Readlang vs LingQ

In the Readlang vs LingQ question, the short answer is this: Readlang is the lighter, cheaper tool for clicking through texts you find yourself, with a free plan you can actually use. LingQ is the bigger, pricier system, with a large built-in library, polished apps and detailed known-word tracking. If you mostly read web articles and your own books, start with Readlang. If you want a full course-like environment and a number that tells you how many words you know, LingQ is worth the money.

Both tools rest on the same idea: read real text, tap the words you don’t know, and let the app keep track. The difference is in how much they do around that core, and what that costs.

Readlang vs LingQ at a glance

Prices are US prices from each company’s official pages in October 2026. Prices change, so check before you pay.

Sources: Readlang pricing, LingQ free vs Premium, LingQ homepage.

Price and free plans

This is the biggest practical difference.

Readlang’s free plan is a real plan. Single-word lookups are unlimited, so you can read as much as you like. The caps apply to phrase translations (10 a day, up to 6 words each) and AI context explanations (10 a day). Plenty of people use it for months without paying.

LingQ’s free plan is a trial in all but name. Twenty saved words in total goes in a single sitting. LingQ is upfront about this: its own review calls the free plan very limited.

On paid plans, Readlang Premium costs $48 a year. LingQ Premium costs about $120 a year on the annual plan, or $14.99 a month if you pay monthly. LingQ also offers a 24-month plan at $8.99 a month, paid upfront.

The top tiers are both about AI. Readlang Premium Plus ($15 a month) adds high-quality voices for whole texts, more audio storage and a stronger AI model. LingQ Premium Plus adds AI-generated voices, a more advanced AI chat and AI-simplified lessons. Most learners don’t need either.

How reading feels

LingQ

On LingQ, every word on the page has a status. New words are highlighted blue. Words you’ve saved (LingQs) are yellow, fading as you move them through levels. Known words are plain. When you finish a page, the blue words you didn’t touch become known, so your known-word count climbs as you read.

That count is one of the most motivating things about LingQ. It turns “am I getting anywhere?” into a number that goes up every day. The page also tells you at a glance how hard a lesson is: lots of blue means lots of new words.

Readlang

Readlang is quieter. The text looks like a normal page until you click a word, and then you get a translation in place. Click and drag across several words for a phrase. Turn on auto-highlight and the words you’re studying are underlined when they come back.

What Readlang doesn’t do, at the time of writing, is mark every untouched word as new, or give you a running total of known words. Some learners find that calmer. Others miss the feedback.

Our take: if you’re motivated by visible progress, LingQ’s system is better. If you find a page full of blue stressful, Readlang will feel lighter.

Content and importing

LingQ has the library

LingQ comes with a large library of lessons, many with audio, across its 50+ languages. For beginners that matters: you can find something at your level without hunting. It also imports almost anything, including web pages through the LingQ Importer extension, YouTube, Netflix, podcasts and ebooks. According to LingQ’s own review, imported audio is capped at 60 minutes and 60 MB per file, and longer content is split into separate lessons.

Readlang reads where you already are

Readlang’s strength is that it comes to the text. The Chrome extension and bookmarklet let you click words on any web page without importing it. You can also upload texts and DRM-free EPUB books, read suggested articles and stories, and sync YouTube videos with their transcripts. It doesn’t support Netflix.

If you already know what you want to read, such as a news site, a novel or a blog, Readlang has less friction. If you need the app to find you material, LingQ is stronger.

Listening and audio

LingQ is built around reading and listening. Many library lessons have real recorded audio, and its playlist feature lets you listen on the go.

Readlang leans on text-to-speech. Premium adds high-quality voices for words and phrases, plus audio upload and transcription in 61 languages, with 10 hours of storage. Premium Plus raises that to 200 hours and adds high-quality voices for whole texts.

If listening matters to you as much as reading, LingQ’s library audio is the stronger offer. For more on why pairing the two helps, see how to learn a language from YouTube.

Vocabulary review

Both tools save the words you look up, with their sentence, and let you review them.

• Readlang uses spaced repetition flashcards and lets you export your words. Premium adds practice and export from specific books.
• LingQ offers several review types, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and dictation. Its own review admits a common problem: save words fast and the review queue grows faster than you can clear it.

Neither is the main event. In both apps the reading does most of the work, and the review just catches words that haven’t come back yet. If you take reviewing seriously, pick whichever exports cleanly to the flashcard app you already use. Our FSRS explainer covers how modern schedulers decide when you see a card.

Who should pick Readlang

• You want a free plan you can live on, or the cheapest paid plan.
• You read web articles and your own books and want to click words in place.
• You’re learning a less common language. Readlang supports 100+.
• You prefer a quiet page to color-coded word statuses.

Who should pick LingQ

• You want a built-in library with audio, especially as a beginner.
• You’re motivated by a known-word count and seeing every word’s status.
• You want native mobile apps for reading and listening on the go. Readlang runs in a mobile browser but has no app.
• You don’t mind paying around $120 a year for an all-in-one system.

Is there something in between?

That’s roughly where we’re aiming with Lumo, which isn’t available yet. Like LingQ, it tracks every word: new words are blue, saved words move through levels and their yellow fades, and when you turn the page the new words you didn’t tap become known. Like Readlang, it’s built around reading your own material: pasted text, web articles, EPUBs, YouTube transcripts, and audio or video with subtitles. Each text also gets a difficulty label from your known-word coverage.

It doesn’t have a browser extension yet, or LingQ’s library. Planned pricing is a free tier and Pro at $5.99 a month or $49.99 a year.

The verdict

Both are good tools with long track records, and you can’t really go wrong. Choose Readlang if price and simplicity come first, or you read mostly on the web. Choose LingQ if you want the library, the known-word count and the apps, and you’ll use them enough to justify the cost.

Whichever you pick, aim for texts where you know most of the words. You’ll read more, enjoy it more, and learn more words along the way. Research by Hu and Nation (2000, Reading in a Foreign Language) suggests about 98% known-word coverage is where unassisted reading becomes comfortable. Our post on the 98% rule has the details.

FAQ

Is Readlang free?

Yes, Readlang has a free plan with unlimited single-word translations, 10 phrase translations a day and 10 AI context explanations a day. Premium, which removes the limits, costs $6 a month or $48 a year.

Is LingQ worth the money?

For learners who use the library, the audio and the known-word tracking every day, many find it is. At about $120 a year on the annual plan it costs more than most alternatives, so try it properly during the free plan or first month before committing to a long plan.

Which has more languages, Readlang or LingQ?

Readlang lists over 100 languages, and LingQ supports more than 50. LingQ’s library content and audio are richer in its major languages, so check what’s available for yours before choosing.

Can I use Readlang and LingQ together?

You can. Some learners use LingQ for library lessons and listening, and the Readlang extension for clicking words while browsing the web. Your vocabulary won’t sync between them, though, so you’ll be keeping two word lists.