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Best Apps to Prepare for the Einbürgerungstest (2026)

Passing the Einbürgerungstest is not the hard part of becoming German. The test is not difficult — 33 multiple-choice questions, 17 correct to pass, and every question comes from a catalog you can practice ahead of time. The real question is which tool to practice with, because they mostly do the same thing and a few do it badly.

So this is not a ranked list of “the 10 best apps.” It is an honest map of your options and what each one is actually good for.

First, know what you’re preparing for

The Einbürgerungstest is 33 questions in 60 minutes, all multiple choice. Thirty are general federal questions; three are specific to your Bundesland (your federal state). You need 17 correct to pass, the fee is €25, and you take it at a BAMF-licensed center.

Every question is drawn from a published catalog of 460 questions: 300 general ones that are identical across the country, plus 160 state questions (10 for each of the 16 states). You are only tested on the 300 general questions plus your own state’s 10 — so in practice you study 310, not all 460.

That one fact shapes everything below. Because the catalog is public and fixed, no app has secret or better questions. They all pull from the same pool. What separates a good prep tool from a bad one is whether it has the current catalog, whether it shows your state’s questions, and whether it explains the answers in a language you actually read.

Your real options

The official BAMF catalog

The source of truth. BAMF (the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) publishes the full question catalog and runs an official practice test online. It is free and always current. The downside is presentation: it is German-only, plain, and gives you the questions without much explanation. If your German is already comfortable, it is all you strictly need.

Free question apps and websites

A crowd of free tools run the same catalog with a nicer interface — progress tracking, a phone-friendly layout, sometimes explanations. Quality varies a lot. The good ones are current and honest; the weak ones are stuffed with ads or quietly out of date. The catalog itself is free, so a free tool that has the current questions is usually all you need.

Native iOS and Android apps that charge a few euros, usually for offline mode, a cleaner design, or a “test simulation.” They work fine. Just remember what you are paying for: interface and convenience, not better questions. If a paid app claims “exclusive” or “official” questions, be skeptical — the catalog is public and the same for everyone.

The “Leben in Deutschland” integration course

If you take a state integration course, the “Leben in Deutschland” test at the end uses the same catalog and, when you pass it, counts for citizenship — so you may not need to sit the Einbürgerungstest separately at all. Worth knowing before you pay for a second test.

One Who Learns — our free tool

Full disclosure: this is our site, so treat this as one honest entry, not a sales pitch.

We built a free Einbürgerungstest practice tool that runs the entire official BAMF catalog — all 460 questions, in German exactly as they appear on the real exam, with plain-English explanations (and support in seven languages) on every question. There is a full mock test, and you can pick your Bundesland to drill your own state’s ten questions. No signup is needed to practice; a free account only saves your progress and mistakes between visits.

What it’s genuinely good for: you read the German while understanding why an answer is right, not just memorizing letters, and it is free with no ads. Its honest limits: it is a practice tool, not a government service — it does not register you for the real exam (your local center does that), and while it uses the official catalog, only BAMF’s own site is the canonical source. If you want the plainest possible official experience, use BAMF directly.

How to choose in one minute

  • Comfortable in German, want zero fuss? Use the official BAMF practice test.
  • Want explanations in your own language, for free? Use a current free tool (ours or another) that runs the full catalog.
  • Want offline drilling and don’t mind paying a few euros? A paid app is fine — just don’t expect better questions.
  • Taking an integration course? Its final test may already cover you; check before booking the Einbürgerungstest.

Whatever you pick, the winning move is the same: run your state’s set a few times until it feels like review. Then put your real energy where it belongs — the B1 German you also need. That language requirement is the genuinely hard part of the process, and it is what our B1 German course is built for. If you are still mapping the whole path, start with the 2026 citizenship requirements.