Comparison

Duolingo vs LingoDeer

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

LingoDeer

This app offers structured language lessons created by teachers, making learning effective and easy. It covers 20 languages, from beginner alphabets to conversational fluency, with interactive exercises and native speaker audio.

Highlights
  • Short, interactive lessons
  • Clear learning path
  • Grammar tips and notes
  • Native speaker audio
  • Flashcards and quizzes
  • Offline learning
  • Real-life conversation practice
Features
Read full description

#1 app for learning Asian languages and more! Over 20 million people choose to learn with LingoDeer. Why? Our structured lessons created by language teachers make learning easy and effective. From the alphabet, LingoDeer will get you to a conversational level in 20 languages: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish(Latin American or European), Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and English. Download LingoDeer Today! ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ What will you get on LingoDeer? ※ Short, interactive lessons Easy 5-min lessons that fit into your daily plan ※ Clear learning path Each course is tailored to your target language ※ Customized for Asian languages Read & write in a unique alphabet system like Korean or Japanese ※ Better understanding of the grammar Tips & notes within lessons to help you build sentences confidently ※ Listen, imitate, and speak Studio-recorded audio from native speakers ※ Reinforce what you learn Flashcards, quizzes, target training, and more ※ Offline learning Take lessons everywhere you go Powerful features you'll love: • Fluent: real-life conversations! Practice reading, writing, listening, speaking, and get cultural tips as you learn. • Travel Phrasebook: audio phrasebook! Get ready for your trip to your dream country. • Character Drill: writing practices for Japanese kanji and Chinese characters. • Story: mini stories with captions! Expand what you learned in lessons. • Knowledge Cards: printable grammar flashcards! Keep essential grammar concepts at your desk. *Fluent is only available for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and French courses at the moment. ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ Find tips, guides, and resources on language learning: ※ LingoDeer Blog: https://blog.lingodeer.com ※ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/lingodeer Come chat with us on social media! Follow us for language learning advice, support, and memes: ※ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lingodeerapp ※ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LingoDeer ※ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingodeer ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ You will need a subscription in order to get full access to all courses and features. The subscription price starts at $14.99/month. Prices are in US dollars, may vary by country, can be converted to local currency depending on the country of residence, and are subject to change without notice. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your iTunes Account Settings. When a subscription is canceled, access to the app's courses and features will expire at the end of the current payment period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a LingoDeer subscription, where applicable. - Terms of Use: https://www.lingodeer.com/terms-conditions-html - Privacy Policy: https://www.lingodeer.com/privacypolicy-html CONTACT US: Got ideas you want to share or feedback for the app? Email us at hi@lingodeer.com ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ Real reviews from the LingoDeer community: "This has been helping me study Japanese way better than any book can!" "LingoDeer is worth every penny and more, it is an essential tool in the shed for anyone learning any of their offered languages, in or out of a classroom." YOUR JOURNEY TO FLUENCY STARTS HERE: • Learn Korean • Learn Japanese • Learn Mandarin Chinese • Learn Arabic • Learn French • Learn German • Learn Greek • Learn Hindi • Learn Indonesian • Learn Italian • Learn Malay • Learn Polish • Learn Brazilian Portuguese • Learn Russian • Learn Spanish (Latin American or European) • Learn Thai • Learn Turkish • Learn Ukrainian • Learn Vietnamese • Learn English

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
LingoDeer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Duolingo at free with in-app purchases against LingoDeer's subscription. Duolingo also leads on ratings volume (5.5M vs 28K) and chart position (#1 vs #182). LingoDeer's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (77% vs 65%). On price, rating, in-app purchases 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 and LingoDeer sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Duolingo against 4.7 for LingoDeer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 28K, 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 77% of LingoDeer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update weekly, LingoDeer every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Duolingo versus LingoDeer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoLingoDeer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.5M ratings)4.7 (28K ratings)
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews76.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.5M — better28K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#1 — better#182
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size489 MB216 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingoLingoDeer Co, Ltd.

Customer experience

Duolingo

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

LingoDeer

All ratings27,589 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews1,237 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative17.1%

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

LingoDeer

From 28K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for learning Asian languages
  • 👍 Thorough grammar and sentence structure explanations
  • 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
  • 📚 Comprehensive lessons and review features
  • 🔊 Clear audio and pronunciation guidance

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paywall after initial lessons
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Limited free content
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between languages
  • 🔢 Lack of customization options (e.g., dark mode)

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

LingoDeer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Progress bar not updating correctly
  • Incorrect answers sometimes marked as correct
  • Inability to resume lessons after app update
  • Keyboard issues when typing answers

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow typing answers instead of just selecting
  • Provide feedback on pronunciation accuracy
  • Improve spaced repetition for vocabulary review
  • Add more languages, especially less common ones
  • Implement a community feature to connect with other learners

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
17 purchases

LingoDeer

Subscriptions11
  • Spanish Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • Japanese Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • Korean Monthly subscription$12.991 Month
Show 8 more
  • Multilingual Pass - Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Korean Quarterly subscription$32.993 Months
  • Multilingual Pass - Quarterly$34.993 Months
  • Korean Pass - Yearly$76.991 Year
  • Multilingual Pass - 6 Months$83.996 Months
  • Multilingual Pass (Annual)$95.991 Year
  • Multilingual Pass (Annual)7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Yearly subscription - discount3 Days trial$109.991 Year
One-time6
  • Buy 1200 Gems$4.99
  • Buy 3000 Gems$9.99
  • Multilingual Pass - Lifetime$119.99
Show 3 more
  • Multilingual Pass - Lifetime$159.99
  • lifetime membership for new$299.99
  • lifetime membership discount$499.99

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LingoDeer free?
LingoDeer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or LingoDeer?
Duolingo and LingoDeer are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5.5M and 28K ratings respectively.
Do Duolingo or LingoDeer have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; LingoDeer does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or LingoDeer?
Duolingo ships an update weekly, and LingoDeer every 3 weeks. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on September 24, 2026 and LingoDeer on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Duolingo or LingoDeer?
Duolingo currently peaks at #1 in the App Store charts, and LingoDeer at #182. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

Other comparisons