Best AI TOEFL Prep Apps (2026): 7 Compared for the New Test

The TOEFL iBT changed on 21 January 2026. The Speaking section is now two tasks, Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview. Writing is Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion. Reading and Listening adapt to you halfway through, and scores come on a 1 to 6 band scale. Every AI prep app now says it covers the new format.

Here is what most “best AI TOEFL app” pages leave out. The real test already grades your speaking and writing with AI. ETS’s 2026 test blueprint marks all 11 Speaking items, plus Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion, as “AI Scored”. So a practice app that scores you with AI can be close to test day, or it can be a different machine with its own opinion. Of the seven tools in this guide, two say their scoring comes from ETS. The other five give you their own estimate. And several of the top search results for this topic were written by the apps themselves: Gabble’s blog ranks Gabble first, and PrepEx’s ranks PrepEx first.

How we put this together. We have not used these apps ourselves; this is a research-based comparison. Every price, rating and feature below comes from ETS’s website, the vendor’s own website, or the app’s US App Store and Google Play listing, read on 27 October 2026, and each source is linked. Some pages only loaded in a full browser, so we read them that way. We connect from India, so where a site showed us rupees instead of dollars we say so and do not convert. Score claims and guarantees are the vendors’ own, and we quote the fine print. None of these companies paid to appear on this page.

What changed on the TOEFL in January 2026

Before comparing apps, it helps to know what they should be drilling. All of this comes from ETS’s own pages.

The new sections and tasks

ETS’s test content page lists the current task types. Reading has Complete the Words, Read in Daily Life and Read an Academic Passage. Listening has Listen and Choose a Response, Listen to a Conversation, Listen to an Announcement and Listen to an Academic Talk. Writing has Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion. Speaking has Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview, with 11 items in about 8 minutes. ETS says to “allow approximately two hours to complete the test” and adds: “As the test adapts, test time and items may vary.”

The integrated speaking tasks, the independent speaking question and the integrated essay that older guides drill are not on that list. If an app or course still sells them as TOEFL practice, that content is for the old test.

The new 1 to 6 score scale

According to ETS’s score guidance page, since 21 January 2026 score reports use a new 1 to 6 scale “in half point increments”, aligned with the CEFR, with four section scores and an overall score. For a two-year transition, reports also show a comparable overall score on the old 0 to 120 scale, which ETS says represents “the midpoint of the corresponding total range.” In ETS’s comparison table, band 5 lines up with 95 or more on the old scale and band 4 with 72 or more. That matters when you read a score guarantee, as you will see below.

Which parts the real test scores with AI

The blueprint splits tasks into “Machine Scored” and “AI Scored”. Reading, Listening and Build a Sentence are machine scored. Write an Email, Write for an Academic Discussion, Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview are AI scored, which ETS explains as responses “evaluated using natural language processing and machine learning to assess features like fluency, coherence, and grammar.” The same document says Reading and Listening “are designed as two-stage adaptive tests”, while Writing and Speaking are fixed for everyone on a form.

Two rules apply on test day. ETS says “Writing assistance software is not permitted during the TOEFL iBT test”, and the Home Edition is “monitored by a live human proctor”. Use AI to practise, never during the test.

The official benchmark: ETS’s own prep

ETS writes the test, so its prep page is the reference point. It offers a free Interactive Sample, a free Full-Length Practice Test 1 and Full-Length Practice Test 2, a free 8-week study planner PDF, and TOEFL TestReady, which ETS calls a “personalized, one-stop TOEFL iBT prep portal with practice tests, courses, guides, books, performance insights, progress tracking and more.” ETS’s update notice says new free and paid prep materials have been available since July 2025.

The paid shop listed these prices in US dollars on 27 October 2026: TOEFL Practice Online $49, The Official Guide to the TOEFL iBT Test, Eighth Edition $29, the Official TOEFL iBT Prep Course $149, a Readiness Pack (the guide plus one practice test) $69, a TOEFL Practice Online Trio $99, and Study.com official prep at $199 for three months or $349 for six. The individual product pages showed us prices in rupees, so expect local currency at checkout.

TOEFL Practice Online gives “1 full TOEFL iBT practice test that mirrors the real test experience” with “Actual TOEFL iBT scoring”, timed and adaptive sections, and section and overall scores, but it “does not include an answer review feature.” The Prep Course is “Updated for the 2026 TOEFL iBT enhancements” and gives six months of access to “over 60 hours of content, including more than 200 activities, and scoring on Speaking and Writing pre- and post-tests and activities.” ETS adds that “The course is not supported on any mobile device.” There is no AI tutor here, but this is the scoring every app below is trying to predict.

AI TOEFL prep apps compared

Prices and ratings read on 27 October 2026. Ratings are rounded to one decimal, with the number of ratings in brackets. “Renews?” reflects what each vendor’s own pages say; where we found nothing, we say so.

How we chose and ordered these

Each tool had to describe an AI feature for TOEFL practice in its own words, cover the 2026 task types on its own pages, and have been updated within the last 12 months on at least one platform. We ordered them by how close their scoring is to ETS’s (official content and ETS scoring first), then by what you get for the price, how clear the renewal and refund terms are, and what the vendor says it does with your voice recordings. Santa’s ETS partnership and scoring engines are its own claims, which we could not confirm on ets.org, and its prices only show inside the app, so it sits below PrepEx and Gabble. Tools with no specific AI feature, products we could not verify, and general English apps are listed further down with the reason.

The seven AI TOEFL prep apps

1. Magoosh TOEFL: official ETS questions and ETS grading

Magoosh builds its course from ETS material. Its plans page lists “Up to 10 official, full-length practice tests directly from ETS” and “1300+ OFFICIAL QUESTIONS”, which it says “are created by ETS and used under license.” For speaking and writing, the page says responses are “Scored by ETS, who creates and scores the official TOEFL iBT test.” The AI part is a tutor: “Never get stuck with an AI tutor to explain any question or concept.” The iPhone app description adds “Instant AI grading on Speaking & Writing responses” and an “AI tutor trained on Magoosh content”.

Pricing is simple. Premium cost $109 for one month or $129 for six months, with the six-month plan also offered as “4 monthly payments of $32.25.” So the longer plan is the better deal by a wide margin. Both include “Updated for the 2026 TOEFL”, a 7-day refund, a plan pause and a TOEFL registration discount voucher (Magoosh lists $40 off in the US, 3% in India and 10% elsewhere). The FAQ is clear that “Magoosh plans do not renew or auto-renew.”

Read the score guarantee closely. It promises a full refund if Magoosh does not improve your total score by “at least 4 points” on the 0 to 120 scale. It only applies if you have taken the TOEFL before, your old score is under two years old, and you email your “Before” score report when you sign up. Remember that ETS prints the 0 to 120 figure on new reports only during the two-year transition, and as the midpoint of the range that matches your band.

The Magoosh TOEFL iPhone app had 4.7 from 3,239 US ratings, last updated on 22 February 2026 with the note “Updated for the 2026 version of the TOEFL!” The Android app had 4.6 from 1,872 reviews and 100K+ installs, updated on 24 October 2026. The iPhone description mentions four full-length tests while the plans page says up to ten, so check what the app version includes.

Choose it if you want official ETS questions and ETS grading at a fixed price with nothing to cancel. Skip it if you want an AI coach to hold a spoken conversation with you.

2. PrepEx: an AI speaking coach and a large free tier

PrepEx describes itself as “AI-Powered TOEFL Prep with instant feedback. Ready for TOEFL 2026 with all new task types. Practice with Petra, your AI speaking coach.” Petra holds live voice conversations and gives pronunciation and fluency feedback. The free tier gives “3 daily practice submissions (shared across Writing, Speaking, Reading, and Listening)” with AI grading, plus one full practice test after seven practices.

The pricing page listed Pro at $39.99 a month or $89.99 every three months, and says it “Renews at $89.99 every 3 months. Cancel anytime.” Pro includes “3,500+ ETS-aligned questions”, 30 full practice tests, and “6,000 Petra credits/month”, which PrepEx says equals “100 min of Petra conversations”. Free users get 360 Petra credits a month. PrepEx also lists “AI-generated questions” for fresh practice. Note the difference between “ETS-aligned” and the official ETS questions Magoosh licenses. PrepEx sells an official ETS practice test as an add-on for $40 (ETS’s own price is $49), and its page says PrepEx’s own prep services “are independently developed and are not endorsed or approved by ETS.”

Its privacy policy is worth reading if you plan to record a lot of speaking. PrepEx says it keeps recordings “for scoring, service improvement, and research purposes” and may “License de-identified datasets (including voice recordings, transcripts, and scores) to trusted education, publishing, and research partners”. You can opt out by emailing [email protected], and deleted accounts are cleared within 7 days. We found no PrepEx app in the US App Store or Google Play, although the policy mentions one.

Choose it if you want spoken back-and-forth practice and a free tier you can use daily. Skip it if you do not want your recordings used for research datasets, unless you opt out first.

3. Gabble: low one-time prices for the 2026 tasks

Gabble says its practice is “built for the 2026 TOEFL® tasks: Complete the Words, Build a Sentence, Write an Email, Academic Discussion, Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview” with “Instant AI scoring” on the 1 to 6 band scale. For Take an Interview, it says answers are “scored on fluency, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and relevance in seconds.”

Its prices are low and fixed. The Mini Pack was $30 (marked down from $35) for “Unlimited credits” and one month of access, and the Value Pack $40 (from $50) for two months. New accounts get free trial credits. Its terms say plans are “one-time purchases” and “we do not currently charge on a recurring or auto-renewing basis.” Refunds are tight: only within 3 days of purchase, if you have used the service no more than 10 times.

The privacy policy says: “We send your written responses and audio recordings to OpenAI and Anthropic (the provider of Claude) to generate scoring, transcription, and feedback”. Submissions are also used “to train and improve our models over time.” Gabble’s website says its TOEFL app is “Coming soon”, but a Gabble TOEFL app was already on Google Play with 1K+ installs, updated on 13 October 2026. Some testimonials on its 2026 page still talk about “integrated writing”, a task that is not on the current test.

Choose it if you want unlimited AI-scored practice on the new tasks for one fixed, low price. Skip it if you want official ETS content or scoring.

4. Santa AI TOEFL: says it uses ETS’s scoring engines

Santa, from Socra AI (formerly Riiid), makes a big claim. Its App Store listing calls Santa “the Official ETS Partner”, lists “21+ official TOEFL iBT mock tests”, and says “Your TOEFL Speaking and Writing responses are evaluated by SpeechRater® and e-rater®, the same scoring engines used on the real TOEFL iBT.” It also offers a 15-minute level test with a predicted score (“Predicted scores are not official TOEFL scores”) and an AI tutor called Lumi. We found trade press reporting a content deal between Socra AI and ETS, but no page on ets.org confirming the partnership or the engines, so treat those as Santa’s claims.

Santa has no separate website for TOEFL that we could find, so the app store is the main source. The US App Store lists an in-app purchase called “Santa TOEFL (1 Month)” at $79, alongside “30-Day Premium Pass” at $149.99 and “90-Day Premium Pass” at $239.99, without saying which test those passes cover. The listing is for the combined Santa AI TOEIC/TOEFL app, which had 4.6 from 130 US ratings and was updated on 25 October 2026. The Android app, listed as Santa AI TOEFL, had 4.7 from 30,516 reviews and 1M+ installs, updated on 23 October 2026, but the app dates back to 2017, so many of those ratings likely come from its TOEIC years. Its App Store privacy label lists identifiers under “Data Used to Track You”.

Choose it if you want practice scored by the engines Santa says ETS uses, on your phone. Skip it if you want a web platform, or a price you can see before you install.

5. TestGlider: 2026 mock tests with unlimited AI feedback

TestGlider, from Seoul-based Databank Inc., is built around full mock tests. Its membership page listed the monthly plan at $34.99 (down from $43.70) and a 6-month plan at $107.94 (down from $262.20). Both include “12 Full-Length Practice Tests” for the 2026 format, which TestGlider says are “built from analysis of real exam questions”, plus “Unlimited AI Scoring & Feedback” with “detailed AI-powered corrections on your written and spoken responses” and unlimited shadowing practice for speaking.

TestGlider is an authorised TOEFL voucher reseller, and its footer says its TOEFL preparation “is not endorsed or approved by ETS.” Its terms allow a withdrawal within 7 days, but the pages we read do not say whether the monthly plan renews automatically, so check at checkout. The iPhone app launched on 30 July 2026 and had no US ratings yet; the Android app had 1K+ installs, updated on 1 October 2026.

Choose it if you learn best by taking timed full tests and reviewing the AI feedback. Skip it if you want to know exactly where the questions come from.

6. LingoLeap: AI feedback paid for in credits

LingoLeap gives practice-grade band estimates on Speaking and Writing, and says plainly that its score is “not an official score”. What makes it different is the credit system on its pricing page. The 3-month Plus plan was billed at $50 for 7,500 credits, and Premium at $123 for 15,000 credits with unlimited mock tests. On Plus, each writing evaluation costs 200 credits, each Take an Interview answer 200, each Listen and Repeat 100, and each mock test 800. So 7,500 credits covers about 37 writing evaluations if you spend them on nothing else. Shorter plans were listed at $9 for 7 days and $20 for 30 days.

The website is current, with pages for every 2026 task, but the LingoLeap iPhone app is version 1.0 from 4 August 2024, with 8 ratings, and its description still talks about “essays”. We found no Android app. Its privacy policy says user data is used “for the purposes of publishing and enhancing content on public platforms, as well as for the refinement and training of our models.”

Choose it if you want a large question bank on the web and like paying for only the feedback you use. Skip it if you plan to record dozens of answers a week, or want a current phone app.

7. BestMyTest: AI scores plus teacher reviews, with caps

BestMyTest mixes AI and people. It says “Every speaking and writing answer gets a free instant AI score. You can also get detailed AI reviews or reviews by a TOEFL certified teacher.” The catch is in the numbers on its plans page. The Custom plan includes 25 teacher speaking reviews, 25 teacher writing reviews and 20 in-depth AI reviews. Premium raises that to 60 of each. The 7-day Last Minute plan has no teacher reviews and 5 in-depth AI reviews. All plans include unlimited instant AI scores, “50 full-length 2-hour adaptive TOEFL test simulations” and “6500+ TOEFL practice questions updated for 2026”.

The page showed us prices in Indian rupees only: the Last Minute plan was ₹2,900 for 7 days, and the other plans change price with the term you pick, so check your own currency. Plans are “one-time purchases and expire automatically when the term ends.” The guarantee wording differs between pages. The plans page promises a “1+ band score improvement money back guarantee” (2+ bands on Premium), while the main TOEFL page still says “we guarantee your score will increase by at least 7 points.” Ask which one applies before you buy.

The website is updated for 2026, but the iPhone app (one rating) and the Android app were both last updated in August 2023, before the test changed. Use it in a browser.

Choose it if you want a human teacher to review some of your answers alongside the AI. Skip it if you need a working phone app.

What we left out, and why

TST Prep sells TOEFL courses and teacher evaluations (a speaking evaluation for $29, writing evaluations from $27), but its site only mentions an “AI enhanced learning experience” with no specific AI feature, and one of its speaking class bundles still includes “BONUS 100+ Independent Speaking questions”, a task that is not on the 2026 test. Kaplan‘s TOEFL page showed us a bot check, so we could not verify what it offers. E2Language‘s TOEFL page returned “Page not found” and its course menu lists IELTS, PTE, OET and CELPIP, but not TOEFL. SpeakShark is a general AI English conversation app, and its own blog says it “does not provide official TOEFL exam preparation”. The Duolingo English Test is a different test altogether. We also skipped several small App Store apps with zero to eight ratings, because there was too little public information to check them.

How to choose an AI TOEFL prep app

Start with ETS’s free tests

ETS gives you two free full-length practice tests and a free sample. Take one first. It costs nothing, gives you a band in the real format, and tells you which section needs the most work.

Decide whose scoring you want

The real test scores your speaking and writing with AI, so the question is whose AI you practise against. Magoosh says ETS grades its speaking and writing, and Santa says it uses ETS’s engines. PrepEx, Gabble, TestGlider, LingoLeap and BestMyTest score you with their own systems, which is fine for practice as long as you treat the band as an estimate. A sensible routine is lots of cheap AI practice, then one official ETS practice test to check the number.

Make sure it drills the 2026 tasks

Every tool here lists the new tasks, but leftovers from the old test are still around. Skip any course or guide that sells integrated speaking tasks, an independent speaking question or an integrated essay as TOEFL practice. Spend your speaking time on Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview. If pronunciation is what holds you back, our guide to AI pronunciation apps covers tools built for that, and our AI public speaking coach comparison helps with fluency under pressure.

Check renewal, refund and guarantee terms

Magoosh, Gabble and BestMyTest say their plans do not renew. PrepEx renews until you cancel. Santa sells through the app stores, so check the in-app screen and your phone’s subscription settings. Refund windows range from 3 days at Gabble to 7 days at Magoosh. Guarantees are written in different units: Magoosh promises 4 points on the 0 to 120 scale, while BestMyTest promises bands on one page and points on another. Read the conditions before you rely on any of them.

Know where your voice goes

Speaking practice means uploading recordings of your voice. PrepEx may license de-identified recordings to research partners unless you opt out. Gabble sends recordings to OpenAI and Anthropic and uses submissions to train its models. LingoLeap uses data to train its models. If that bothers you, read the policy and use the opt-out or deletion options before you record.

Keep AI out of test day

ETS does not allow writing assistance software during the test, and the Home Edition is watched by a live proctor. Use these apps before test day only.

Still choosing between tests? Our guide to AI IELTS prep apps compares the tools for the other big English exam.

Sources

• ETS: TOEFL iBT test content and structure, Understanding TOEFL scores, TOEFL iBT 2026 test blueprint and specifications (PDF), Test preparation and shop, TOEFL Practice Online, Official TOEFL iBT Prep Course, TOEFL iBT updates coming January 2026 (19 November 2025).
• Magoosh: plans and FAQ, score guarantee, US App Store listing, Google Play listing.
• Santa: US App Store listing, Google Play listing.
• PrepEx: TOEFL page, pricing, privacy policy, its own AI TOEFL tools list.
• Gabble: TOEFL prep page, terms of service, privacy policy, Google Play listing, its own AI TOEFL tools list.
• TestGlider: homepage, membership pricing, US App Store listing, Google Play listing.
• LingoLeap: pricing, privacy policy, US App Store listing.
• BestMyTest: TOEFL page, plans and pricing, US App Store listing, Google Play listing.
• Left out: TST Prep store, Kaplan TOEFL, E2Language, SpeakShark, SpeakShark TOEFL speaking post.
• All store listings and web pages read 27 October 2026.

Written by

Faz

Faz is the founder of AIToolsBakery. Some tools here are tested hands on. Others are assessed from vendor documentation and pricing verified on the live page, and every review says which one it is. Sponsors can buy a position in a guide. They cannot buy the score, the criticism, or silence about a better option.

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