Tooter teamFacts checked 3 min readThe short answer
- To talk from the first minute: Tooter, with 5 to 30 minute conversations with a Russian tutor you pick.
- For the longest audio course: Pimsleur, with 150 Russian lessons. For a free course: Duolingo, though its AI calls don't cover Russian.
- Fewer apps go deep in Russian: Babbel's course stops at A1 and Speak doesn't teach it.
At a glance
| App | Russian course | AI conversation | Free to start | Monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tooter | Guided lessons | 5 to 30 min | Free chapters | See current plans |
| Duolingo | Free course | All lessons | In the app | |
| Babbel | A1 only | First lessons | $17.95/mo | |
| Pimsleur | 150 audio lessons | First lesson | $19.95/mo | |
| Praktika | Avatar-led lessons | Avatar tutors | Free plan | $9.99/mo |
| Langua | Call Mode | 3 min a day | $19.99/mo | |
| Jumpspeak | AI Tutor only | 7 min a day | Sample lessons | $79/year |
Other apps' prices are their lowest US monthly prices, or yearly where there's no monthly plan; Tooter's are its current website prices. Checked October 31, 2026.
Why these apps
How hard is Russian to speak?
Russian takes English speakers about 44 weeks of full-time study by the US Foreign Service Institute's estimate. The Cyrillic alphabet is the first step; the longer work is six grammatical cases and word stress that moves between syllables and isn't marked in normal text. Stress is learned by hearing and saying words, which is where speaking practice helps most.
Which app suits you?
Tooter
- 5 to 30 minute conversations in Russian
- Tutors speak Standard Russian
- Corrections as you speak
Pimsleur
- 150 audio lessons
- Learn in the car or offline
- Free first lesson
Duolingo
- Every lesson free, with ads
- Short daily lessons
- No AI calls in Russian yet
Praktika
- AI avatar tutors
- Per-word pronunciation scores
- Free plan
Langua
- Native-speaker voices
- Hands-free Call Mode
- Web, iPhone and Android
How Tooter teaches Russian
Every Tooter Russian tutor speaks Standard Russian. You pick one by coaching style, such as conversation-first, travel-focused or natural correction, choose a session of 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes, and talk the whole time. Your tutor corrects pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and fluency as you go and can explain in your native language when you're stuck, and guided lesson chapters build the phrases you'll use. Build a Russian speaking plan to start.
