Mondly Review: Does Pearson’s AI-Powered App Live Up to the Hype? [2025]

Drowning in language apps lately? Honestly, it feels like every week there’s a shiny new AI-powered language-learning tool to make you fluent in 30 days or teach you 60+ languages with some “groundbreaking” tech. While it sounds good on paper, the truth is that most of them dish up quantity over quality.

I mean, think about it...

When was the last time one of these apps ACTUALLY got you ready for a real conversation with a native speaker?

If you’re shopping for a new language app to try, then one name you’ve probably seen pop up is Pearson’s Mondly. It sits alongside Duolingo, Lingopie, and Pimsleur, boasting it can teach 40+ languages through a revolutionary method. But is Mondly genuinely different from the pack, or is it just another beautifully packaged app?

After spending 60 days learning Spanish with Mondly, I’ve got an honest breakdown to share. We’ll unpack every feature, weigh up the real pros and cons, and help you decide if it deserves a spot on your phone.

Ready to see if Mondly is worth it? Let’s get into it.

What is Mondly?

Mondly is a language learning app that has been around since 2014, when Romanian founders Alex and Tudor Iliescu launched it with a simple goal: make learning a new language fun and accessible through smart technology. It focuses on teaching you the core words and phrases you actually need in daily life. Think ordering a coffee, booking a hotel, or chatting about your weekend plans.

What began as a small start‑up is now a global platform connecting people and cultures through language. Its credibility got a real boost in 2020 when Pearson, the multinational education giant, acquired Mondly and added it to their impressive line‑up. This was no random buy either. Mondly had already picked up serious praise, winning awards like Best New App and App of the Year from Apple, Google Play and FbStart.

With Pearson’s backing and nearly a decade of development, Mondly wants to be more than just another app on your phone. It is aiming to be your go‑to companion for real conversations in the real world.

How Does Mondly Language Learning Work

The moment you log in, you are welcomed by a colourful dashboard that looks like a world map dotted with pins. Each pin opens up a themed lesson pack covering topics like travel, romance, work, or family conversations. The best part is that you have total freedom to jump between any topic that interests you instead of being stuck on a rigid path that can get boring fast.

From my experience, I would sum up how the Mondly language app works in three simple steps. First, choose the language you want to learn. Next, complete your daily lesson. Then keep it up by practising with short exercises and quizzes.

Check Available Mondly Language Courses

Unlike a lot of other language apps, Mondly actually has quite a few languages under its belt. You will find popular picks like Spanish, French, and Mandarin alongside less common gems like Afrikaans, Bengali, and Urdu.

To give you a better idea of what this platform covers, take a look at the full list below.

One thing I personally love about Mondly is that you can learn any of these languages through any other language they offer. Want to learn German using your Spanish skills? Go for it. Keen to tackle Japanese from your native Norwegian? They have that too.

This flexible “language laddering” is a clever feature for polyglots and non‑English speakers who usually get left out by other apps. Most platforms assume your native language is English or only offer English as the base language. Mondly actually recognises that language learners come from all sorts of backgrounds.

Get Consistent Daily Lessons

Mondly’s daily lesson system is where this app really shines for building a learning habit you can actually stick with. Each day, you get one short lesson that takes about five to ten minutes, easy enough to squeeze in with your morning coffee or during a quick break. When you finish, a countdown timer pops up so you know exactly when your next lesson is ready, which makes it surprisingly motivating to keep your streak alive.

These lessons are not just random word lists either. Each daily session follows Mondly’s recommended learning path and builds on what you have already covered. This creates a natural flow that helps lock in what you have learned instead of having it slip away. After every lesson, you also get a quick recap of new practical vocabulary learned and your performance stats to see how you are tracking.

Challenge Yourself With Mondly App Exercises

Every Mondly lesson includes about a dozen quick exercises that cover the essentials for picking up a new language. You will practise listening, reading, writing, and speaking in short, focused bursts. Expect to match words with images, translate sentences, spell out phrases, and jump into mock conversations that feel close to real life.

What I really enjoy is how Mondly keeps it fun with its gamified features. One minute you are filling in blanks, the next you are listening to native speakers and repeating phrases to get your pronunciation right. Every exercise comes with native audio, so you start training your ear for real accents straight away. This mix keeps you engaged and works for different learning styles, whether you love visuals or prefer listening and repeating.

Mondly Features For Language Learning

Mondly VR

Serious about improving your conversational skills? Mondly VR puts you inside virtual environments where you can practise conversations with virtual characters in realistic settings. I tried it for some time, and it’s pretty impressive how I simulated the experience of ordering food and checking into a hotel using a foreign language. As an introvert myself, this is a great way to build confidence in the language before trying it out in real life.

One thing you should know is that you will need an Oculus headset or similar VR gear to use this feature. If you do not already have one, we do not recommend buying a headset just for Mondly VR. It is impressive when it works, but probably not worth the extra cost.

Mondly VR Review

I have tried quite a few other language learning apps with VR features, and Mondly VR feels pretty similar to options Noun Town, Immerse Me, and Virtual Speech. I mean, it works well enough to give you an idea of real‑life conversations, but there is still plenty of room to improve.

For instance, the AI feedback and responses could definitely be sharper. Also, if you are already a confident speaker, you might enjoy the immersion. But for beginners? The lack of flexible settings and the jump into tricky sentences can make it more frustrating than fun!

Mondly Chatbot Conversations

Mondly's chatbot feature lets you practise real‑time conversations with an AI that responds to what you say. You will get prompts like greetings or restaurant role‑plays, and you can either pick a suggested reply or come up with your own. The built‑in speech recognition gives you instant feedback on your pronunciation, which is genuinely helpful for fine‑tuning your accent.

The scenarios are practical and cover things you might actually need, from ordering coffee to asking for directions. But be ready for conversations to feel a bit stiff and predictable. It is clearly an AI, not a real person, and it struggles if you try to go off script with custom phrases.

Mondly Chatbot Review

My honest take? It is a useful stepping stone between solo drills and real chats with native speakers. But if true conversational flow is what you want, you will probably get more depth with a platform that specialises in real dialogues, like Lingopie’s interactive shows and native speaker practice. Or, if you just want basic AI chats, general tools like ChatGPT can handle flexible conversation better than Mondly’s limited chatbot.

Mondly AR

Mondly’s Augmented Reality feature lets you bring computer‑generated objects into your real surroundings through a separate app. You get a CGI teacher who speaks in your target language and pops up virtual objects to teach you new words. For example, point your phone at a virtual lion and you will learn the word for “nose” when you focus on its snout.

The tech is definitely cool at first and has that “wow factor” you might want to show your friends. But to be honest, it feels more like a gimmick than a serious learning feature. The voices sound robotic, the lessons repeat the same bits over and over, and you cannot pause or pick up where you left off, which is not ideal if you have a busy schedule.

Mondly AR Review

It is fun to try once or twice, but you will probably lose interest fast. The novelty wears off quickly and there are far better ways to learn vocab that do not involve holding your phone up for ages. You will get more value sticking with Mondly’s main lessons or using other apps that focus on practical immersion like Lingopie’s interactive shows.

Mondly Daily, Weekly, And Monthly Quizzes

Mondly uses points, leaderboards and regular challenges to keep you coming back for more. Complete your daily lessons to earn points, finish a full week to unlock a weekly quiz, and stick with it all month to take on bigger monthly challenges for extra rewards.

The competitive side works really well. Seeing your progress on global leaderboards or comparing scores with friends gives you that little nudge to stay consistent even when your motivation dips. The structured quizzes help you review what you have learned without feeling repetitive or dull.

Mondly Challenges Review

From my own experience, this gamified system made a real difference during my 60‑day Spanish challenge. Even on days when I felt flat, the quizzes and leaderboards gave me a reason to keep showing up. The psychology works, and it feels supportive rather than pushy.

Mondly Kids

Mondly Kids is a separate app made just for younger learners. It uses colourful illustrations and fun sounds to keep kids entertained while picking up new words and phrases. The app guides kids through themed landscapes with pictures that match different topics, creating a clear and engaging path for learning.

Everything about the interface is designed for short attention spans and playful learning. Bright visuals and interactive elements make it feel like a game instead of a lesson, which is perfect for little ones who learn best when they are having fun.

Mondly Kids Review

I did not test this in depth since I am outside the target age, but the approach seems well thought out for sparking interest in languages. However, if you want your kids to hear real native speakers and pick up everyday phrases naturally, you might get more out of Lingopie Kids. Their shows and cartoons expose kids to native pronunciation and real-world context in a way that Mondly Kids does not fully match yet.

How Much Does Mondly Cost

Mondly keeps its pricing pretty straightforward with no sneaky fees or confusing tiers. You can try it for free or unlock more with a paid plan, but just know the free version is more like a sampler than a full meal. Let’s break down what you get for your money and see how it stacks up against alternatives.

Mondly Free Trial

The free plan gives you the “Hello” lesson pack, one chatbot conversation, and daily lessons. But that is about it. Core tools like speech recognition are locked behind the paywall, which is tough when good pronunciation is half the battle in learning a new language. You do get a seven-day free trial of Premium though, which is the real test of whether Mondly works for you. With full access, you can see if you like their daily lessons, quizzes, and extra features before spending a cent.

Mondly Paid Plan

Right now, Mondly is offering a limited-time deal that covers all 41 languages:

• 1 Month Plan: US$12.90 per month
• 12 Month Plan: US$154.80 now US$61.92 per year (60% off)
• Lifetime Access: US$299.99 now US$120 one-time payment (60% off)

If you are curious about multiple languages, these unlimited plans make way more sense than paying for just one. The monthly plan is fine for dipping your toes in, but the real savings come with the yearly or lifetime options. If you plan to stick with it for the long haul, that Mondly lifetime subscription is genuinely valuable because of the number of foreign languages you can learn.

Honest Mondly App Review

After 60 days of using Mondly for Spanish learning, here's my unfiltered take: Mondly is a solid, well-designed app that excels at making language learning feel approachable and fun. However, this language learning app won't get you to fluency on its own as you’ll quickly outgrow its features and resources.

What Are The Advantages Of Mondly?

Affordable Subscription Plans

At $12.90 per month, you're getting access to all 41 languages, which is actually excellent value when you consider most competitors charge similar prices for just one language. The 12-month plan at $61.92 per year (down from $154.80 with their 60% discount) breaks down to roughly $5 per month – that's genuinely competitive pricing for unlimited language access.

As a practical person, I can tell you that even if you tackle only two or three languages over the years, you're already ahead financially. This pricing structure makes Mondly accessible to budget-conscious learners who want flexibility without the ongoing subscription stress that can derail long-term learning goals.

Diverse Mix of Practice Drills

One area where Mondly genuinely excels is exercise variety. The app provides flashcards, fill-in-the-blanks, speaking drills, translation exercises, and matching games that keep your brain engaged from different angles. This variety prevents the monotony and the "tap-away-for-the-streaks" feeling you get from gamified apps like Duolingo. At least here, you’re actively engaging with listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills in each lesson, which creates a more balanced learning experience.

Innovative AR and VR Apps

Mondly’s VR feature is genuinely impressive for language learning. It lets you step into realistic situations like restaurants, hotels or airports and practise conversations as if you were really there. There is something powerful about standing in a virtual café ordering in Spanish. It helps build confidence in a way that traditional apps often cannot.

The AR feature is a fun extra too. It shows you new words by adding virtual objects into your real surroundings. It feels more like a novelty than an everyday tool but it does add a playful twist to learning vocabulary.

These technologies help Mondly stand out from other apps. They are not perfect—VR can feel clunky at times, and AR is not always practical—but they still give you extra ways to prepare for real conversations and build confidence.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Mondly?

Limited Grammar Instruction

This is one of Mondly’s biggest gaps. The app gives you almost no direct grammar teaching and expects you to pick up rules through repetition instead. You might see a verb chart here and there, but there is no clear guide for why Spanish uses different verb endings or how German cases actually work. For languages with tricky grammar, this leaves you guessing when you try to build your own sentences beyond the app’s templates.

By comparison, language apps like Lingopie do not replace textbooks either, but they at least help you absorb grammar naturally by watching native speakers in real conversations. Subtitles and real-life context make grammar click in a way that Mondly’s word drills cannot.

Lack of Cultural Context (For Some Languages)

Mondly focuses on practical phrases but often skips the cultural side that makes real chats feel authentic. This is a big deal for languages like Japanese, where knowing when to use honorifics or how social hierarchy works is just as important as vocabulary. Or take Spanish, where formality levels can vary a lot by country. Mondly might teach you to say hello, but not when to use the formal or informal version.

Limited Free Version

Mondly focuses on practical phrases but often skips the cultural side that makes real chats feel authentic. This is a big deal for languages like Japanese, where knowing when to use honorifics or how social hierarchy works is just as important as vocabulary. Or take Spanish — formality levels can vary a lot by country. Mondly might teach you to say hello, but not when to use the formal or informal version.

In contrast, language apps like Lingopie expose you to real TV shows and movies from different regions, giving you those cultural cues and regional variations that a scripted app lesson will never match. With a free trial account, you can even use the Lingopie extension and watch directly from your favorite Netflix or Disney+ shows.

Not For Advanced Language Learning

If you are past the beginner stage, Mondly can feel stale fast. The content stays basic and sticks to simple tourist phrases instead of expanding into complex tenses or nuanced conversations. Intermediate and advanced learners will likely outgrow it quickly.

Meanwhile, competitors like Lingopie grow with you as you can choose shows at different difficulty levels and switch on dual subtitles to catch advanced slang, idioms, and fast speech that push your skills further.

So, Is Mondly Worth It?

Yes, Mondly is absolutely worth it if you understand its role in your language learning journey. Its strength is in building vocabulary, maintaining learning streaks, and giving you confidence with basic conversations, making it perfect for travelers, beginners, or anyone wanting to explore multiple languages without breaking the bank.

If your goal is genuine conversational fluency or professional-level language skills, Mondly alone won’t get you there. The app’s weak grammar instruction, limited cultural context, and basic conversation practice mean you’ll hit a ceiling fairly quickly.

My advice? Use Mondly as your daily vocabulary builder and pronunciation trainer, then supplement with comprehensive resources like Lingopie’s authentic content immersion for real-world listening skills, immersion-focused apps for structural understanding, or conversation classes for advanced practice. This combination approach leverages Mondly’s strengths while addressing its weaknesses.

Mondly Alternatives

Mondly Vs Lingopie

After using both, I can say they solve different problems. Mondly is great for building basic vocab and keeping you consistent with quick lessons. But Lingopie is a game changer for understanding how people actually speak. Instead of isolated phrases, you watch real TV shows, movies, and telenovelas with dual subtitles and instant flashcards.

When I learned Spanish, Mondly helped with tourist phrases, but I froze in real chats — Lingopie trained my ear with native speech, slang, and cultural context that Mondly just does not cover. Sure, Mondly has 41 languages while Lingopie has 13, but I would rather master practical expressions (that I actually understand up to their cultural usage) in a few than collect basic words and phrases in dozens.

Mondly Vs Duolingo

I have spent months with both and found that Mondly teaches more natural, useful phrases. Duolingo is free and fun, but sometimes gives you bizarre sentences that do not help much in real life. Mondly’s vocab, VR practice, and job-specific courses make it more practical if you want to actually use what you learn. Duolingo’s free plan is unbeatable if you are on a tight budget, but if you can spare a few dollars a month, Mondly’s content feels more polished and ready for real conversations.

Mondly Vs Babbel

This one comes down to fun extras versus solid grammar. Mondly’s VR and wide language list are fun, but its lessons stay pretty basic. Babbel, with fewer languages, wins for structured grammar and clear progression. After six months, I could build complex sentences with Babbel but still felt stuck at beginner phrases with Mondly. If you want entertainment and lots of languages, Mondly is fine. However, if you want real fluency and a proper learning path, Babbel is the stronger pick.

Mondly Vs Pimsleur

Pimsleur feels old-school, but it works. Its 30-minute audio lessons push you to think and speak in real time — Mondly’s chatbot just cannot match that depth. After using both, I could hold proper conversations thanks to Pimsleur, but struggled with Mondly’s scripted lines.

One thing you need to note is that Pimsleur costs more, but its audio approach means you can learn anywhere and build genuine speaking skills step by step. If you are on a tight budget, Mondly is solid for basics. If you want real confidence in speaking, Pimsleur is worth the higher price.

Ready To Learn Languages?

The world of language learning apps keeps changing, and Mondly is just one piece of the puzzle. Hopefully, this Mondly languages review helped you figure out if it suits your goals — whether you are learning Mondly Spanish or any of its 40+ languages.

If you want more, stay tuned. We have more deep dives coming soon, covering conversation-focused tools and grammar-heavy alternatives so you can find what really works for your style.

In the meantime, why not give Lingopie a go? Instead of scripted lessons, you get real TV shows, movies, and music videos in your target language. It is a fun way to pick up natural phrases, slang, and cultural context that traditional apps often miss. Click below to try it FREE for 7 days!