Duolingo
Course app: game-shaped lessons for every course; paid tiers remove the ads and the daily limits, and Max adds AI practice.
Prices checked 17 Oct 2026; Duolingo's on 7 Oct 2026 · How we check
Is Duolingo worth it?
Our pick: Best overall, Best for a daily habit, Best free app.
Yes, if you want a daily habit you never have to pay for.
What it costs. Every course is free; Super costs $9.99 to $119.99 in Apple's US App Store. It removes the ads and limits; the price depends on the plan and is charged after a 1-week free trial. Duolingo shows your own Super price only after you sign in, in the app or in the Shop on its website.
What's free. Every course, with ads and daily limits.
Skip it if you want a person to talk to: Duolingo has no tutors, and Max's Video Call is an AI character.
What learners rate it. 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5 million ratings in Apple's US App Store and 4.7 from 50.8 million on Google Play, checked 11 Oct 2026.
What unhappy reviewers mention. Of the 102 one- and two-star reviews among the 500 most recent in Apple's US App Store, 16 mention the price, billing or the subscription; 13 limits on free use (hearts, energy, daily caps); and 12 ads. Read 15 Oct 2026; a review can mention several.
Free Super removes the ads and limits: $9.99 to $119.99 in Apple's US App Store, depending on the plan, after a 1-week free trial.
In our comparison: strongest on the free tier and teaching depth, weakest on speaking practice.
- Annual plan
- —
- Monthly plan
- —
- Lifetime plan
- —
- Free tier
- Free to keep using
Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). - Languages
- 40
- Speech recognition
- Yes
- Live tutoring
- No
- Offline mode
- Yes · Limited lessons available offline; progress syncs when connected
- Placement test
- Yes
- CEFR levels
- A1 to B2 (Duolingo says its biggest courses (Spanish and French from English) reach B2; its other courses stop between A1 and B2.)
- Refund or trial
- 1 week free trial on Super
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links to the app makers' own sites earn us nothing. Commissions never affect which apps we recommend. Affiliate disclosure and how the data is collected.
How a Duolingo lesson works
- What you do
- A few minutes of game-like exercises (translate, match, listen, speak), with English throughout.
- What comes back
- Automatic: exercises are marked, and speech recognition scores how you say words. No person checks your work.
- Not included
- A live teacher.
How a lesson works in a course app
Speaking and feedback
Finishing the exercises doesn't mean you can hold a conversation yet. Check the speaking activity in your course.
Before you choose
Add conversation practice if you need to answer people without exercise prompts. No single app covers every language goal.
- Grammar
- Sentence patterns and explicit explanations both play a role. The exercises and help vary by course.
- Review
- Personalized practice brings back words and grammar using spaced repetition and your answers.
- Course depth
- Spanish and French include beginner course material. Course levels differ by language; check where your course ends.
Plans and prices
Every consumer plan on Duolingo's own pricing page or app-store listing, in US dollars unless marked. Per month is the plan price divided by its term. Each price is what the seller was charging on the day we checked it. When a plan was on sale, its regular price is shown under the sale price; a crossed-out figure that is only a comparison, such as a year at the monthly rate, is in the plan's note.
| Plan | Billing | Price | Per month | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Duolingo, in the app (US)Apple's listing doesn't say which price is monthly, yearly or Family; the app shows yours at checkout. | Shown at checkout | $9.99, $12.99, $79.99, $83.99, $95.99, $119.99 | — | No ads or limits; 1-week free trial |
| FreeEvery course, with ads and daily limits. | Other | $0 | $0/mo | all languages |
| Super DuolingoSuper | Other | — | — | all languages |
| Super Family | Family | — | — | family up to 6 |
| Duolingo MaxMaxFor English speakers, Max has Video Call and Roleplay in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese, and Video Call in Japanese, Korean and Chinese (blog.duolingo.com/duolingo-max, read 13 Oct 2026: 'English speakers learning Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Portuguese have access to both Video Call and Roleplay, and those learning Japanese, Korean, and Chinese can use the new Video Call feature'). | Other | — | — | every course; its AI only in some (see the note) |
Before subscribing, compare trial, cancellation and refund terms, including how purchases through an app store differ.
How to cancel Duolingo, and how refunds work
What Duolingo says about itself
| Feature | What Duolingo says |
|---|---|
| CEFR levels | A1 to B2 (Duolingo says its biggest courses (Spanish and French from English) reach B2; its other courses stop between A1 and B2.) |
| What it is | Gamified course app of short exercise-based lessons, with a free ad-supported tier and paid tiers that remove limits and add AI practice. |
| Languages offered | 40: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, High Valyrian, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Klingon, Korean, Latin, Navajo, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Zulu |
| Free tier | Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web |
| Offline mode | Yes · Limited lessons available offline; progress syncs when connected |
| Speech recognition | Yes |
| Live tutoring | No |
| Placement test | Yes |
| Refund or trial | 1 week free trial on Super |
| Company | Duolingo, Inc |
How Duolingo compares
Duolingo is strongest on the free tier and teaching depth, weakest on speaking practice. Each criterion is scored out of 5 from what each app says about itself and from independent reviews, to compare apps that do the same job; it is not a review of the app. How we score.
| Feature | Score (of 5) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching depth | 4 | Game-shaped lessons for every course; paid tiers remove the ads and the daily limits, and Max adds AI practice; courses labelled A1 to B2 |
| Speaking practice | 3 | Conversation practice with an AI that corrects you (Video Call with Lily) |
| Language coverage | 4 | 40 languages |
| Free tier | 5 | Free for good, with ads and limits |
| Price per month | 4 | Super removes the ads and limits: $9.99 to $119.99 in Apple's US App Store, depending on the plan, after a 1-week free trial. |
| Trial and refund | 3 | A 1-week free trial |
| Offline use | 3 | Works offline |
| Staying power and bugs | 4 | Reviewers report people keep using it and few bugs |
Use the CEFR level guide to interpret the range above and compare published course levels.
Languages you can learn on Duolingo
40 languages as listed by Duolingo.
How far its courses go
- Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, English: Up to B2.
- Japanese: Up to B2. Hiragana first, then katakana and kanji; romaji optional.
- Korean: Up to B2. Hangeul, with alphabet lessons.
- Chinese: Up to B2. Simplified characters, with pinyin.
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, High Valyrian, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Klingon, Korean, Latin, Navajo, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Zulu
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More head-to-heads with Duolingo:
References
- Duolingo: Super (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- Apple App Store: Duolingo listing (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- Duolingo help: Duolingo Max (checked 7 Oct 2026)
- Duolingo: courses (checked 6 Sept 2026)
- Duolingo blog: the Android app
- Duolingo blog: how Chinese and other languages are taught
- Duolingo blog: starting a new course
- Apple App Store: Duolingo's seller details (US)
- Duolingo blog: CEFR levels (checked 6 Sept 2026)
- Duolingo: partner network (checked 6 Sept 2026)
- ilampadmanabhan.medium.com, the reviewer used the app (7 Jan 2026)
- Fluent Language, the reviewer used the app (10 Jul 2026)