10 best apps to learn Portuguese in 2024

Have you started learning Portuguese online? Bem feito! (Well done!) It’s a rewarding language and lots of fun to speak.

Although there are many apps to learn Portuguese online and many tech advances in language learning, the task of learning a new language has essentially stayed the same. There is no single digital solution, no secret shortcut, and there are still hundreds of words to learn and grammar rules to understand.

But remember: you’ll need a lot more than a few apps to become fluent in Portuguese. If you want to see real progress, you’ll need to combine apps with other learning methods, like podcasts, online classes, or private tutoring. You should also build a language study plan to help you stay consistent so you can meet your learning goals.

“While language learning apps are a fantastic tool for self-study, they often lack the personalized guidance and interactive feedback you need to learn effectively. In comparison, a private tutor will create a customized learning plan based on your learning style and goals. Tutors shape the pedagogical processes that lay the foundation of successful language learning by emphasizing communicative competence and its pragmatics. Their responsibility extends far beyond the mere dispensation of grammar rules and error correction, focusing on personal development, emotional intelligence, and overall growth. Tutors are instrumental in teaching students how to learn effectively and instilling a lifelong passion for learning.” — Sylvia Johnson, the Head of Methodology at Preply

Comparison table of the best apps for learning Portuguese

If you’re studying on your own or using online resources, you’ll need to be smart and selective if you’re going to succeed. Some apps focus on only Brazilian or European Portuguese, so you need to find apps that teach the version of Portuguese you want to learn. To make your life easier, we’ve created this list to help you find the best app to learn Portuguese for your needs.

App	Pricing	Best use case
Preply	Starting at $3/lesson	1-on-1 lessons with native Portuguese speakers
Conjuguemos	Free	Absolute beginners who want to learn Portuguese for free
Lingvist	$9.99/month	Learning common Portuguese vocabulary
Drops	Free for 5 minutes every day $13/month	Learning everyday Portuguese vocabulary with spaced repetition
Readlang	Free access to some features $6/month	Practicing your reading skills with real-world Portuguese texts
PortuguesePod101	Free access to some features Starting at $4/month	Improving your vocabulary and listening comprehension with podcasts
Pimsleur	$20/month	Speaking and listening to guided conversations with native speakers
Ouino	$38.97 for 3 months	Following an academic curriculum with flexible learning options
Practice Portuguese	Free access to some features €15/month	Learning European Portuguese vocabulary and grammar
Portuguese by Nemo	Free access to some content $11.99 one-time payment for Nemo Portuguese Complete	Learning everyday Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary and phrases

1. Preply: Best for personalized learning

• Best use case: 1-on-1 lessons with native Portuguese speakers
• Pricing: Starting at $3/lesson
• Free trial: No
• Average rating: 4.8/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

Many language learning apps and websites are dedicated to “input.” They mostly present you with vocabulary flashcards and grammar exercises. But the main driver of language learning is output, or real-life contact with your target language by listening to and speaking with others.

Unlike many other Portuguese language apps, Preply is designed to help you improve your speaking skills through live conversations with native speakers. Even if you’re a beginner, speaking Portuguese as early as possible is the best way to progress quickly and become confident with a new language.

Preply connects you with thousands of experienced tutors from around the world so you can take personalized Portuguese lessons from the comfort of your own home. You can browse each teacher’s profile, check out their intro videos, and even filter them based on their price, rating, availability, etc. You can also filter by country of origin, which is helpful if you’re wondering how to learn European Portuguese or Brazilian Portuguese specifically.

Then you just need to buy some hours and book your first lesson. Unlike traditional classes, you don’t have to commit to a certain frequency of lessons. You can also change tutors or have multiple tutors at the same time.

Also, Preply has a 100% satisfaction guarantee policy. This means that you can have a trial lesson, and if it doesn’t meet your expectations, you can request a free tutor replacement or refund.

Pros

• Personalized lessons based on your learning goals
• Online library of practice exercises, courses, and conversation starters for various topics
• Built-in tool to help you review new vocabulary between lessons

Cons

• No free access
• Live video lessons require a strong internet connection

2. Conjuguemos: Best for beginners

• Best use case: Absolute beginners who want to learn Portuguese for free
• Pricing: Free
• Free trial: Free version available
• Available on: Web

When you’re ready to take on Portuguese verbs, we recommend Conjuguemos. Compared to English, Romance languages like Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and French rely a lot on verbal inflection to convey meaning.

This means that the verb ending will change depending on who is doing the action (e.g., eu falo – I speak, tu falas – you speak). Then there are the irregular Portuguese verbs.

Educators are finally realizing that rote learning – memorization through spaced repetition – is not the most effective way to acquire a foreign language. Now, the focus is on increased learning engagement through gamified exercises.

Conjuguemos injects some fun into Portuguese verb conjugations. You can play against a friend or the computer, playing a range of classic games, from Memory to Battleships.

The biggest drawback is that there is no mobile version, just a web app optimized for mobile use. It also only offers a European Portuguese course, so you’ll need to look elsewhere if you want to learn the Brazilian dialect. Plus, if you want to progress beyond the beginner level, you’ll need a more comprehensive learning experience, like online Portuguese classes.

Pros

• Many interactive learning games to practice vocabulary
• Completely free to use

Cons

• No mobile app
• Not suited for advanced learners

3. Lingvist: Best for vocabulary

• Best use case: Learning common Portuguese vocabulary

• Pricing: 
  • $9.99/month
  • $79.99/year ($6.67/month)
• Free trial: 14-day free trial
• Average rating: 4.6/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

There’s a lot of debate about how many words you need to know to speak a language. Professor Stuart Webb, applied linguist from University of Western Ontario, suggests that learning 800 to 1,000 is a reasonable goal to start with.

Learning vocabulary is a good investment of time because it improves all your language skills. If you know more words, it will make you a better speaker, listener, reader, and writer. That’s where Lingvist comes in. Simply put, Lingvist is a Duolingo for grownups. It combines clean, sophisticated design with a smart approach to learning Brazilian Portuguese.

After selecting a language to learn, you’ll find out your current skill level. Then you’ll be ready to start learning sets of new vocabulary. You can also set yourself a learning reminder and track your progress as you go.

One of Lingvist’s main strengths is its data-driven approach. By analyzing news articles, books, and film subtitles, they’ve identified the most relevant words to learn. The app also adapts to your mistakes and decides the best moment to show you new words or to review previously seen words.

Pros

• User-friendly interface helps you stay focused on the content
• Built-in progress tracking and statistics

Cons

• Not much variety in the types of exercises
• Vocabulary is taught in isolation rather than in context

4. Drops: Best for spaced repetition

• Best use case: Learning everyday Portuguese vocabulary with spaced repetition
• Pricing: 
  • Free for 5 minutes every day
  • $13/month
  • $69.99/year ($5.83/month)
  • $159.99 for lifetime access
• Free trial: Free version available
• Average rating: 4.7/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

Drops uses flashcards and spaced repetition to teach you new vocabulary and help you retain it in your long-term memory. The app will show you previously learned words to regularly test your knowledge.

As you master Portuguese vocabulary, you’ll see these flashcards less frequently. But if you’re struggling to learn certain words or phrases, you will continue seeing them until you get the right answer.

Rather than just typing your answers, you’ll play other interactive learning games like matching pictures with terms. The app uses thousands of images to help you learn new vocabulary. Drops also has separate lessons for European and Brazilian Portuguese so you can learn the correct vocabulary for your preferred dialect.

If you’re ready to move beyond learning vocabulary, check out these helpful language learning tips from polyglots, many of whom have also learned Portuguese!

Pros

• Wide range of topics covered
• Engaging learning games

Cons

• Free version is limited to five minutes of use per day
• No speaking practice

5. Readlang: Best for reading comprehension

• Best use case: Practicing your reading skills with real-world Portuguese texts
• Pricing: 
  • Free access to some features
  • $6/month
  • $48/year ($4/month)
• Free trial: Free version available
• Average rating: 5/5 stars
• Available on: Web

Having laid the foundations with the apps above, you’ll be able to start enjoying Portuguese! The next step is to supplement your Portuguese lessons with regular, extensive reading. Or as Portuguese speakers say, queimar as pestanas, which literally means “burn the eyelashes.”

Reading in a second language can be quite daunting. Luckily, Readlang makes it more straightforward. Readlang allows you to import stories and articles from any website. But it’s more than just a bookmarking tool. You can then open your text, and as you read, you can click on any word to receive an English translation in real time.

In addition to the Readlang website, which houses your library of articles, you can download the Readlang Web Reader browser extension. This saves you from having to import each text you read. Instead, you can just activate the extension on that website. Once you’ve finished reading the text, you can convert the words you translated into flashcards to study later.

It’s important to note that Readlang uses Brazilian Portuguese translations. However, you can still use the app for European Portuguese texts as long as you double-check the translations.

Pros

• Enables language immersion to help you progress
• AI-powered explanations of words and phrases based on context

Cons

• No grammar lessons
• No speaking practice

6. PortuguesePod101: Best for listening comprehension

• Best use case: Improving your vocabulary and listening comprehension with audio and video lessons
• Pricing: 
  • Free access to some features
  • Basic: $4/month
  • Premium: $6/month
  • Premium PLUS: $13.73/month
• Free trial: 7-day free trial
• Average rating: 4.7/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire

PortuguesePod101 has hundreds of pre-recorded audio and video lessons based on real-world Brazilian Portuguese conversations. Each lesson is accompanied by explanations and pronunciation tips for all the new words and phrases you’ve learned.

You can use the PortuguesePod101 app to listen to audio recordings from native speakers, record yourself speaking, and compare the two versions. You can also create word lists and flashcards to study in your free time. Or try their pre-made vocab lists, like the 100 most common words or everyday key phrases.

A Premium PLUS subscription allows you to send text and audio messages to a personal tutor. However, this doesn’t give you the opportunity for live speaking practice. Practicing your conversation skills is essential if you want to actually become fluent in Portuguese.

Pros

• Diverse range of topics
• Tons of extra resources and study materials available

Cons

• Courses aren’t organized well
• Lessons use a lot of English so they’re not immersive

7. Pimsleur: Best for pronunciation

• Best use case: Speaking and listening to guided conversations with native speakers

• Pricing: 
  • $20/month
  • $21/month for access to all 50+ languages
  • $165/year for unlimited access to all languages
• Free trial: 7-day free trial
• Average rating: 4.7/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

Pimsleur offers interactive audio and video lessons to improve your listening and speaking skills. The Pimsleur Method, developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, teaches you Portuguese organically by introducing new vocabulary, phrases, and more in context.

You’ll listen to conversations between native speakers to get a sense of the rhythm and pronunciation of the language. You can use the hands-free learning option to listen to lessons while driving, exercising, cooking, or doing chores.

You can also choose between Brazilian or European Portuguese, so you can be sure that the vocabulary and pronunciation you’re learning are right for your goals. However, to become fluent, you will still need to practice your speaking skills with a language exchange partner or tutor.

Pros

• Voice coach feature provides feedback on your pronunciation
• Hands-free listening option for learning on the go

Cons

• Almost no reading or writing practice
• Lessons can move slowly

8. Ouino: Best for flexible self-study

• Best use case: Following an academic curriculum with flexible learning options

• Pricing: 
  • $38.97 for 3 months ($12.99/month)
  • $59.94 for 6 months ($9.99/month)
  • $83.88/year ($6.99/month)
  • $311.76 for lifetime access
• Free trial: Free trial lecture
• Average rating: 4.8/5 stars
• Available on: PC, Mac, iOS, and Android

Ouino uses a curriculum-based approach instead of interactive games, which is the best way to learn European Portuguese. Their curriculum covers most of the essential language skills, like vocabulary, grammar, verb conjugation, pronunciation, and listening comprehension.

The app’s non-linear structure means you can start with any of the 450 lessons and 1300 exercises. Each lesson includes an audio and visual option. To make learning easier, you can also use helpful features like playback speed and color-coded endings for masculine and feminine words.

Once you complete a lesson, you’ll rate how well you understood it so Ouino knows how often you need to review it. Ouino tracks your progress with the built-in calendar feature, which automatically adds a badge to each day you use the app. You can also manually add progress badges whenever you practice Portuguese in real life, whether it’s reading, writing, listening, or speaking.

Pros

• Offline learning options
• Flexibility to choose lessons

Cons

• No formal speaking practice
• No personalized feedback on pronunciation

9. Practice Portuguese: Best for European Portuguese

• Best use case: Learning European Portuguese vocabulary and grammar

• Pricing: 
  • Free access to some features
  • €15/month
• Free trial: 30-day money-back guarantee
• Average rating: 4.5/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

Practice Portuguese originally started as a podcast where native speakers from Portugal discuss everyday topics like social media, restaurants, and school. Eventually, they created an app with hundreds of audio and video lessons.

Each lesson features native Portuguese speakers so you can learn how the language is used in everyday life. During the lesson, you’ll use personalized flashcards that adjust in real time based on your progress.

In addition to these lessons, the app also includes over 55,000 high-quality audio clips for all the words and phrases you’ll learn. You can listen to the audio, record yourself speaking, then compare yourself to a native speaker. You’ll also get instant feedback on the accuracy of your pronunciation to help you improve.

Practice Portuguese offers helpful audio examples and charts for Portuguese grammar. It has verb conjugation practice for hundreds of the most common Portuguese verbs. You’ll practice conjugating regular and irregular verbs in each tense and mood. You can also quiz yourself on one tense at a time or mix up all the tenses and moods for more of a challenge.

Paid subscribers get additional learning features, like synchronized English translations that can be toggled on and off. Plus, Portuguese vocabulary lists that can be added to your personalized flashcard review.

Pros

• Best app to learn European Portuguese
• Online forum where you can connect with other language learners and set up study groups or in-person meet ups

Cons

• No writing practice
• No live speaking practice

10. Portuguese by Nemo: Best for Brazilian Portuguese

• Best use case: Learning everyday Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary and phrases

• Pricing: 
  • Free access to some content
  • $11.99 one-time payment for Nemo Portuguese Complete
• Free trial: Free version available
• Average rating: 4.7/5 stars
• Available on: Web, iOS, and Android

Portuguese by Nemo is the best app to learn Brazilian Portuguese, which is helpful if you are figuring out how to learn Portuguese online as an absolute beginner. Nemo targets the most commonly used words and phrases in everyday conversations in Brazil. It breaks them down into vocabulary lists, like “If You Can Only Learn 10 Things,” going up to 100 essential phrases.

All Portuguese words are accompanied by high-quality audio recorded by native speakers from Brazil. You can also download audio clips for offline listening. And with Nemo’s Speech Studio feature, you can record yourself speaking and compare it to a native speaker.

Nemo’s flashcard tool translates Portuguese to English and vice versa so you can easily test your knowledge. You can also switch to more advanced cards that focus on listening and pronunciation. Plus, the app’s “Review Mode” helps you revisit previous flashcards for long-term retention.

If you want full access to all the words and phrases, you can pay for Nemo Portuguese Complete, which includes over 1,200 words and phrases accompanied by audio recordings from native speakers.

Pros

• Great introduction to how to speak Portuguese for beginners
• Offline access is helpful if you’re traveling

Cons

• Free version is limited to basic vocabulary
• No formal grammar lessons

Go beyond the best apps to learn Portuguese

We hope you find these Portuguese learning apps and websites useful as you learn and practice Portuguese. But if you want to go further and become fluent, start learning with a tutor in 1-on-1 lessons on Preply today.

With over 2,500 online Portuguese tutors to choose from, you can learn everything from conversational European Portuguese to business-focused Brazilian Portuguese. You also schedule your own lessons, which makes it easy to fit your language learning into a busy schedule.

If you’re just getting started with the language, check out our guide on how to learn Portuguese, designed for beginners.