SpeakBase vs Lingoda
SpeakBase vs Lingoda: a live classroom or an AI speaking tutor?
Quick answer
Lingoda sells scheduled, 60-minute live online classes with real teachers, in small groups of about five students or one-to-one, billed in four-week plans of 5 to 40 classes a month; on 27 September 2026 its cheapest plan worked out to about EUR33.99 (roughly $38.71) per class, falling to about EUR14.49 ($16.51) on its biggest, currently-discounted bundle. SpeakBase is a subscription to an AI speaking tutor, $11.99 a month (39 NIS in Israel), which at the full 150-minute monthly allowance comes to about $4.80 an hour of speaking. Choose Lingoda for a real teacher, classmates and a structured curriculum on a schedule; choose SpeakBase for open-ended daily speaking practice at a small fraction of the price.
Lingoda and SpeakBase are both subscriptions, but to different things. Lingoda sells a seat in a live online classroom: a real teacher, a handful of classmates, a fixed 60 minutes, booked ahead from a set number of classes each month. SpeakBase sells access to an AI tutor called Kate, who is available at any hour, needs no booking, and corrects every sentence as you say it. The useful question is not which is better in general but what each one is for, and what an hour of actual speaking costs on each. Every Lingoda fact on this page was read on lingoda.com on 27 September 2026.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | SpeakBase | Lingoda |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A subscription to an AI speaking tutor you talk to in live voice | A live online language school: scheduled classes with a real teacher, taught in small groups or one-to-one |
| Class format | One-to-one, open conversation, any length from five minutes | Fixed 60-minute classes, in a group of about five students by default, on a set weekly or monthly schedule |
| Published price | 39 NIS ($11.99) a month, printed on the page | EUR169.99/month for 5 group classes (its cheapest plan with no listed discount); larger plans go up to EUR584.99/month for 40 classes |
| Price per hour of class time | About $4.80 (39 NIS / 15.60) if you use the full 150 minutes a month | About $38.71 (EUR33.99) on the 5-class plan, falling to about $16.51 (EUR14.49) on the 40-class plan, which the site badges as a limited-time new-student discount through 30 September 2026 |
| How you buy it | Card, on the site, in about a minute; cancel any time | Choose a 4-week plan (5, 12, 20 or 40 classes), book classes from the schedule; a 7-day free trial is offered |
| Who teaches you | Kate, an AI tutor, consistent every session and never unavailable | Lingoda describes its staff as "certified, native-level teachers" (about 2,500 globally); not stated to be exclusively native speakers |
| Structure | No fixed curriculum; you talk about what you need to talk about | A1 to C1 English curriculum (plus German, French, Spanish, Business English and Italian on the same subscription) |
| When you can practise | Any hour, any day, no booking; a lesson can be five minutes long | Whenever a class is scheduled on the timetable you booked into; classes run on the site's clock, not yours |
| Airtime per person | The full session; Kate is talking to only you | Shared with roughly four classmates in the default group format; a one-to-one plan exists but this page does not quote its price (see note above) |
| Hebrew and shekels | Yes, the whole product is in Hebrew and priced in shekels | No; the site offers 7 interface languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish) and Hebrew is not among them, with no shekel pricing |
| Trying it | The first lesson is free: five minutes with Kate, no card | A 7-day free trial; a two-month "Sprint" bootcamp (30 or 60 classes) also pays back 50% of the price on completion |
What an hour of class time costs (USD, 27 September 2026)
Where Lingoda is genuinely stronger
A live class with a real teacher and classmates does things an AI tutor does not. A teacher can notice a pattern across weeks and plan around it, read your tone and intent the way only a person can, and hold a structured A1-to-C1 curriculum together with real accountability: you booked the seat, so you show up. Learning alongside a small group of other students, rather than alone with software, is also its own kind of motivation, and Lingoda's Sprint format turns that into a concrete incentive by paying back half the price if you complete the bootcamp. One subscription also covers five languages, not just English, which is useful if you are learning more than one. If what you want is a scheduled classroom with a person leading it, and you are comfortable paying substantially more per hour for that, Lingoda is built for exactly that, and we would not pretend otherwise.
The bottom line
Choose Lingoda if you want a real teacher, a small class of other learners, and a structured curriculum on a fixed schedule, and you are willing to pay roughly $17 to $39 an hour of class time for it depending on the plan. Choose SpeakBase if what you lack is speaking volume: open-ended conversation at any hour, corrected as you go and explained in Hebrew, for about $4.80 an hour at full use. The two are not really rivals. A weekly Lingoda class for structure and teacher feedback, plus daily SpeakBase conversation for the practice in between, covers more ground than either alone.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Lingoda cost?
On 27 September 2026, lingoda.com/en/pricing/ listed four group plans billed every 4 weeks: 5 classes for EUR169.99 (EUR33.99/class), 12 for EUR287.99, 20 for EUR371.99 and 40 for EUR584.99 (EUR14.49/class). The three larger plans were shown with a new-student discount badge (save 10%, 20% and 30% respectively) through 30 September 2026, so those per-class prices may rise afterward; the 5-class plan carried no discount badge. A private (1-on-1) option is also sold but this page does not quote its price because the numbers did not check out against the group prices.
How much does SpeakBase cost per hour of speaking?
$11.99 a month (39 NIS 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 $4.80 an hour of speaking; using less raises the hourly figure. The first lesson is free and needs no card.
Does Lingoda have a Hebrew interface or shekel pricing?
No. On 27 September 2026 lingoda.com's language switcher listed English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish; Hebrew was not among them, and all prices on the site are shown in euros. SpeakBase is priced in shekels for Israeli customers and dollars elsewhere, with a full Hebrew interface.
Can I try Lingoda for free?
Lingoda offers a 7-day free trial. Separately, its two-month "Sprint" bootcamp (30 or 60 classes at an intensive pace) pays back 50% of what you paid if you complete it, which is a real incentive rather than a discount code. SpeakBase's first lesson is free outright, with no trial period to manage and no card required.
Should I use Lingoda or SpeakBase to improve my spoken English?
For a real teacher, classmates, a levelled curriculum and the accountability of a booked seat, Lingoda. For the short conversations you need on the days you have no class booked, at any hour, corrected live and explained in your own language, SpeakBase. Lingoda's own per-class price, even on its cheapest bulk plan, buys roughly three and a half SpeakBase months at full use, which is why many learners use a scheduled class for structure and an AI tutor for daily mileage rather than choosing only one.
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