Best AI English Tutor (2026)
- Checked 2026-09
- 7 tools compared
What we compared them on
Does it hold a natural back-and-forth, or just grade a fixed script?
Does it adapt topics/difficulty to you, or run the same curriculum for everyone?
Does it name the sound you got wrong, or only judge whether it understood you?
What can you actually do before paying, and what does the subscription cost?
The 7 that actually fit
Praktika
The most content-rich guided tutor here — 1,000+ AI-avatar scenario lessons including exam-themed ones, with a real (if limited) free tier.
- Price
- Free (3 AI avatars); paid plans from ~$8/mo
- Free tier
- Yes — 3 AI avatars free; paid plans typically start with a trial (card requirement reported inconsistently by users)
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
Speak
The most natural open conversation, built with OpenAI's backing — strong for beginners who want phrases taught before being asked to speak freely, but no free tier.
- Price
- Premium ~$17.99/mo (~$83.99/yr); Premium Plus ~$39.99/mo
- Free tier
- No — 7-day free trial only
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web (account & sync)
Loora
General AI conversation practice plus dedicated Business English modules — meetings, negotiations, client calls — for working professionals.
- Price
- Subscription; price varies by region
- Free tier
- One free lesson, no card required, then a subscription
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
sayit
Not a conversation tutor — a diagnostic coach. Read a sentence and it names the exact phoneme that slipped, in IPA, with a fix. Pair it with a conversation tutor if fluency is also a goal.
- Price
- Free; Pro $9/mo, Max $13.50/mo (see pricing)
- Free tier
- 1 guest take, then a free account with 30 min/mo
- Platforms
- Web (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox), Chrome/Edge extension, iOS (waitlist)
ChatGPT voice
Free and available everywhere, and it will talk about anything — but it's a general assistant with zero pronunciation scoring or English-teaching curriculum behind it.
- Price
- Free; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $200/mo
- Free tier
- Yes — unlimited Standard Voice, plus a short daily Advanced Voice preview
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web, Desktop
ELSA Speak
Its AI role-plays are conversational, but the product is built around a fixed 8,000+ lesson library more than open dialogue.
- Price
- Free; Pro from ~$13.33/mo billed annually
- Free tier
- Yes — limited daily lessons
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web (placement assessment)
TalkPal
Cheap, broad roleplay across 130+ languages with a real free daily allowance, though feedback stays transcript-level.
- Price
- Premium from ~$4.99–14.99/mo depending on term length
- Free tier
- Yes — 10 minutes/day, plus a pronunciation assessment tool
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
Compare at a glance
| Praktika | Speak | Loora | sayit | ChatGPT voice | ELSA Speak | TalkPal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (3 AI avatars); paid plans from ~$8/mo | Premium ~$17.99/mo (~$83.99/yr); Premium Plus ~$39.99/mo | Subscription; price varies by region | Free; Pro $9/mo, Max $13.50/mo (see pricing) | Free; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Pro $200/mo | Free; Pro from ~$13.33/mo billed annually | Premium from ~$4.99–14.99/mo depending on term length |
| Free tier | Yes — 3 AI avatars free; paid plans typically start with a trial (card requirement reported inconsistently by users) | No — 7-day free trial only | One free lesson, no card required, then a subscription | 1 guest take, then a free account with 30 min/mo | Yes — unlimited Standard Voice, plus a short daily Advanced Voice preview | Yes — limited daily lessons | Yes — 10 minutes/day, plus a pronunciation assessment tool |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web | iOS, Android, Web (account & sync) | iOS, Android, Web | Web (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox), Chrome/Edge extension, iOS (waitlist) | iOS, Android, Web, Desktop | iOS, Android, Web (placement assessment) | iOS, Android, Web |
| Feedback depth | AI-avatar conversation practice across 1,000+ lessons, including IELTS/TOEFL prep | Conversation-level: real-time feedback on pronunciation and phrasing, not a per-phoneme diagnosis | Voice-first AI conversation coaching on any topic, plus dedicated Business English modules (meetings, interviews, presentations) | Per-phoneme heatmap, target IPA vs. your sound, articulation tips | None built for pronunciation — a general voice assistant, no phoneme scoring or IPA | Per-phoneme percentage scores across 8,000+ fixed lessons | Transcript-based conversation feedback with a pronunciation assessment tool; not a phoneme heatmap |
| Exam fit | IELTS/TOEFL-themed lesson content (not a scored mock exam) | Not exam-focused — conversational fluency curriculum | Not exam-focused — general conversation practice, with Business English modules | IELTS + TOEFL speaking practice with a band estimate from 2 of 4 criteria | Not exam-focused, no scoring | IELTS/TOEFL-oriented lesson content + CEFR level prediction | Not exam-focused |
| Privacy | Standard cloud app (no public on-premise option found) | Standard cloud app (no public on-premise option found) | Standard cloud app (no public on-premise option found) | Processed for feedback only; not sold or shared; raw audio not kept long-term | Standard cloud app; see OpenAI's own privacy policy | Standard cloud processing (no public on-premise option found) | Standard cloud app (no public on-premise option found) |
Match the tool to your actual goal
You want daily guided speaking practice with topics chosen for you
Praktika or Speak
Both run a structured curriculum of AI conversations rather than an open chat.
You need to rehearse work English — meetings, calls, negotiations
Loora
It has dedicated Business English modules for meetings, negotiations and client calls.
People ask you to repeat words and you don't know why
sayit
It names the exact phoneme and shows the target IPA next to what you actually said.
You want something free right now with no install
ChatGPT voice or sayit
Both work with no card; ChatGPT for open conversation, sayit for a scored read.
Straight answers
Is ChatGPT a good English tutor?
It's a genuinely capable, free conversation partner and available on every platform, but it has no built-in pronunciation scoring, no IPA, and no English-teaching curriculum — it will talk with you, not diagnose your sounds.
Do any of these give real pronunciation scores, not just conversation?
sayit does — a per-word, per-phoneme heatmap with target IPA. ELSA and BoldVoice also score sounds, but inside fixed lesson libraries rather than open conversation.
Which one is actually free to start?
sayit (one scored take, then a free account with 30 minutes/month), ChatGPT (voice mode on the free tier), TalkPal (10 minutes/day) and Praktika (a few avatars) all have a genuine free tier; BoldVoice and Speak are trial-only.
Where these facts came from
- praktika.ai — homepage (pricing, platforms) — checked 2026-09
- Praktika Help Center — free plan (3 avatars) — checked 2026-09
- speak.com — homepage — checked 2026-09
- SpeakShark — Speak app pricing (third-party) — checked 2026-09
- loora.com — Help Center: billing, plans & free lesson — checked 2026-09
- loora.com — homepage (positioning, platforms) — checked 2026-09
- TechCrunch — Loora funding (background) — checked 2026-09
- CloudZero — ChatGPT pricing tiers (third-party; openai.com/chatgpt/pricing 403'd this session) — checked 2026-09
- Pickurai — ChatGPT free-tier Advanced Voice Mode daily limit (third-party) — checked 2026-09
- elsaspeak.com — pricing & platforms — checked 2026-09
- SoftwareFinder — ELSA Speak pricing (third-party; saasworthy.com 403'd this session) — checked 2026-09
- talkpal.ai — pricing — checked 2026-09
Facts about sayit come from its own pricing, features and product pages, not a third party, so they carry no separate source link above. Every competitor fact was checked 2026-09; prices and features change, so treat this as a snapshot, not a guarantee.
See exactly which sound to fix
Record one sentence — free, no card — and get the per-phoneme verdict most of the tools above can't show you.