Best English Learning Apps for Kids in 2026: A Parent's Guide by Age

Most English apps for children are good at one job: first words, reading, a structured course, or speaking. Very few do all four. Here is which app fits which job, organised by your child's age, with the price, ads and in-app purchases spelled out.

Our top pick for most families is Askie, because it gets children speaking English, not only tapping it. Askie is a voice-first AI companion for ages 4-15: your child simply speaks, and Askie listens and answers like a patient friend, about whatever they love. Alongside it, the right second app depends on your child's age and on what they need next. For a 3 to 6 year old meeting English for the first time, a play-based app such as Lingokids, Novakid Jr or Learn English by Studycat builds first words through games and songs. For a 6 to 9 year old, LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime from the British Council adds stories, spelling and a listen-and-record activity, and Duolingo ABC teaches reading in English. For a 9 to 12 year old, Duolingo gives a free daily course and Novakid adds a live teacher.

The short answer

• Our top pick, and best for speaking English with confidence (ages 4-15): Askie, a voice-first AI companion your child talks to in English about anything they love. Free plan, no ads (more in our guide to AI English speaking practice).
• Best free app for ages 3-6: Novakid Jr. Free short lessons and speaking games, made for children learning English as a new language.
• Best play-based app for ages 3-6: Lingokids or Learn English by Studycat. Both are ad-free and subscription-based, with a limited free version or trial.
• Best for learning to read in English: Duolingo ABC. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.
• Best for ages 6-11 who like stories and songs: LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime, made by the British Council.
• Best free structured course for ages 9-12: Duolingo, with a parent helping to set it up. The free version shows ads.
• Best with a real teacher: Novakid, one-to-one online lessons for ages 4-15.

How we compared these, and what we get out of it

We checked every app below against its official website and its App Store or Google Play listing on 8 November 2026. Ages are the ones each developer publishes. Prices are the US App Store prices on that date unless we say otherwise, and they change by country, so confirm the price in your own store before you subscribe.

We did not test the other apps hands-on for this guide. Their comparison is based on public listings, official documentation and each company's own age guidance. Where a company does not publish something, we leave it out rather than guess.

One more thing to weigh: Askie is made by us, so we have a commercial interest in including it and in ranking it first. It is at the top because speaking is the skill most English apps leave out, and Askie is built for exactly that. Nothing in this article is sponsored, and no company paid to be included.

Quick-pick comparison table

Our top pick

1. Askie: best for speaking English with confidence, ages 4-15

Ages: 4-15 | Platforms: iOS, Android, Web | Price: Free plan, then $14.99/mo Premium or $39.99/mo Premium Max | App language: 12 languages, including English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French, Hebrew and Arabic

Askie is a voice-first AI companion built for children. Your child simply speaks, and Askie listens and answers like a patient friend, at their age level. The conversation can be about anything they love: football, dinosaurs, a story they are making up. That gives your child what most English apps cannot: real conversations in English, any time, with someone who answers back. Askie also speaks your family's home language, and it shows your child's progress through language levels.

What stands out:

• Real spoken conversation: your child practises saying English sentences, not only tapping the right picture.
• Topics your child chooses: Askie makes up stories, answers questions and creates pictures on request, which keeps children talking.
• Answers that adapt to age: a 5-year-old and a 12-year-old get different answers.
• Built for families: no ads, settings behind a parent-only PIN, conversation transcripts parents can review, and multi-layer safety filtering.

What to know: Askie is a conversation partner, not a live teacher or a structured grammar course, so pair it with a course if your child needs one. It needs an internet connection.

Best for: children ages 4-15 who understand more English than they speak, and families who want them speaking English every day.

What makes a good English app for a child learning English

If English is not the language you speak at home, a few things matter more than the star rating.

1. It matches the job. First words, reading, grammar and speaking are different skills. An app that is brilliant for one is often weak at the others.
2. It makes your child say things, not only tap. Listening builds understanding, but children learn to speak by speaking. Look for listen-and-repeat, speaking challenges or real conversation.
3. No ads, and purchases kept away from small fingers. Several apps below are completely free with no ads. Others sell subscriptions inside the app, so check your device's purchase settings.
4. A parent area in your language. For a young child, an English-only app is fine, because hearing only English is the point. You, however, need to understand the settings and progress reports. We list each app's languages below.
5. Short and daily. Ten minutes most days does more than an hour on Saturday. Our guide to helping your child learn English at home has a simple weekly routine.

Best English apps for ages 3-6

At this age, children pick up English through play, songs and repetition. Grammar can wait.

Novakid Jr: best free start

Ages: 2-9 | Platforms: iOS, Android | Price: Free | App language: English

Novakid Jr is a free English app from the online school Novakid. Its listing describes free 10-minute lessons designed and led by certified teachers, AI-driven speaking games where your child practises speaking, and a curriculum aligned to the CEFR, the European framework for language levels, from pre-A1 to A1 (App Store). Neither store lists ads or in-app purchases.

Best for: families who want to try English with a young child before paying for anything.

Lingokids: best play-based app

Ages: 2-8 | Platforms: iOS, Android, Amazon | Price: Limited free version, then a Lingokids Plus subscription | App language: English and 16 others, including Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and Chinese

Lingokids is a broad early-learning app rather than an English course alone, with more than 4,000 games, songs and shows across reading, maths, science, music and social-emotional skills, and an English-for-kids section on its website. Its App Store listing describes it as ad-free and kidSAFE certified, and the Plus subscription adds progress reports and up to four child profiles (App Store, lingokids.com).

Best for: pre-schoolers who should meet English through play, in an app you can follow in your own language.

Learn English by Studycat: best English-only immersion

Ages: content for 3+ | Platforms: iOS, Android | Price: 7-day free trial, then a subscription ($14.99 a month in the US App Store) or one-off lesson packs | App language: 33 languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish

Studycat teaches English only in English: your child hears no translation, which the developer calls virtual language immersion. Lessons cover everyday words and phrases, with speaking challenges that ask children to say words and phrases themselves. It is ad-free, works offline, and one subscription covers up to four learner profiles (App Store).

Best for: families who like the immersion approach and want a polished, ad-free app.

Gus on the Go: English: best one-off purchase

Ages: rated 4+ | Platforms: iOS, Android (where it is called Gus Learns English for Kids) | Price: $3.99 one-off | App language: English

A small, simple vocabulary app: nearly 90 English words across 10 activities, such as numbers, colours, shapes, animals, food and clothes, with native English audio and a game after each review. The developer states it contains no ads, in-app purchases, links, tracking or sharing (App Store).

Best for: a first handful of words, for parents who prefer to pay once and be done.

Khan Academy Kids: best free English-language learning app

Ages: 2-8 | Platforms: iOS, Android | Price: Free | App language: English

Khan Academy Kids is not an English-as-a-second-language app. It teaches early reading, maths and problem-solving to children whose school language is English, with more than 5,000 games and activities and a library of books. It is free, with no ads and no subscriptions, from the non-profit Khan Academy (App Store).

Best for: a child who already understands some English and is ready to learn other things in it.

Best English apps for ages 6-9

Now children can start reading and spelling in English, and they can handle short, structured activities.

LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime: best for stories and songs

Ages: 6-11 | Platforms: iOS, Android | Price: Free download, subscription unlocks everything ($3.99 a month in the US App Store) | App language: English, French, Simplified Chinese, Spanish

Made by the British Council's language experts, Playtime has more than 100 animated songs and stories with optional subtitles, word, spelling and grammar games, and a listen-and-record activity where your child records themselves and compares their pronunciation with the narrator's. Parents can follow progress in five areas, videos download for offline use, and the app is ad-free (App Store).

Best for: primary-school children learning English at school who need more listening and reading at home.

Duolingo ABC: best for learning to read in English

Ages: preschool to second grade | Platforms: iOS, Android | Price: Free | App language: English

Duolingo ABC teaches the alphabet, phonics, sight words and early reading through more than 700 short lessons and interactive stories, with no ads or in-app purchases (App Store). It was designed for children learning to read English, not for beginners in the language.

Best for: a child who understands spoken English and is ready to read it.

Novakid: best with a real teacher

Ages: 4-15 | Platforms: Web, plus a parent app | Price: Paid lesson plans, with a free trial lesson

Novakid is an online English school. Children have 25-minute one-to-one lessons with a teacher, and the school also runs 45-minute speaking practice lessons in small groups. The curriculum follows CEFR levels from Pre-A1 to B1, and the free trial lesson assesses your child's level (novakidenglish.com). Prices depend on the plan you choose and are shown on the site.

Best for: families who want a structured course and a human teacher, at any age from 4.

Best English apps for ages 9-12

Older children can follow a course on their own, and their biggest gap is usually speaking.

Duolingo: best free daily course

Ages: general audience | Platforms: iOS, Android, Web | Price: Free, with an optional Super Duolingo subscription | App language: more than 30 languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, German, French and Chinese

Duolingo teaches more than 40 languages, English among them, through short daily lessons in speaking, reading, listening and writing. Every course is free. The free version shows ads, and the app sells gems and a Super Duolingo subscription that removes ads (App Store). It also has competitive leaderboards.

Duolingo is built for a general audience rather than for young children, so set up the account together and decide whether you want ads and purchases switched off.

Best for: self-motivated 9 to 12 year olds who enjoy streaks and quick lessons.

Pick by goal, not only by age

• First words: Novakid Jr, Gus on the Go: English, Lingokids or Studycat.
• Reading in English: Duolingo ABC, then Khan Academy Kids and LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime.
• A structured course: Duolingo on its own, Novakid with a teacher.
• Speaking: Askie for everyday conversation, Novakid's live lessons, and the speaking activities in Studycat and Playtime. Our AI English speaking practice guide compares speaking options in more depth.

Most children are best served by two apps at once: one that teaches new English and one that makes them use it.

Free vs paid: what you actually get

• Free, no ads, no purchases: Khan Academy Kids, Duolingo ABC, and Novakid Jr (no ads or purchases listed).
• Free with ads: Duolingo, unless you pay for Super Duolingo.
• Free plan, with optional paid plans: Askie, with no ads.
• Free to start, then a subscription: Lingokids, Learn English by Studycat and LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime.
• Pay once: Gus on the Go: English.
• Paid service: Novakid, after the free trial lesson.

A free app is not automatically a worse app. Khan Academy Kids, for example, comes from a non-profit and is free in full.

Why speaking is the gap most apps leave

Children understand a language by hearing it and learn to speak it by speaking. Most apps are excellent at the first part and thin on the second: tapping the right picture is not the same as saying a sentence to someone who answers.

Research on toddlers shows why the answer matters. Children aged 24 to 30 months learned new verbs from a live person and from a responsive video-chat partner, but not from a pre-recorded video that did not react to them (Roseberry, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff, Child Development 2014). Back-and-forth is what makes the difference.

That is why so many children understand far more English than they will say (see My Child Understands English but Won't Speak It). A teacher, a relative or a patient conversation partner fills that gap, and that is the job Askie is built for: your child speaks, and Askie answers back, any time, about whatever they love. For how screen time fits in more broadly, read Can Kids Learn a Language From Screens?.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free English learning app for kids?

Askie has a free plan with no ads, and it is our top pick for getting children to speak English. For ages 3-6, Novakid Jr is free and built for children learning English as a new language. Khan Academy Kids and Duolingo ABC are also free, with no ads or in-app purchases, but they teach in English rather than teaching English, so they suit children who already understand some. For older children, Duolingo's courses are free, with ads.

Which app helps kids speak English, not just understand it?

Askie is built for exactly this: your child has real spoken conversations in English, any time, about topics they love. Novakid offers live lessons with a teacher, and Studycat and LearnEnglish Kids: Playtime include speaking activities. See our AI English speaking practice guide for a closer comparison.

Should a young child use an English-only app?

Usually yes. Apps such as Studycat deliberately use only English, so children connect words to pictures and sounds rather than to translations. What matters is that you can understand the parent settings, so check the app's languages.

At what age should my child start an English app?

Several apps here start at age 2 or 3, but the starting age matters less than how much English your child hears and uses each week. Our article on the best age to learn a second language explains what the research says.

Is Duolingo suitable for children?

Duolingo is designed for a general audience, and its free version shows ads. Many older children use it happily with a parent's help. For a child under 8, Duolingo ABC or one of the apps made for young learners is a better fit.

The bottom line

Our top pick is Askie, because speaking is the skill most English apps leave out, and Askie gives your child someone to speak English with every day. Beyond that, choose for your child's age and next step: start young children with play and first words, add reading once they understand spoken English, and give older children a course. Ten minutes a day, with you nearby, does more than any app on its own.