The Best Podcasts to Learn Italian in 2026, Measured by Level

In the newest episode of Learn Italian with Joy of Languages, about 93% of the talking was in English. In the newest episode on ItalianPod101's feed, a narrator read Italian at about 177 words a minute. Both are Italian learning podcasts, and each one suits a very different learner.

Two numbers tell you whether a show will work for you: how much of it is in English, and how fast the Italian comes. So our team measured both in 12 Italian podcasts, noted who speaks, and checked what each gives you free. Here are our picks, from your first week of Italian to all-Italian conversations between two hosts.

How we tested

On November 13, 2026, our team saved the first two minutes of the newest episode of 12 Italian learning podcasts from each show's official feed, plus a minute from the middle of Coffee Break Italian's, which opened with ads, and measured how many Italian words a minute the hosts speak, what share of the talking is in English, and how loud the audio is. We listened to every sample for voices, accents and level, counted each show's episodes in the last three months, and read each show's website, logged out, to see what is free and what costs money. We also played the first two tracks of Language Transfer's Introduction to Italian and the first three minutes of Coffee Break Italian's first episode. Prices checked November 13, 2026.

How fast is each show, and how much English does it use?

Here's what we measured in the newest episode of each show. Speed is Italian words a minute in the Italian we measured, and English is the share of talking time in English, with ads left out. Levels are how the shows sounded to us.

Most all-Italian shows sat between about 95 and 130 words a minute. For most learners, the big step is moving from a show led in English to one entirely in Italian, and free transcripts make that step much easier.

What are the best Italian podcasts for beginners?

Coffee Break Italian, if you're starting from zero. It explains everything in English and lets a native speaker supply the Italian.

Coffee Break Italian

Coffee Break Italian teaches from scratch. In its first episode, Mark, a Scottish teacher who speaks fluent Italian, works with Francesca, a native speaker from the north of Italy, and Katie, a beginner who learns alongside you. About 90% of its first three minutes was English, which is what you want in your first week.

The feed holds 230 episodes going back to 2015 and still publishes, though its newest episodes are specials. In the November 9 episode, a companion lesson set in Milan, about 60% of the talking was English, and the story lines were read at about 110 words a minute in the short stretch we measured. The podcast is free. Full lesson notes and transcripts come with the paid courses, and the Level 1 course costs a one-time $269. Our comparison of online Italian courses puts it next to other paid options, and our Coffee Break Italian review covers all three levels and the paid courses.

Learn Italian with Joy of Languages

This weekly show leans heavily on English. In episode 248, a six-minute episode called "Are you sure about 'sure' in Italian?", about 93% of the talking was English, from two hosts: one who sounded British to us and one who sounded like a native Italian speaker. The Italian came as single words such as certo and posso. The episode page had the full transcript, free. It's a gentle A1 habit, though you'll need another show to hear whole Italian sentences.

Language Transfer: Introduction to Italian

It's an audio course rather than a podcast, but it's free: 45 tracks, about 6 hours 11 minutes, streamed on the site or downloaded with no account. The teacher, Mihalis Eleftheriou, talks a real student through building sentences, and you pause the audio to answer before she does. About three quarters of track 2 was English, and neither voice sounded like a native Italian speaker to us, so pair it with a podcast for the sound of real Italian. The recordings are quiet, too. Our guide to learning Italian for free covers the course in more detail.

Copycat Cafe free Italian audio course

Our free Italian audio course has five A1 episodes of about 10 minutes each. In each one you hear an everyday scene, learn its useful phrases, copy them aloud, then try your own answers in the pauses. Every episode has a free MP3 and a full transcript, with no sign-up, and it plays on Spotify and YouTube too. The voices are AI-generated.

What are the best Italian podcasts for intermediate learners?

Podcast Italiano. Once you know the basics, around A2, switch to shows entirely in Italian. Podcast Italiano is the one we'd start with, because its pace is gentle and its transcripts are free.

Podcast Italiano

Podcast Italiano, from Davide Gemello, runs two feeds: start with Podcast Italiano Principiante, then move up to the main Intermediate and Advanced feed. Both are entirely in Italian; the only English we heard was loanwords like suspense and Halloween. In Principiante episode 140, "Destinati a stare insieme", the host told a mystery story at about 102 words a minute. In the main feed's episode on the strikes of autumn 1969, the pace rose to about 114. In both episodes, the host, a woman, sounded to us like a native speaker of standard Italian, with a slight northern cadence.

The transcripts are what make it our intermediate pick. Logged out, episode 140's page gave us the full interactive Italian transcript, all the way to the end, with a glossary that explains words in simple Italian and adds an English gloss. The main feed's episode descriptions start "Trascrizione gratuita", free transcript. Principiante put out 17 episodes in the last three months. Extras come with the PI Club on Patreon, from $3 a month.

News in Slow Italian

News in Slow Italian was the slowest show we measured: about 85 words a minute in episode 721. Its two hosts, who sounded like native speakers of standard Italian to us, go through news, grammar and expressions slowly. The site calls this level Intermediate; to us it sounded more like A2 to B1. New episodes come weekly, and its free feed holds only 47 episodes.

The catch is the transcripts. They come only with Full Access, at $19.90 a month. The $5.90 Audio Only plan gives you, in the site's words, "All the audio, no transcripts or interactive features." There's a 7-day free trial.

Stories in Slow Italian

In this show from Daily Italian with Elena, Elena talks on her own at about 95 words a minute. Episode 169 asked why Italians still argue about dialects at school. Apart from the show's title, read in English, it was all Italian, and Elena sounded to us like a native speaker of standard Italian. Transcripts and translations are on her Patreon, from $6.50 a month. It was the quietest show we measured, so turn the volume up.

Beginner Italian Podcast, by Teacher Stefano

Despite its name, this show is entirely in Italian. In episode 76, "Che tipo di amici siamo?" (what kind of friends are we?), Stefano and a co-host talked at about 116 words a minute. Stefano sounded to us like a native speaker with a southern, Apulian accent. A free transcript is available from a form on his site that asks for your name, email and level. New episodes have come out weekly since late October.

Simple Italian Podcast

Simone Pols publishes every Tuesday, entirely in Italian, at about 112 words a minute in episode 353. In that episode, Simone, who sounded northern to us, talked with a guest who sounded Sicilian, so you hear two accents side by side. Episode 352's page showed the opening paragraphs of the transcript for free; the rest needs his membership, at €17 a month or €153 a year. It was the loudest show we measured.

Italiano Automatico

Alberto Arrighini's show has reached episode 750 and still publishes every Monday. Episode 750 opened with Alberto talking to his cat, then moved on to one habit that changed his life. On that topic he spoke at about 147 words a minute in the stretch we measured, the fastest of the intermediate shows, in what sounded to us like northern Italian. A free PDF transcript is offered through a download page with an email form.

What are the best Italian podcasts for upper-intermediate and advanced learners?

Easy Italian. Its two hosts, who both sounded native to us, talk to each other at about 128 words a minute, faster than the other all-Italian shows with two speakers.

Easy Italian

Easy Italian is a weekly conversation between Matteo and Raffaele, out on Saturdays, with 247 episodes since February 2022. In episode 246, about allarme and allerta, two military orders, they talked at about 128 words a minute in the stretch we measured, all in Italian apart from loanwords like weekend. Both sounded like native speakers to us, one with a southern accent and one closer to standard northern Italian. The show sets its own level as "B1 con la trascrizione, B2 senza": B1 with the transcript, B2 without.

The free episode page gives you only the opening lines of the transcript, from 0:24 to 0:44. Interactive transcripts for every episode come with the Podcast Membership on Patreon, at $10 a month, which also removes the sponsor breaks.

ItalianPod101

ItalianPod101 puts short lessons in its free feed. The newest when we checked was an Advanced Audio Blog about Rome, five and a half minutes long. Its narrator, who sounded to us like a native speaker of standard Italian, read at about 177 words a minute, the fastest Italian we measured. Only the intro line and the title were in English, about 6% of the talking. In-depth lesson notes need a paid plan, and its plan comparison lists read-along transcripts. Our ItalianPod101 review shows what you can open without paying. Plans start at $4 a month on a 24-month plan, or $1.80 in its Black Friday sale, which ends November 27.

Italiano Semplicemente

One host, who sounded Roman to us, talks entirely in Italian at about 110 words a minute, at a level that sounded like B1 to B2. Its public feed hasn't had a new episode since November 29, 2025, so treat its 352 episodes there as an archive. The website still posts new ones, many reserved for members of its association.

Which Italian podcasts have stopped?

Two names you may look for won't give you new Italian episodes. Italy Made Easy's "Podcast 100% in Italiano" published its last episode on October 24, 2022, and we found no newer Italy Made Easy podcast feed. Duolingo has no Italian podcast: its podcast site lists Spanish and French for English speakers, and the series has ended, though its 300+ episodes remain available. If you use Duolingo's app, our Duolingo for Italian review covers what its course teaches.

Can you learn to speak Italian from podcasts?

You'll understand much more Italian, but listening alone won't get you speaking. Following a host at 110 words a minute and answering a waiter at that speed are different skills: the first is recognising words, the second is finding them yourself, on time. After each episode, pick one line you liked, say it out loud until it comes easily, then use it in a sentence about your own day. Our guide to the best way to learn Italian lays out a plan from beginner to conversation, and our Italian IPA guide writes down each Italian sound if you want to see what you're aiming for.

For that speaking step, Copycat Cafe is our pick. You hear an everyday Italian conversation at normal or slow speed, say each line aloud and get a 0–100 score on every word with a tip on what to change, then use the same Italian with Copy, your AI conversation partner. It costs $14.50 a month billed as $174 a year, or $29 a month, with a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee on your first payment.

For a paid audio course where voices that sounded native to us prompt you to answer aloud, read our Pimsleur Italian review. To read stories while you listen, see our LingQ review, and our guide to the best Italian learning apps compares the rest.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best podcast to learn Italian?

It depends on your level. Coffee Break Italian is the best start from zero, Podcast Italiano the best all-Italian show for intermediate learners because its transcripts are free, and Easy Italian the best for upper-intermediate learners who want two hosts in conversation at about 128 words a minute.

What is the best Italian podcast for beginners?

Coffee Break Italian, which teaches from zero in English with an Italian co-host. Learn Italian with Joy of Languages is a short weekly alternative with a free transcript, and Language Transfer's free Introduction to Italian is an audio course you answer along with.

Which Italian podcasts have free transcripts?

Podcast Italiano offers free transcripts for both its feeds, and Learn Italian with Joy of Languages had the full transcript free on its episode page. Teacher Stefano's Beginner Italian Podcast and Italiano Automatico offer free transcripts through a form on their sites. Easy Italian, News in Slow Italian, Stories in Slow Italian and Simple Italian Podcast keep full transcripts for paying members.

Does Duolingo have an Italian podcast?

No. Duolingo's podcast site lists Spanish and French podcasts for English speakers, and the series has ended, though all 300+ episodes remain available. For Italian, start with Coffee Break Italian or, once you know the basics, Podcast Italiano.

Can you learn Italian just by listening to podcasts?

You can learn to understand a lot of Italian from podcasts, but speaking takes practice of its own. After each episode, say one line you liked out loud until it comes easily, then use it in a sentence about your own day.