HelloTalk review: price, free version and privacy

Our verdict

Pick HelloTalk if you want free, real conversation practice and can already form simple sentences. If you need guided lessons or prefer not to chat with strangers, start with a course app or a paid tutor.

What HelloTalk is

HelloTalk is a language exchange network: you chat with native speakers of the language you are learning, and they practice yours in return. The description says it matches partners by native language and level, with filters for age, location and gender, and adds translation, transliteration and captions in the chat. Voicerooms, livestreams with hosts and a social feed called Moments add group practice in 260+ languages.

Who it suits

• Free conversation practice with native speakers
• Language exchange
• Learners who already know the basics

Strengths

• Chatting with native speakers is free, per the description
• Translation, transliteration and grammar help inside the chat
• Voicerooms and livestreams for speaking practice
• 260+ languages, per the description
• Updated in November 2026; rated 4.6 from about 44,100 ratings

Limits

• No structured course is described, so beginners need the basics elsewhere
• Quality depends on the partners you find
• Rated 13+, and you talk with strangers
• Identifiers may be used to track you

What the free version does

The description says practicing with native speakers is free. VIP Membership and HT Coins are optional purchases, and the listing does not detail what VIP adds.

Price

On the US App Store in November 2026, VIP Membership is listed at $12.99 monthly and $79.99 yearly, and HT Coins packs range from $0.29 to $149.99.

Privacy

The privacy label says identifiers may be used to track you across other companies' apps and websites. Contact info is linked to your identity, and purchases, location, user content, identifiers and diagnostics are collected without being linked to you.

What the screenshots show

The screenshots show a chat list with shortcuts for Courses, HelloWords, Translate and AI Grammar, VIP badges on some partners, and a screen of greetings in several languages. The listing does not describe what the Courses shortcut contains.