Language exchange apps like HelloTalk, and how to choose
Looking for a language exchange app like HelloTalk? What these apps do, what to check before you pick one, and where Hashti fits and where it does not.
If you want an app like HelloTalk, you are looking for a place to find native speakers who want to practice your language while you practice theirs. Tandem is the best-known alternative, and there are others. I will be straight about Hashti: it is not a dedicated language exchange app. It is a chat app with public rooms, private chats, calls and live translation, and some people use it for practice. If you want lessons, correction tools and partner matching built for learners, a dedicated app is the better pick. If you want to talk to real people about real topics in a language you share, or bridge a language you do not, Hashti may fit.
I am Connery. I built Hashti. I live in Los Angeles and I am Armenian-Iranian, which means I grew up between languages. Everything about Hashti below is checked against what the app does today. For other apps I stick to what is stable and widely known, and I tell you when something is my opinion. Check each app's current store page for prices and features, because those change.
What a language exchange app actually does
The idea is simple. You speak English and want Spanish. Someone else speaks Spanish and wants English. You help each other. Language exchange apps are built around that swap.
In my experience, most of them share a few features.
- A profile that lists the language you speak and the one you are learning
- A way to find partners, by search or by suggestion
- Text, voice notes and calls
- Tools for learners, such as translating a message, correcting a sentence, or saving a new word
HelloTalk and Tandem are the names most people mention first. Both are built for exactly this. I will not describe their current features in detail, because they update them, and you should read the listing yourself.
How to choose
Whatever app you try, I would check five things before you invest time.
1. Is it built for learners or for chatting
A learner app gives you correction and vocabulary tools. A general chat app gives you people and conversation. Neither is wrong. Be clear on which one you need. If you want a teacher-like experience, pick a learner app. If you already have basics and want practice with live people, a chat app can work.
2. How does it handle bad behavior
This matters more than people expect. Any app where strangers talk will attract people you do not want to talk to. Look for how the app reports and removes people, and whether a banned person can simply come back with a new account. Read the safety page of any app before you chat.
3. Can you talk by voice
Reading and writing help, but speaking is what most learners are missing. See whether the app supports voice messages, calls or voice rooms.
4. What is free and what is not
Many apps have a free tier and a paid tier. Read what is behind the paywall before you build a habit. Free tiers sometimes limit messages, translation or searches. Check the current pricing in the store, not an old review.
5. Does it match your language
Big languages have thousands of partners. Smaller ones may have very few. If you want Persian or Armenian, check that real speakers are on the app before you commit.
Where Hashti fits
Here is what Hashti is, in plain terms. It is free, 18+ and out now on the App Store. Android is in its closed test, so it is not yet available there.
- Rooms: public rooms with names and topics, so you find people by interest instead of swiping through profiles. See rooms.
- Private chats, calls and a walkie-talkie for when a conversation moves one on one. See chats.
- Live translation in 29 languages. This is part of Hashti Plus, $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Everything else is free. See translation.
- Identity checks. Every account is checked once against a government document. The photo is deleted, and a fingerprint stays, so the same document cannot open a second account. Unverified accounts cannot host rooms, speak in voice rooms or message strangers. Twelve verified reports closes an account permanently. See safety.
What this means for language practice
If you are learning, you can sit in a room on a topic you like and join the conversation in the language you want to practice. If you and the other person do not share a language, live translation helps you understand each other well enough to keep going. That is useful when you are a beginner and would otherwise give up.
I want to be careful about this. Translation is a bridge, not a teacher. If translation does all the work, you will not learn the language. My suggestion, and it is only my opinion, is to use it when you are stuck and then try again in the language you are practicing.
Where Hashti does not fit
Here is what Hashti does not do, so you do not waste a download.
- It has no lessons, no grammar correction and no flashcards. A dedicated learner app does this better.
- It does not match you with a partner who wants your language. You find people through rooms and conversation.
- The interface is English today. A Farsi interface is being built, but it is not out.
- Translation needs Hashti Plus. Without it, you chat in whatever languages you and the other person share.
- There is no Android version yet.
If those are dealbreakers, HelloTalk, Tandem or a similar app is the right answer, and I would rather tell you that now.
A simple way to practice that works in any app
After a lot of conversations with people learning each other's languages, this is what I would do.
1. Pick one language and one app for a month. Switching all the time wastes your first weeks. 2. Show up at the same time several days a week. Familiar faces make you braver. 3. Start with a topic you already know. Talking about food, music or work in a new language is easier than small talk. 4. Say it badly. Nobody expects a perfect sentence, and most people are glad you tried. 5. Keep a small list of words you got stuck on and use them the next day.
For Persian and Armenian speakers
I care about this one personally. If you are looking for your own people, whether you are Persian, Armenian or part of a community that is scattered across countries, an app can make the world feel smaller. Search for rooms by topic, such as music, food, travel or news in your language, and see who is there. Hashti does not have a Farsi interface yet, but you can talk in Farsi, Armenian or anything else in the rooms, and translation covers 29 languages when you need to cross over to someone who does not speak yours.
So which should you pick
- Want structured practice with learners in mind: try a dedicated language exchange app like HelloTalk or Tandem.
- Want to talk to real people about real topics, in rooms, with voice and a safety system that checks identity: try Hashti.
- Want both: nothing stops you from using a learner app for structure and Hashti for conversation.
Whatever you choose, give it a few weeks. Language grows from showing up. If you want to see how rooms work, start with the rooms page and pick one that sounds like something you would talk about for an hour.
Hashti is free, and it is 18+. Hashti Plus — live translation, writing help and catch-ups — is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and nothing else costs anything. How rooms work is on the rooms page, and how reports and the ID check work is on the safety page.