Duolingo vs DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Bite-sized language lessons
- Speaking, reading, listening, writing practice
- Math skills development
- Music reading and playing
- Chess strategy and gameplay
- Progress tracking and rewards
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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
DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
This app provides audio for DK's Bilingual Visual Dictionaries, featuring over 7,000 spoken words and phrases per language by native speakers. It's organized thematically and allows users to tap words for pronunciation, save favorites, and use offline after downloading.
- 7,000+ spoken words/phrases per language
- Native speaker audio
- Thematic vocabulary organization
- Tap to hear pronunciation
- Offline access after download
- Favorites list for saved words
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DK Visual Dictionary App contains all the audio to accompany DK's Bilingual Visual Dictionaries. This DK Visual Dictionary app is the perfect companion to your visual dictionary. For each language, over 7,000 words and phrases are spoken in both English and the language of the title. All words are from the books and are spoken by native speakers. Simply download the free app, then use your copy of the book to fully access all the audio. This clear, comprehensive and easy-to-use app contains all the content from each Bilingual Visual Dictionary. Just like the book, the vocabulary is arranged thematically, with subjects including shopping, food and drink, study, work, travel and transport, health and appearance, sport and leisure, technology, and the home. Search for the page you want, tap on any word to listen to it being spoken, scroll up and down the word lists for each topic, and swipe left or right to go to the next or previous page. Perfect for study, work, and travel. Features: • Over 7,000 spoken words and phrases per title • UK and US English available • Save your most-used words to a Favorites list. Favorites can easily be added or deleted at any time • Audio can be removed from your device, and re-downloaded when required • After the audio has been downloaded, the app can be used offline • Buy more books and unlock more audio through a link in the app Developer note: For Ukrainian users learning English, please first set your device language to Ukrainian. For Hungarian users, please set your device to Magyar and search for and download the Képes Szótár app; this application is not compatible with the Hungarian dictionaries of Maxim Könyvkiadó.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Duolingo at 65% against DK Visual Dictionary (2017)'s 19%. Duolingo also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.8) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). DK Visual Dictionary (2017)'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 28) and ads (none vs shown). On price, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Duolingo sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. DK Visual Dictionary (2017) asks for nothing beyond the download.
Duolingo holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 33, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Duolingo's written reviews are positive against 19% of DK Visual Dictionary (2017)'s.
Duolingo ships an update weekly, DK Visual Dictionary (2017) every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Duolingo | DK Visual Dictionary (2017) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (5.5M ratings) — better | 1.8 (33 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.6% of reviews — better | 19.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.5M — better | 33 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 489 MB | 208 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Duolingo, Inc | Dorling Kindersley |
Customer experience
Duolingo
DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
User reviews
Duolingo
From 5.5M App Store ratingsWhat 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
DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
From 33 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple audio companion
- 👍 Works offline
- 👍 Useful for learning pronunciation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Barcode/ISBN not recognized
- 🐛 Audio files fail to download
- 🐛 Buggy interface
- 🐛 Lacks language support
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
DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
Reported bugs
4 issues- Barcode/ISBN not recognized
- Audio files fail to download
- Buggy interface with visual glitches
- Lack of language support
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more languages
- Allow searching by word, not just page number
- Implement landscape mode for tablets
- Add option to slow down audio playback speed
In-app purchases
Duolingo
- Super Duolingo7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Super Duolingo7 Days trial$12.991 Month
- Super Duolingo14 Days trial$12.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 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
- Chest of Gems$0.99
- Barrel of Gems (1200)$4.99
- Chest of Gems (1200)$4.99
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Cart of Gems (3000)$9.99
- Barrel of Gems (3000)$9.99
- Cart of Gems (6500)$19.99
DK Visual Dictionary (2017)
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Duolingo free?
Is DK Visual Dictionary (2017) free?
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or DK Visual Dictionary (2017)?
Do Duolingo or DK Visual Dictionary (2017) have ads?
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or DK Visual Dictionary (2017)?
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