ELSA Speak is the most detailed English pronunciation coach on a phone. It hears single sounds, shows you which part of a word went wrong and drills it until it is right. The reasons people look past it are just as specific. Good sounds do not automatically turn into good conversation, open AI conversation sits in the higher Premium plan, the mix of Pro, Premium and bundle offers confuses many buyers, and after a few months some learners notice they are chasing a score instead of talking to people.
TL;DRFor a structured English course you say out loud, pick Speak. For calm daily conversation about work and life, pick Loora. For English built around your own goal or interest, pick Slova. For a cheap tutor with a face, pick Praktika. For accent work at B1 and above, pick Fluently. For a real person, pick Cambly.
We used ELSA on its paid plan as our starting point and then tested each alternative on its paid plan during 2026, on iPhone and Android, with testers from Brazil, Japan and the Philippines. Each app got a first lesson, a week of daily use and one real-world check: at the end of the week, each tester made a short call in English and we asked the listener how easy they were to understand.
This is not a ranking. Some of these apps give feedback on pronunciation like ELSA, some care more about fluency and confidence, and one is a human. Find the line that describes what is actually holding your English back.
Comparison table
✓Yes◐Partly✕No
| App | Best for | How it differs from ELSA | Pronunciation feedback | Open conversation |
|---|
| Speak | A spoken English course | Full course said out loud, not only sounds | ◐Pronunciation Coach | ✓ |
|---|
| Loora | Daily English conversation | Talk first, feedback after | ◐ | ✓ |
|---|
| Slova | English for your goal or interest | Personal path on a full curriculum | ◐ | ✓AI tutors |
|---|
| Praktika | A cheap tutor with a face | Avatar tutors, lower price | ◐ | ✓ |
|---|
| Fluently | Accent work at B1 and above | Coaching on your real work calls | ✓ | ✓ |
|---|
| Cambly | A real English speaker | Human tutors by video | ◐from a person | ✓ |
|---|
| Langua | Detailed correction reports | Report after each chat | ◐ | ✓ |
|---|
| Learna | Short daily practice | Lessons plus chat, mistakes reviewed | ◐ | ✓ |
|---|
How we chose
- Understood by people. Whether our testers were easier to follow on a real call after a week, not just higher on a score.
- Talking time. How much of each session was spent in real conversation rather than repeating single words.
- Useful feedback. Whether corrections covered what matters most to listeners: stress, rhythm and word choice, not only sounds.
- Fit to the learner. Whether the app works for your level, from nervous beginner to fluent professional.
- Clear pricing. Whether you can tell what you are paying for before the trial ends.
The best ELSA Speak alternatives
1
Speak
Best for a spoken English course
Speak began as an English app in Korea and teaches through lessons you say out loud, from short phrases to guided practice to roleplays. A Pronunciation Coach and a tutor you can question are built in. It suits learners who want pronunciation practice inside a real course, not on its own.
On day two our tester from Japan practised Could I get the check, please? until the app accepted could I as one smooth sound instead of two stiff words. Then it put the line into a restaurant roleplay a few minutes later. He said it felt more like using English than studying it. The feedback on single sounds was less detailed than ELSA's.
GoodA clear spoken course with pronunciation help built in.
Watch outOne of the pricier plans, and roleplays feel similar after a few months.
- About 18 dollars a month
- 7 languages including English
- iPhone, Android
2
Loora
Best for calm daily English conversation
Loora is an English-only AI coach that holds real conversations about work, travel and daily life, then gives feedback on grammar, word choice and pronunciation. It feels unhurried, which helps people who freeze. It suits working adults who already know some English and need to use it every day.
Our tester from Brazil used it on day one through day five during lunch, talking about her sales job. On day three she said I explained him the price, and the summary showed I explained the price to him with a short note. By Friday the coach was bringing back details from Monday's talk. She wanted a way to review new words, though, and ended up keeping her own list.
GoodNatural, patient conversation and very high store ratings.
Watch outEnglish only, and new words are not collected for review.
- About 15 to 20 dollars a month
- English only
- iPhone, Android, web
3
Slova
Best for English built around your goal or interest
Slova starts with one sentence about why you are learning English and builds a path of lessons around it. That reason can be a career goal like an IELTS test, a job interview or sales calls, a life goal like moving to Toronto or talking with your partner's family, or something you love, like football, films or music. Behind the path is a full A0 to C2 curriculum made by language learners and computer scientists, and every lesson can be done visually at your own pace or out loud with our AI tutors, who listen and correct you as you speak.
The difference from ELSA is that you practise English for a reason, inside the situation you care about, from the first lesson. If your goal is study abroad, you speak about your own subject and your own plans; if you love football, your first words come from match talk, not a list of minimal pairs. You can also make your own practice with AI: describe a place and get a picture scene with every object labelled in English, or ask for a short podcast or story on your topic at your level. It is the only app on this list where you make your own practice material with AI.
That is why results show up quickly. The words you learn today are the ones you need tomorrow, so you use them straight away and they stick. Every word from lessons, tutor conversations, pictures and texts goes into one list, the Lexicon, and comes back for review. And because the course is about your own life, it is much easier to open in week six than a set of drills written for everyone.
Our tester from the Philippines set the goal as IELTS speaking for a master's place in Australia. The path started with Part 2 cue cards on topics she would really face, and on day three she spoke for two minutes about a place she had visited while the tutor noted I have been there last year and changed it to I went there last year, then asked her to try the answer again. She asked for a short podcast on studying abroad, and words like tuition, campus and homesick went into the Lexicon beside the lesson words. By day seven she could fill the full two minutes without long pauses.
GoodEnglish practice shaped by your real reason, with a full course behind it and every word kept in one list.
Watch outNewer than ELSA, and it gives less sound-by-sound detail than a pronunciation specialist.
- 10 languages and growing
- A0 to C2 curriculum
- AI tutors in every lesson
4
Praktika
Best for a cheap English tutor with a face
Praktika gives you animated avatar tutors who talk with you in voice, correct you and let you set how strict the feedback is. English is its deepest course, with a daily lesson and open conversation on any topic. It is one of the cheapest voice tutors around.
On day four our tester from Japan asked a tutor to play a hotel guest with a complaint. He said the air conditioner is not working since yesterday, and the tutor answered in role, then showed has not been working since yesterday with a short reason. Having a face to talk to calmed his nerves more than he expected. Sound-level feedback was lighter than ELSA's, so he kept ELSA for the r and l drills.
GoodLots of English speaking for a low price, with adjustable correction.
Watch outThe path is fixed, and new words are not collected for review.
- About 7 to 10 dollars a month
- 12 languages
- iPhone, Android
5
Fluently
Best for accent work at B1 and above
Fluently is an AI English coach for working professionals at B1 level and above, with feedback on accent, sounds and fluency. It can also analyse your real work calls and point out what to fix. It is the closest thing on this list to ELSA's detail, aimed at people who already speak well.
Our tester from Brazil connected a recorded team meeting on day two. Fluently flagged that she stressed deVELopment as develOPment and that her th in three came out as t, then set short drills for both. On day five she ran the same update in a practice call and the stress was right. It is not for beginners, and the paywall arrives quickly.
GoodDetailed accent feedback, plus analysis of your real calls.
Watch outNot for beginners, and one of the pricier plans here.
- About 25 dollars a month
- English
- iPhone, Android
6
Cambly
Best for talking to a real English speaker
Cambly connects you with English tutors by video at almost any hour, on plans sold by minutes per week. Most tutors are native speakers who chat rather than follow a course. A real listener tells you something no score can: whether you were understood.
On day one our tester from Japan booked 30 minutes with a tutor in the UK and talked about his hobby, cycling. When he said I like to ride a bicycle on weekend, the tutor stopped him, laughed kindly and practised at the weekend and on weekends with him. She also told him his r was fine and his real problem was speaking too fast. That one comment was worth a month of drills.
GoodReal people, flexible hours and honest feedback on how you come across.
Watch outMuch more expensive than any AI app, and tutor quality varies.
- About 24 to 220 dollars a month, by plan
- English only
- iPhone, Android, web
7
Langua
Best for detailed correction reports
Langua, from LanguaTalk, is an AI conversation partner with voices cloned from native speakers and a report of your mistakes after each chat. You can send words and fixes to flashcards and read back an interactive transcript. It suits intermediate learners who want written feedback they can study.
On day three our tester from the Philippines talked about her plans for a job change. The report caught I am planning to resign on my work and offered I am planning to resign from my job, plus two smaller fixes. She sent all three to flashcards in one step. The daily call time on the cheaper plan ran out faster than she wanted.
GoodNatural voices and the most thorough written feedback here.
Watch outPricier than ELSA at the top plan, and light on structure for beginners.
- About 20 to 30 dollars a month
- 20+ languages
- Web, iPhone, Android
8
Learna
Best for short daily practice
Learna mixes short English lessons with AI chats and brings your mistakes back in later review sessions. Sessions are quick enough for a lunch break. It also teaches Spanish, but English is its main focus.
Our tester from Brazil used it for five lunch breaks in a row. On day two she said I didn't went to the gym in a chat, and on day three the fix, I didn't go to the gym, came back in the review. It was a small thing that ELSA never does. The weekly billing looked cheap until she worked out the yearly total.
GoodSimple, quick sessions with mistakes brought back for review.
Watch outWeekly billing adds up, and pronunciation feedback is lighter than ELSA's.
- Weekly plans
- English, Spanish
- iPhone, Android, web
Best app by goal
| Your goal | Our pick | Also good |
|---|
| Build a full spoken English course | Speak | Slova |
|---|
| English for IELTS, a job or a move | Slova | Loora |
|---|
| More confidence in daily conversation | Loora | Praktika |
|---|
| Fix your accent at an advanced level | Fluently | Speak |
|---|
| Hear from a real person | Cambly | Langua |
|---|
| Spend less than ELSA | Praktika | Learna |
|---|
| Learn from written feedback | Langua | Loora |
|---|
| Keep every new word | Slova | Langua |
|---|
Accent or being understood
Most English learners do not need to lose their accent. Millions of people around the world speak clear English with a Brazilian, Filipino or Japanese accent every day. What listeners struggle with is usually word stress in the wrong place, sentence rhythm that is too flat or too fast, and missing small words, much more than single sounds.
That is why an app that only scores sounds can leave a gap. ELSA is excellent for the two or three sounds that really cause confusion, like r and l for many Japanese speakers or th for many Brazilians. Once those are fixed, the next step is talking for longer, at a steady pace, about things that matter to you.
Scores versus real listeners
Pronunciation scores are useful at the start, because they show you where to look. The trap is that it is easier to push a score from 85 to 92 than to hold a relaxed five-minute conversation, so many learners keep drilling the part they are already good at.
A simple test helps. Once a week, record yourself for two minutes talking about your day, or have a short call with a friend or tutor. If people understand you without asking you to repeat, spend more time on conversation. If they often ask again, go back to sound drills, then return to talking.
Which one should you pick
If you want your English practice to feel like a course, go to Speak. If you mostly need confidence in daily conversation, Loora is the calmest coach, and Praktika is the cheapest with a face. If you already speak well and want accent detail close to ELSA's, Fluently is the one for you, especially if you work in English.
If you want a human to tell you how you sound, Cambly is worth the higher price for a month or two. If you learn best from written corrections, Langua gives the most thorough report, and Learna brings mistakes back in short daily sessions.
If you are learning English for something specific, like an IELTS test, a job interview, a move abroad or simply a passion you want to share, start with Slova. It is the one app here that builds the lessons, the tutor conversations and the word review around that one goal.
Conclusion
ELSA is still the best tool for fixing individual English sounds. The best alternatives take you from clear sounds to real conversation. Speak gives you a spoken course, Loora and Praktika give you daily talk, Fluently goes deeper on accent, Cambly gives you a human, and Langua and Learna help you learn from your mistakes. If you want English practice built around your own goals and interests, from an exam to a hobby, give Slova a try.
Still weighing ELSA Speak against one app? Read ELSA Speak vs Speak and Praktika vs ELSA Speak. For the wider picture, see the best AI language learning apps.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an app like ELSA Speak that also teaches conversation?
Speak combines a spoken English course with a Pronunciation Coach, and Loora and Praktika focus on conversation with feedback afterwards. Fluently gives the closest accent detail to ELSA while also coaching conversation.
Which ELSA alternative is best for IELTS speaking?
Slova lets you set IELTS speaking as your goal and builds a path around the real test tasks, with Part 2 practice you can do out loud with its AI tutors. Cambly is a good extra if you want a human to time and judge your answers.
Can an app really fix my English accent?
Apps can fix the specific sounds and stress patterns that make you hard to understand, and ELSA and Fluently are the most detailed at this. Removing an accent completely is rarely needed and takes far longer than most apps suggest.
Should I keep ELSA and add a conversation app?
If a few sounds still cause confusion, yes. Use ELSA for ten minutes of targeted drills and a conversation app like Loora or Praktika for the rest, then drop ELSA once real listeners stop asking you to repeat.
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