I’m writing to express my deep disappointment with LingQ regarding a recent policy change that significantly affects users.
A year ago, I purchased the LingQ Lifetime plan, which was clearly advertised as offering “unlimited uploads”—a key feature that strongly influenced my decision to buy. At the time, it allowed me to upload audio files and use Whispersync to generate transcripts, which was incredibly helpful for language learning through audiobooks.
However, starting around May 2025, LingQ quietly introduced a 10-hour monthly limit on audio uploads—without any announcement. This effectively restricts users to just 20 minutes of audio per day. It is extremely limiting for serious learners who rely on audiobooks or long-form content. Honestly, it feels like a bait-and-switch.
I understand that Whispersync may incur high costs, but that is a business risk LingQ should have anticipated before promoting “unlimited uploads” to users. Now, not only has the marketing been changed, but all users—regardless of when they joined—are being affected by this new restriction.
Frankly, that’s both unfair and disappointing.
If LingQ realized that the unlimited model was not sustainable, they should have grandfathered in users who purchased their lifetime plan before May 2025. The new limitations should apply only to customers who signed up after the policy change. That’s what honoring your commitments looks like.
LingQ is a powerful tool with a strong reputation in the language learning community, and I genuinely want to continue supporting it. But trust matters. If you sell a product with “unlimited uploads,” you need to stand by that promise for those who paid in good faith.
I sincerely hope the LingQ team reconsiders this decision and restores unlimited uploads for lifetime users who subscribed before the change.
I second that. Loyal customers bring more business this is what I was taught in my marketing class. Look at me, I bought three lifetime subscriptions for three different languages. I am a profitable customer yet I face such issues. Then what is the point of using LingQ- if you can not enjoy of what you are studying. Atleast increase the limit probably from 10 hours to something like 20-30 hours of transcription. I find it 10 hours limit quite limited,
I have the same issue. I love lingQ bought a yearly subscription when language 50 introduced the discounted membership. Im learning many languages mostly with youtube and tge new limitation should A be clearly announced and B only apply to new users. It’s unfair to users who already have paid and have no option. And yes you are right serious learners have no chance… It’s basically defying the purpose of lingq which is to import your content to learn. Especially annoying when no actual content is there for a language, which is true for many of the beta languages. They never seem to get more content anyways. Also I am looking forward to Thai being added but this limit will impede the learning process bc there will probably not be much lingQown content.
@sitran We are working on adding a new tier which will allow up to 3,600 monthly hours of transcription, or 2 hours per day. We believe this should be enough for even a dedicated learner to keep importing throughout the month.
“We are working on adding a new tier which will allow up to 3,600 monthly hours of transcription, or 2 hours per day. We believe this should be enough for even a dedicated learner to keep importing throughout the month.”
How would this new tier affect people who already bought Lifetime plans?
I whole heartedly agree. I’ve recommended lingq to quite a few friends bragging about how good the lifetime is because i finally have a language app that cares about you learning a language, not just a monthly sub that does nothing like duolingo. Now its like I don’t know if i should recommend the lifetime since hitting walls/limitations is never fun when youre extremely motivated.
yep, changes should affect only new users that buy the lifetime plan, with clear rules. Don’t change it back, don’t ruin your reputation for nothing like Whoop.
For example, I don’t upload much but if one day I decide to upload 10 books that I want to read for the entire year, I shouldn’t have any limitation. Imho.
@stitchel At the moment, the limit affects Lifetime users too. When we introduce a new tier, we will see how we can properly handle users on the Lifetime plan. Thanks for pointing that out,