Comparison

Duolingo vs J'apprends

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

J'apprends

This app offers a fun and interactive way for adult beginners to learn French. It features mini-games, character interactions, and an audio-visual dictionary to build vocabulary and improve pronunciation. Designed by language experts, it's ideal for those who can neither read nor write.

Highlights
  • Interactive mini-games
  • Character-based learning
  • Audio-visual dictionary
  • Pronunciation practice
  • Reading and writing exercises
  • Vocabulary association
Features
Read full description

I LEARN is the easy gateway to the French language… and it’s fun! In each episode, meet characters who invite you to join an adventure: discover the city, complete missions, enjoy the educational mini-games and... revise! Designed with and for adult beginners who can neither read nor write, I LEARN is free, and offers an easy and innovative method developed by experienced language coaches at the Langues Plurielles training organisation. Today, I LEARN offers three hours of play and interaction. What you can do with I LEARN: - Play more than 20 mini-games across three episodes and a range of environments: learn to count through sport, sort fruit and vegetables, fill in a medical form, etc. - Meet characters and talk to them: GIGI, your flatmate, CASTOR, the supermarket cashier and partner on the sports field, and LEO, a medical assistant at the Health Centre. - Use the audio-visual dictionary to enrich your vocabulary.
 - Pronounce sentences, record and listen to yourself. - Read and write, and use your notebook to revise. - Associate words and sounds - Learn to read and write in lowercase, uppercase and cursive
. The free application can be used as a standalone or as an add-on to the French course. Don’t forget to register for a class! I LEARN has been designed jointly by the French language training organisation, Langues Plurielles, and the Small Bang creative studio.I LEARN brings you an experience that combines an innovative teaching method and video play. In-context learning helps you to become familiar with everyday situations and vocabulary. Throughout the experience smartphones are a tool to develop both written and spoken language, even for adults who are absolute beginners! Are you a specialised literacy teacher?I LEARN can be a valuable tool, either as an add-on for learners attending classes or just as an inspirational medium. We also offer teacher training courses! We have more new episodes in the pipeline and will be releasing them in our next updates. If you have any questions, we would be delighted to hear from you! If you are a language teacher or a literacy specialist, and you would like to find out more about I LEARN, we welcome your enquiries. Please write to us at contact@j-apprends.fr

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
J'apprends4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: J'apprends at none against Duolingo's 28. J'apprends also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Duolingo's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (5.5M vs 5). On price, review sentiment 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. J'apprends asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

J'apprends holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of Duolingo's written reviews are positive against 57% of J'apprends's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update weekly, J'apprends every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and June 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Duolingo versus J'apprends: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoJ'apprends
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.5M ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.6% of reviews — better57.1% of reviews
Number of ratings5.5M — better5
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size489 MB1.1 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingoSmall Bang

Customer experience

Duolingo

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

J'apprends

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative35.7%

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

J'apprends

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

J'apprends

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is J'apprends free?
J'apprends is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or J'apprends?
J'apprends is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5M ratings, while J'apprends averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Duolingo or J'apprends have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; J'apprends does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or J'apprends?
Duolingo ships an update weekly, and J'apprends every 2 months. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on September 24, 2026 and J'apprends on June 4, 2026.

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