[Germany] The new version of Babbel, the language learning startup, is released today, but there’s a sting in the tail for the existing 500,000 users who thought it was a Freemium service: they will now all have to pay to use it.

“Babbel is now a paid service. Freemium doesn’t work for us,” confirms managing director Markus Witte. Now only the first part of any given course can be taken for free, as a trial demo. Full access now costs between $6.65 and $11.95 per month.