The best apps to learn a language by reading in 2026

Once you know the basics, reading lets you meet thousands of words in context, at your own pace, with a story to pull you along. The hard part is finding things to read that are neither too easy nor too hard, with help close at hand when you need it. That’s what reading apps are for, and in 2026 there are good ones for almost every kind of reader.

We make Lexo, which is on this list. We’ve described every app, ours included, by what it does and who it suits, and we’ve tried to describe the others the way their own users would. There’s no single best app, only the best fit for your language, your level and the way you like to read. Everything here was checked in October 2026. Apps change often, so check each one’s site for current features and prices.

The short answer

If you want whole books pitched at your level and read aloud, try Lexo (iPhone and iPad). If you want to read anything you find, from news to YouTube transcripts, with word tracking and flashcards, choose LingQ or Readlang. If you like a translation beside the text, Beelinguapp. If you’re learning Mandarin or Japanese, the specialists (Du Chinese, The Chairman’s Bao, Satori Reader) are built around those writing systems. And if you already read comfortably, a Kindle with its dictionaries lets you read almost any book in the original.

What makes a good reading app

• Text at the right level. Hu and Nation (2000, “Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension”) found that most readers needed to know about 98% of the words in a story to understand it adequately without help. A good app either pitches the text at your level or makes it easy to find texts that are. See the 98% rule.
• Fast help in context. A tap should tell you what a word means here, not hand you a dictionary entry to sift through.
• Audio. Webb and Chang (2015, “Second language vocabulary learning through extensive reading with audio support”) found substantial vocabulary gains in learners who read and listened to graded readers. More in reading while listening.
• Enough to read that you want to read. Day and Bamford (1998, Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom) make the case for reading a lot of material that’s comfortably within your ability. Material you care about is what keeps you going. See extensive reading.
• It fits your life: your language, your devices, and how you like to pay.

Quick picks

App	Best for	Languages	Platforms	How you pay
Lexo	Classic novels rewritten at your level, narrated	About 80	iPhone, iPad	Per book, or monthly credits
LingQ	Reading anything you import, and tracking known words	More than 50	Web, iOS, Android	Limited free plan; subscriptions
Readlang	Click-to-translate on any web page, with automatic flashcards	More than 100	Web; desktop Chrome extension	Free plan with daily limits; subscriptions
Beelinguapp	Stories side by side with a translation, read aloud	More than 20	iOS, Android	Free tier with ads; Premium
Kindle	Unabridged books with built-in dictionaries	Many	E-readers, Fire tablets, iOS, Android	Buy books
Du Chinese	Graded Mandarin with flexible pinyin and native audio	Mandarin	iOS, Android, web	Free lessons; Premium
The Chairman’s Bao	Graded Mandarin news	Mandarin	iOS, Android, web	Free samples; subscription
Satori Reader	Japanese stories that adapt furigana to what you know	Japanese	Web, iOS, Android	Free episodes; Pro subscription
Readle	Short daily graded stories and news	Six	Mobile and web	Free trial; subscription

Lexo: classic novels at your level

Lexo is ours, so we’ll keep this factual. It’s an iPhone and iPad library of about 100 classics, from Treasure Island to Pride and Prejudice, each rewritten at five CEFR levels in the language you’re learning: A2, B1, B2, C1 (close to the original, lightly condensed) and C2 (the complete novel). Tap any word for its meaning in that sentence, its base form, any idiom it’s part of, and a translation of the sentence into your own language. Books are narrated with different voices for different characters, highlighted word by word, and work offline.

Worth knowing: iPhone and iPad only, no free tier, no spaced-repetition review and no way to import your own texts. The editions are produced with AI and checked automatically, and most are written the first time someone asks, so the first reader waits a few minutes for chapter 1. Planned US pricing is $4.99 a book, or Lexo Plus at $4.99 a month for two book credits. Lexo is in beta and launching soon.

Best for: learners from A2 up who want to read whole books, with narration, in one of about 80 languages.

LingQ: read anything, track every word

LingQ, launched in 2007 by Steve Kaufmann and his son Mark, turns almost anything into a lesson: web articles, YouTube videos, Netflix subtitles, podcasts and ebooks, alongside a large library of its own. New words appear in blue; click for suggested meanings and save them as LingQs for spaced-repetition review while your known-word count climbs. Imported text can be read aloud with generated speech, and newer AI features include translations chosen from context and an assistant called Lynx.

Worth knowing: you choose the difficulty, and much of the library is uploaded by users. The free plan is quite limited.

Best for: independent learners who want to read what they love. See Lexo vs LingQ.

Readlang: the web as your reader

Readlang works in your browser. Click any word, or drag across a phrase, on a web page or in text you paste or upload (including DRM-free EPUBs), and you get a translation. Every lookup becomes a flashcard that keeps its sentence, reviewed with spaced repetition and exportable to Anki. Paid plans add a Story Bot that writes stories at your level on topics you choose, and higher-quality voices for Read Aloud.

Worth knowing: there’s no native mobile app (the site is built to work in phone browsers) and no offline mode. Single-word lookups are free and unlimited.

Best for: learners who read on a laptop and want flashcards made for them. See Lexo vs Readlang.

Beelinguapp: stories side by side

Beelinguapp shows a story in two languages side by side, with narration and karaoke-style scrolling text; it says many stories are read by native speakers. The library runs from children’s books and fairy tales to classics, news and songs, sorted into Kids, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Long-press a word for its translation, collect words as flashcards, and answer comprehension questions.

Worth knowing: the free tier has ads; Premium opens the whole library and lets you write your own stories with AI.

Best for: beginners who want a translation in view. See Lexo vs Beelinguapp.

Kindle: the original, with help

For confident readers, Kindle offers an enormous choice of books. Press and hold a word for a definition from a monolingual or bilingual dictionary, translate selected phrases, and on Kindle e-readers review your lookups in Vocabulary Builder. Word Wise adds simple hints above harder words in many English-language books, and with matching Audible editions, Immersion Reading highlights the text as the narrator reads.

Worth knowing: you’re reading the original, which is hard going below about C1.

Best for: advanced readers, and learners of English. See Lexo vs Kindle.

Du Chinese: graded Mandarin

Du Chinese has graded stories and articles from Newbie to Master, including HSK-aligned content. Tap a word for its definition, pinyin, audio and the sentence translation; show pinyin for every word, only the hard ones, or none; switch between Simplified and Traditional characters. Every reading has native-speaker audio, there’s a spaced-repetition flashcard system, and it connects with tools such as Pleco and Skritter. Free lessons are limited; Premium adds the full library and offline study.

Best for: Mandarin learners at any level.

The Chairman’s Bao: Mandarin through the news

The Chairman’s Bao publishes news-based lessons graded by HSK level, with a one-tap dictionary, human-recorded audio for each article, pinyin you can turn on or off, and flashcards. Its archive is large and regularly updated, and it offers versions for schools. There are free sample lessons; the rest is by subscription.

Best for: Mandarin learners who like current affairs.

Satori Reader: Japanese for intermediate learners

From the makers of Human Japanese, Satori Reader publishes serialized stories and articles written by native speakers for intermediate learners and recorded by voice actors. Kanji and furigana can follow what you know, a tap gives a word’s meaning in that context, and sentences come with translations and notes. Some episodes are free; a Pro subscription opens the full library and offline access.

Best for: intermediate learners of Japanese.

Readle: a short story a day

Readle offers short graded stories, news and dialogues in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Chinese, with taps for meanings in context, native audio for each sentence and spaced-repetition review. A separate app focuses on German news stories. There’s a free trial and a few rotating free stories; full access is paid.

Best for: a short daily reading habit in one of its six languages.

Also worth knowing

Duolingo isn’t a reading app, but in its larger courses its Stories, short dialogues with audio and comprehension questions built into the learning path, are a gentle first step into reading for meaning, and the course is free to start. See Lexo vs Duolingo and Duolingo alternatives for reading.

Graded readers aren’t apps, but they’re the original way to read real books as a learner: Penguin Readers, Oxford Bookworms, Cambridge English Readers and Black Cat for English, with smaller series for French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese and Japanese. Almost all now come with audio, and several publishers offer ebooks or digital libraries. See Lexo vs graded readers.

Language Reactor is a free desktop Chrome extension, with paid extras, that adds dual subtitles and a pop-up dictionary to Netflix and YouTube, and has a mode for reading imported text.

Who should choose what

• You’re a beginner: Beelinguapp’s side-by-side stories, or graded readers.
• You want to read whatever you like: LingQ or Readlang.
• You’re learning Mandarin or Japanese: Du Chinese, The Chairman’s Bao or Satori Reader, which are built around those writing systems.
• You want unabridged books: Kindle, from about C1.
• You want spaced-repetition flashcards built in: almost any of the others. Lexo lets you go back over your saved words, but nothing is scored or scheduled.
• You use Android: most of the apps here, but not Lexo.

Who should choose Lexo

Choose Lexo if you’re at A2 or above and want to read whole classics, such as The Hound of the Baskervilles, pitched at your level, narrated, with each word explained in the sentence it’s in. It suits readers who’d rather have a book prepared for them than hunt for material, who learn one of its 80 or so languages, and who read on iPhone or iPad. If you want flashcards, Android, or your own texts, one of the apps above will serve you better.

Lexo is in beta and launching on the App Store soon. Get notified at launch.