Comparison

Duolingo vs Learning Games

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

Learning Games

An interactive game that teaches children Spanish or English as a second language through engaging stories and educational games. Designed for preschool to elementary ages, it focuses on vocabulary, comprehension, and speaking skills in a fun, play-based environment.

Highlights
  • Interactive stories
  • Educational language games
  • Listening and speaking practice
  • Vocabulary development
  • Reading guided practice
  • Beginner grammar exposure
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Learn a new language in a magical game of adventure and exploration! Kids learn Spanish or English as a Second Language (ESL) through interactive stories in a fun educational game. Built for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary children. English-speaking kids learn Spanish, or Spanish-speaking kids learn English. START A 7-DAY FREE TRIAL No charge today. Then, your subscription starts with your selected plan. Cancel anytime in the App Store. **Spanish or English Learning for Kids** If you’re looking for Spanish or ESL for kids that goes beyond drills and worksheets, FabuLingua offers interactive language education built around stories and games. Children learn Spanish or English through: - Interactive stories - Educational language games - Listening and speaking practice - Vocabulary development in context - Reading guided practice - Beginner-friendly grammar exposure Instead of memorizing vocabulary lists, kids understand the language through stories first which leads to stronger speaking, listening, and reading skills. **Built for School, Homeschool & Teachers** Perfect for: - Preschool and kindergarten readiness - Elementary Spanish or English learning - Beginner language learners - Homeschool curriculum enrichment - School classroom support - Educational tools for teachers Whether used at home, in homeschool, or in school programs, FabuLingua offers structured second language education while keeping kids engaged. **What Children Learn** - Spanish vocabulary or English vocabulary - Reading comprehension - Listening confidence - Speaking skills through interactive practice - Introductory grammar - Language skills designed for beginner learners This interactive language learning app for kids makes learning Spanish or English (ESL) feel like play. **Why Parents and Teachers Choose FabuLingua** - Spanish or English interactive stories - Educational games for children - Language learning for preschool through elementary - Built for school and homeschool environments - Beginner-friendly progression - Parent and teacher progress tracking No pressure. No stress. Just meaningful stories, interactive games, and guided play that builds confidence step by step. Download FabuLingua today! The interactive Spanish and English language learning app for kids, children, homeschool families, school classrooms, and teachers. Terms of Use: https://www.fabulingua.com/terms-of-use

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
Learning Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Learning Games at none against Duolingo's shown. Learning Games also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Duolingo's advantage is ratings volume (5.5M vs 760) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and in-app purchases 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 Learning Games sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Duolingo holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 760, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Duolingo's written reviews are positive against 67% of Learning Games's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Duolingo versus Learning Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoLearning Games
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.5M ratings) — better4.4 (760 ratings)
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews67.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.5M — better760
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size489 MB262 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingoFabuLingua, Inc.

Customer experience

Duolingo

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

Learning Games

All ratings760 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral5.1%
Negative11.6%
Written reviews109 reviews
Positive67.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative29.4%

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

Learning Games

From 760 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging for kids
  • 🎨 Beautiful illustrations and animations
  • 🗣️ Effective for improving pronunciation
  • 🏫 Great for homeschooling and language learning
  • 🤖 Intuitive and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches preventing app from working
  • 🔒 Subscription required before trying the app
  • 💰 Expensive subscription cost
  • 🤯 Steep learning curve, not very user-friendly
  • 🕰️ Lack of new content updates

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

Learning Games

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App not loading or getting stuck on black screen
  • Login issues and inability to access account
  • Certain stories and features not functioning properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More incremental steps and shorter stories
  • Cumulative vocabulary testing
  • Ability to track progress and achievements
  • Expansion of available languages beyond Spanish

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
3 purchases

Learning Games

Subscriptions3
  • Learn Spanish Kids Monthly7 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • FabuLingua1 Month trial$19.996 Months
  • Learn Spanish Kids Annual7 Days trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Learning Games free?
Learning Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or Learning Games?
Duolingo is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5M ratings, while Learning Games averages 4.4 from 760 ratings.
Do Duolingo or Learning Games have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; Learning Games does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or Learning Games?
Duolingo ships an update weekly, and Learning Games weekly. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on September 24, 2026 and Learning Games on September 23, 2026.

Other comparisons