Readlang vs LingQ
Readlang vs LingQ: the light reader or the whole system?
Both let you read in a language you are learning and click the words you do not know. That is where the similarity ends. LingQ is a complete learning system with a known-words counter that you maintain; Readlang is a reader that stays out of the way. The right answer depends on whether you enjoy running the system. We make a third product, Readlang Mobile, a native iPhone reader not affiliated with either, and it appears in the table below because it is the obvious third option for people who read on a phone.
Download Readlang Mobile for iOSFree to start. iPhone and iPad. Readlang Mobile is a separate app by an independent developer, not affiliated with Readlang.
The short answer
Pick Readlang if you read on a desktop, want any web page clickable through the extension, and would rather pay $48 a year than $120. Its free plan is genuinely usable.
Pick LingQ if you want to import everything (podcasts, Netflix subtitles, YouTube, ebooks), track every word you know, and use native apps on both iOS and Android. It is the most capable tool in the category and priced like it.
Pick a native reader such as Readlang Mobile if the phone is where you actually read and you want books already sorted by level, at $59.99 a year or free for 30 translations a day.
Side by side
Prices are the ones on each product's pricing page in September 2026, in US dollars. LingQ figures were checked in August 2026 and are quoted as published then.
| Readlang | LingQ | Readlang Mobile | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Web reader with a browser extension | Full learning system: import, read, listen, track | Native iOS reading app |
| Platforms | Website; Chrome, Edge and Firefox extensions; home-screen shortcut on phones | Web, native iOS and Android apps, browser extension | iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later |
| Languages | 100+ | 50+ | About 20, whatever Apple Translation supports |
| Free plan | Unlimited single words; 10 phrases and 10 AI explanations a day | 20 saved words (LingQs) in total and 5 imported lessons | 30 translations a day, the whole graded library |
| Paid plan | Premium $6/month or $48/year; Premium Plus $15/month or $120/year | Premium $14.99/month, $10/month billed yearly ($120), $8.99/month on 24 months; Premium Plus from about $22.50/month yearly | Premium $8.99/month or $59.99/year |
| What you read | Uploaded text and DRM-free EPUB, the shared library, any web page via the extension, YouTube with transcripts | Anything you import, plus a large community library | Graded books A1–C1, your own EPUB (Premium), articles by link |
| Where translation runs | On Readlang's servers | On LingQ's servers | On the app's server (Google Translate) by default; on the device with Apple Translate if you switch to it in Settings |
| Vocabulary | Flashcards by frequency with spaced repetition; CSV export | Word statuses 1–4, SRS flashcards, a known-words metric | Saved on tap; practised on the sentence you met it in (Premium) |
| Video | YouTube player with synchronized transcript | YouTube and Netflix subtitle import | None |
| Offline | No | Partly, in the native apps | Only with Apple Translate and a downloaded language pack; a book must be opened online once |
| Learning curve | Almost none | Substantial | Open a book and read |
Readlang Mobile is an independent app and is not affiliated with Readlang or LingQ.
The free plans are not the same kind of free
This is the detail most comparison threads get wrong. Readlang's free plan is a working product: unlimited texts, unlimited single-word translations, unlimited flashcard practice. The limit is ten phrase translations and ten AI explanations a day, which matters once you read novels where the meaning sits in idioms, but a beginner reading short articles can go months without paying.
LingQ's free plan is a trial in disguise. Twenty saved words in total, not per day, and five imported lessons. You will hit the wall in the first sitting. That is a deliberate design: LingQ wants you on Premium, and the product is built around the assumption that you are.
So when someone on Reddit says "Readlang is free and it seems like the exact same as LingQ", they are half right. It is free in a way LingQ is not. It is not the same product.
What LingQ does that Readlang does not
- Tracks what you know. Every word gets a status from new to known, and the total becomes a number you can watch grow. For some learners that number is the motivation.
- Imports anything. Podcasts with transcripts, Netflix subtitles, YouTube, ebooks, articles. If your input is audio and video as much as text, LingQ is built for it.
- Native apps. Real iOS and Android apps with partial offline use, not a website pinned to the home screen.
- A big library. Community-shared lessons across 50+ languages, with audio, which matters most for beginners who have nothing suitable to import yet.
- Sentence-level tools. Sentence translation and generated audio inside the reader.
The cost of all this is not only the price. LingQ has to be maintained: statuses to set, lessons to organise, settings to tune. People who love it love running it. People who leave it usually say the interface felt cluttered and the upkeep became the hobby.
What Readlang does that LingQ does not
- Stays out of the way. There is almost nothing to learn. Open a text, click a word, read on. The interface has not accumulated features in ten years, and that is a choice.
- Reads the live web better. The Web Reader extension turns the page you are already on into clickable text. LingQ can import a page; Readlang reads it in place.
- Costs less than half. $48 a year against $120 for the yearly plans that most people actually buy.
- Has more languages. 100+ against 50+. For Greek, Hebrew, Czech or Vietnamese, Readlang is more likely to have you covered.
- Has a founder on the forum. Readlang is one person's project and he answers questions himself. That is either charming or worrying depending on how you feel about small companies.
On a phone, the comparison changes
LingQ has native apps for iOS and Android, and that is a real advantage over Readlang, which on a phone is the website added to the home screen. If you read mostly on the phone and want the LingQ system, LingQ wins this round outright.
If you want the Readlang approach on a phone, a reader that stays out of the way, the honest answer is that Readlang itself is not the best version of Readlang there. The iPhone page explains what the home-screen route gives you and where it stops. Readlang Mobile, our own app, was built for exactly that gap: a native reader with the same tap-to-translate habit, a library already graded from A1 to C1 so the first book is not too hard, and the option of translating on the device with Apple Translate. It has fewer languages, no video and no export; the full comparison lays out both directions, and Readlang Mobile vs LingQ puts our app against LingQ directly, without Readlang in the middle.
Prices in practice
Yearly is what most people end up buying, so compare yearly.
| Per year | Per month, if billed monthly | What the top plan adds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readlang Premium | $48 | $6 | Premium Plus $120/year: 200 hours of audio, whole-text voices, GPT-4o |
| LingQ Premium | $120 | $14.99 | Premium Plus from about $270/year: tutoring credits and extras |
| Readlang Mobile Premium | $59.99 | $8.99 | No higher tier; first year $29.99 on the introductory offer |
Readlang and Readlang Mobile prices checked 14 September 2026; LingQ as published in August 2026.
The Readlang pricing page goes through every row of the plans, including what is not on offer, such as lifetime deals and coupons.
Who should pick which
Beginner, desktop, unsure you will stick with it: Readlang free. Nothing to lose, and the limits will not bite for months.
Intermediate, mixing podcasts, series and books, wants a number to chase: LingQ Premium. This is the learner it was built for.
Reads novels, mostly in the browser, dislikes upkeep: Readlang Premium. Phrase translations unlimited, $48 a year, done.
Reads on the phone, wants books at the right level, no system to run: a native reader. Readlang Mobile on iPhone; LingQ's app if you want the system too.
Learning a language outside the big twenty: Readlang, then LingQ. Check the language lists before paying either.
Questions people ask
Is Readlang better than LingQ?
For reading in a desktop browser, especially live web pages, most people find Readlang simpler and it costs less than half. For importing podcasts, video and ebooks and tracking every known word, LingQ does far more. Neither is better in general; they are built for different habits.
Is Readlang cheaper than LingQ?
Yes. Readlang Premium is $6 a month or $48 a year; LingQ Premium is $14.99 a month or $120 a year. Readlang's free plan is also usable for real work, while LingQ's free plan caps saved words at twenty in total.
Does LingQ have a better app than Readlang?
LingQ has native iOS and Android apps. Readlang has no native app; on a phone it is the website added to the home screen. If you want a native reader without the LingQ system, Readlang Mobile is an independent iOS option.
Can I use Readlang and LingQ together?
Yes, and forum posts describe exactly that: Readlang for quick reading in the browser, LingQ for longer sessions with audio and tracking. Vocabulary does not sync between them; Readlang can export to CSV.
Which is better for beginners?
A beginner needs material at the right level more than any feature. LingQ's library is larger and has audio; Readlang's is thinner in most languages. On a phone, a graded library such as the one in Readlang Mobile solves the same problem differently.
Is Readlang Mobile related to Readlang or LingQ?
No. It is an independent iOS app from a different developer. Accounts and vocabulary do not transfer between any of the three products.
Decide with a chapter, not a spreadsheet
All three have a free way in. Read the same chapter in each and notice which one you forgot you were using. That is the one.
Download Readlang Mobile for iOSFree to start. iPhone and iPad. Readlang Mobile is a separate app by an independent developer, not affiliated with Readlang.