Lector vs FreeLingo
Cloud is in beta · self-hosting is free forever
Feature by feature.
| Lector | FreeLingo | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reader. Import real text. | CEFR study plan. LLM-generated lessons. |
| Price | Self-host free, or cloud from $5/mo | Self-host free. Hosted from about $14.95/mo. |
| Install | One Docker Compose file in the repository | Compose with Postgres, Redis, and optional GPU speech services. |
| Database | SQLite on your server | Postgres |
| Hosted option | Yes. app.lector.dev from $5/mo | Yes. freelingo.app. Trial with no card. |
| Import your own text | EPUB, web articles, YouTube captions, podcasts, paste | No EPUB or article import. Generated passages only. |
| Word states on real text | New, learning, or known | No word states on an imported book |
| Voice conversation | No live voice tutor | Yes. WebSocket voice. Non-English TTS needs a cloud provider. |
| CEFR path | Fluency radar from your words. No CEFR syllabus. | Placement test and weekly plan from A1 to C2. |
| Anki integration | Two-way (beta): push cards, Anki reviews update Lector | Internal SM-2 only. No Anki. |
| Cloze practice | Frequency-ordered, with SRS | Generated fill-blank items inside lessons |
| UI languages | English UI | Ten UI locales |
| Open source | Open source (AGPL-3.0) | Open source (AGPL-3.0) |
FreeLingo pricing and features as of August 2026; check FreeLingo for the latest. Comparison reflects our understanding at that date.
What FreeLingo does better.
Voice conversation
FreeLingo has a real-time voice tutor. Lector does not. Local Kokoro TTS is English only. Non-English voice needs a cloud TTS provider.
A CEFR syllabus
A placement test and a weekly plan from A1 to C2. Lector tracks words you meet in texts. It does not ship a CEFR course.
Ten UI locales
The FreeLingo interface has ten locales. Lector's UI is English.
A hosted trial with no card
freelingo.app offers a trial with no card. Lector Cloud starts at $5 per month. Self-host is free on both.
What Lector does better.
Your own texts
Import the book, article, or video that you want to read. FreeLingo reading is a generated passage with five questions. It is not an imported library.
Word states and Anki
Lector tracks new, learning, and known on real text and can sync with Anki. FreeLingo uses internal SM-2 cards. It has no Anki path.
Frequency cloze from a corpus
Cloze sentences come from Tatoeba, ordered by frequency. FreeLingo fill-blank items are generated inside a lesson.
A smaller self-host stack
Lector is one container plus optional Ollama. FreeLingo uses Postgres, Redis, and optional GPU services for speech.
Who should pick which.
Choose FreeLingo
If you want a CEFR path, a voice tutor, or ten UI locales, pick FreeLingo. Generated lessons must be acceptable.
Choose Lector
If you want to read your own books and videos, keep word states, and sync with Anki, pick Lector.
Is FreeLingo a Lector alternative?
Only in the broad self-hosted language-learning category. FreeLingo generates a CEFR plan. Lector is a reader for text that you import. They solve different jobs.
Does FreeLingo import EPUB files?
No. Reading in FreeLingo is an LLM-generated passage with comprehension questions. Lector imports EPUB files, articles, YouTube captions, and podcasts.
Are FreeLingo lessons written by a human?
No. Lesson bodies, listening scripts, and reading passages are generated on demand. A static CEFR outline sets the sequence. Check quality against the model that you run.
How much does FreeLingo cost?
As of August 2026, self-host is free. The hosted app at freelingo.app lists about $14.95 per month. A trial with no card exists. Check freelingo.app for current prices.
Own your reading.
Open source to self-host for free, or on our cloud in a click. No subscription to keep your own library.