Speak
Language app built around actually speaking, with an AI tutor that corrects your pronunciation.
why this verdict
Keep paying — OpenAI has not replaced it
OpenAI's version overlaps, but does not finish the education job, so this one still earns its $20/mo.
- A named launch, not a vibe named, unlinked
- ChatGPT advanced voice mode holding an unlimited free conversation in any language. OpenAI, April 23, 2025 — no announcement link recorded yet.
- How much of the job it covers not the job editorial call
- Parts of it. The job still needs the tool to get finished.
- Is there a free way to do it? yes
- 2 of 3 listed replacements have a usable free tier: ChatGPT and Anki.
- What the call is worth $240/yr
- $20/mo at the entry paid tier — $240 a year per seat.
- Threatened by
- OpenAI
- Since
- April 23, 2025
- List price
- $20/mo
- Per year
- $240
The backstory
Speak drills spoken output rather than vocabulary matching, using speech recognition to correct pronunciation and an AI tutor for open conversation. A frontier voice assistant will chat in any language for free, which looks like a direct substitute. Speak survives because a curriculum matters: it decides what you practise next, tracks whether it stuck and holds you to a sequence, which an open-ended chat partner never does.
Escape hatches
Free voice conversation practice in most languages
chatgpt.com open_in_newReal human tutors by the hour
italki.com open_in_newFree spaced repetition for vocabulary retention
apps.ankiweb.net open_in_new2 of 3 replacements have a usable free tier.