We make Qlango, a language app that competes with Memrise, so you should know that before reading on. Every fact about Memrise here was checked on its own website, blog and help pages in October 2026, and the criticism reflects complaints that recur across app stores, Trustpilot and the r/memrise subreddit.
Any honest Memrise review in 2026 has to start with a history lesson, because the app many people remember is gone. Memrise was founded in London in 2010 by Ed Cooke, Ben Whately and Greg Detre, and for a decade it was known for two things: user-made courses on almost anything, and "mems", the funny memory aids learners wrote for each other. Between 2021 and 2024 it removed both from the app, retired offline mode and rebuilt itself around videos of local speakers and AI conversation. Since late 2025, with co-founder Ben Whately as chief executive, some of the old favorites have started coming back.
Memrise review: the short answer
Memrise is good for beginners and lower-intermediate learners who want vocabulary, short daily sessions and lots of real people saying real phrases on video. It's a poor fit if you want grammar taught systematically, need lessons offline, or are looking for depth beyond the early levels. Long-time users who left over the community courses will find some of them back, but not the old Memrise.
How Memrise has changed: a short timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2016 | The team films native speakers across Europe; the clips become the "Learn with Locals" videos |
| 2022 | Mems removed in September; a redesigned app runs alongside the classic one; MemBot, an AI chat partner, launches in December |
| 2023 | Immersion videos from YouTube and TikTok added; the community forum closes in December |
| March 2024 | Community courses moved out of the app to a separate website |
| July to September 2024 | Everyone moved to the new app; offline mode and pronunciation practice retired |
| 2025 | Pronunciation Buddy (January); another redesign, first for new users (July) and then for existing ones |
| 2026 | Community word lists return to the app; Exam Prep, Podchats and Memrise Stories (February); mems return (May) |
Two of those moments explain most of the anger you'll still find online. The community courses were, for many learners, the whole point: someone had already built a course for that rare language, that exam word list or that textbook chapter, and you could just use it. Mems were Memrise's signature feature. Removing both felt to many users like the company had thrown away what made it different. The 2026 changes, about 800 community courses brought back as "Community Word Lists" in a first step and a new version of mems where you can write a memory aid or let AI draw one, are a real olive branch. The separate community courses website is also still live.
What Memrise is like now
Official courses. Memrise says you can learn 149 languages, but most of those are community word lists. Its own courses cover around 30 languages, among them Spanish (Spain and Mexico), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Swahili and Yoruba, with the app interface in about 20 languages.
Learning and review. Lessons teach words and phrases with audio and short clips of local speakers. Reviews follow a spaced-repetition schedule that runs from 4 hours up to 6 months, and you can launch Review, Speed Review and Difficult Words sessions from your word list.
Speaking. MemBot offers AI role-play conversations by voice or text, and Pronunciation Buddy gives feedback on how you sound. You can also record yourself and compare with a native speaker.
Levels. Word lists such as the most popular 1,000 words are tailored to CEFR levels, and English learners can check their CEFR level in the app. Memrise doesn't claim full courses from A1 to C2.
Newer extras. Exam Prep offers practice for IELTS, GCSE, A-Level, IB and CEFR-aligned exams, marked by an AI examiner, and Podchats gives intermediate and advanced English learners voice conversations with an AI podcast host.
Platforms. iOS, Android and the web app, which often gets new features first.
From a teacher's point of view, Memrise does one job well: getting high-frequency words and phrases into your memory, with real faces and voices attached. Seeing a dozen different people say the same phrase is surprisingly useful for listening. What it doesn't do is explain how the language works, and phrases without grammar stop carrying you somewhere around the end of A2.
How Memrise pricing works
Memrise doesn't publish prices on its public pages; you see them in the app or on its website when logged in, and they vary by country, platform and current offer. The structure, as of October 2026:
| Plan | What you get | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Limited vocabulary lessons, videos and conversations | Some word lists are Pro-only |
| Pro monthly | All vocabulary lessons, all native-speaker videos, unlimited speaking practice | Renews until cancelled |
| Pro annual | Same as monthly | 30-day money-back guarantee if bought directly, not through the App Store |
| Pro lifetime | Same as monthly | Defined in the terms as 100 years or until Memrise stops offering the service |
Pro can't be shared through Apple Family Sharing or Google Play Family Library. The Memrise website shows your local options.
What learners praise
- The native-speaker videos. The most consistent praise in app-store reviews and independent reviews. PCMag called them perhaps the only remaining standout feature, which is praise and criticism in one sentence.
- Vocabulary that sticks. Many reviewers say the spaced repetition works and that Memrise teaches words better than more game-like apps.
- Short sessions. Five minutes on the bus counts.
- The AI chat, for some. Opinions are split, but plenty of app-store reviewers enjoy practicing with MemBot.
- Mems coming back. The May 2026 announcement was among the most upvoted posts on r/memrise.
Where Memrise falls short
- The community courses. Still the biggest grievance, with hundreds of posts on r/memrise since 2024. Many long-time users moved their study to Anki. The 2026 return helps, but only a fraction of the old catalog has made it into the app so far.
- Redesign fatigue. Several redesigns in four years removed features people relied on, such as leaderboards and level skipping, and a recurring theme in reviews is that Memrise "used to be great".
- AI that gets in the way. A common complaint is that AI features are pushed hard and sometimes mark correct answers wrong or mishear speech. Others like them, so this depends on taste and on the language.
- Billing. Trustpilot reviews are dominated by billing problems: charges after cancelling, refunds that don't arrive, and lifetime purchases not recognized after a phone change or app migration.
- Bugs and outages. Lost streaks, lost progress and occasional outages come up repeatedly; Memrise acknowledged a major outage in July 2025.
- Thin grammar. Reviewers and users agree that Memrise is strongest at the beginning and grows thin as you go up.
- No offline mode. Memrise retired it in 2024, saying its AI features need a connection, so check the current app before relying on it on a flight.
Who should use Memrise
Use Memrise if you're a beginner in one of its official languages, want vocabulary and listening practice in short bursts, and like hearing many real voices. Pair it with something that teaches grammar. Skip it if you want one app to carry you past A2, study offline, or mainly want rare-language word lists, where the separate community site is now the place to look. If mnemonics were your favorite part, our comparison of vocabulary learning methods explains why they work and how to make your own, and our guide to learning a language with AI covers how to use chatbots without fooling yourself.
Where Qlango fits
If you want the vocabulary work and a course around it, Qlango's lessons follow CEFR levels, use spaced repetition, and mix answer modes: picking from four options, building sentences, writing, dictation and finding pairs. Premium adds offline learning and an AI teacher you can ask about any grammar point, as often as you like. You choose the language you learn through, and Qlango has structured courses in 80 languages, including rarely taught ones such as Xhosa, Hausa, Shona and Uyghur; our guide to learning Xhosa is a good example, and the language list shows every level. You can also chat with other learners, with message translation built in.
Memrise FAQ
Is Memrise still good in 2026?
For beginner vocabulary and listening, yes: the native-speaker videos and spaced repetition still work well. For grammar, offline study or anything past the early levels, it's not enough on its own.
Does Memrise still have community courses?
Partly. The separate community courses website is still live, and in 2026 Memrise brought about 800 community courses back into the app as Community Word Lists, with more being added.
Are mems back on Memrise?
Yes. Memrise reintroduced mems in May 2026. You can write your own memory aid for a word or let AI create one, and the feature arrived on the web app first.
Does Memrise work offline?
Memrise retired offline mode in July 2024 and said its AI features need an internet connection, so plan on being online.
If you'd like a structured course that teaches the grammar along with the words, Qlango is free to start, and the first A1 lesson takes about five minutes.
