Side by side
| ELSA Speak | Language Boss | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is built | Scripted lessons on a learning path, plus AI Roleplays, Speech Analyzer and Pronunciation Coach. | Koda writes each scene from what you want English for, with a role and missions. A table read comes before it and dailies after it. |
| Who sets the situation | Ready-made role-plays, Surprise Me, or Create My Own, where you design the characters, roles and storyline. | Koda, from your dream. You can also pitch a scene and he writes it. |
| Correction while you talk | After each response, on screen: a suggested improvement, an explanation and a translation. Word-level errors come in the assessment afterwards. | The character folds the fix into its reply, in role, at your level. Explanations come after the call. |
| Sounds in scripted practice | Colored letters, a breakdown into IPA with sounds marked incorrect, and your recording replayed. In Repeat After Me and Scripted Conversation. | Glass Words: only the letters of the sound that slipped crack. Coaching sessions drill one sound with your own words. |
| Sounds in free speech | Speech Analyzer lists problem sounds and word endings from a solo recording, on Premium. | Every sound of every take is scored after the call, and you hear what it came out as: "the th in think came out as s". |
| What the sound came out as | It marks a sound as incorrect and replays you. It doesn't name the sound you made instead. | It names it, with your own word beside the model. |
| Seeing your mouth | Written lip and tongue instructions, and video guides for certain sounds. | X-ray Mouth replays your selfie with the tongue drawn over your own cheek. Free. |
| Hearing yourself | Voice Modulation plays a clearer, more native-like version of your own voice to compare. | Then and Now plays your real first slip beside your real latest right take. |
| Reports | Pitch variation, pausing, hesitation, vocabulary, and predicted IELTS, TOEFL, CEFR, Pearson and TOEIC results. | No exam predictions. A recap of what you got across, what to fix and the next take. |
| Repeat mistakes | Personalizes by level, goals and performance over time. It doesn't track your repeat mistakes. | Counts each mistake and sound across all your takes and ranks what to fix first. The next character listens for your top three recurring mistakes. |
| Help in your language | Translations, and Bilingual Mode at A1 and A2 for grammar and vocabulary games. | The scene stays in English and Koda explains in your language. That help fades as your level rises. |
| Where it runs | iPhone and Android. | In the browser, on a phone or computer. |
| Progress | Streaks, points, rank, gems, leaderboards and badges. | No streaks or leagues. Which sounds you say clearly, stars, stickers, a rank from your own best scores, and Then and Now. |
| Free | 2 lessons a day, plus 3 AI lessons in total. | First scene free. Voice Coach, Sounds of English, X-ray Mouth, Glass Words, table reads, dailies and flashcards are always free. |
| Paid | Pro and Premium. The App Store lists a range, including $19.99 a month and $71.00 to $129.99 a year. Web prices differ. | Pro covers live calls: $6.99 a week or $49.99 a year. |
Where each one measures your sounds
This is the real difference. ELSA is at its most detailed when it knows what you are about to say: Repeat After Me and Scripted Conversation give you a word-by-word and sound-by-sound breakdown. Speech Analyzer takes free speech too, on any topic, and gives you a long report including a list of problem sounds. That is a solo recording rather than a conversation.
In ELSA's AI Roleplays, its help pages say the feedback after each response focuses on expression and naturalness, with occasional pronunciation hints, and the full assessment afterwards shows word-level errors.
Language Boss keeps the recording of your live scene and scores every sound of what you actually said in it. A sound counts as fixed only when it holds up in later open speech. People often say a sound right in a drill and lose it the moment they have something to get done, and that is the gap this is aimed at.
Being told, or seeing it on your own face
ELSA tells you where your lips and tongue go, in writing, and has video guides for certain sounds. That is useful, and it is more than most apps do.
X-ray Mouth tracks your face with the camera and replays your selfie with the tongue drawn over your cheek: red for what it heard, and a green ghost for where it should have gone. It is drawn from the sound it heard, not a scan. No other language app draws it over your own face.
Try the pairs Chinese speakers mix up most: th and s, r and l, ship and sheep.
Questions
Is ELSA or Language Boss better for pronunciation?
ELSA is strong in scripted practice, with phoneme-level feedback, written instructions and detailed reports. Language Boss is built to find and fix your sounds in real conversation, and to show the physical change on your own face. X-ray Mouth and Voice Coach are free, so try them.
Does ELSA Speak score free conversation?
Speech Analyzer scores free speech that you record alone, and lists your problem sounds. In AI Roleplays, ELSA's help pages describe word-level errors in the assessment afterwards. Language Boss scores every sound of a live role-play.
Is ELSA Speak free?
ELSA's help pages describe a free plan with 2 lessons a day and 3 AI lessons in total, one time only. Limits vary by platform and region.
How much does Language Boss cost?
The first scene is free, and Voice Coach, Sounds of English, X-ray Mouth, Glass Words, table reads, dailies and flashcards are always free. Pro covers live calls and costs $6.99 a week or $49.99 a year in the US.
