Comparison

Learn Russian (Hello vs Duolingo

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Learn Russian (Hello

Master Russian with a research-based methodology developed with language professionals. Engage in conversational lessons, build vocabulary with interactive flashcards, and practice pronunciation and writing. Learn offline, anytime, anywhere, with a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • Research-based methodology
  • 30 conversational lessons
  • Interactive flashcards
  • Pronunciation and writing practice
  • Offline learning
  • User-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

LEARN RUSSIAN WITH THE # 1 APP FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING ON ITUNES Top-Selling Russian course in US, UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, China, Russia, etc. Research-based methodology developed in collaboration with the most prestigious institution for language teachers and professionals: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages – ACTFL - INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY: Developed in collaboration with ACTFL - The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, which is the largest and most respected association for language teachers and professionals. ACTFL's guidelines are followed by all major universities in the USA. - COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Learn to communicate effectively from LESSON 1! Hello-Hello offers 30 conversational lessons based on real life situations rather then a collection of out-of-context words and phrases. Dialogues are presented and then broken down into sentence by sentence where you can practice pronunciation and writing skills - VOCABULARY BUILDING: Practice vocabulary with hundreds of fun and interactive Flashcards plus our innovative Build Your Vocabulary exercise where you can practice alternate words and phrases from within the dialogues - NOTES: Save your own notes from within the lessons to review later! - LEARN ANYTIME, ANYWHERE: No Internet required! All the content is stored in the app so that you have great responsiveness when you are ready to learn a language. You do not need to be connected to Wi-Fi or 3G networks to run the app. - BEAUTIFUL INTERFACE: user friendly interface with beautifully designed graphics - CONTACT US: We are constantly trying to improve the app and take feedback from our users very seriously. The app has a “Contact Us” icon so that you can contact us easily, so please do not hesitate and send us an email if you have any questions, comments, complaints or suggestions.  -- Try before you buy You can check out our content for free first and buy the rest later if you like it. Make sure to also check Hello-Hello Kids, our language learning app for children!  ABOUT US  Hello-Hello is an innovative language learning company that offers state-of-the-art online and mobile courses. Hello-Hello.com’s website couples social networking with language learning which allows users to interact with native speakers around the world. Hello-Hello’s iPad apps are among the top language learning apps on the iPad. Our conversational courses were developed in collaboration with The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which is the largest association of teachers and administrators of all languages at all levels, serving more than 12,000 educators. For more information, please visit their website at www.actfl.org.

About

Duolingo

Learn languages, math, music, and chess through fun, bite-sized lessons. Build vocabulary, grammar, and real-world skills with a science-based methodology. Track progress and stay motivated with a global community.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized language lessons
  • Speaking, reading, listening, writing practice
  • Math skills development
  • Music reading and playing
  • Chess strategy and gameplay
  • Progress tracking and rewards
Features
Read full description

Learn a new language, chess & more with the world's most downloaded education app! Duolingo is the fun, free app for learning 40+ languages through quick, bite-sized lessons. Practice speaking, reading, listening & writing to build your vocabulary & grammar skills. Designed by learning experts & loved by hundreds of millions worldwide, our lessons make learning effective & fun and help you prepare for real conversations in Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, German, English and more. And now, you can learn CHESS on Duolingo! Whether you're a total beginner or looking to level up your game, you'll love learning chess the Duolingo way. Play matches and fun chess lessons for all levels, no matter the language - chess, ajedrez, xadrez, schach, Шахматы, الشطرنج. • Chess: Learn the moves, level up your game & play matches in our Chess course. Learn the basics, solve fun chess puzzles & improve your strategy with guided lessons. Whether you're new to chess or already play, our course is designed to help you have fun and build real skills. Checkmate! • Math: Forget lectures and math worksheets! Built by learning experts, our Math course makes math feel like a game. Boost learning and fight the summer slide with standards-aligned math lessons for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. • Music: Learn how to read music & play songs in our Music course, no instrument needed! Using an on-screen keyboard, you'll learn bit-by-bit. Whether you're learning a language for travel, school, career or your brain health, you'll love learning with Duolingo. Why Duolingo? • Duolingo is fun & effective. Game-like language lessons & fun characters help you build speaking, reading, listening, & writing skills, plus enjoy fun chess & competitive online chess in one app. • Duolingo works. Designed by learning experts, Duolingo has a science-based teaching methodology proven to foster long-term knowledge retention across language lessons & chess lessons alike. • Track your progress. Work toward your learning goals with playful rewards & achievements when you make practicing language lessons or chess online part of your daily habit. • Join millions of learners. Stay motivated with competitive Leaderboards as you learn languages & play chess online alongside our global community. • Every course is free. Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Esperanto, Polish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Hebrew, Welsh, Arabic, Latin, Hawaiian, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, English, & even High Valyrian! And now, learn Math, Music & improve your Chess skills with fun, bite-sized lessons. What the world is saying about Duolingo: "Far & away the best language-learning app." - The Wall Street Journal "This free app & website is among the most effective language-learning methods I've tried… lessons come in the form of brief challenges, speaking, translating, answering multiple-choice questions, that keep me coming back for more." - The New York Times "Duolingo may hold the secret to the future of education." - TIME Magazine "Duolingo is cheerful, lighthearted & fun." - Forbes "I Can't Stop Playing Duolingo Chess." - Wired If you like Duolingo, try Super Duolingo for 14 days free! Learn a language fast with no ads & get fun perks like Unlimited Energy & Monthly Streak Repair. If you choose to purchase Super Duolingo, payment will be charged to your Apple account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the App Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy: https://www.duolingo.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://www.duolingo.com/terms

Screenshots

Learn Russian (Hello4 screens
Duolingo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Duolingo at 4.7 against Learn Russian (Hello's 4.2. Duolingo also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (5.5M vs 12). Learn Russian (Hello's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Learn Russian (Hello sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Duolingo sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Duolingo holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 65% and 65% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Russian (Hello ships an update every 3 months, Duolingo weekly. The most recent releases landed on June 22, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Learn Russian (Hello versus Duolingo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn Russian (HelloDuolingo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (12 ratings)4.7 (5.5M ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews — better64.6% of reviews
Number of ratings125.5M — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB489 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHello-Hello LLCDuolingo, Inc

Customer experience

Learn Russian (Hello

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.3%

Duolingo

All ratings5,464,639 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews29,453 reviews
Positive64.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative25.7%

Bugs and requests

Learn Russian (Hello

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Duolingo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing or crashing during lessons
  • Incorrect translations or answers marked wrong
  • Inconsistent behavior of certain features like leagues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more languages, especially less common ones
  • Improve grammar lessons and explanations
  • Allow more flexibility in navigating the course content
  • Provide better feedback and corrections for mistakes
  • Sync progress and features consistently across app and web

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn Russian (Hello

One-time10
  • Lesson 2$1.99
  • Lesson 3$1.99
  • Lesson 4$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Lesson 5$1.99
  • Lesson 6$1.99
  • Lesson 11$1.99
  • Lesson 12$1.99
  • Lesson 24$1.99
  • Lesson 7$1.99
  • Complete Course$19.99
16 purchases

Duolingo

Subscriptions10
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$12.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • Super Duolingo2 variants$59.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial2 variants$79.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial4 variants$83.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$83.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial4 variants$95.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo1 Month trial$119.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$119.991 Year
One-time6
  • Chest of Gems$0.99
  • Barrel of Gems (1200)$4.99
  • Chest of Gems (1200)$4.99
Show 3 more
  • Cart of Gems (3000)$9.99
  • Barrel of Gems (3000)$9.99
  • Cart of Gems (6500)$19.99

Questions

Is Learn Russian (Hello free?
Learn Russian (Hello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn Russian (Hello or Duolingo?
Duolingo is rated higher. Learn Russian (Hello averages 4.2 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Duolingo averages 4.7 from 5.5M ratings.
Do Learn Russian (Hello or Duolingo have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; Learn Russian (Hello does not.
Which is updated more often, Learn Russian (Hello or Duolingo?
Learn Russian (Hello ships an update every 3 months, and Duolingo weekly. Most recently, Learn Russian (Hello was updated on June 22, 2026 and Duolingo on September 25, 2026.

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