We’ve tested tons of resources for learning Russian to help you figure out which ones are worth using and which ones should be avoided. These are our top choices.
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MOST RECOMMENDED RUSSIAN RESOURCES

Red Kalinka
Red Kalinka is an exceptionally comprehensive online Russian course. With over 75 hours of video, hundreds of pages of learning materials, audio clips, and exercises; the amount of material they offer in their Russian course is truly staggering. Plus, you can email your tutor with any questions you encounter. Although it’s not the most exciting course, nothing comes close to it in terms of quality of instruction.
See our Super-Detailed Red Kalinka Review

Pimsleur
While I still think purchasing the Pimsleur courses is a pretty bad value, the addition of a low-cost subscription plan makes Pimsleur an excellent choice for those looking to learn Russian. It’s quite a bit different than most courses, as the written language and grammar are mostly ignored. Instead, you’ll listen and speak often throughout the course. I don’t think any course will get you speaking as quickly as Pimsleur does.
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Limited time Holiday offer! Get 20% off on Pimsleur’s Annual All Access Subscription! You’ll also get to learn simultaneously with up to 3 additional household members! See details on their website. Offer ends on 12/14/2023.
See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Review

italki
italki is definitely the resource I recommend most to people, regardless of the language they’re learning. Booking 1-1 lessons on italki are very affordable and with the large selection of teachers, you can always find someone that fits your preferences. Plus, bonus features like language exchanges and their Notebooks, where you can have your writing corrected by members of the community, are invaluable.
See our Super-Detailed italki Review

Grammar Hero
Grammar Hero, created by Olly Richards of I Will Teach You a Language, is a really unique resource for learning grammar. You learn the most challenging Russian grammar points in a more natural manner – through reading stories. After reading the story, you’ll learn about the grammar rules, and notice where and why they appear in the text. It also includes exercises to practice what you’ve learned.
See our Super-Detailed Grammar Hero Review

RussianPod101
RussianPod101 is a podcast style course. These lessons typically focus on a dialog which is discussed by a couple of hosts. They go through it line by line, explaining key vocabulary and grammar. Lessons advanced from the absolute beginner to advanced level, with increasing amounts of Russian used at each level. While the Premium and Premium Plus plan are a bit expensive, the Basic plan is great value.
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Holiday Countdown! Get Lifetime Access for $599, Lifetime Access to 3 languages for $999 or Lifetime to all 34 languages for $1,499! ONLY available for the Holiday Season. See website for details. Offer ends 12/12/2023.
See our Super-Detailed RussianPod101 Review

Speechling
Speechling makes it easy to improve your Russian speaking and pronunciation skills. Through their paid plan, you can submit an unlimited number of recordings of yourself speaking Russian and get feedback on your pronunciation. For free, you can record yourself mimicking their audio recordings and make use of their exercises, such as multiple choice questions, listening, and dictation.
See our Super-Detailed Speechling Review

Lingodeer
Lingodeer isn’t terribly unique. It teaches Russian in a manner that’s fairly similar to Babbel, Duolingo, and a number of other programs. However, Lingodeer is my favorite because they do a lot of things better – grammar explantions, variety of exercises, professionally recorded audio, and more, all while being cheaper than almost any other course. It’s a pretty fun and easy way to get started with Russian.
See our Super-Detailed Lingodeer Review

Duolingo
Duolingo is far from a perfect resource – with issues like poorly recorded audio and teaching nonsensical sentences. However, the fact that it’s completely free to use makes overlooking these weaker points much easier. Ideal for casual learners, Duolingo is a pretty fun way to get an introduction to Russian.
See our Super-Detailed Duolingo Review

Real Russian Club
The Real Russian Club has a lot of useful resources for Russian learners. Among them are two podcasts, one of which is Slow Russian, and the other teaches Russian through stories. There’s a Youtube channel with lessons and information about Russia and their blog is also quite useful to learners. For those interested, there are also a few premium courses for sale.

Memrise
Memrise is a free to use platform that is great for language learners. It’s best for helping you to memorize words or phrases but not sufficient to teach deeper concepts. Essentially, Memrise teaches via gamified flashcards. There are 7 official Russian courses, created by Memrise, but also tons more that have been added by users. The topics and quality of the user created courses can vary significantly.
See our Super-Detailed Memrise Review

Tandem
Tandem is a language exchange app created to connect learners from around the world. You can teach someone the language you speak and they’ll help you learn the language you’d like to learn. It comes with lots of useful features (as well as a large, active user base) to make connecting with other users easy and facilitate language practice. There’s also a tutoring service offered in the app for those who are interested.
See our Super-Detailed Tandem Review

Clozemaster
Clozemaster makes it easier to learn languages in context. You’ll study Russian by reading sentences and completing lots of fill in the blank questions. You can do so either by typing or choosing the correct multiple choice option. This method will help you study vocabulary within the context of tons of sentences. They also make things a bit more fun by awarding points for your answers. It has an old-school video game feel to it.
See our Super-Detailed Clozemaster Review
All Russian Reviews
- 17 Minute Languages Review: I Wouldn’t Recommend Using It
- Babbel Review – Nothing Flashy, But Good, Trusted Courses At Reasonable Cost
- Babbel Russian Review: We Actually Really Like It
- Busuu Review: Some Courses Are Better Than Others
- Clozemaster Review: Limited Focus But Fun Way To Grow Vocab
- Cudoo Review — I Wouldn’t Even Use it if it Were Free
- Drops App Review – Decent As A Supplementary Resource
- Duolingo Review: Useful But Not Sufficient – 2 Language Learners Test It (With Video)
- Earworms Review – A Unique Idea But Lacks Substance
- Fluent Forever App Review – Lots Of Potential But Not There Yet
- FluentU Review — More Expensive than the Competition
- Glossika Review – Not Cheap But Useful
- Grammar Hero Review – I Like It A Lot, But Wish It Were Cheaper
- HelloTalk Review – Make Friends & Practice Languages
- HiNative Review: Useful But Not Exceptional Q&A App
- italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just Alright
- Language101.com Course Review – The Worst I’ve Ever Tried!
- LanguagePod101 — All Languages, Pod101 and Class101
- Ling Review — Gamified Practice in Less Common Languages
- Lingodeer Review – A Better Alternative To Duolingo, Busuu, Rosetta Stone, etc.
- LingQ Review – Extensive Reading Made Easy
- LinguaLift Review – You’d Be Better Off Using A Textbook
- Lingvist Review: Putting Their Courses To The Test
- Living Language Online Course Review – Not Very Good
- Mango Languages Review – Pretty Good For Beginners
- Memrise Review – Useful But Don’t Overuse It
- Michel Thomas Method Review – Avoid At All Costs
- Mimic Method Review: Trying Out The Elemental Sounds Courses
- Mondly Review – Made Significant Improvements in 2022
- Pimsleur Review — Learn While You… Do Just About Anything
- Pimsleur Russian Review: Great for Speaking Russian From Day 1
- Preply Review – Tutors Should Be Paid For Trial Classes
- Review Of Red Kalinka’s Russian Course – Exceptionally Comprehensive
- Rocket Russian Review – Uninspiring And Overpriced
- Rosetta Stone Review — Updated and Improved…And Needs More Improvement
- Rosetta Stone Russian Review: Grammar? Cyrillic Alphabet? Not Found Here
- RussianPod101 Review – Testing Their Course
- Rype App Review: I Wouldn’t Recommend It To Anybody
- Speaky Review: Better Than Other Language Exchange Apps?
- Speechling Review – I Didn’t Know I Was Saying That Wrong!
- Tandem Review: A Tinder-esque Language Exchange App?
- Transparent Language Review – Not Exciting, But Language Offering Is So Vast That You May Need It
- uTalk Review – For Beginners Who Want To Learn Key Words & Phrases
- Verbling Review: Online Classes With Helpful Revision Tools
- Word Dive Review: Falls Short Compared To Similar Apps
All Russian Mini Reviews
- 3ears Mini-Review: Free Learning Through Russian Videos
- 50 Languages Mini-Review: Basically an online phrasebook
- AmazingTalker Mini Review: Not Our Top Pick for Web Classes
- Anki Mini-Review: The Go-To SRS Flashcard App
- Bab.la Mini-Review: Use WordReference or Linguee Instead
- Beelinguapp Mini-Review: Reading & Listening Practice
- BeFluent Mini-Review: Friendly and Supportive
- Bilingual Oxford Dictionaries Mini Review: Handy Apps
- Bite Size Languages Mini-Review: Good for Beginners
- Bluebird Languages Mini-Review: Over 160 Languages Available
- Brainscape Mini-Review: Adaptive Flashcards
- CaptionPop Mini-Review: Use The Free Version
- Complete Language Lessons Mini Review: Almost Useless
- Comprehensible Russian Mini-Review: Best for Absolute Beginners
- Cooljugator Mini-Review: Conjugations For Uncommon Languages
- Coursera Mini-Review: Great for Beginners, but Limited Options
- DLI Courses Mini-Review: Free With a Strong Focus on Pronunciation
- Easy Languages Mini-Review: Interviews Around The Globe
- Encore!!! Language Learning Mini-Review: Basically a Phrasebook
- Flowlingo Mini-Review: Has Potential, Still Developing
- Forvo Mini-Review: Audio Pronunciation of Millions of Words
- FSI Courses Mini-Review: Free, Comprehensive, but Also Outdated
- FunEasyLearn Mini-Review: Build Vocabulary The Fun Way
- Hey! Lingo Mini-Review: Has Useful Phrases
- iLanguages Mini-Review: Almost Identical to Learn 101
- iLoveLanguages Mini-Review: Another Phrasebook SIte
- Instant Immersion Mini-Review: No Longer a Good Investment
- Interlinear Books Mini-Review: Literal Translations Between The Lines
- Internet Polyglot Mini-Review: Word Lists With Games
- iTranslate Mini-Review: 5 Apps To Support Communication
- L-Lingo Mini-Review: Textbook Content, Depends On Your Style
- Lang Workbooks Mini-Review: Thorough Writing Practice
- LangCorrect: Unlimited, Free Writing Practice With Feedback
- Langu Mini Review: A Quality-Focused italki Alternative
- Language Learning WIth Netflix Mini-Review: Easy to Use
- Learn WIth Oliver Mini-Review: Simple With Lots of Content
- Learn101 Mini-Review: A Re-Formatted Version of iLanguages
- Lexilogos Mini-Review: A Resource Bank For Dictionaries and Books
- Lingo Mastery Conversational Dialogues Mini-Review: Dual-text
- Lingo Mastery Short Stories Mini-Review: Lots of Unique Words
- Lingo Pie Mini-Review: Sourced From Actual TV Shows
- LingoHut Mini-Review: Good Intentions, So-So Follow Through
- Lingua Boost Mini-Review: Use Pimsleur Instead
- Linguee Mini-Review: Best Dictionary for Formal Language
- Loecsen Mini-Review: Phrasebook App For Absolute Beginners
- Magic Lingua Mini-Review: Pricey But Potentially Worth It
- Master Any Language Mini-Review: No Words To Describe the Nope
- MOSAlingua Mini-Review: Memorize Phrases and Words
- My Language Exchange Mini-Review: Millions of Active Users
- OPLingo Mini-Review: Community Driven, Non-Profit
- Optilingo Mini-Review: Use if You Absolutely Love Slideshows
- Polly Lingual Mini-Review: Phrasebook With Simple Games
- Readlang Mini-Review: A Must-Have For Language Lovers
- Reverso Translation Mini-Review: Best for French learners
- Russian With Max Mini-Review: Engaging For Intermediate+
- Scripts Mini-Review: Flashy and Fast-Paced
- Simply Learn Mini-Review: Spaced Repetition Phrases For Travelers
- Speakly Mini-Review: Speaking, Listening, and Writing Practice
- Speekoo Mini-Review: Dip Your Toes in a Language and Culture
- StoryLearning Olly Richards 101 Conversations Mini-Review: Practical
- StoryLearning Olly Richards Short Stories Mini-Review: Practical
- Strokes International Mini Review: Pricy but Comprehensive
- Sublearning Mini-Review: There Are Better Uses For Your Time
- SuperMemo Mini-Review: Not to Be Confused With Super-Memo
- Tatoeba Mini-Review: A Community Writing Sentences in Context
- Verbix Mini-Review: Adequate for Less-Studied Languages
- Vocabulearn Mini Review: Unlikely to Teach You a Language
- Vocly Mini-Review: Expand Your Vocabulary in Less Common Languages
- Wlingua Mini-Review: A Clear Learning Path
- Wordbit Mini-Review: Innovative Flashcards for Short Term Use
- WordReference Mini-Review: Thorough and Professionally Translated
- Write It! Mini-Review: Simple and Straight-Forward
- Write Me Mini-Review: Learn Basic Scripts
- YouGlish Mini-Review: Thousands of Words in Context From YouTube