# Duolingo vs Earworms

The clearest difference is ads: Earworms at none against Duolingo's shown. Earworms also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 17.0). Duolingo's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (5.5M vs 357). On price, rating, review sentiment and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Duolingo against 4.8 for Earworms. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 357, 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 71% of Earworms's.

Duolingo ships an update weekly, Earworms every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Duolingo | Earworms |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (5.5M ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/duolingo-language-lessons/id570060128/reviews) | **[4.8 (357 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earworms-language-learning/id1214721881/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **5.5M** | 357 |
| Positive reviews | 64.6% of reviews | **71.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#1** | — |
| Size | 489 MB | 48 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **12.4** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Duolingo](https://appshunter.io/developer/570060151) | [earworms Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/391784509) |

## What reviewers say

### Duolingo

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/duolingo-language-lessons/id570060128)

**Currently charting:** #1 Top Free · Education, #1 Top Grossing · Education, #25 Top Grossing, #69 Top Free (US App Store)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Super Duolingo | $9.99 | per month |
| Super Duolingo | $12.99 | per month |
| Super Duolingo | $12.99 | per month |
| Super Duolingo | $59.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $79.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $83.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $83.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $95.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $119.99 | per year |
| Super Duolingo | $119.99 | per year |
| Chest of Gems | $0.99 | one-time |
| Barrel of Gems (1200) | $4.99 | one-time |
| Chest of Gems (1200) | $4.99 | one-time |
| Cart of Gems (3000) | $9.99 | one-time |
| Barrel of Gems (3000) | $9.99 | one-time |
| Cart of Gems (6500) | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🤩 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🤖 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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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


### Earworms

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/earworms-language-learning/id1214721881)

Learn languages effectively using the "earworm effect" with catchy music and lyrics. This method anchors foreign language words and phrases into your long-term memory through engaging, brain-based audio-visual lessons. Improve vocabulary and grammar with bite-sized tracks and native speaker pronunciation.

**Highlights:** Learn languages with music and lyrics, Brain-based learning technique, Audio-visual experience with karaoke lyrics, 6-9 minute learning tracks, Content-rich language based on CEF, Native speaker pronunciation

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (16)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Try before you buy | Free | one-time |
| Essayez avant d’acheter | Free | one-time |
| Álbum de demostración | Free | one-time |
| French Vol. 1 | $11.99 | one-time |
| Italian Vol. 1 | $11.99 | one-time |
| Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1 | $11.99 | one-time |
| Portuguese Vol.1 | $11.99 | one-time |
| French Vol. 2 | $11.99 | one-time |
| Dutch Vol. 1-2 | $19.99 | one-time |
| Japanese Vol. 1-2 | $19.99 | one-time |
| Spanish Lat. Am. Vol. 1-3 | $27.99 | one-time |
| Bundle deals, French Vol. 1-3 | $28.99 | one-time |
| Bundle deals, German Vol. 1-3 | $28.99 | one-time |
| Bundle deals, Italian Vol. 1-3 | $28.99 | one-time |
| Bundle, Spanish Eu. Vol. 1-3 | $28.99 | one-time |
| Portuguese Vol.1-3 | $28.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎵 Music-based learning method effectively reinforces memory
- 👍 Easy and intuitive to use
- ⭐ Excellent customer support team
- 🎯 Practical, conversational phrases for real-world use
- 🧠 Words and phrases stick in memory effortlessly

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing issues
- 📱 Poor booklet formatting on mobile devices
- 💸 Pricing considered expensive by some users
- ❌ Limited number of lessons per language
- 🔧 App lacks autoplay/continuous playback feature

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes every few minutes on iPhone
- Network error on startup despite internet connection
- Infinite loop on initial setup screen
- App closes unexpectedly during playback
- Restore purchases feature not functioning

**Requested features**

- Additional volume levels for existing languages
- More lessons and expanded content library
- Autoplay feature for continuous listening
- Repeat single track functionality
- Ability to select specific lesson categories


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Duolingo free?

Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Earworms free?

Earworms is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Duolingo or Earworms?

Earworms is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5M ratings, while Earworms averages 4.8 from 357 ratings.

### Do Duolingo or Earworms have ads?

Duolingo shows ads; Earworms does not.

### Which is updated more often, Duolingo or Earworms?

Duolingo ships an update weekly, and Earworms every 5 months. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on September 24, 2026 and Earworms on September 19, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*