Comparison

Duolingo vs Wayground

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

Head to head
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

About

Wayground

This supplemental curriculum platform helps educators align district priorities with classroom instruction to accelerate student achievement of grade-level standards. It offers a vast library of standards-aligned resources, AI-powered differentiation, and diverse learning formats to engage students. Students can access assignments, study independently, and track their progress on any device.

Highlights
  • Standards-aligned resource library
  • AI-powered material differentiation
  • Diverse student learning formats
  • 25+ student accommodations
  • Independent study resources
  • Progress tracking for students
Features
Read full description

Wayground (formerly Quizizz) is where teachers make curriculum go. Bridge district priorities and classroom realities with the supplemental curriculum platform that helps students hit grade-level standards faster. Trusted by teachers in 90% of U.S. schools and 150+ countries. For teachers: - Dive into a library of resources that are standards-aligned and mapped to your curriculum - Use AI to differentiate any material so that it’s just right for each student - Create aha moments for each student by varying the student experience across dozens of formats, modes, and question types - Accommodate students without singling them out using 25+ accommodations and modifications unique to each student For students: - Join classroom sessions and assignments on any device - Study independently with resources matched to your level - Access accommodations and language support when needed - Track your progress and celebrate achievements Ready to find your way forward? Create your free account or join sessions instantly at wayground.com From the Wayground Community: "Wow! Students wanted to do a resource on Wayground over again. They never ask to do a worksheet over again." — Nora, High School Math Teacher "My 3rd graders absolutely loved using Wayground today to review for their geography test. They asked to do another round! " — Katie, Student Teacher. "This is the best website EVER!" — 4th grade student at Home Brink Elementary

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
Wayground4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Wayground at none against Duolingo's 28. Wayground also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Duolingo's advantage is ratings volume (5.5M vs 42K) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, review sentiment and device support 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. Duolingo sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Wayground asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Duolingo against 4.8 for Wayground. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 42K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Duolingo's written reviews are positive against 63% of Wayground's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update weekly, Wayground monthly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Duolingo versus Wayground: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoWayground
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.5M ratings)4.8 (42K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews — better63.5% of reviews
Number of ratings5.5M — better42K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size489 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingoQuizizz

Customer experience

Duolingo

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

Wayground

All ratings41,871 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews334 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral7.2%
Negative29.3%

User reviews

Duolingo

From 5.5M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Fun and entertaining learning experience
  • 🎉 Motivating streak and league features
  • 🎨 Cute and engaging animations
  • 📚 Effective for learning vocabulary and basics
  • 🤖 Useful AI-powered features like voice lessons

Room to improve

  • 🤖 Issues with voice recognition and pronunciation feedback
  • 🤑 Aggressive monetization tactics and paywall for key features
  • 🤯 Frustrating heart/health system that penalizes mistakes
  • 🤔 Lack of grammar explanations and focus on just memorizing phrases
  • 🤷‍♀️ Inconsistent app experience across platforms

Wayground

From 42K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging way to learn
  • 🚀 Helpful for studying and preparing for tests
  • 💡 Ability to create custom quizzes
  • 🎨 Enjoyable meme-based feedback

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent log-outs and login issues
  • ⏱️ Strict time limits on questions
  • 🔒 Lack of password management options
  • 🧠 Concerns about using app for formal assessments

Bugs and 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

Wayground

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Horizontal display issues causing misclicks
  • Quizzes disappearing from user's library
  • Inconsistent behavior with power-ups and scoring

Requested features

4 requests
  • Option to disable timer on questions
  • Ability to review past answers and questions
  • Improved quiz creation and management tools
  • Sync progress across devices

In-app purchases

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
None

Wayground

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Wayground free?
Wayground is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or Wayground?
Wayground is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5M ratings, while Wayground averages 4.8 from 42K ratings.
Do Duolingo or Wayground have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; Wayground does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or Wayground?
Duolingo ships an update weekly, and Wayground monthly. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on September 24, 2026 and Wayground on September 24, 2026.

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