Lingoda

Lingoda GmbH, based in Berlin, runs an online language school rather than a study app. Students book 60-minute live classes with certified, native-level teachers over Zoom, either in groups of three to five or one-to-one. The vendor teaches English and German up to C1, Business English, French and Spanish up to B2, and Italian at A1 and A2, all mapped to the CEFR scale.

Learners buy a plan of class credits that renews every four weeks, then pick class times themselves from a calendar that the vendor says is open around the clock. The curriculum is written in-house, and each completed CEFR level earns a certificate. The company also runs a time-limited Sprint challenge with cashback rules, and a corporate offering for employers. Students must be 18 or older.

• Live small-group classes. Each class lasts 60 minutes and seats three to five students from different countries. The teacher recaps the lesson near the end, and the vendor says small size leaves room for personal correction as well as learning from classmates' mistakes.
• Private one-to-one classes. Private lessons are sold as a separate class type with their own price scale. The vendor suggests them for targeted needs such as a cover letter or a difficult grammar point, and extra private credits can be bought on top of a group plan.
• Rotating teachers. You will almost always meet a new teacher, a choice the vendor defends as exposure to different accents. If you like someone you can book their classes again, and you can also change teachers every class if a style does not suit you.
• CEFR curriculum and certificates. Lessons follow levels from A1 upward and cover speaking, grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing. A free placement test sets your starting level, and one level is described as 50 classes. A certificate is issued for each level you complete.
• Class materials and practice. Materials can be downloaded after every class and a quiz follows for review. Plans list over 100 hours of AI-powered self-study content, and English and A1 German students also get downloadable exercises according to the help pages.
• Flexible booking rules. Classes are bookable in advance, and the vendor recommends seven days ahead for the best choice of times. On monthly plans a class can be cancelled three days before it starts and the credit returns. Unused credits roll over while the plan is active.

• A relocating professional learning German. Needs a recognised level fast and has shifting work hours. Books evening or weekend group classes, follows A1 to B1, and uses the certificates and the one-to-one option when a visa or employer asks for proof.
• A manager preparing for an English-speaking role. Chooses Business English at intermediate level and mixes group classes with private sessions on presentations or emails. A four-weekly plan lets the person scale classes up before a deadline and down afterwards.
• A motivated learner who wants a deadline. Joins a Sprint round, which the vendor describes as 15 or 30 classes a month for two months with cashback if the rules are met, then rolls into a normal subscription unless cancelled.

Choose a language and class type on the pricing page, pick a plan size and create an account. The vendor offers a 7-day free trial that covers three group classes or one private class, and says a reminder email arrives one day before the first payment. After sign-up a tutorial appears in the student account, and a free placement test sets your level.

You then open the booking screen, filter by time frame and reserve classes. All you need is a computer, a stable connection and Zoom, for which the vendor provides the licence. Booking about a week ahead is recommended, and a class that no teacher picks up two hours before the start is cancelled.

Lingoda sells scheduled classes rather than an app, so the first ninety days cost hours in a calendar and a four-weekly bill. Unused credits roll over and a plan can be paused for up to four weeks per cycle.

Only six teaching languages are listed, and credits become unusable after your last payment cycle ends, so stopping leaves nothing to keep.

Lingoda is entry #3 of 17 in the language learning apps list: LingQ sits directly above it and Busuu directly below. Places 1 to 3 in every list go to challengers where the category has them, so this is a position on that rule and not a score.

Counting headquarters, 5 out of 17 sit in Europe; for Lingoda that is Germany.

The vendor recommends booking a week in advance.

Charging model: Published class-credit plans billed every four weeks; 7-day free trial.

Plans are priced per class pack and renew every four weeks; prices can be shown in euros, pounds or US dollars. The euro page lists two scales. One runs from 5 classes at €54.99 to 40 classes at €259.99, or €6.49 to €10.99 per class. The other runs from €134.99 for 5 classes to €552.99 for 40, or €13.99 to €26.99 per class. A 15 percent saving marker appears on larger packs. Payment is by card, PayPal or Sofort. The vendor offers a 14-day refund minus classes taken, and a pause of up to four weeks once per billing cycle. No family plan exists.

Where this comes from: the vendor pages at lingoda.com, checked for Best Language Learning Apps in 2026 on 7 November 2026.

Lingoda GmbH operates from Berlin and publishes an imprint, privacy policy and terms in the footer. Payments run over SSL-encrypted connections and the vendor mentions a small validation charge on cards that is returned. Classes take place over Zoom, which the vendor says now uses passwords and waiting rooms by default. Hosting region, certifications and data export are not stated on the pages we read.

Integrations the vendor names (6):

• Zoom
• PayPal
• Sofort
• UNiDAYS student discount
• Trustpilot reviews
• Lingoda app for mobile

These are the nearest neighbours of Lingoda in the same list, picked on shared traits and price model.

• Rocket Languages (#1 of 17): Buy a course once and keep it, with a long refund window. Watch out: each language is a separate course purchase, so a second language means a second payment.
• Memrise (#5 of 17): Suits: Vocabulary learners who value short native-speaker clips and spaced review.
• Babbel (#6 of 17): Structured dialogue lessons in 14 languages with a lifetime option. Best for: Adults who want guided lessons in a major European language. (Germany)
• Mondly (#9 of 17): Phrase-based app for 41 languages, owned by Pearson. (Romania)
• Mango Languages (#15 of 17): Subscription for 70+ languages with family profiles for five learners.

Read from the vendor’s own pages on 5 November 2026.

• lingoda.com/en/pricing: price scales, trial, cancellation, pause, refund, included features
• lingoda.com/en/how-it-works: class format, teachers, levels, Zoom, booking, Sprint
• lingoda.com/en/faq: languages, levels, certificates, payment methods, age limit
• lingoda.com/en: company details and imprint

We rank on what separates products after the demo: time to useful, the real price, the exit and who the product is for. Here that gives Lingoda the #3 position in a list of 17. Read the editorial process for the method and where paid visibility fits in.