The best IELTS app depends on the job you need done. On 30 September 2026 we compared six current apps on six things that matter for IELTS prep, and checked what happened to the British Council's app: it is gone from both stores. Our picks:
- Test-day info and booking: IELTS by IDP, official and free.
- Quick drills and vocabulary: IELTS Practice Band 9 or BabyCode.
- Live classes: Leap.
- Writing and Speaking scoring plus a plan to your exam date: GoPrep (ours), our overall pick. 80+ Academic mock tests per skill in the computer format, AI scoring on the official criteria and a daily plan to your test date. Use the iPhone app, or open goprep.gg in any browser, including on Android.
What can you try before paying? From listings and official pages; "not checked" means we couldn't confirm it.
| App | Free before paying | Your own answer scored free? Card? |
|---|---|---|
| GoPrep (ours) | On the website, without login: the quiz and your personal plan | No: mocks and AI scoring come with a subscription. No card for the quiz and plan |
| IELTS by IDP | Sample tests, quizzes, videos, a 14-day free taster course; the full prep course when you book your test through IDP | Assessments and expert feedback are an E2 upgrade. Card: not checked |
| IELTS Practice Band 9 | Free version with ads; its limits not checked | AI checks are sold as in-app packs. Free checks and card: not checked |
| Leap | Free download; free content not checked | Paid Speaking-scoring packs in the App Store; free checks and card: not checked |
| BabyCode | iPhone: listed as totally free; Android: free download, ads and in-app purchases; free limits not checked | Not checked |
| IELTS Prep: English Band 9 | Free download | Not checked; Premium is paid |
What an IELTS app should do: 6 criteria
Store pages all promise "AI" and "Band 9". These six criteria show what an app actually does for your score.
| Criterion | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Complete tests in all four skills, not single tasks | Only a full mock shows your overall band and stamina |
| A band for each official criterion | One number doesn't show what to fix |
| Fluency, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, a transcript | You can't reliably hear your own mistakes |
| Daily tasks from your target and test date | Turns practice into a schedule you can finish |
| Typed answers and a timer | IELTS is moving to computer from mid-2026; dates vary by country |
| Interface and explanations in Russian | Helps you follow feedback at B1 to B2 |
If Writing or Speaking is your weakest skill, checking your own answers matters most. We looked at 727 first full mock exams on GoPrep (28 July to 26 September 2026, all four skills 4.0 or higher). The weakest skill was Writing in 43% of these mocks, Listening in 42%, Reading in 36% and Speaking in 15% (ties count for each skill; Writing and Speaking were scored by the GoPrep AI examiner).
So for many learners the weakest skill is one no answer key can check. The Writing and Speaking criteria are public, so you can see whether an app's feedback names them.
A good overall can also hide a weak skill. Of 278 first full mocks on GoPrep with an overall of 6.5 or higher, 121 had at least one skill below 6.0, so they would miss a "6.5, no skill below 6.0" requirement (same period and scoring; data as of 5 October 2026). What happened next, as a description rather than a cause: 43 of those 121 learners took a second full mock within 30 days, a median of 4 days later; for 37 of the 121, 30 days had not yet passed by that date. On it, 20 of the 43 met both conditions, and the skill that had been weakest was at least half a band higher for 31 of 43 (the same for 3, lower for 9).
Name your weakest skill in a short quiz and get a GoPrep plan built around it.
Our pick for scoring and a plan: GoPrep
GoPrep is the app behind this guide (ours). We built it to do in one place what most apps split up: full mocks, scoring of your own Writing and Speaking, and a plan that ends on your test date. GoPrep won EdTech Project of the Year at the AI & Digital Bridge Awards 2026 in Astana and has 40,000+ users in 140 countries.
- 80+ mock tests per skill for Academic in the computer format: typed answers, a timer, 14 question types; Listening and Reading also by section. For General Training: 37 Reading and 21 Writing tests.
- Writing and Speaking scored by AI: Writing on the four official criteria in half-band steps: Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy; Speaking with a transcript plus fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
- An adaptive daily plan to your exam date, built from your target and weakest skill, with error review of your answers.
- Vocabulary with spaced repetition and Preppy, a voice AI tutor for live Speaking practice.
- Add-ons: Crusher for all skills and Grammar Maxxing.
- Russian, Uzbek and Kazakh interface on the website.
On average, GoPrep scores 0.6 band stricter than the real IELTS (2,723 learners who reported their official result). This is an average across the sample, not a prediction of your official score.
Get the iPhone app, or open goprep.gg in any browser, including on Android. On the website, the quiz and your personal plan are free; mocks and AI scoring come with a subscription. You can pay locally with Kaspi in Kazakhstan, or Payme and Paylov in Uzbekistan.
GoPrep's Score Guarantee: if your overall IELTS band doesn't rise by at least 1.0, you get 100% of your subscription back, provided you meet the conditions (an official TRF of 6.5 or lower, at least 3 months of subscription, and the full practice plan).
Start preparing for IELTS today: tell GoPrep your target and test date in a short quiz and get a plan for every day until the exam.
How 6 IELTS apps compare on what matters
Rows for the other apps come from their App Store and Google Play pages, checked on 30 September 2026. "Not stated" means the listing doesn't say.
| App | Full mocks in all 4 skills | Writing scored on IELTS criteria |
|---|---|---|
| GoPrep (ours) | Yes: 80+ per skill (Academic) | Yes: AI, four criteria, half-band steps |
| IELTS by IDP | Not stated: practice questions and quizzes | Free scoring not confirmed; paid E2 assessments |
| IELTS Practice Band 9 | Practice in all 4 skills; full mocks not stated | Yes: AI, criterion-based feedback |
| Leap | 50+ IELTS and PTE mocks combined; full four-skill IELTS mocks not checked | "Evaluation"; criteria not named |
| BabyCode | Yes: timed full mocks, IELTS and PTE | AI corrections; criteria not named |
| IELTS Prep: English Band 9 | Not stated | Yes: AI, four criteria |
| App | Speaking scored | Plan to your exam date |
|---|---|---|
| GoPrep (ours) | Yes: transcript, fluency, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation | Yes: adaptive daily plan |
| IELTS by IDP | Not stated | Prep checklist and a 7-day challenge |
| IELTS Practice Band 9 | Yes: AI, fluency, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary | Not stated |
| Leap | AI Speaking practice; paid scoring packs in the App Store, free checks not checked | Daily study plans; exam date not mentioned |
| BabyCode | Yes: AI evaluation | Not stated |
| IELTS Prep: English Band 9 | Yes: AI, fluency and pronunciation | Not stated |
Only GoPrep states both of the last two criteria: typed answers with a Writing timer in the web version, and a Russian interface on the website. Other listings don't mention Russian (we didn't check inside the apps). Band 9, Leap and BabyCode advertise exam-format practice; we didn't check how close it is to computer IELTS. To learn the real interface, try the free official sample tests on ielts.org.
Other IELTS apps and what each is good for
- IELTS by IDP (official, free, iPhone and Android). Best for test-day information: booking, results, a prep checklist, quizzes and videos. Free scoring of your own Writing and Speaking isn't confirmed; E2 assessments and expert feedback are paid.
- British Council: no app. Its old IELTS Prep App is gone from both stores (checked 30 September 2026). Its free preparation is IELTS Ready on the British Council website; see the best websites for IELTS preparation.
- IELTS Practice Band 9 (iPhone). Good for quick drills: 1,000+ Speaking Part 2 cue cards, vocabulary by topic and AI checks of Writing and Speaking.
- Leap. Good if you want live online classes with a teacher, and it covers PTE too.
- BabyCode (iPhone). IELTS and PTE together, with speaking partners. The only app here whose listing mentions downloading tests and materials.
- IELTS Prep: English Band 9 (iPhone only). Focused AI scoring of essays, letters and Speaking answers, with a history of your scores.
Which IELTS app is right for you
Start with two filters: your test type and where you study.
| App | Academic and General Training | Android and offline |
|---|---|---|
| GoPrep (ours) | Both: 80+ Academic tests per skill; for General Training, 37 Reading and 21 Writing tests | Android: in the browser. Offline: not checked |
| IELTS by IDP | E2 course: Academic or General Training; full mocks not checked | Android app. Offline: not checked |
| IELTS Practice Band 9 | Both: Writing Task 1 for each | Android app. Offline: not checked |
| Leap | Both, plus PTE | Android app. Offline: not checked |
| BabyCode | Both, plus PTE | Android app. Listing mentions downloading tests and materials |
| IELTS Prep: English Band 9 | Both: scores essays and letters | iPhone only. Offline: not checked |
Less than 8 weeks to your exam? Get a GoPrep plan for the time you have.
Practice: the 10-minute check before you pay
Before you pay, open the purchase screen: note the monthly price, the trial length and whether it renews automatically. Check the last update date and whether the app shows a sample report.
If there is a free trial, test it on your own work:
- Writing. Paste a Task 2 essay of about 250 words. Do you get a band for each of the four criteria, or only one number?
- Speaking. Record a 1-minute Part 2 answer. Do you see a transcript and comments on fluency and pronunciation?
Now try a case. Dilnoza has an Android phone, needs 6.5 with no skill below 6.0, and her mock was Listening 7.0, Reading 6.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 5.5. She studies on the bus with patchy mobile data. What should she test first, and what should she watch for?
Our answer: Speaking is her gap. Her overall already rounds to 6.5 (the four scores average 6.375), but Speaking at 5.5 is half a band under her 6.0 minimum, and no answer key can check it. On Android that means GoPrep in the browser, which also gives her a daily plan to her test date, or IELTS Practice Band 9. First check that the app scores her own Speaking answer on a stable connection. For the bus, check whether a recording is saved without signal and can be sent once she's back online; downloaded tasks, as BabyCode's listing mentions, don't prove AI scoring works offline. If saving isn't confirmed, she can record answers with her phone's voice recorder and review them later.
Check yourself
FAQ
Which app is best for IELTS preparation?
It depends on your weakest skill. IELTS by IDP is the free official app for booking and test information. For Writing and Speaking, pick an app that scores them on the four IELTS criteria and gives you a plan to your exam date; GoPrep (ours) does both.
Is there a free IELTS app?
Yes. IELTS by IDP is free on iPhone and Android. Most independent apps are free to download but list paid upgrades for AI scoring or premium features.
Does the British Council have an IELTS app?
On 30 September 2026 we found no British Council IELTS app in the App Store or on Google Play. Its free preparation, IELTS Ready, is on the British Council website.
Can an app score IELTS Writing and Speaking?
Several apps give AI band estimates for Writing and Speaking. Only the official test sets your band, so use an app's score to track progress.
Can I prepare for IELTS with an app in a week or a month?
A week is enough to learn the format and timing and to take one full timed mock. Whether a month is enough depends on how far each skill is from your target. Take a timed mock first, then plan from that gap and your test date.
Our verdict
Pair one free official source, IELTS by IDP, with one app that scores your weakest skill. For full computer-format mocks, Writing and Speaking scored on the official criteria and a daily plan to your test date in one place, our pick is GoPrep. Not sure whether you need an app, a course or a tutor? See how to prepare for IELTS. Still choosing the exam itself? Read IELTS vs TOEFL vs Duolingo.
Tell GoPrep your target, date and weakest skill in a short quiz and get your personal plan.
GoPrep Team
GoPrep guide authors
We write about IELTS preparation using platform data and official exam materials.
All articles by GoPrep Team