Looking for a Readlang Alternative? How Lectura Compares for Spanish and French

Readlang is a well-loved browser extension for reading foreign-language text with instant click-to-translate lookups. If you've used it and want something that adapts the difficulty of the text itself — not just the dictionary layer — here's an honest comparison with Lectura for Spanish and French.

What Readlang Does

Readlang installs as a browser extension and works on almost any webpage: open an article in Spanish or French, click or drag across a word or phrase, and get an instant translation. Anything you look up can be saved as a flashcard and reviewed later with spaced repetition. Readlang also has a "Public Texts" library of articles pre-sorted by difficulty from A1 to C2, and a desktop/mobile reader for imported ebooks and articles.

The free plan is genuinely generous — unlimited reading, translation, and flashcard practice, with only phrase-level translation and its "Explain" feature capped at a small number of uses per day. The paid Premium tier costs around $5/month and removes those caps.

How Lectura Differs

Readlang's core design is "bring your own text, we'll help you look words up" — which is excellent when you already have something specific you want to read, but doesn't solve the harder problem for most learners: finding native content that's actually at their level in the first place. A beginner pointing Readlang at a real Spanish or French news site is still reading native-difficulty text, just with faster lookups.

Lectura adapts the text itself, not just the dictionary:

• Vocabulary and sentence complexity are rewritten for A1, A2, or B1 — not left at native difficulty with translation support layered on top.
• No source-hunting required. Fresh news is added throughout the day, so there's always something current and level-appropriate to read.
• Instant level switching on every article, so you can see the same story get more complex as you move up a level — useful for gauging your own progress.
• Real publications — El País, BBC Mundo, Le Monde, France 24, and others.

Which Is Better for You?

Choose Readlang if: you already read specific websites, blogs, or forums in Spanish or French and want fast in-place translation without leaving the page, or you like building a personal flashcard deck from your own reading.

Choose Lectura if: you're at A1, A2, or B1 and want text that's actually written for your level rather than native text with a dictionary attached — especially useful for beginners who find authentic news overwhelming even with word-by-word lookup available.

Try Lectura

Lectura's Spanish and French reading sections are free to start — no sign-up needed to read an article at A1, A2, or B1, so you can compare the experience directly against Readlang.