Rosetta Stone Reviews 6,954

I wanted to warn the community about Rosetta Stone’s current business practices regarding their legacy software.

I own a $500 permanent license for their language package. This is a standalone software product that requires zero ongoing support or server maintenance from them. However, their activation process uses a "Request Code" system where you must contact them via phone or email to receive a "Response Code" to unlock the software you purchased.

When I contacted support to activate my paid software, they explicitly refused to provide the Response Code. Instead, they told me that the only way to use their product now is to sign up for their new web-based subscription model (monthly, annual or "lifetime" paywall).

They aren't just "ending support" for old software; they are actively gatekeeping the activation of a product I already own to force an upsell. Effectively, they have remotely "bricked" a $500 purchase to move me onto a recurring payment plan.

If you are considering buying Rosetta Stone, be aware that "Lifetime" or "Permanent" doesn't actually mean you will be allowed to use the software once they decide to change their billing model.

Absolutely the worst way to learn a language. I'm taking Spanish and it shows pictures that might not even be correct to the word or sentence that they are giving you. The program doesn't give you the meaning or the alternative word(s) in the language you speak and they expect you to know everything just by looking at their photos. They don't teach you what any of the words mean before testing you on what you know. The only reason I know anything that they're saying is because I used a much better learning system before this (Duolingo). I definitely do not recommend for new learners, beginners, or anyone. I suggest using something better than this time wasting program.

I had an issue where I rejoined after an absence, and wanted my past history deleted so I could start fresh. The only way in which to achieve this was to sign under a new email address, which meant that I needed to cancel my account. Rosetta Stone were expeditious in issuing a refund, thereby allowing me to rejoin.

Rosetta is a great way to learn, particularly if you are a visual learner ( and most people are). The pictures translate the words (you are not given a written translation) and this is the best way to learn, as it is how we learn from birth!

I bought Rosetta Stone some years ago with the CD disks. Conveniently, they no longer support this, so I have some useless CDs that I payed $250 for! What a scam from Rosetta Stone!!

I found Rosetta Stone to be very repetitive, which can be boring after a while and sometimes the pictures are confusing to select the correct answer. After I finished the French course, I figured out that many basic vocabulary is missing.

I have been working in Rosetta Stone, Babble and Duolingo for the past 30 days. I have found that, among the three Duolingo has been the best so far. I very much enjoy the repetition and the pace of learning.

Rosetta Stone was the worst. Like others, I find no explanation of the grammar very frustrating. On several lessons, I took them over and over and still did not understand what the intent was. Sometimes the pictures were very confusing as to who was talking and how to interpret what was being said.

I purchased a life time subscription and now have buyers remorse. I am hoping that once I get better it will be more useful.

Rosetta Stone is extremely disappointing. For an award winning program, it surprisingly lacks the tools help someone successfully learn a language.

I attempted the beginner course for Korean, and it was miserably frustrating. It progressed quickly without any assistance on how to pronounce the words correctly. Annunciation and intonation is incredibly important yet it offers no real emphasis with that.

It teaches you words in the first few slides and transitions into sentences right afterwards. And the sentence is spoken quickly.

It doesn’t break down the sentence for you, so you have no idea what word is what.

I’ve learned more from a translation app, K-dramas and Instagram.

I wouldn’t recommend this expensive annoyance trap.

There are plenty of better programs that are user friendly and easy to follow.

The customer service is horrible. While you do get to speak to an actual person, they’re useless. I waited for 90 minutes and still couldn’t get an agent. Got connected finally after a 30 minute wait the second attempt but only for her to be of no help.

Absolutely unacceptable for a company with such a good reputation.

Purchased a lifetime subscription back in 2015. I used it for a while, and then lost interest. I tried to go back to it a few weeks ago only to discovery my log in no longer worked. When I inquired to customer service, they informed me my CD/download stopped being supported in 2019 (after 4 years) and they would offer me to pay $80 to have access to a new “lifetime” subscription. I protested that I used an app on iOS and didn’t download the product so should have access. They refused. Everything was clearly a script. Their “lifetime” products are a scam. They support them for as long as they feel like. Be that a month for a few years. But it will end long before your “lifetime” is over. Don’t do business with them.

Paid for a full year. Cancelled the auto renew. Rosetta cancelled the subscription and will only restore it only if I renew the autorenew. I PAID FOR A FULL YEAR I SHOULD HAVE ACCESS FOR A FULL YEAR REGARDLESS OF MY AUTORENEW STATUS. I consider this extremely predatory and in badfaith.

I purchased the lifetime subscription and never got the chance to use it. I make most of my purchases through PayPal because it keeps all the receipts in one place. I called Rosetta Stone to reactivate my access and they had no proof of my purchase. Yet I purchased this product only in 2022 so my lifetime access has no evidence after only 3 years. I gave them my PayPal receipt as proof of payment and the customer rep said he can't accept that. So the lifetime access comes with a condition that you must keep your original Rosetta Stone receipt.

Subscribed to a 3 month plan and ended up not using it because I was busy with other life events. Auto renew was on and I forgot to cancel it before I was charged. Requested a refund and withing three or four days the money was back in my bank account. Thank you so much Rosetta Stone. $80 doesn't sound like much but it is to me. I will definitely be resubscribing at some point and will not forget how courteously I was treated. Thank you again Rosetta Stone. Very much appreciated. THUMBS UP.

The advertising is deceptive. I thought I was purchasing a 3 month subscription, and didn't realize it was automatically renewing it every 3 months. I should be used to the "subscription gimmick" by now, but just didn't think to check.

I really appreciate the constant listening to Native speakers speak the language. What I'm finding frustrating is the sudden jumping to entirely new vocabulary that I'm supposed to repeat and understand. I actually thought my Rosetta Stone was broken, because at first I seemed to do the same things over and over and over. Then by lesson 4, I do the core lesson, and the next step in that lesson has completely new vocabulary and grammar and I am expected to repeat it and answer questions when I have very little idea of what I'm doing. Some of the photos are also confusing- am I looking at a living room, or an I don't know what? I kept checking to see if maybe my RS got confused and suddenly launched me into a more advanced lesson. I'm realizing that if you're trying to imitate the immersive experience, then I'm guessing this is part of it- when you're listening and don't have a clue what's happening. Right now it's feeling very frustrating. I'm still wondering if somehow the lessons got out of order. I was enjoying it.

BE AWARE Lifetime warranty means as long the technology stays the same .if it changes and it will you will have to buy another subscription again even if you paid the full price .
No accountability and dishonest to me

Be careful - they sell you a lifetime product but what does that mean? You expect to pay only once but for them it seems to mean you have to pay for a lifetime again and again. I read some other comments here that say somewhat the same
I have wasted already € 398.- for two lifetime subscriptions (for me and my partner). - I have been trying to sort this out with customer support since years but never really worked. I will try with a telephone call next week again. If some thing good comes from it I will report it here.

Bought a 3 months subscription, which was ok. No where on the website or purchase order they said it is an automatic renewal. Emailed them with that question and they said, yes. I asked, way in advance to cancel my automatic renewal. Got a confirmation in the email that my subscription will not be renewed. a confirmation! and still they charged my credit card.
Avoid this company!

* This is an update:
I received an email from the company that they apologize for the confusing emails sent to me. They have "membership" and "auto renewal" which are two different things.
I have no idea why. The company promised to take care of this language error for the future. They also responded that my card was not charged.
i changed my rating from 2 to 3 stars.

I had the CD version of this program for years. Recently, I bought a new computer and of course the CD version does not work. So, I tried to buy the "Life Time Subscription". Of course, I can't. When signing-in, they say my subscription has expired and needs to be renewed. However, when trying to pay for renewal, I get the message "This e-mail account already exists". Tried to call Customer Service but, the are not open on weekends, What kind of Cost Cutting operation is this ? Now after reading so many other bad reviews, I quite happy they won't take my payment.

So in my school's Spanish class, I use Rosetta Stone, and because the school pays for it, I don't have to pay a dime! It is really fun, and unlike Duolingo, you don't lose hearts if you get something wrong, and you actually learn. I am nearly fluent in the Spanish language after about 1 year. The only thing that is iffy is the speech recognition. It says you are correct, no matter what, but luckily, I have 2 amazing Spanish supervisors who would be glad to help me with my pronunciation!

Spent over £300 on their online products. The products never worked properly and then they said I had to buy programs again.

Their marketing is a scam and the things they promise are just words.

Once they take your money, you won’t get it back…

Do not give them your bank details or credit card.

They went in my mine unnoticed and took out a lot of money…

I have just purchased this for 3 months and I have not tried to cancel or anything yet, therefore , I am only reviewing the product itself.
I have done so much Spanish over the years but have forgotten most of it and ultimately was struggling to speak about the most basic of things.
Since starting with Rosetta Stone I have learned quite a lot of new words and it has also unlocked so much of the basic Spanish that I am finding more advanced Spanish is now coming back to me.
I went with this company as I liked the accents on the Spanish version. It’s not as slow as Duolingo and the voices annoy me
on that app so much. On reading more negative reviews I think one of the problems with language learning is you need to use a variety of resources. I would recommend, if UK based, following a GCSE (bite size) course along side of this. Maybe starting with KS2. It will slot into place and you will learn much faster. I can understand why some beginners find this hard to understand. I emailed the company as I wanted to see what the levels were like and they sent me the specification. I found the transcripts to it all and I think they might also be helpful if you are beginner.
One slight negative is at times it doesn’t recognise your speech, at first it was so annoying but I’m getting past that now.
Overall for me it is doing the job.