SpeakBase vs Berlitz
SpeakBase vs Berlitz: a language school or an AI tutor for your spoken English?
Quick answer
Berlitz is a 148-year-old immersion school with six centres in Israel, where a human instructor teaches you in English from the first minute, in person or live online, and where the price is quoted only after you fill in an enquiry form: on 21 September 2026 no figure appeared anywhere on berlitz.com/he-il. SpeakBase is a subscription to an AI speaking tutor, 39 NIS a month for up to 20 minutes a day, which at the full 150-minute monthly allowance comes to about 15.60 NIS an hour of speaking, with the price printed on the page. Choose Berlitz for a structured course with a human teacher, a classroom and a certificate; choose SpeakBase for daily speaking volume at a published price, with no booking and no sales call.
Berlitz and SpeakBase are not the same kind of product, and pretending otherwise would help nobody. Berlitz is a school: a curriculum, a placement test, a human instructor, a classroom in Tel Aviv or Haifa or Be'er Sheva, and a certificate at the end. SpeakBase is a tool: an AI tutor called Kate who is available at three in the morning, needs no booking, corrects every sentence as you say it and explains the correction in Hebrew. The useful comparison is therefore not feature against feature but what each one is for, how each one is bought, and how much speaking each one actually puts in your mouth per week. Every Berlitz fact on this page was read on berlitz.com/he-il on 21 September 2026.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | SpeakBase | Berlitz |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A subscription to an AI speaking tutor you talk to in live voice | A language school founded in 1878, with more than 500 learning centres worldwide and six in Israel |
| Where the lesson happens | In your browser or phone, anywhere, with nothing to install | In a centre in Tel Aviv, Ra'anana, Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem, Rishon LeZion or Haifa, at your workplace, or live online |
| Published price | 39 NIS a month or 390 NIS a year, printed on the page | None. On 21 September 2026 no price appeared anywhere on berlitz.com/he-il; every course page ends in an enquiry form and a phone number |
| Price per hour of speaking | About 15.60 NIS if you use the full 150 minutes a month; using less raises it | Cannot be calculated from public information |
| How you buy it | Card, on the site, in about a minute; cancel any time | Fill in a form with your name, phone, branch and programme, then wait for a sales call and a quote |
| Who teaches you | Kate, an AI tutor, consistent every session and never unavailable | A trained human instructor, who reads your face, your hesitation and your intent in a way no model does |
| Language of instruction | English is the lesson; corrections are explained in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Spanish or English | The target language from day one, deliberately without translation or grammar rules (the Berlitz Method) |
| When you can practise | Any hour, any day, no booking; a lesson can be five minutes long | At the scheduled lesson, at a time agreed with the centre or the instructor |
| How corrections reach you | Every mistake corrected as you speak, then turned into review cards you can drill later | Live from the instructor, with regular assessments through the programme and a certificate of achievement |
| Trying it | The first lesson is free: five minutes with Kate, no card, no form | A free online placement test; the course itself starts after a quote |
| Other languages | English, plus Spanish, Italian, French, Russian, Arabic, Greek and Hebrew | Eleven in Israel: English, Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish |
What an hour of spoken English costs in Israel (NIS, September 2026)
Where Berlitz is genuinely stronger
A school does things a subscription cannot. A Berlitz instructor watches your face and stops when you stop understanding, which is a judgement no model makes reliably. The Berlitz Method has been taught since 1878 and is built on one idea that is simply correct: you learn to speak by being made to speak, in the language, from the first minute, and the instructor's job is to keep you doing it. A timetabled lesson you have paid for and travelled to is one you attend, and attendance is most of the battle. You get a placement test, a structured level ladder, regular assessment, a certificate an employer can read, and cultural training that matters if you are about to work with people abroad. Berlitz also teaches eleven languages in Israel, including Korean and Mandarin, which SpeakBase does not, and it will come to your office and train a whole team in person. If what you want is a course with a teacher and a classroom, Berlitz is the kind of thing you want and we would not pretend otherwise.
The bottom line
Choose Berlitz if you want a structured course taught by a person, with a syllabus, assessments, a certificate and a room to sit in, and you are willing to make an enquiry and take a quote to find out what it costs. Choose SpeakBase if what you lack is not structure but mileage: the hundred short conversations between lessons, at any hour, corrected as you go and explained in Hebrew, for a price you can read before you decide. The two are not really rivals. If you are enrolled at Berlitz, the daily speaking practice between lessons is exactly what SpeakBase is for, and it costs less for a month than most people spend on coffee in a week.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Berlitz course cost in Israel?
Berlitz Israel does not publish it. On 21 September 2026 there was no pricing page in the site navigation and no figure on any adult course page on berlitz.com/he-il: private online lessons, group lessons and self-paced study all end in the same enquiry form, which asks for your name, phone, branch, language and programme type, and there is a phone number, 076-888-9810. The price you are quoted therefore depends on the language, the format, the number of lessons and the branch, and you learn it after you make contact. We are not going to invent a number for it.
How much does SpeakBase cost?
39 NIS a month or 390 NIS a year in Israel, for up to 20 minutes a day and 150 minutes a month of live conversation with Kate. At the full allowance that is about 15.60 NIS per hour of speaking; if you use less, the hourly figure is higher. The first lesson is free, takes five minutes, and needs no card and no form.
Where are the Berlitz branches in Israel?
Six, named on berlitz.com/he-il on 21 September 2026: Tel Aviv, Ra'anana, Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem, Rishon LeZion and Haifa. Berlitz also teaches live online and will run courses at a company's own offices. SpeakBase has no branches: the lesson is wherever your phone is.
What is the Berlitz Method?
Berlitz's own pages describe it as a technique invented by the company's founder in 1878, in which the lesson is conducted in the new language from the first day, with the language presented inside real situations rather than as academic translation or grammar rules, and the instructor leading a cycle of practice and performance. It is the same principle SpeakBase is built on, which is why the honest difference between them is not the teaching philosophy but the cost, the availability and whether the teacher is a person.
Can I use both Berlitz and SpeakBase?
That is probably the best use of both. A Berlitz course gives you a syllabus, a human instructor and a reason to show up on Tuesday; what it cannot give you is speaking practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, because nobody is scheduled. Kate is, at any hour, and she corrects you live and turns your mistakes into review cards, so you arrive at the next lesson having actually used what you were taught at the last one.
Try a real conversation with KateFirst lesson free · works in your browser · corrections in your language