What's the best app to learn Thai?
For reading Thai script, tone rules and consonant classes, Jam Kham's Read Thai course is the one built for exactly that job. For spoken Thai, Ling or Pimsleur get you talking and italki gets you a live tutor, and for the phrases you need on a trip, our Speak Thai course times its reviews to your travel date. Anki suits people who build their own decks, and ThaiPod101 wins on audio volume. Compare all seven below.
Already know some letters? Take the 2-minute quiz →
See how Thai reading actually works
Sound out your first Thai word →No account, no card — just the alphabet.
We make two of the seven, and we've listed them alphabetically by use case below, not by preference. The others aren't worse at what they're for; this page tells you which one fits what you're trying to do.
The seven apps, by what each one is for
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Anki — best for building your own decks
If you already know what you want to drill and would rather build the deck yourself, Anki's spaced-repetition engine (the same SM-2 approach, with a newer FSRS option) is free on desktop and Android — just bring your own Thai.
Total control over your own spaced-repetition decks, free on desktop and Android
Read the full comparison → -
Ling — best for daily habit-building
Ling's Thai course pairs native-speaker audio with dialogue practice, and its own blog describes a built-in spaced repetition system for reviewing what you've learned — with a permanent free plan alongside the paid tiers, so there's a no-cost way to keep a daily habit going.
Dialogue-based conversation practice with native speaker audio
Read the full comparison → -
Pimsleur — best for hands-free audio practice
If you want to practice Thai hands-free — driving, walking, doing dishes — Pimsleur's Thai course is built around its audio method, in 30-minute listen-and-learn sessions.
Audio-first ear training you can do hands-free while driving or walking
Read the full comparison → -
ThaiPod101 — best for listening volume
For sheer volume of native-Thai audio, ThaiPod101's own site describes its library as "1000s of Lessons by Real Teachers."
A very large library of native-audio lessons for building listening comprehension
Read the full comparison → -
italki — best for live speaking practice
For live, one-to-one conversation with a native speaker on your own schedule, italki connects you with independent Thai tutors — some who teach the script directly, on request.
Live one-to-one tutoring with native speakers, scheduled around you
Read the full comparison → -
Read Thai (Jam Kham) — best for reading the Thai script and tone rules
Read Thai teaches you to read the actual Thai script from the first lesson, with the tone rules explained as you go, and spaced repetition so it sticks.
A course built specifically to read the Thai script and predict tones from spelling rules — consonant classes, tone marks and all — with SM-2 spaced repetition across six card formats
See the Read Thai course → -
Speak Thai (Jam Kham) — best for travel phrases
If you have a trip coming up, Speak Thai teaches the phrases you'll use for food, transport, hotels and shopping, with polite ครับ/ค่ะ endings and reviews timed to your travel date. It teaches phrases, not conversation: for real back-and-forth, add a tutor.
A phrase course for a trip: 189 phrases in 12 situation packs, the first one free, with reviews paced to your travel date. Phrases play at natural speed, and a Speak Thai membership adds slow audio; the first 30 phrases are free, at natural speed.
See Speak Thai →
See how Thai reading actually works
Here for the reading-and-tones lane? Try it free, no card needed.
Sound out your first Thai word →No account, no card — just the alphabet.
Not on this list: Duolingo, Babbel, Rosetta Stone
None of these currently teaches Thai, so none earns a spot in a Thai-app roundup.
- Duolingo: Duolingo does not currently offer a Thai course; Thai is missing from its list of available courses (source, checked 2026-08-21)
- Babbel: Babbel does not teach Thai; among its 14 languages, Indonesian is the only Asian one (source, checked 2026-08-21)
- Rosetta Stone: Thai is not among the 25 languages Rosetta Stone currently offers (source, checked 2026-08-21)
Each of those covers other languages, just not Thai — see the full picture on Duolingo and Thai if that's the one you were expecting to find here.
If reading Thai is your goal
Read Thai teaches the script and tone rules directly. Start free, first 3 modules, no card needed.
Start reading Thai today
Start the reading course →First 3 modules free — no card, and they don't expire.
See how Jam Kham compares to each app above, one by one → · Just want the alphabet? Read our Thai alphabet app guide →