Speak Better Spanish is better if you want to talk with a person in real time, with live one-to-one coaching at $81 to $90 an hour. Busuu is better if you want a low-cost app with short lessons, a study plan and feedback from its community of native speakers, and many of its features are free. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs Pimsleur.
Speak Better Spanish vs Busuu at a glance
| Busuu | Speak Better Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Many features are free, and a subscription unlocks the rest. Apple’s US App Store lists Busuu purchases from $6.99 to $139.99. Busuu’s website did not show prices when we checked. | $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 | A self-paced app with bite-sized lessons in 14 languages and a personalized Study Plan. | Live one-to-one coaching on Zoom: 60-minute coaching sessions or 30-minute Spanish-only conversation sessions. |
| Approach | A set course in an app, with a personalized Study Plan and feedback from other users. | 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 | Courses made by Busuu’s language experts. | A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them. |
| Feedback | Tips and feedback from Busuu’s community of native speakers, plus Smart Review for grammar and words. | 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. |
| Speaking practice | Exercises and immersive videos featuring native speakers. | The whole session is you speaking with a coach about your life, your goals and a topic you choose. |
| Certificates | Busuu offers language certificates. | Yes. Packages include certificates as your sessions add up, but the focus is speaking confidence. |
| Plan before you pay | A personalized Study Plan in the app, not from a person. | 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 | Feedback from other users on your exercises. | 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 | Busuu offers language certificates. | 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. Busuu is an app. Feedback comes from its community, not a live coach. | 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 | Structured self-study with a schedule and some human feedback. | Adults who know some Spanish but freeze in real conversations. |
Busuu details come from Busuu’s website and its App Store listing, checked October 24, 2026: Busuu home page; Busuu 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 Busuu enough to speak Spanish?
Busuu is a good app for steady study, and the community feedback means real people look at your work. That feedback is not live, though, and a conversation happens in real time. If you can write a good answer but go blank when someone talks to you, you need practice speaking live. Our post Are language apps enough to become fluent in Spanish? goes into why.
How to use Busuu and coaching together
Follow your Busuu Study Plan between sessions. Bring the grammar and words you studied to coaching and use them out loud. Ask your coach about anything the community feedback flagged. Your session notes tell you what to review in the app next.
Coaching vs self-study
Busuu 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
Busuu 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
“I also am learning some grammar, which is harder to get in apps like Duolingo.”
Kitz W, Google review
“Apps are a great complement to our work”
David Creel, Google review
Who should choose Busuu
- You want a structured app with a study schedule.
- You like getting written feedback from native speakers.
- You want a certificate for your progress.
Who should choose Speak Better Spanish
- You study regularly but still freeze when someone speaks to you.
- You want live correction from the same small team of coaches.
- You want real-life Mexican Spanish.
- You want a recording, notes and practice after every session.
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 on the days between sessions.
Frequently asked questions
Is Busuu free?
Busuu says many of its features are free, and a subscription unlocks the rest. Apple’s US App Store lists Busuu purchases from $6.99 to $139.99.
How is Busuu’s feedback different from coaching?
On Busuu, members of its community of native speakers can give you tips and feedback on your exercises. In coaching, a coach hears you speak live and corrects you right away, then sends a recording and notes after the session.
Is Speak Better Spanish more expensive than Busuu?
Yes. 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. That is far more than an app subscription.
Can I use Busuu and Speak Better Spanish together?
Yes. Use Busuu for daily study and coaching for speaking practice. They do different jobs.
Which is better for a nervous adult learner?
An app feels safe because you practice 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 Busuu.
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