The IELTS Speaking test lasts eleven to fourteen minutes and decides a lot: a university place, a visa, a job abroad. For years the only way to rehearse it was to pay a teacher or talk to a mirror. Now AI apps can play the examiner, time your Part 2 long turn and estimate a band score on a Tuesday night.
TL;DRFor a free full mock test with a band estimate, pick SmallTalk2Me. For pronunciation, the criterion most people lose points on without knowing it, pick ELSA Speak. For daily speaking practice built around your test and your own life, pick Slova. For a huge bank of recent questions, pick IELTSpeaking. For a real human examiner-style partner, pick Cambly.
We used each app for IELTS Speaking practice in 2026, on paid plans where they exist. In every app we did the same things: a full mock test on day one, a week of short daily practice, and a second mock at the end. Then we compared the band estimates across apps, and asked whether our answers actually sounded better.
This is not a ranking from worst to best. Someone with a test in ten days needs something very different from someone with three months and a band 5.5. Read the entries and keep the one that fits where you are.
Comparison table
✓Yes◐Partly✕No
| App | Best for | Full mock test | Band estimate | Daily practice | Price band |
|---|
| SmallTalk2Me | Free mock tests | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | Free first test, paid plans |
|---|
| ELSA Speak | Pronunciation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | About 20 dollars a month |
|---|
| Slova | Practice around your test and life | ◐examiner roleplay | ✕ | ✓ | Not listed |
|---|
| IELTSpeaking | A big question bank | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | About 10 dollars a week to 30 a month |
|---|
| Praktika | Relaxed daily talk | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | About 7 to 10 dollars a month |
|---|
| Cambly | A human partner | ✓with a tutor | ◐tutor feedback | ✓ | From about 40 dollars a month |
|---|
| Loora | Everyday fluency | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | About 15 to 20 dollars a month |
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| ChatGPT | Free open practice | ◐if you set it up | ✕ | ✓ | Free, or 20 dollars a month |
|---|
How we chose
- A test that feels like the test. All three parts, the one-minute preparation before Part 2, and follow-up questions in Part 3 that push you to explain and compare.
- Feedback on the four criteria. Fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation, each explained in plain words.
- An honest band estimate. A number that stays steady across tries and does not jump half a band because you spoke louder.
- Practice between mocks. Mock tests measure, but only regular speaking on unfamiliar topics moves the score.
- Cost against your test date. What you will really pay between today and test day.
The best AI apps for IELTS Speaking
1
SmallTalk2Me
Best for free full mock tests
SmallTalk2Me runs a full IELTS Speaking simulation in your browser, with Parts 1, 2 and 3 and their time limits. Afterwards it gives an estimated band from 1 to 9 and a breakdown by the four official criteria. It is the quickest way to find out roughly where you stand, without paying anything for the first test.
On day one we took the mock on a laptop in about fifteen minutes. The Part 2 card asked us to describe a skill you learned as a teenager, and the timer made the one minute of preparation feel very short. The report flagged that we said and then eleven times, which was painfully true. There is no separate app, but the site works on a phone browser.
GoodA realistic full test and a clear report by criteria, free to try.
Watch outBetter at measuring than at teaching, and extra tests and features need a paid plan.
- Free first test, paid plans after
- English only
- Web, works on mobile browsers
2
ELSA Speak
Best for pronunciation, the hidden criterion
ELSA is an English pronunciation coach that scores every sound you make, and it adds an IELTS Speaking mode with mock questions and an estimated band. Pronunciation is a quarter of your Speaking score, and it is the one most learners cannot judge for themselves. If people ask you to repeat things, start here.
On day three we answered a Part 1 question, do you prefer mornings or evenings?, and ELSA marked the th in thirty and the stress in comfortable in red. A short drill played the sound slowly and had us copy it ten times. By the weekend the same words were green in a new answer, and we could hear the difference ourselves. For fluency and ideas, though, we needed something else.
GoodThe most detailed pronunciation feedback available, with IELTS-style questions on top.
Watch outPronunciation is one criterion of four, and the plans and bundles are confusing.
- About 20 dollars a month
- English only
- iPhone, Android, web
3
Slova
Best for daily speaking practice built around your test and your life
Slova starts with one sentence about why you are learning. For many people that is a career goal like IELTS for a master's degree, but it can also be a life goal like moving to Toronto with your family, or something you love like photography or football, and Slova builds your English path around it. Behind that path is a full A0 to C2 curriculum, made by language learners and computer scientists, and every lesson can be done visually or out loud with our AI tutors. In the IELTS roleplay the tutor plays the examiner, asks Part 1, 2 and 3 style questions and corrects you as you go. It does not give an official band score; it gives you the practice that moves one.
This matters for IELTS more than people think. Part 1 and Part 2 ask about your own life: your hometown, your job, a hobby, a place you love. When your lessons are about your own interests, you build the exact words you need to talk about them well, not a list of rare words you will never use. You can also make your own practice with AI: describe your home town and Slova draws it and labels every object in English, or ask for a short podcast on a Part 3 topic like city life at your level. It is the only app on this list where you make your own practice material with AI.
The results show quickly because the words you learn today are the ones you need in tomorrow's answer, so you use them straight away and they stick. Every word from lessons, roleplays, pictures and texts you read goes into one list, the Lexicon, and comes back for review. And because the whole course is about your own test and your own life, it is easier to keep practising in week six, when a test date still feels far away.
We tried it with IELTS for a master's degree, and a real interest in cooking. The examiner roleplay gave us the Part 2 card describe a place you visited that you would like to go back to. We talked about a market in Lisbon and said I have been there two years ago; the tutor let us finish, then explained why it should be I went there two years ago. In Part 3 it asked why food markets matter to cities, and we used stall, local produce and bustling from a cooking lesson the day before. Two days later all of them came back together in review.
GoodDaily speaking practice on topics from your own life, which is exactly what Parts 1 and 2 ask about.
Watch outNewer than the big names, and it is a full English course with an IELTS roleplay, not an official band scorer.
- 10 languages and growing
- A0 to C2 curriculum
- AI tutors in every lesson
4
IELTSpeaking
Best for a big bank of recent questions
IELTSpeaking is an app built only for the Speaking test. It has full mock tests with a score report, practice for each part on its own, and a large question bank with Band 6 and Band 7 sample answers. It is for learners who want to see as many recent topics as possible before test day.
On day four we practised Part 3 alone and got should children learn to cook at school? The AI examiner fixed a missing article, scored our pronunciation and suggested a clearer way to give two reasons. The sample Band 7 answer was useful to read once, but we noticed ourselves starting to copy its phrases, which examiners do not like. Weekly billing is the default on some plans, so check what you pick.
GoodLots of recent topics, part-by-part practice and quick feedback after every answer.
Watch outSample answers tempt you to memorise, and weekly plans add up.
- About 10 dollars a week or 30 dollars a month
- English only
- iPhone, Android
5
Praktika
Best for relaxed daily talk
Praktika is an AI tutor app with animated avatars, and its English lessons include IELTS and TOEFL conversation topics such as education, technology and tourism. It is not a test simulator. It is a friendly way to speak English every day at a low price.
We did fifteen minutes a day with a tutor who asked about work, travel and hobbies, and on day six we tried a long answer on the advantages of living in a big city. The avatar asked two follow-ups, the way a Part 3 examiner would, and fixed more cheaper to cheaper. It was the easiest app to open after a long day. It gives no band estimate, so pair it with a mock test tool.
GoodLots of speaking time on test-style topics, for a small monthly price.
Watch outNo mock test and no band estimate, and the path is fairly fixed.
- About 7 to 10 dollars a month
- 12 languages
- iPhone, Android
6
Cambly
Best for a human partner
Cambly connects you with English tutors by video, and its IELTS course pairs you with one tutor for a few months, with mock speaking tests and feedback after each session. It is not an AI app, but it is here because some learners need a real person before the real test. It costs more than any AI option on this list.
We booked two 30-minute sessions a week with a tutor who listed IELTS as a specialty. In the first one she ran a full mock and then spent ten minutes on how we opened Part 2, which was slow and full of um. Having a real person nod or look confused was worth a lot. Tutors vary, though, and not all of them are trained teachers.
GoodA real person, real reactions and IELTS-focused tutors.
Watch outExpensive, and quality depends on the tutor you get.
- From about 40 dollars a month, depending on minutes
- English only
- iPhone, Android, web
7
Loora
Best for everyday fluency
Loora is an English-only AI conversation coach built around work, travel and daily life. It does not simulate the IELTS test, but it builds the thing the fluency criterion rewards: speaking at length without long pauses. It suits learners at band 5 or 6 who understand questions but cannot keep talking.
We used Loora on lunch breaks for a week, ten minutes a day, mostly about our job. By Thursday the tutor remembered the project we had mentioned on Monday, and we were talking for a full minute before we noticed. The feedback after each talk listed grammar slips and better word choices. It never pushed us on test structure, which we practised elsewhere.
GoodNatural conversations that build the habit of speaking at length.
Watch outNo IELTS mock tests, and topics can repeat after a few weeks.
- About 15 to 20 dollars a month
- English only
- iPhone, Android, web
8
ChatGPT
Best for free open practice
ChatGPT's voice mode can play an IELTS examiner if you ask it to, and it is free to start. It knows the test format well and can ask Part 1, 2 and 3 questions on any topic. The quality of the practice depends on how well you set it up.
We typed a short prompt asking it to act as an IELTS Speaking examiner, give a Part 2 card, wait two minutes and then ask Part 3 questions. It did, and the questions were good. But it spoke fast, interrupted when we paused to think, and its band guesses changed from one session to the next. As a free extra it is useful; as your only tool it is shaky.
GoodFree, flexible and good at inventing new questions.
Watch outNo real structure or tracking, and band guesses are not reliable.
- Free with limits, or about 20 dollars a month for Plus
- Many languages
- iPhone, Android, web
Best app by goal
| Your goal | Our pick | Also good |
|---|
| Find my band today, for free | SmallTalk2Me | IELTSpeaking |
|---|
| Stop losing points on pronunciation | ELSA Speak | IELTSpeaking |
|---|
| Speak every day on my own topics | Slova | Praktika |
|---|
| See as many recent questions as possible | IELTSpeaking | SmallTalk2Me |
|---|
| Stop freezing in long answers | Loora | Slova |
|---|
| Practise with a real person | Cambly | none |
|---|
| Spend nothing | ChatGPT | SmallTalk2Me |
|---|
What an AI band score can tell you
An AI band estimate is a thermometer, not a doctor. It is good at telling you whether you are around 5.5 or around 7, and at showing which criterion is weakest. It is much less reliable at the half band, and different apps can give the same recording different numbers. We saw gaps of half a band between apps on the same answer.
Use the number to track direction, not to predict your result. Take the same kind of mock in the same app every two weeks, and look at whether the weakest criterion is improving. If your fluency score stays flat, more mock tests will not fix it; more daily speaking will.
Remember, too, what the apps cannot see. A real examiner notices eye contact, how you react when you do not understand a question and whether your answer sounds memorised. Practise asking for a question to be repeated, and never learn a full answer by heart.
How to use the last six weeks
In weeks one and two, take one full mock test and then speak every day for 15 to 20 minutes on everyday topics: your home, your work, your hobbies, your city. This is where you build the words for Part 1 and Part 2, and where learning around your own interests pays off.
In weeks three and four, add Part 2 practice with a timer, three or four cards a day, and fix one pronunciation problem at a time. Take a second mock at the end of week four.
In weeks five and six, move to Part 3 questions, where you give opinions and compare. Take a final mock five or six days before the test, not the night before, and spend the last days speaking for fun rather than for scores.
Which one should you pick
If your test is in two weeks, you need to measure and fix, fast. Take a SmallTalk2Me mock tonight, find your weakest criterion, and use IELTSpeaking for part-by-part practice. If that weak criterion is pronunciation, add ELSA.
If you have two months or more, the score will move through daily speaking, not through mock tests. Loora and Praktika give you easy daily conversation, and Cambly gives you a real person if you can afford one.
If you want daily practice that is about your own life, with an examiner roleplay and every new word kept for review, Slova is the one we would start with. The topics IELTS asks about are the topics your path is built on.
Conclusion
No single app covers IELTS Speaking from start to finish, and the best plan combines one tool that measures with one that makes you speak every day. SmallTalk2Me and IELTSpeaking measure well, ELSA fixes pronunciation, and Loora and Praktika keep you talking. If you want your daily speaking to be about your own goals and interests, with an examiner roleplay on top, give Slova a try.
Related reads: the best apps for business English and the best apps for speaking practice. Deciding between two apps? Our ELSA Speak vs Speak comparison goes deeper. Or browse the best AI language learning apps.
Frequently asked questions
Are AI IELTS band scores accurate?
They are useful for a rough level and for spotting your weakest criterion, but they are estimates. Different apps can score the same answer half a band apart. Use one app consistently to track progress rather than trusting a single number.
Can I prepare for IELTS Speaking with an app alone?
Many people do, especially with more than a month to go. Combine a mock test app with daily speaking practice, and try at least one conversation with a real person before the test so the format does not surprise you.
How long should I practise speaking each day before IELTS?
Fifteen to twenty minutes of real speaking every day does more than a two-hour session once a week. Talk about everyday topics first, then add timed Part 2 cards and Part 3 opinion questions in the final weeks.
Which app helps with IELTS Speaking Part 2?
IELTSpeaking and SmallTalk2Me both time the one-minute preparation and the long turn. For building the words to talk about your own life, which Part 2 cards usually ask for, Slova's examiner roleplay and lessons around your interests help a lot.
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