's official app is free, from Hangul to advanced grammar. Duolingo is free with ads, and Busuu's Korean course is free to start. Soma is free for one language, including all its Korean songs and stories. The official TOPIK site's past questions are free too.

Does Soma show romanisation? No. Lyrics and stories are in Hangul only, and a tap on any word gives its meaning. If you can't read Hangul yet, learn it first: LingoDeer, Busuu's Hangeul course, Talk To Me In Korean and the King Sejong Institute app all start there.

Which app teaches Korean in Hindi? Soma explains every word and song line in Hindi when you choose Hindi as your language, and in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Vietnamese, Indonesian or Thai too.

Should I learn polite or casual Korean first? Polite. The -요 style is safe with almost anyone, and you can add formal and casual speech once it feels natural. Songs and dramas will give you plenty of casual Korean along the way.

What is the best app for the TOPIK? There isn't one app for it. Use the official past questions on topik.go.kr for the format, a course such as Talk To Me In Korean's TOPIK 1 for what to study, and daily listening for the listening section.

Can I learn Korean with songs? Yes, as part of a routine. Songs make words and endings stick because the melody carries them, but you also need to read, speak and review. See best apps to learn a language through music.

How long does it take to learn Korean with an app? It depends on your hours, and on what you already know: learners who speak Japanese often find Korean grammar familiar. Be wary of any app that promises a TOPIK level in a few weeks.

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Sources: vendor pages and store listings checked October 2026: busuu.com, courses.talktomeinkorean.com, speak.com, lingopie.com, apps.ankiweb.net, topik.go.kr, and the App Store listings of LingoDeer, Duolingo, Busuu, Speak, Lingopie, Talk To Me In Korean and the King Sejong Institute Foundation.

Comparing apps for another language? The same guide for English, Japanese, Spanish and German.

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Try Soma free. Hear Korean in songs, stories and real YouTube videos, with every word explained in your own language and kept with spaced repetition. Play 옥상 여름밤 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.