iTalki Review 2025: Is It Better Than BaseLang for Spanish Learners?

If you’ve looked into online Spanish classes, you’ve probably heard of iTalki and BaseLang. Both are popular, but they serve very different kinds of learners. After manty hunderds of hours of iTalki classes, here’s everything you need to know before deciding if it’s right for you.

iTalki at a Glance

• Pricing: From $5/hour to $50+/hour depending on teacher
• Teachers: Thousands of professional teachers & community tutors
• Booking: Flexible scheduling, but no same-day bookings
• Best for: Intermediate & advanced learners, exam prep, specialist topics
• Weaknesses: Uneven teacher quality, premium teachers are pricey

iTalki Pricing

iTalki doesn’t have a flat monthly fee like BaseLang. Instead, you pay per class. Rates vary wildly: some community tutors charge under $10/hour, while highly qualified professionals can charge $50+ per hour. Most Spanish teachers sit in the $12–25 range.

Payment is credit-based, and balances never expire. The only annoyance is high credit card fees, which you can dodge by topping up via bank transfer.

How iTalki Compares to BaseLang

Teachers & Quality

Teacher quality is the biggest variable on iTalki. The platform has thousands of tutors, ranging from casual conversation partners to professional teachers with decades of experience. The average level is higher than BaseLang, but you’ll still need to audition 3–4 teachers before you find someone you click with.

Once you do, though, you can build long-term relationships with superstar teachers. For advanced learners, this is a game-changer.

Booking & Platform

iTalki’s booking system is much smoother than BaseLang’s old backend. Classes are easy to schedule, cancel, and manage. The downside is you generally can’t book same-day lessons, so it lacks the “last-minute, anytime” freedom of BaseLang.

Most lessons take place on Zoom or Skype, though iTalki has its own classroom with automatic AI summaries of classes — a surprisingly useful feature when reviewing vocabulary or lesson notes.

Learning Paths & Use Cases

Unlike BaseLang’s “Grammarless” and DELE tracks, iTalki doesn’t provide a structured curriculum. Instead, your teacher dictates the flow. This flexibility makes it excellent for:

• DELE test prep — many teachers specialize in exam training, up to C2
• Business Spanish — tailored to your industry or job
• Advanced conversation — refine fluency beyond the basics
• Niche topics — find bilingual teachers who share your interests

Pros & Cons

What’s Great

• Huge pool of teachers across price points
• Can find superstar teachers if you’re willing to test a few
• AI lesson summaries are excellent
• Payment credits never expire

What’s Frustrating

• Premium teachers are expensive
• No true unlimited plan — heavy users pay more than BaseLang
• No same-day booking flexibility
• Occasional flaky teachers (no-shows, unprofessional behavior)

Who Should Use iTalki?

Best for: Intermediate to advanced learners who want to push into exam prep, business Spanish, or highly tailored lessons.

Not ideal for: Serious beginners who want to learn quickly. In that case, BaseLang is usually a better deal — unlimited hours at a fixed price.

Verdict: iTalki vs. BaseLang

Think of iTalki as the platform you graduate to after BaseLang. BaseLang gets you conversational fast, but at some point you’ll crave more structure, consistency, and advanced refinement — that’s where iTalki shines.

If you’re serious and just starting out, BaseLang wins. But if you’ve already built a foundation and want to level up, iTalki is worth every penny.