Updated 29 September 2026

Compared September 2026

The best free social skills apps

Volo has the best free tier of any social skills app: a lesson from all seven skills, a full AI roleplay, a speaking drill, scripts and a social style test. SpeakUp and Meetup are fully free.

4.9 ★ on the App Store

Two friends talking on a bench in a park

The best free social skills app in 2026 is Volo, because its free tier is a real slice of the product rather than a locked door: the first lesson of all seven skills, one full AI roleplay, one Announcer Studio speaking drill, two scripts in every What To Say category, and the complete twelve-question How You Come Across test. SpeakUp is the best fully free option for public speaking, and Meetup is free practice with actual people.

We compared what each app makes available at no cost, from published information as of September 2026, and labelled each app as free forever, a limited free tier, or fully free.

“Free” in social skills apps means one of three things: a permanent free tier, a limited free sample, or an app that is free outright. A permanent free tier stays available indefinitely. A limited sample unlocks a few items before the rest is paid. Fully free apps are usually narrow or built around something other than lessons. The list below labels each.

1. Volo: best free tier

Volo is an iPhone app with a permanent free tier. The free tier includes the first lesson in each of the seven tracks (Small Talk Without Cringing, Eye Contact, Controlling Nerves, Where to Actually Meet People, Breath and Body Techniques, Speaking Up in Meetings, Reading Interest), the “Breaking the ice in a waiting room” AI roleplay with spoken or typed replies and coach feedback, The Gate Announcer speaking drill with pace and filler measurement, two scripts with all three tones in each of eight categories, and the How You Come Across test.

Volo’s free tier is enough to judge the app: you can try a lesson, a roleplay, a drill and the scripts. The full app has 79 lessons, 25 roleplays, 15 drills and 61 scripts.

Limitation: iPhone only, and the free tier is a sampler rather than a full programme. For more depth at no cost, pair it with the fully free options below.

Best for: trying every feature type of a full social skills app at no cost. Volo on the App Store · Social skills with Volo

2. SpeakUp: free public speaking analysis

SpeakUp is a fully free public speaking analyser. It reviews recordings of your speaking for vocal variation, pacing, clarity and confidence. It covers public speaking only, but the feedback is genuinely useful.

Best for: measured speaking feedback at no cost.

3. Meetup: free, and real

Meetup is free to join and puts you in rooms with the same people repeatedly. Meetup is how social skills transfer and how many adult friendships form. It has no lessons and no feedback, and nothing replaces it either.

Best for: practice with humans.

4. Orai: limited free tier

Orai offers limited free public speaking practice. Orai gives feedback on pace, fillers and energy up to a limit. It covers public speaking only.

Best for: a taste of delivery drills.

5. Yoodli: limited free tier

Yoodli gives limited free speech analysis on the web. Yoodli is strong for interview and presentation rehearsal; the everyday social scenarios are in its paid tier.

Best for: free analytics on a specific talk.

6. Gleam: limited free lessons

Gleam unlocks a small number of lessons for free. Gleam is on Android, which most of this list isn’t, and reviewers note that its free lessons run out early.

Best for: Android users sampling a gamified format.

Volo’s free tier covers more feature types than any other app in this comparison: lessons, roleplay, a speaking drill, scripts and a test.

App	Free forever	What’s free	Platform
Volo	Yes	7 lessons, 1 roleplay, 1 drill, 16 scripts, the test	iPhone
SpeakUp	Yes	Everything	iPhone
Meetup	Yes	Everything	iPhone, Android, web
Orai	Limited	Some drills	iPhone, Android
Yoodli	Limited	Some analysis	Web
Gleam	Limited	A few lessons	iPhone, Android

A free social skills app is enough to find out whether an approach suits you, and usually not enough to change how you come across. Free tiers are samplers, and change comes from practice volume. A reasonable route is to use Volo’s free tier and SpeakUp for two weeks, join one Meetup group, and keep whichever app you’re still opening on day fifteen.

Questions people ask

What is the best free social skills app?

Volo, for a free tier that includes a lesson from every skill, a full AI roleplay, a speaking drill, scripts and the How You Come Across test.

Are there completely free social skills apps?

SpeakUp (public speaking) and Meetup (real-world practice) are fully free. Most full social skills apps combine a free tier with paid content.

Is a free social skills app enough?

A free tier is enough to find out whether an approach suits you. Changing how you come across usually takes more practice volume than free tiers include.

Five minutes today. Different rooms tomorrow.

Start with the free lessons on iPhone. Unlock everything when it clicks.