Dreaming Spanish is better for training your ear: it is a library of comprehensible input videos, with free videos on YouTube. Speak Better Spanish is better once you want to talk, not just understand, because live one-to-one coaching adds the speaking half. Coaching costs far more, at $81 to $90 an hour. See all our comparisons, or read Speak Better Spanish vs Butterfly Spanish.
Speak Better Spanish vs Dreaming Spanish at a glance
| Dreaming Spanish | Speak Better Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Videos on the Dreaming Spanish YouTube channel are free to watch. A paid premium plan is sold on its website. We could not load the premium price page, so check it there. | $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. |
| Method | Comprehensible input: you watch videos fully in Spanish that you can mostly understand, and get harder content as you improve. The method is based on Dr. Stephen Krashen’s research. | Live conversation practice with a coach, built around your goals and a topic you choose. |
| Approach | Watch and listen first. Speaking comes later, when you feel ready. | 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. |
| Levels and progress | Seven levels, from Superbeginner videos to native content. The site tracks your input hours. | A free Roadmap Session maps your level and goals, and each session is built around them. |
| Who teaches | A team of Spanish-speaking teachers on video. The site lists eight. | A small team of three coaches: Hannah (19+ years teaching), Arturo and Jacky. Package hours work with any of them. |
| Speaking | The method focuses on input. Its FAQ says speaking too early can affect your grammar and pronunciation, and that you should still speak when you need to. | Speaking is the whole point. You talk, your coach listens and corrects you. |
| Feedback | None on your own Spanish. You watch and listen. | 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. |
| 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. Dreaming Spanish has no live classes, and its method puts listening before 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 | Building listening and understanding at your own pace. | Turning what you understand into what you can say. |
Dreaming Spanish details come from Dreaming Spanish’s own website and YouTube channel, checked October 24, 2026: Dreaming Spanish home page; Dreaming Spanish method; Dreaming Spanish FAQ; Dreaming Spanish on YouTube. Prices and policies can change, so check their site before you buy. Our prices are on the pricing page.
Is Dreaming Spanish enough to speak Spanish?
For listening, it is excellent, and you can start for free. Dreaming Spanish says openly that its method is about input, meaning listening and reading. Its FAQ says speaking will come out of all that listening over time. Some people are happy to wait. Others need to talk now, for a move, a job, a trip or family. If you understand a lot but your mouth won’t keep up, that gap is what coaching works on.
How to use Dreaming Spanish and coaching together
Keep watching. Your input hours make our sessions better, because you bring more words and a better ear. In coaching you take the topics you have been listening to and say them out loud, with a coach who helps you find the words. Our post on passive listening in Spanish explains why listening matters, and what to do when you don’t understand native speakers helps when real speakers go too fast.
Coaching vs self-study
Dreaming Spanish 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: “Spanish became part of my real life long before it became my business.” (Hannah, About Hannah)
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 437 YouTube comments and 95,086 search queries found that learners search for single words, but when they stop to comment, they ask which word a real Mexican would use.
Why the cheaper option can cost more
Dreaming Spanish 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
“This is the best way to learn Spanish- to practice it with another person.”
Kitz W, Google review
“I’m starting to feel more confident in my ability to read, write, and understand Spanish in real life”
Maria DeFrancesco, Google review
Who should choose Dreaming Spanish
- You want to build listening at your own pace, starting for free.
- You like learning through stories and videos instead of drills.
- You are happy to wait before you start speaking.
Who should choose Speak Better Spanish
- You understand a lot of Spanish but freeze when it is your turn to talk.
- You need to speak soon, for travel, work or family.
- You want a person to correct you and a plan to follow.
- 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 why you freeze when someone speaks Spanish to you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dreaming Spanish free?
Dreaming Spanish posts videos on its YouTube channel, which you can watch for free. It also sells a premium plan on its website. Check the premium page for the current price.
Can you learn to speak Spanish with only Dreaming Spanish?
Dreaming Spanish focuses on listening and reading, and its FAQ says speaking develops from that input over time. If you need to speak sooner, live conversation practice with a coach helps you turn what you understand into what you can say.
Does Speak Better Spanish go against comprehensible input?
No. Listening a lot is good for every learner. Our sessions are mostly you speaking, and your coach adjusts to your level, so what you hear stays understandable. Watching videos between sessions fits well with coaching.
Is Speak Better Spanish more expensive than Dreaming Spanish?
Yes. Dreaming Spanish has free videos on YouTube and a paid premium plan. 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.
When should I add speaking practice?
When you need to talk, or when you understand much more than you can say and it frustrates you. A free Roadmap Session is a good way to check where you are before you pay for 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 more Dreaming Spanish.
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