Is Duolingo Worth It? What Free Gets You, and When to Switch

Is Duolingo worth it? Yes, for building a daily habit, since every course is free. Pay for Super Duolingo only if the ads and hearts limit get in your way. If you want to talk, try Speak for speaking practice with feedback, or HelloTalk to chat with native speakers. Pick Memrise to understand how locals really sound, and Busuu if you want real people to correct your work.

Is Duolingo worth it? The short answer

For most people, yes, at least to start. Duolingo teaches over 40 languages, and every course is free. That alone makes it worth a try. You lose nothing but a few minutes a day.

The better question is what you want from it. Duolingo is great at one thing: getting you to show up every day. It's less suited to some other goals, like holding a real conversation or understanding people who talk fast. This guide walks through the questions that decide whether Duolingo is enough for you, whether to pay for it, or whether to add or switch to another app.

What the free version of Duolingo gets you

DuolingoView app ›

Duolingo teaches through quick lessons that feel like a game. You practice reading, writing, listening and speaking, and you keep a daily streak going. A lesson fits in a few minutes, so it's easy to do on the bus or while the kettle boils. It also has courses for math and chess, if you want a break from languages.

Here's what's free and what isn't:

• Free: every course. You don't have to pay to finish a language.
• Super Duolingo, the paid plan: removes ads and adds unlimited energy.

The catch with the free plan is that it has ads, and a hearts limit that can cut a session short. If you make too many mistakes, you may have to stop before you're ready. For a five-minute habit, that's a small annoyance. For a long study session, it gets in the way.

You don't even need an account to start, though you can make one. It works offline only partly, and it runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web.

Question 1: Do you want a habit, or do you want to talk?

This is the question that matters most.

If you want a daily habit, Duolingo is hard to beat for the price of free. The streak and the game feel keep you coming back. Plenty of people use it as a light, fun way to stay in touch with a language.

If you want to actually talk, you'll want an app built around speaking. Tapping the right answer is not the same as saying a sentence out loud to a real person. Two apps help here.

Speak · $83.99/yrView app ›

Speak gets you talking from the first day. You learn useful phrases from a teacher, repeat them out loud, then have practice conversations where the app listens and gives you feedback on your pronunciation and grammar. It covers languages like Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean.

There's a 7-day free trial, then a subscription is required. It costs $83.99 a year. The catch is that most lessons need the paid membership, and it doesn't work offline. It has no ads.

HelloTalk · Free or $79.99/yrView app ›

HelloTalk is a language exchange. You get matched with people who speak the language you're learning and want to learn yours. Then you chat by text, voice or calls. Built-in translation and corrections help when you get stuck.

Chatting with native speakers is free, and VIP is an optional upgrade at $79.99 a year. The catch is that you talk with strangers, so quality varies, and it isn't a course. It also has ads.

Question 2: Do you need to understand real people?

Knowing a word on a screen is not the same as catching it when someone says it quickly. If you're planning a trip, moving abroad or making friends in a new language, you need to hear how people actually speak.

Memrise · Free or $61.99/yrView app ›

Memrise teaches words and phrases with short videos of locals speaking naturally. Lessons focus on speaking and listening for real situations, like work or making friends. It covers more than 100 languages, so it's also worth a look if your language is harder to find.

Limited lessons and videos are free, with ads. Paying costs $61.99 a year. The catch is that the free plan limits lessons and shows ads, so you'll feel the edges quickly if you use it every day.

Question 3: Do you want someone to check your work?

Duolingo tells you if an answer is right or wrong. It doesn't tell you how a native speaker would say it. If you want real feedback, two apps help.

BusuuView app ›

Busuu combines structured lessons with a community of native speakers. You write or record answers, and real people who speak that language correct them. It covers 14 languages, from beginner to advanced.

Many features are free, and a subscription unlocks the rest. The catch is that the free plan covers only part of each course. If you want a clear path from beginner to advanced, with real corrections along the way, it's a strong fit.

HelloTalk also gives you corrections, but from the people you chat with, not from a course. Busuu is better if you like structure. HelloTalk is better if you like conversation.

Question 4: Should you pay for Super Duolingo?

Pay for Super Duolingo only if the free plan is getting in your way. The paid plan doesn't add new courses, since every course is already free. It removes ads and adds unlimited energy.

So ask yourself two things:

• Do the ads bother you enough to pay? Some people barely notice them. Others find they break their focus.
• Does the hearts limit stop you mid-session? If you often run out and have to quit, unlimited energy will feel like a big change.

If you answered no to both, stay on the free plan. If you answered yes, try the paid plan and see whether you study more. If you're thinking of paying anyway, it's also worth asking whether you'd get more from a speaking app like Speak, or a listening app like Memrise, for your goal.

Question 5: How much do you want to spend?

If you want to spend nothing, you have good options:

• Duolingo for every course, with ads and a hearts limit.
• HelloTalk for free chats with native speakers.
• Busuu and Memrise for part of their courses, to try before you pay.

If you're happy to pay, here's what the paid options cost:

• Memrise: $61.99 a year.
• HelloTalk VIP: $79.99 a year.
• Speak: $83.99 a year, after a 7-day free trial.

A common mix is to keep Duolingo for the daily habit, and add one free app for the part it doesn't cover. HelloTalk covers speaking for free. Memrise's free lessons help with listening.

How Duolingo compares

Who should stay, pay or switch

Here's the quick version, by kind of learner:

• You want a fun daily habit: stay on free Duolingo.
• You love Duolingo, but ads and the hearts limit annoy you: pay for Super Duolingo.
• You want to speak out loud and get feedback: add or switch to Speak.
• You want to chat with real native speakers for free: add HelloTalk.
• You want to understand how locals really talk: add Memrise.
• You want a structured course with real corrections: switch to Busuu.

Duolingo is worth it for what it does well. Just don't expect one app to do everything. If you want more ideas, see our Duolingo alternatives, our picks of apps to practice speaking, or search Squapp for a language app.

Keep deciding: Duolingo alternatives, Apps to practice speaking a language, Best app to learn Spanish.