Why is Proloquo2Go so expensive?

It is a one-off purchase rather than a subscription, and for the child who needs it, it is the primary way they communicate every day for years. Compared against a dedicated communication device, which can run into thousands, $249.99 is the cheap option. It is only expensive if you do not actually need AAC.

Is there a free alternative to Proloquo2Go?

There are cheaper AAC apps, and AssistiveWare's own Proloquo is a subscription rather than a one-off. But choosing AAC on price is how families end up with a system that gets abandoned. Get an assessment, and ask about funding — in many countries the app and the device are fundable.

Can Help Me Talk replace Proloquo2Go?

No, and we would not claim it. Help Me Talk has picture boards for building sentences and naming feelings, which is useful for a child who has some words. It is not a full AAC system with a growing symbol vocabulary, and a non-speaking child needs the real thing.

Does AAC stop a child from learning to talk?

The evidence points the other way — AAC tends to support the development of spoken language rather than suppress it. It is one of the most common worries parents raise, and one of the most consistently answered.

Is Proloquo2Go on Android?

No. It is iOS only, and there is no Android version. If AAC is what your child needs, raise the platform question at the assessment — funding for an iPad to run AAC exists in many places.

Comparison

Before you look for a Proloquo2Go alternative

Proloquo2Go is the best-known AAC app there is: a full communication system for someone who cannot speak, at $249.99, iOS only. Both of those facts send people searching for something cheaper or something on Android. Before you switch, it is worth being sure what you are actually replacing — because most of the apps that come up in that search do a completely different job.

The short answer

If your child has no reliable way to tell you what they need, you need AAC, and Help Me Talk is not a substitute for Proloquo2Go — talk to a speech-language pathologist about an AAC assessment. If your child can speak but is hard to understand, you do not need AAC at all, and a practice app like Help Me Talk at $39.99 a year is the right category.

Two different problems

	AAC (Proloquo2Go)	Speech practice (Help Me Talk and similar)
The problem	My child has no way to communicate	My child talks but is unclear
What it does	Gives them a voice, now	Improves how sounds are produced, over months
How it works	A symbol vocabulary that speaks aloud	Lessons, practice words, and feedback on attempts
Timeframe	Immediate	Weeks to months
Who chooses it	An SLP, after an AAC assessment	A parent, often with an SLP's target sound
Price	$249.99 once	$39.99 a year

If you genuinely need AAC

Then the alternatives worth considering are other AAC systems, not practice apps. AssistiveWare's own Proloquo is a separate, cheaper subscription product from the same developer. TouchChat and LAMP Words for Life are the other established names. All of them are iOS.

Two things matter far more than which app you pick:

1Get an AAC assessment from a speech-language pathologist. Vocabulary organisation, symbol set, grid size and access method all need to match your child, and getting them wrong is the main reason AAC gets abandoned. This is not a decision to make from a comparison table.
2Ask about funding before you buy. In many countries AAC apps and the device to run them are fundable through health services, insurance, education budgets or disability schemes. Families routinely pay full price for something they could have had funded.

If your child speaks but is hard to understand

Then Proloquo2Go is simply the wrong purchase, and $249.99 is a lot to spend on the wrong purchase. What you want is practice: one sound at a time, worked up from single words to conversation, with feedback on each attempt.

That is what Help Me Talk does. Thirty sound lessons, over 6,000 practice words, phrases and sentences, and the app listens to each attempt and scores it, then tracks that sound across weeks. $6.99 a month or $39.99 a year, on iPhone, iPad and Android.

It also includes picture-based boards for building a sentence, naming a feeling, or planning a day — light picture communication that helps a child who has words but struggles to organise them. That is not AAC and we would not sell it as AAC. It is a useful middle ground for a child who is somewhere between the two situations.

All 30 speech sounds, free practice lists
Speech delay vs language delay — if you are not sure which you are dealing with
Best articulation apps for kids

The Android question

There is no Android version of Proloquo2Go and AssistiveWare has not released one. If AAC is genuinely what your child needs and you are an Android household, that is a real constraint, and the honest advice is to raise it at the AAC assessment rather than settling for a weaker app — funding for an iPad specifically to run AAC exists in many places, and an SLP will know the local route.

For speech practice rather than AAC, Android is well served: see the full list.

Practice these sounds

Free word lists, mouth-position guides and games — no app needed.

M Sound B Sound P Sound S Sound

Questions parents ask

Why is Proloquo2Go so expensive?: It is a one-off purchase rather than a subscription, and for the child who needs it, it is the primary way they communicate every day for years. Compared against a dedicated communication device, which can run into thousands, $249.99 is the cheap option. It is only expensive if you do not actually need AAC.
Is there a free alternative to Proloquo2Go?: There are cheaper AAC apps, and AssistiveWare's own Proloquo is a subscription rather than a one-off. But choosing AAC on price is how families end up with a system that gets abandoned. Get an assessment, and ask about funding — in many countries the app and the device are fundable.
Can Help Me Talk replace Proloquo2Go?: No, and we would not claim it. Help Me Talk has picture boards for building sentences and naming feelings, which is useful for a child who has some words. It is not a full AAC system with a growing symbol vocabulary, and a non-speaking child needs the real thing.
Does AAC stop a child from learning to talk?: The evidence points the other way — AAC tends to support the development of spoken language rather than suppress it. It is one of the most common worries parents raise, and one of the most consistently answered.
Is Proloquo2Go on Android?: No. It is iOS only, and there is no Android version. If AAC is what your child needs, raise the platform question at the assessment — funding for an iPad to run AAC exists in many places.

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Last updated 25 July 2026.