ShadowingEnglish and Sada, compared honestly
ShadowingEnglish and Sada are both free, need no account, work with YouTube videos you choose and have an Arabic interface. ShadowingEnglish adds a percentage score, apps and paid Premium feedback; Sada has no paid plan, shows your timing against the speaker and runs its own speech recognition on your device, but does not grade individual sounds.
Last checked: 30 September 2026. Prices and limits change; confirm them on the tool’s own site or in your country’s store.
Which “Shadowing English” do you mean?
This page is about shadowingenglish.com and its app “Shadowing English With Video” on the App Store. Other apps have similar names and are unrelated products, for example “Shadowing English by Tubeshad” on Google Play, which is listed in our table of all the tools under TubeShad. We compare only shadowingenglish.com here.
Is ShadowingEnglish free?
Partly. Its upgrade page has a “Free vs Premium” table that lists daily limits on the free plan: video practice “3 + 1/day”, AI pronunciation scoring “10/day (20 on day 1)”, and other AI features with daily caps. Premium lifts them, on the website and in the app, and costs $4.99 a month, $12.99 for 3 months, $19.99 a year or $99.99 for life on the US App Store. Guest sessions exist, but they save scores only; a free account keeps your recordings and progress. Its help page lists the questions “Is the website free?” and “What do I get with Premium?”, but their answers did not load in our check, so we rely on the upgrade page.
ShadowingEnglish vs Sada
| Compared on | ShadowingEnglish | Sada |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free plan with daily limits; Premium from $4.99 a month, or $99.99 lifetime (US App Store) | Free, no paid plan |
| Account | Guest practice is possible (scores only); a free account keeps recordings and progress | Not needed |
| Videos | Paste a video link; AI captions when a video has none; library by level and topic | Any YouTube video with usable captions, or a pasted transcript, SRT or VTT file; famous talks by level |
| Feedback | A pronunciation score per sentence; full AI scoring in Premium | Words recognised or missed, and your timing against the speaker; not each sound |
| Other modes | Dictation, vocabulary games, AI conversation practice; offline practice with saved progress in the app (App Store) | Shadow and Repeat modes, speed and loop; no store app |
| Speech recognition | The browser’s built-in Web Speech API; its policy says audio is not sent to its servers | Sada’s own model, running inside the page on your device; recordings are not uploaded |
| Where | Any modern browser, plus iPhone and Android apps | Any modern browser, phone or computer; no store app |
| Motivation | XP, streaks and a leaderboard | Your first try against your latest on the same line |
| Arabic interface | Yes on the website (15 languages listed); the App Store listing shows English | Yes |
When ShadowingEnglish is the better choice
If you want a store app with offline practice, a percentage-style score to chase, XP and a leaderboard, dictation and AI conversation practice, or practice on a video that has no captions (it says it makes AI captions), ShadowingEnglish does those and Sada does not. It also publishes many blog articles on pronunciation.
When Sada is the better choice
If you want no daily limits and nothing to pay for later, to speak with the speaker in Shadow mode and see how far behind you were, or speech recognition that Sada runs itself on your device rather than the browser’s service, Sada is built for that. What Sada’s check measures.
Other comparisons
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026: shadowingenglish.com (videos, languages, apps), ShadowingEnglish upgrade page (free and Premium limits), ShadowingEnglish help (topics), ShadowingEnglish privacy policy (speech recognition), ShadowingEnglish on the App Store (prices, XP, leaderboard, offline). Prices change; check your own store.
Practise one line, step by step
- Open an exercise from this guide. Choose a captioned video for this guide’s topic and a line whose meaning you understand.
- Listen and read the caption, then say the line after the speaker in Repeat mode.
- Try saying the line with the speaker in Shadow mode, following the rhythm and pauses.
- Record a take, then open Compare and play your recording and the original. Review words and timing; Sada does not grade individual sounds.
- Repeat the line while focusing on one difference you heard, then move to another line.
Questions people ask
Is ShadowingEnglish free?
Partly. Its upgrade page lists daily limits on the free plan, such as video practice “3 + 1/day” and AI pronunciation scoring “10/day”. Premium lifts them, from $4.99 a month on the US App Store, or $99.99 for life.
Do I need an account for ShadowingEnglish?
You can practise as a guest, but guest sessions save scores only; an account keeps your recordings and progress. Sada needs no account.
Is there a ShadowingEnglish lifetime plan?
Yes: the US App Store lists Lifetime Premium at $99.99.
Does ShadowingEnglish have an Arabic interface?
Its website lists Arabic among 15 languages; its App Store listing shows English. Sada has an Arabic interface.
What is the main difference between ShadowingEnglish and Sada?
ShadowingEnglish gives a score per sentence, has apps and offers Premium extras, with daily limits on the free plan. Sada is free with no paid plan, shows your timing against the speaker, and runs its own speech recognition on your device.
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