Home / Best apps to learn a language / Dutch
Prices and language coverage checked in September 2026.
Dutch has about 24 million speakers by the Nederlandse Taalunie’s count, 17 million in the Netherlands, 6.5 million in Belgium and 400,000 in Suriname, and it is official in 6 countries. For an English speaker it is one of the closest languages, and that brings its own problem: the Netherlands ranks first of 123 countries and regions in EF’s 2025 English index, and learners often report that people switch to English. What Dutch asks of an app is de and het, word order, and speaking practice you plan on purpose.
The app courses are short for Dutch. Duolingo stops at A2 by an unofficial tracker’s label, Pimsleur sells one level and Mango has 99 lessons; Busuu is the one big app whose page says B2. Much of the best Dutch-only material comes from a teacher, a university and a publisher: Bart de Pau’s videos, KU Leuven’s NedBox and Boom’s Delft method. So the apps below are compared on where they stop, what is free on day 30, whether a person corrects you, and whether you hear the Netherlands or Flanders.
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Dutch in category I (of I to IV), about 750 class hours for an English speaker to reach professional working proficiency.
The Nederlandse Taalunie sets one written standard for the Netherlands, Flanders and Suriname, and the big courses teach one Dutch; Pimsleur teaches “Standard Dutch, or Newsreader Dutch”. Speech differs: the g is hard in the north and soft in the south, and speakers in the Netherlands talk 16% faster than in Belgium, by a 2004 study. For Flemish, the options are KU Leuven’s free NedBox, uTalk’s separate Flemish course and Preply’s 45 Flemish Dutch tutors. Learn the standard, and train your ear on the accent of the place you are heading to.
Every Dutch noun takes de or het, and no rule covers most of them. The verb comes second in a main clause and last in a subordinate one, some verbs split in two (opbellen, ik bel je op), and er and the choice of hebben or zijn in the perfect need explaining. Babbel, Bart de Pau’s #dutchgrammar courses, Zichtbaar Nederlands and the Delft method explain them; Duolingo, Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone leave them to patterns. Learn every noun with its article from the first day.
Dutch spelling follows rules once you know the vowel pattern: one letter in an open syllable, two in a closed one (manen, maan), and a z or v at the end of a word written as s or f (huizen, huis; duiven, duif). The shared Germanic vocabulary helps, but check the false friends: eventueel means possibly, brutaal cheeky, slim clever, and a winkel is a shop. The sounds English speakers find hard are ui, eu, ij and the g. Pick apps with native audio beside the text, and hear each new word before you say it.
Duolingo’s Dutch is A2 by an unofficial tracker’s label, and Dutch was not among the 9 courses Duolingo took to B2 in April 2026. Busuu’s Dutch page says A1 to B2. Babbel has no Dutch level page, so its ceiling is unconfirmed. Pimsleur has one Dutch level of 30 lessons and Mango 99 lessons, and the Delft method stops at A2 by Boom’s label; Bart de Pau’s grammar courses reach A2/B1 by his, and NedBox about B1 by KU Leuven’s. Past B1, plan on a tutor, the Staatsexamen practice material, the news and books.
Under the 2021 act the Dutch inburgering standard is B1, taken as the Staatsexamen NT2 programma I, with a route down to A2 after at least 600 hours of lessons; the A2 exams cost €50 each. The Staatsexamen costs €50 a part and €200 in all, with programma II (B2) for university. Naturalisation still asks for A2 in September 2026; a bill would raise it to B1. Flanders asks for A2 in the integration course and B1 spoken within 24 months, and the CNaVT tests Dutch from A2 to C1 abroad. Book the exam your office names.
Best free daily course
The Dutch course is A2 by an unofficial tracker’s label, with 123 units and 2,039 lessons, and Dutch was not among the 9 courses Duolingo took to B2 in April 2026. There are no official Stories and no Video Call for Dutch. It builds a daily habit for the first months, then you need more.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A free daily Dutch habit from zero to A2; on a laptop, without the Energy cap.
Best course with corrections
Complete Dutch is 375+ lessons and 142 hours from A1 to B2 on Busuu’s Dutch page, with side courses in business Dutch and pronunciation. Fluent Dutch speakers in the community correct your written and spoken answers. It is the one big app whose Dutch course we could confirm runs to B2.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A1 to B2 learners who want a syllabus and a fluent speaker checking their answers.
Best for grammar on video
Bart de Pau’s school teaches only Dutch. Its free course gives the 1000 most common words in 40 lessons of 25, with video, word lists and exercises, and three #dutchgrammar video courses take you from zero to A2/B1 by his labels, at €49 a year each. His YouTube channel has 271,000 subscribers and 514 videos.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A0 to B1 learners who want a Dutch teacher explaining the words and the grammar on video, free to start.
Best structured course
Babbel’s Dutch course has dialogues about “navigating daily life in the Netherlands”, grammar explained inside the lessons and no ads. It publishes no Dutch level page, so we could not confirm where the course stops. It is the paid choice for grammar from A1; Busuu states its level and adds people who correct you.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A1 learners and up who want de and het, word order and separable verbs explained in writing, no games and no ads, and will pay for it.
Best live tutors
Preply lists 469 Dutch tutors and has a separate Flemish Dutch page with 45, so you can book the variety you will hear. Below B1, pick a trained teacher who can explain in your language; from B1 on, a weekly lesson gives you a person who keeps the conversation in Dutch and corrects you.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: Anyone from A1 who needs a person to talk to in Dutch, from the Netherlands or from Flanders.
Best for reading real books
Lingo7 puts a translation in your own language under every sentence of a Dutch book (49 languages), reads it aloud and drills saved words in 12 kinds of exercise. By our estimate 6 of its 100 books are B2 and 94 C1; A2 and B1 readers start with the Stories. It is our app, and it has no course.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: B2 and C1 readers who want the Dutch classics with their own language under the text, A2 and B1 learners starting with the Stories, and anyone with their own EPUBs.
Best for speaking from lesson one
Pimsleur’s Dutch is one level of 30 audio lessons, about 16 hours, in which you answer out loud and words come back at spaced intervals, in what Pimsleur calls “Standard Dutch, or Newsreader Dutch”. Pimsleur publishes no CEFR level and sells no Dutch Level 2. A month of Dutch Premium covers the 30 lessons at one a day.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A trip in a month, a commute, or anyone who wants to say their first Dutch sentences out loud before they read.
Best free Flemish course
KU Leuven’s free site builds its exercises on real Flemish material, from VRT television and the newspapers De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad to the easy-language weekly Wablieft, per KU Leuven. It runs from beginners at A1 to intermediate learners at about B1, by its own label. It is the free way to learn Dutch as Flanders speaks it.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A1 to B1 learners headed for Belgium, or anyone who wants to hear Flemish Dutch at no cost.
Best for everyday spoken Dutch
Street interviews with Dutch and English subtitles on a channel of 99,000 subscribers, plus a podcast in Dutch by Tim and Linus every two weeks. It is input, not a course: no order to learn in and no feedback on your own Dutch.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A2 learners and up who want to hear how Dutch people talk, with subtitles in both languages.
Best for video input
Dutch subtitles and a translation into your language side by side on YouTube, with a dictionary on click, and the subtitles and lookups cost nothing. It works on Dutch and Flemish videos alike, from Easy Dutch to the NOS news. The Netflix side broke in June 2026 and in September works with known bugs.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: B1 and up with a laptop, turning Dutch YouTube into listening practice.
Best free course with a library card
A course built on conversations, but a short one for Dutch: 4 units, 20 chapters and 99 lessons in a June 2026 count, against 757 lessons for German. Many US public libraries give it free with a library card, which makes it a second free start beside Duolingo.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A0 to A2 learners with a US library card who want a course at no cost.
Best fast course to A2
The Delft method, now published by Boom as Nederlands voor anderstaligen (2024 edition), takes you “From 0 to A2 in 42 lessons” with a textbook and a year of the online course. It is a book and a web course, not an app: repeating and recording do not work on phones or tablets.
Good
Where it stops
Best for: A0 learners with a laptop who want to reach A2 fast from a textbook, with a web course beside it.
Duolingo + Busuu + Learn Dutch with Bart de Pau
Pick one course and do it every day: Busuu if you want a syllabus and a fluent speaker correcting you, Duolingo if the game keeps you going. Beside it, work through Bart de Pau’s free 1000 most common words course, and learn every noun with de or het. Pimsleur is the paid choice if you want to speak before you read; with a US library card, Mango is a second free start.
Babbel + Easy Dutch + Preply
Keep your course going to B1: Busuu’s runs to B2, while Duolingo’s stops at A2 by the tracker’s label. Add Babbel or Bart de Pau’s #dutchgrammar courses for the grammar in order, watch Easy Dutch, and book a Preply tutor once a week who keeps the lesson in Dutch; for Flemish, NedBox is free. Start reading with Lingo7’s Stories at A2, then graded readers you import; its shelf of classics starts at B2 in practice, by our estimate.
Lingo7 + Language Reactor + Preply
Courses thin out here. Read the classics on Lingo7’s shelf or your own books, watch Dutch and Flemish YouTube with Language Reactor, move from NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal to the full news, and talk about all of it with your tutor. With a Staatsexamen NT2 or CNaVT date, book a tutor who has taught that exam.
| App | Role | Levels | Coverage for Dutch | Free | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duolingo | Best free daily course | A0 to A2 | One Dutch course, no Flemish one; A2 by an unofficial tracker’s label; 123 units and 2,039 lessons by that tracker, no official Stories | Every lesson; Energy cap on a phone | US$13 to 17 a month, US$7 to 10 a month yearly |
| Busuu | Best course with corrections | A1 to B2 | No Flemish course; A1 to B2 on the Dutch page; 375+ lessons and 142 hours; side courses in business Dutch and pronunciation | Lessons and corrections | US$10 to 15 a month, US$6 to 12 a month yearly |
| Learn Dutch with Bart de Pau | Best for grammar on video | A0 to B1 | Netherlands Dutch; free 1000 most common words course, 40 lessons; #dutchgrammar 1 to 3 from zero to A2/B1 by Bart de Pau’s labels; 514 YouTube videos | Words course and YouTube lessons | Free videos; €49 a year a grammar course |
| Babbel | Best structured course | From A1 | Dialogues set in daily life in the Netherlands; no Dutch level page, so no confirmed ceiling | First lesson per course | About US$9 a month yearly on the web |
| Preply | Best live tutors | A1 to C2 | 469 Dutch tutors; a separate Flemish Dutch page with 45 tutors | None | Average US$40 an hour, subscription only |
| Lingo7 | Best for reading real books | A2 to C1 | 100 public domain books, by our estimate 6 at B2 and 94 at C1; Stories in two versions, adapted for A1 to A2 and original for B1 to B2; your own books in 7 formats (EPUB, PDF, FB2, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, HTML); native audio in a Netherlands accent; translation into 49 languages | First page of each book | US$5 a month, US$2.50 a month yearly |
| Pimsleur | Best for speaking from lesson one | A0 to A1 | Level 1 only: 30 lessons, about 16 hours; “Standard Dutch, or Newsreader Dutch”; no vendor CEFR claim | 7 day trial | About US$20 a month, or US$150 once |
| NedBox | Best free Flemish course | A1 to B1 | Flemish material from VRT, De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad and Wablieft; A1 to about B1 by KU Leuven’s label | All of it | Free |
| Easy Dutch | Best for everyday spoken Dutch | A2 to C1 | Street interviews with Dutch and English subtitles; 243 videos, 99,000 YouTube subscribers; podcast every two weeks, episode 29 on 24 September 2026 | Videos and podcast audio | Free; Patreon from €5 a month |
| Language Reactor | Best for video input | B1 to C2 | Any Dutch or Flemish YouTube video with subtitles; Netflix working with known bugs in September 2026 | Most of it | US$6 a month, US$3.33 a month yearly |
| Mango Languages | Best free course with a library card | A0 to A2 | 4 units, 20 chapters, 99 lessons (June 2026 count); no level stated | Free through many US libraries | Free via many libraries; US$10 a month yearly |
| Nederlands voor anderstaligen | Best fast course to A2 | A0 to A2 | Zero to A2 in 42 lessons, by Boom’s label; textbook plus a one-year online licence; 2024 edition | None | €87.50 with a year online |
Prices are US store or vendor prices as of September 2026, yearly plans shown as the monthly equivalent. The same app often costs less on its own site than in the App Store, and more in Europe than in the US.
Free on this site: public domain Dutch books you can open in the app, and short Dutch texts at A1, A2 and B1 with a translation.
We have no affiliate deals with any app named here, and none of the links pay us. Prices and coverage come from the vendor’s own help or pricing pages or its US store listing, checked in September 2026, and every other figure names its source in the text; the judgement calls lean on independent reviews, and on the one star reviews for the parts a landing page never shows, like what happens on renewal. Where a vendor’s pages contradict each other, the card says so.
Refund rules, the traps to avoid and the same apps compared by level for every language are on the best apps to learn a language page.
For a start, yes, and it is free: the Dutch course has 123 units and 2,039 lessons by an unofficial tracker’s count. On its own it is not enough: the tracker labels it A2, Dutch was not among the 9 courses Duolingo took to B2 in April 2026, there are no official Stories and no Video Call for Dutch, and on a phone Energy runs out after about 2 to 3 lessons a day, by a third-party count (the web version runs on hearts). Add Busuu’s A1 to B2 course or Bart de Pau’s grammar videos, Easy Dutch for listening, and a person to talk to once you can put a few sentences together.
Either works: both write one standard, set by the Nederlandse Taalunie, and the difference is in speech and a few words. In the north the g is hard, in the south soft; goesting, a word for appetite or fancy, is used in Belgium and the south of the Netherlands; and speakers in the Netherlands talk 16% faster than in Belgium, by a 2004 study. The big courses teach one Dutch and name no Flemish option. For Flemish, use KU Leuven’s free NedBox, uTalk’s separate Flemish course, Preply’s 45 Flemish Dutch tutors and VRT’s radio and podcasts, which are open abroad; VRT MAX video needs Belgian residence or nationality.
None of them is an exam course, so start with the free official practice: inburgeren.nl for the A2 exams, the Staatsexamen NT2 practice environment for B1 (programma I) and B2 (programma II), naarnederland.nl for the A1 exam abroad, which costs €150, and the CNaVT’s sample exams. Inburgering asks for B1 under the 2021 act, with a route down to A2 after 600 hours of lessons; the Staatsexamen costs €50 a part, €200 in all. The CNaVT has 5 exams from A2 to C1, €95 to €125 in the fee band that includes the US, at 6 US centres. Naturalisation still asks for A2 in September 2026.
Reading grows your vocabulary, and English shares much of its Germanic core with Dutch, but the page does not teach you to follow speech. Read with audio. Lingo7, our app, puts a translation under each sentence of a Dutch book, reads it aloud in a Netherlands accent and drills the words you save in 12 kinds of exercise, for US$5 a month or US$30 a year. Its Dutch shelf starts at B2 in practice and 94 of its 100 books are C1, both by our estimate, all in the spelling before 1947, so begin with its Stories or a Leeslicht reader, and move to Austen’s Gevoel en verstand or Andersen’s Sproken en vertellingen around B2.
For a course, Duolingo (every lesson free, to A2 by an unofficial tracker, with Energy capping study on a phone) or Busuu, whose 375+ lesson course runs from A1 to B2 and whose community corrects your answers on the free plan, though its Dutch page does not say how much of the course a free account opens. For words and grammar, Bart de Pau’s free 1000 most common words course and Zichtbaar Nederlands; for Flemish, KU Leuven’s NedBox; with a US library card, Mango. For listening, Easy Dutch, Een Beetje Nederlands and NOS Journaal in Makkelijke Taal. For a tutor you pay: Preply, on a subscription, or italki with none.
Expect it: the Netherlands ranks first of 123 countries and regions in EF’s English Proficiency Index 2025, with 624 points, and Belgium 9th with 608. Ask people to stay in Dutch, and get your speaking hours where the switch cannot happen: a Preply or italki tutor who keeps the lesson in Dutch, Busuu’s community for corrections, and Pimsleur, where you answer out loud from lesson one. Speak has no Dutch course, and neither Busuu’s AI conversations nor Duolingo’s Video Call covers Dutch, so the speaking has to come from people.
None can give you a rule, because most nouns follow none: learn every noun with its article. Woordenlijst.org, the Taalunie’s official spelling list, shows the article of each noun for free, and Zichtbaar Nederlands explains “De of het?” in its visual grammar, in English, Polish or French. Babbel and Bart de Pau’s #dutchgrammar courses explain the article inside their lessons, and Duolingo drills it by exposure. Put the article on every flashcard you make, in Anki or on paper.
Read your first page free, in Dutch.