OluIs HelloTalk Free? What You Get Without VIP (2026)
Is HelloTalk free? What the free app covers, what VIP costs on the US App Store in November 2026, and free ways to keep practising with native speakers.
Updated 17 October 2026 · 4 min read
On this page
Short answer: yes, HelloTalk is free. You can download it, set your languages and chat with native speakers without paying anything. VIP is an optional subscription for people who want the extras.
What changes from person to person is whether the free account is enough for you. This page sets out what we found on 17 October 2026, re-checked on 2 November 2026, and what to do if you want to keep practising for free.
Text a language partner now, free, no VIP
Olu is an independent app, not affiliated with HelloTalk, Tandem, Speaky, Slowly or any app named here. Product names are used only for comparison. Prices and features of third-party apps change; check each one yourself.
What HelloTalk says it is
HelloTalk's own site says it has 70M+ language learners and 260+ languages, and invites you to "practice for free by chatting with native speakers". On the US App Store it was rated 4.6 out of 5 from about 44,000 ratings, with an age rating of 13+, when we checked.
What the free app covers
The core of the app is free:
- Finding partners by language and starting text chats.
- Voice messages, and calls with partners who agree to them.
- Moments, the public feed where native speakers correct your posts.
- Translation and correction tools inside the chat, with daily limits on some of them.
Reviews over the years have reported caps on the free account, such as how many translations you can use or how many new people you can message in a day. HelloTalk does not publish those numbers on its homepage and they have changed before, so treat any figure you read online (including in older reviews) as a guide, not a rule.
What VIP costs (US App Store, 2 November 2026)
| Item | Price listed |
|---|---|
| VIP, monthly | $12.99 |
| VIP, yearly | $79.99 |
| Pro membership, 3 months | $29.99 in October; not in the purchase list on 2 November |
| HT Coins, 8 | $0.29 |
| HT Coins, 64 | $0.99 |
| HT Coins, 324 | $4.99 |
| HT Coins, 649 | $9.99 |
| HT Coins, 3,249 | $49.99 |
| HT Coins, 10,334 | $149.99 |
Prices are set per country and per store, so the Google Play price or your local App Store price can be different. Older reviews quote other figures, including a lifetime plan, which may not be offered now.
When VIP is worth paying for
VIP makes sense if HelloTalk is already your main practice and a limit keeps getting in the way:
- You hit the daily translation or new-chat limit most days.
- You want search filters to find partners by age, place or level.
- You use the extra learning tools often enough to save real time.
If your problem is different, VIP may not fix it. A common complaint about language-exchange apps is not price, it is messages that never get a reply. Paying does not change how many people are online and willing to talk.
Free ways to keep practising
If you'd rather not pay, you have options:
- Stay on HelloTalk's free account and spend your limited new chats on people who list your language as the one they are learning.
- Tandem is free to join and chat, with a paid Pro tier. We compared the two in HelloTalk vs Tandem.
- Speaky says it is free, and Slowly has a generous free tier with paid extras.
- Discord and Reddit language communities are free and active, if you're happy to organise your own practice.
- Olu is free with no ads and no paid plan. It is text only, translates every message both ways, works in the browser and is for adults 18+. One tap looks for someone online now (or an AI local, always marked AI) instead of you browsing profiles.
Whichever app you use, keep your contact details and money out of chats with people you have just met; see our safety tips for text chat with strangers.
For a wider list, see HelloTalk alternatives and the best language exchange apps.
Meet more people at World hour
A free app is only useful if someone is there to answer. Olu's community is small, so who is around depends on the hour. That is why there is World hour: every day at 19:00 UTC, for 30 minutes, members from different countries come online together, and a search is far more likely to find a real person.
19:00 UTC is evening in Europe, afternoon in the Americas and late night in East Asia. To see it in your own time and a friend's, use the time zone overlap tool.
The bottom line
HelloTalk is free, and many learners use it for years without paying. VIP ($12.99 a month or $79.99 a year on the US App Store in November 2026) is worth it only if a free-account limit keeps stopping you. If what you really want is someone who replies, try a few free apps, and practise when people are online.
Questions people ask
+Is HelloTalk free?
Yes. HelloTalk is free to download and you can chat with native speakers without paying. VIP is an optional paid subscription that adds extras and lifts some limits on the free account.
+How much is HelloTalk VIP?
On the US App Store on 2 November 2026, VIP was listed at $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year. A 3-month Pro membership at $29.99, listed in October, was not in the store's purchase list in November. Prices differ by country and store and change over time, so check the purchase screen in the app.
+What are HT Coins on HelloTalk?
HT Coins are an in-app currency sold separately from VIP. On the US App Store on 2 November 2026 they ran from $0.29 for 8 coins to $149.99 for 10,334 coins.
+Is HelloTalk VIP worth it?
It depends on how much you use the extras. If the free account already lets you find partners who reply, many learners never pay. If you keep hitting a limit on translations, new chats or search filters, VIP is what removes it.
+Is there a completely free app like HelloTalk?
Olu is free with no ads and no paid plan: text only, every message translated both ways, for adults 18+. Its community is much smaller than HelloTalk's, so the best time to find someone is World hour, every day at 19:00 UTC. Speaky says it is free, and Slowly has a generous free tier.
+Can I use HelloTalk on a computer?
HelloTalk is built mainly for phones. Olu runs in any browser, on a phone or a computer, and can be added to your home screen like an app.
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