Readle: what does the app do, what does it cost, and which alternatives fit?

Readle is a reading app for language learners, made by A-Type Technologies GmbH of Diepoldsau, Switzerland. It was called Langster until April 2025; the founders renamed it to put graded reading first, and Langster subscriptions carried over. The app takes real news, dialogues and short fiction, rewrites them for a level, and turns each piece into a short lesson. Its App Store description speaks of over 2,000 stories and articles and sessions of about five minutes; the website says new stories and news appear every day.

The languages are French, Spanish, German, English, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. The App Store description also names exam preparation for IELTS, TOEFL, DELF, DELE, Goethe, JLPT and HSK, and presents Readle as a companion to courses and resources such as DW Learn German, Klett, Hueber’s Schritte Plus Neu and TV5MONDE. These are Readle’s own descriptions; we did not test the app for this page.

Beginner to upper intermediate for certain; advanced depends on the language. The App Store description of the main app gives CEFR A1–B2 (JLPT N5–N2 for Japanese, HSK 1–4 for Chinese). Readle’s website gives A1–C1, HSK 1–5 and N5–N2, with a level filter from A1 to C1. The single-language apps differ too: Learn German: News by Readle says “Pick your level (A1, A2, B1, B2 or C1)”, while Learn Spanish: News by Readle describes courses from A1 to B2.

The main app’s list of in-app purchases also includes older items under the Langster name and “Learn Languages: Premium” at $12.99 and $69.99, and a Langster lifetime plan at $199.99; the table gives the plans named Readle. A year at $69.99 works out at about $5.83 a month, and five months on the monthly plan ($74.95) already cost more than a year. Prices differ by country and change; check the store before you pay.

On its website Readle sells a lifetime plan for $199.99, shown as reduced from $499.99, as a limited-time offer with no end date. The refund rules differ between Readle’s own pages: the refund policy gives 14 days for purchases made on the website, the lifetime offer page speaks of a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the terms of use say all fees are final. Purchases in the App Store or Google Play are refunded by Apple or Google, not by Readle.

Only as a trial. Readle’s website offers seven days of the full app free, “everything open”, and then asks you to pick a plan. Neither the website nor the App Store page says what remains free after the trial: the terms of use say “the basic Service is free” without defining it, and the website’s FAQ question “Are Readle story lessons free to read?” showed no answer when we checked. Removing the app does not cancel a subscription; Readle’s refund policy says to cancel it manually.

• Readle: Learn Languages Daily, all seven languages: 1,520 ratings, average 4.68.
• Learn German: News by Readle: 1,052 ratings, average 4.70; A1–C1; $9.99 a month.
• Learn Spanish: News by Readle: 179 ratings, average 4.70; A1–B2; Premium at $12.99 or $69.99 (the store does not say for what period).
• Learn French: News by Readle: 157 ratings, average 4.68.
• Learn English: News by Readle: 27 ratings; Readle: Learn Japanese Fast: 14; Learn Chinese: Readle Mandarin: 7.

Platforms: iPhone and iPad (iOS 15 or later), Macs with an Apple M1 chip or later, Android through Google Play, and a computer through the web, with one account across devices. In the App Store’s privacy section, the developer lists usage data as “Data Used to Track You”, and email address and user ID as data linked to you.

The in-app purchase lists in the App Store show several prices for the same plan, including trial and promotional offers; the table gives the regular monthly, yearly and lifetime prices where the store names them. With 6 or 58 ratings, an average says little.

• You want graded texts in more languages, or to read your own material: LingQ. It covers over 50 languages and imports books, articles, videos and podcasts, but its free account is a trial (20 saved words in total) and Premium costs the same per month as Readle.
• You want to read and listen at the same time: Beelinguapp, with the translation beside the text and audiobooks. Reading a translation side by side is a different method from tapping single words; when it helps is on Do bilingual books help adult learners?
• You want whole books, not lessons: Linga and duoBooks open your own e-books; Readlang Mobile has graded readers sorted from A1 to C1. Linga’s last App Store update was on 17 December 2025.
• You already read on Kindle or Apple Books: both translate a selected word for free. They and eight other reading apps are compared on Which apps help you read books in a foreign language?