Comparison

Duolingo vs DK 15 Minute Language Course

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

Head to head
About

Duolingo

Master new languages, chess, and math with fun, bite-sized lessons. This popular education app uses a game-like approach with rewards and achievements to make learning effective and engaging for millions worldwide.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized language lessons
  • Chess learning course
  • Interactive math lessons
  • Music reading course
  • Progress tracking and achievements
  • Competitive leaderboards
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

DK 15 Minute Language Course

Learn a new language quickly with this app, designed for busy individuals. It offers offline access to native speaker audio recordings for pronunciation practice, complementing printed books. Ideal for beginners or those needing a refresher.

Highlights
  • Offline audio access
  • Native speaker pronunciation
  • Learn in 12 weeks
  • User-friendly interface
  • Pronunciation guide
Features
Read full description

DK’s 15 Minutes books are perfect for busy people who want to learn a new language fast. These fun, user-friendly books help you teach yourself a new language in just 12 weeks. This updated 15 Minute app provides offline access to all the audio recordings that accompany the latest editions of the printed books. It contains more than 35 minutes of high-quality audio per language, allowing you to hear all the words and phrases in the books spoken by native speakers. Use the app alongside each book's easy-to-use pronunciation guide to perfect your pronunciation. Whether you're a complete beginner or just in need of a refresher course, there's no easier way to learn a new language. An internet connection is required to download all the audio content. For more information on the books, visit www.dk.com

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
DK 15 Minute Language Course4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Duolingo at 65% against DK 15 Minute Language Course's 13%. Duolingo also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). DK 15 Minute Language Course's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. DK 15 Minute Language Course asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Duolingo holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.6M ratings behind it against 11, 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 13% of DK 15 Minute Language Course's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, DK 15 Minute Language Course every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Duolingo versus DK 15 Minute Language Course: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoDK 15 Minute Language Course
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.6M ratings) — better3.5 (11 ratings)
Positive reviews64.8% of reviews — better13.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5.6M — better11
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size499 MB19 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperDuolingo, IncDorling Kindersley

Customer experience

Duolingo

All ratings5,576,946 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews31,155 reviews
Positive64.8%
Neutral9.6%
Negative25.5%

DK 15 Minute Language Course

All ratings11 ratings
Positive54.5%
Neutral27.3%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews131 reviews
Positive13.0%
Neutral5.3%
Negative81.7%

User reviews

Duolingo

From 5.6M 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

DK 15 Minute Language Course

From 11 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly
  • 💡 Helpful guide
  • 🚀 Works fine

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't work
  • 🐛 Bugs galore
  • 🐛 Crashes regularly
  • 🐛 Doesn't download content
  • 🐛 Doesn't scan QR code

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 15 Minute Language Course

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes on iOS 14
  • App won't open or download audio
  • Incompatibility with newer devices
  • Scanning and ISBN entry not working

Requested features

3 requests
  • Update app to match book versions
  • Add option to select book version
  • Improve recording and playback functionality

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Duolingo

Subscriptions6
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$79.991 Year
Show 3 more
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$83.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo1 Month trial$119.991 Year
One-time4
  • Chest of Gems$0.99
  • Barrel of Gems (1200)$4.99
  • Cart of Gems (3000)$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Cart of Gems (6500)$19.99
None

DK 15 Minute Language Course

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DK 15 Minute Language Course free?
DK 15 Minute Language Course is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or DK 15 Minute Language Course?
Duolingo is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.6M ratings, while DK 15 Minute Language Course averages 3.5 from 11 ratings.
Do Duolingo or DK 15 Minute Language Course have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; DK 15 Minute Language Course does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or DK 15 Minute Language Course?
Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, and DK 15 Minute Language Course every 3 months. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on November 10, 2026 and DK 15 Minute Language Course on November 5, 2026.

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