Use Speak Better Spanish if you want to speak with a real person: live one-to-one coaching with a plan, a coach who corrects you, and a recording and notes after every session. Pick Anki, a free flashcard app, if you mainly need to remember words. Coaching costs far more, at $81 to $90 an hour. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs LingQ.
Speak Better Spanish vs Anki at a glance
| Anki | Speak Better Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The computer version and AnkiDroid for Android are free, and so is AnkiWeb sync. AnkiMobile for iPhone is a one-time $24.99 on Apple’s US App Store. | $90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes. Packages of 12, 24 or 48 hours bring it down to $85.50, $83.25 or $81 an hour. |
| Format | Flashcards you make yourself, shown again on a spaced repetition schedule. | Live one-to-one coaching on Zoom: 60-minute coaching sessions or 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions. |
| Approach | Self-study. You decide what to learn and when. | Coaching. A free Roadmap Session sets your plan before you pay, every session has a job, and the same three coaches get to know you. |
| Who teaches | Nobody. You choose what goes on your cards. | A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them. |
| Speaking practice | None that we found on Anki’s pages. | The whole session is you speaking with a coach about your life, your goals and a topic you choose. |
| Feedback | Anki decides when to show each card again, based on how well you remembered it. | A live coach listens and corrects you in the moment. You get a recording, notes and practice after every session, plus email support between sessions. |
| Free option | Free on computers and Android. | A free Roadmap Session on Zoom that maps your level and goals. No payment info needed. |
| Plan before you pay | No personal plan from a person. You choose what to study. | Yes. A free Roadmap Session maps your goals, your level and what holds you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. No payment info needed. |
| Same coaches who know you | No coach. You learn on your own. | Yes. Hannah, Arturo and Jacky, so you hear more than one accent without starting over with a stranger. |
| Notes and recording after every session | No sessions with a person, so nothing to record. | Yes. The recording, your notes, your vocabulary and your practice, by email after every session. |
| Support between sessions | No coach to ask. | Yes. Email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it. |
| Money-back guarantee | Not listed. | Full refund if you are not fully satisfied, as long as you tell us within 28 days. |
| Immersion trips | Not listed. | Yes. Small-group trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, where you use Spanish in real situations every day. |
| Included with packages | Not listed. | The recording, your notes and your practice after every session, email support between sessions, certificates as your sessions add up, and a free workbook. 24-hour and 48-hour packages also get a free 30-minute session in your birthday month. The 48-hour package also gets 10% off immersion trips, group workshops and add-ons. |
| 30-minute conversation sessions | No. Anki is flashcards, with no live speaking. | Yes. 30 minutes in Spanish with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky, and you get the recording and your notes after. Sessions use the same package hours as coaching. We have held more than 1,000 since 2017. |
| Best for | Memorizing words and phrases you already met somewhere else. | Adults who want to actually speak Spanish, with a plan, the same small team of coaches and help between sessions. |
Anki details come from Anki’s website and its App Store listing, checked October 24, 2026: Anki download page; AnkiMobile on the US App Store. Prices and policies can change, so check their site before you buy. Our prices are on the pricing page.
Is Anki enough to speak Spanish?
No, and it does not try to be. Anki helps you remember. It can’t ask you a question you did not expect and wait for your answer, and that is the moment most learners freeze. Knowing a word on a card and saying it in a real conversation are two different skills. Our post Are language apps enough to become fluent in Spanish? goes deeper on why.
How to use Anki and coaching together
This pair works well. After each session you get notes with the words and phrases that came up in your own conversation. Put those into Anki and review them between sessions. Then use your next session to say them out loud, about your own life, with a coach who corrects you.
Price is the honest catch. Anki is free on most devices, and we are not. You pay us for a person who listens, corrects you and plans with you, so coaching makes sense once speaking is the goal.
Coaching vs self-study
Anki is mostly self-study, so you set the plan and the pace. Coaching adds what self-study can’t: a person who listens to you, corrects you and plans what comes next.
What working with Speak Better Spanish looks like
- You book a free Roadmap Session on Zoom. There is no payment info and no commitment. We look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back.
- Your written plan comes by email the same day. It shows where you are, where you are going and the best next step. Some people take the plan and keep going on their own, and that is fine.
- If you go ahead, you pick a coach and a time: a 60-minute coaching session built around a topic you choose, or a 30-minute Spanish-only conversation session.
- Every session starts with something you are celebrating, and you speak from the first session. Your coach corrects you in the moment and tells you why.
- After every session you get the recording, your notes, the vocabulary from your own conversation and your practice for the week, by email.
- Between sessions you can email a question or something you wrote, and we correct it.
- You keep working with the same three coaches, and every session is recorded and written up, so nobody starts from zero and nothing you learn gets lost.
- If it is not right for you, tell us within 28 days for a full refund.
Hannah founded Speak Better Spanish, and she is not a native speaker. She learned Spanish herself, first in school and then by living in Spain and Mexico, so she has been where you are. In her words: “I know how discouraging it is to learn something and lose it the next day.” (Hannah, on our blog: why you forget Spanish words)
Our 30-minute conversation sessions
Most intermediate adults understand more Spanish than they can say. Our 30-minute conversation sessions are for that gap. You talk with Hannah, Arturo or Jacky in Spanish about your own life: your week, a trip, your work, your family. Your coach keeps you talking, helps when you get stuck and corrects the mistakes that matter, without turning it into a grammar class. You get the recording and your notes afterward. Sessions use the same package hours as 60-minute coaching, so many students take a coaching hour one week and a conversation session the next. We have held more than 1,000 of these sessions since 2017. A session is $50 on its own, and less with a package. See how conversation sessions work.
What you only get at Speak Better Spanish
- Three ways to practice with the same coaches: 60-minute coaching, 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions (free-flowing or themed, with one small thing to practice and nothing to hand in), and small group conversation classes on Zoom with at most 8 students. Each series has one topic, Mexican culture is part of every class, and every class is recorded.
- Coaches based in Mexico who teach the Spanish people there speak every day. The whole team is bilingual: Hannah, Arturo and Jacky all speak English and Spanish, so beginners can ask questions in English.
- Immersion trips in Mexico hosted by Hannah, like the La Paz trip, where you use your Spanish in real situations every day.
- A free library for the days between sessions, made by the same team: our blog, YouTube channel, podcast and free Spanish Starter Pack.
- Research from our own lessons. Our study of 113 coded one-to-one classes found that adults get stuck more on regional Mexican usage, speaking confidence, pronunciation and listening speed than on any classic grammar pair.
Why the cheaper option can cost more
Anki costs far less than a coach, and it does its job well. The hidden cost is time. It is easy to spend months on lessons and videos and still freeze when someone talks to you, because nothing in self-study makes you answer a real person. A few planned hours with a coach can save you a lot of those months.
What our students say
“Apps are a great complement to our work”
David Creel, Google review
“All three of my teachers, Hannah, Arturo, and Jacky are excellent and bringing their own style to our lessons…”
Leisa Canter, Google review
Who should choose Anki
- You want a free way to remember vocabulary.
- You like building your own study material.
- You already have a source of new words, like a class, a book or a show.
Who should choose Speak Better Spanish
- You know lots of words from flashcards but still can’t use them in a conversation.
- You want to speak with a real person who corrects you kindly.
- You want a plan before you pay, from a free Roadmap Session.
- You want a recording, notes and practice after every session, and someone to email between sessions.
See how our coaching works, read what students say (19+ years teaching, founded in 2014, 3,300+ live sessions coached, 5.0 on Google), or read how to practice speaking Spanish alone.
Frequently asked questions
Is Anki good for learning Spanish?
Anki is good for remembering words and phrases. It shows each card again right before you are likely to forget it. It does not teach you to speak, so most learners pair it with live conversation.
Is Anki free?
The computer version, AnkiDroid for Android and AnkiWeb sync are free. AnkiMobile for iPhone is a one-time $24.99 on Apple’s US App Store.
Is Speak Better Spanish more expensive than Anki?
Yes, by a lot. Speak Better Spanish costs $90 for a 60-minute coaching session or $50 for 30 minutes, and packages bring it down to $81 to $85.50 an hour. You pay for a live coach, a plan, and a recording and notes after every session.
Should I keep using Anki if I start coaching?
Yes, if you like it. Put the words from your session notes into Anki and review them between sessions. The two do different jobs.
Which is better for a nervous adult learner?
Anki is low pressure because you study alone. Our coaching is built for adults who feel nervous speaking: mistakes are expected, nobody puts you on the spot, and the free Roadmap Session sets a plan before you spend anything.
Start with a free Roadmap Session
If your goal is to speak Spanish, this is the place to start. Book a free Roadmap Session. In one Zoom call we look at your goals, your level and what is holding you back, and your written plan comes by email the same day. It is free, with no commitment and no payment info. You leave with a plan, and it can include keeping Anki.
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