So I took a free beginners Chinese language course on Coursera last year that was offered by Peking University. It was great, but pretty limited. After that I started using Transparent Language from a Humble Bundle deal I saw. It's ok, but it expires in August and I wanted to see what else is out there. Paid is ok, but I wouldn't want anything too absurdly pricey.
Are there any in particular you all would recommend?
These are the apps I use too.
I started with Duolingo but the lack of writing exercises, and the addition of the cartoony voices made it useless for a tonal language with a unique writing system. HelloChinese has been much better in my experience and gave me enough of a background to start learning informally through music, chatting, etc.
HelloTalk is a lot of fun. I probably spend most of my time there helping Chinese people with their English, but I've also made a couple friends who I have bilingual conversations with every day. I'll usually learn at least a couple new words each time.
Both have free versions with limited features, but I've found it worthwhile to pay for both.