Vocabulary.com
Learner's dictionary plus an adaptive question trainer covering 18,000 English words, run by IXL Learning.
- Verified facts
- 5 of 5
- Alternatives ranked
- 7
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- 0
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About Vocabulary.com
Vocabulary.com is a website that combines a learner-friendly English dictionary with VocabTrainer, an adaptive quiz system. Look up a word and you get a plain-language explanation alongside the formal definition and real usage examples; add it to your learning program and VocabTrainer starts asking you questions about it, coming back to the ones you miss until you master them. The site says it covers more than 18,000 words with 242,000 questions, and it has 15,000+ ready-made lists tied to books, subjects and test prep, plus custom lists and flashcards. It is owned by IXL Learning and much of it is built for classrooms, with teacher dashboards and live Vocab Jam games. A free learner account is limited to 10 VocabTrainer questions a day; a learner subscription removes the limit and adds a personal report with a vocabulary score and rank, at $12.99 a month or $59.99 a year. It suits adults and students who want a rigorous, test-heavy approach and like seeing a score climb. The trade-off: it's a website first, and the iPhone app has not been updated since 2021, so it lacks the widgets and phone-first design of the newer apps in this list.
Best for: Students and adults who want an adaptive, quiz-heavy trainer and a measurable vocabulary score.
Pros and cons
What works
- Large question bank across 18,000+ words
- Explanations written in plain language, not just definitions
- Thousands of ready-made lists, plus custom lists
- Free account is usable for light daily practice
Why people leave
- Free accounts get only 10 trainer questions a day
- iPhone app hasn't been updated since 2021
- Much of the site is aimed at teachers and schools
Top Vocabulary.com alternatives
See all 7- 1
Membean83.8A comparably rigorous trainer that teaches each word several ways, including roots and images, with plans that don't auto-renew.
- 2
Atlas Vocabulary Builder64.8Phone-first with a placement test, widgets and a structured curriculum, if you'd rather study in an app than a browser.
- 3
WordPal61.8Lighter daily quizzes with spaced repetition, and the core practice has no daily question limit on the free version.
- 4
Merriam-Webster Dictionary59.4If you mostly want the dictionary side, Merriam-Webster's free app adds a thesaurus, Word of the Day and offline use.
- 5
Vocabulary Builder by Knudge57.5Short mobile sessions with flashcards and word games, for people who find the question format repetitive.
Why people left Vocabulary.com
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Vocabulary.com: common questions
Is Vocabulary.com free?
Vocabulary.com has a free plan and paid plans.
Is Vocabulary.com open source?
No, Vocabulary.com is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Anki.
What platforms does Vocabulary.com run on?
Vocabulary.com is available for Web.
What are the best alternatives to Vocabulary.com?
The highest-ranked Vocabulary.com alternatives right now are Membean, Atlas Vocabulary Builder and WordPal. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.