Comparison

Duolingo vs ASL Handshape 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

ASL Handshape Games

Interactive penguin-themed games designed to enhance ASL handshape recognition and build sign and print vocabulary. These dual-language games are co-designed with Deaf children to foster early language and literacy skills.

Highlights
  • ASL handshape recognition
  • Sign and print vocabulary learning
  • Interactive penguin-themed games
  • Dual language (ASL-English)
  • Progressive difficulty levels
  • Memory and matching challenges
Features
Read full description

Co-designed with Deaf children, these dual language (ASL-English) games target ASL handshape recognition and sign and print vocabulary learning! This bundle includes 3 interactive penguin-themed games that encourage ASL handshape recognition, awareness of visual language patterns, and sign and print vocabulary learning - all important early language and literacy skills! Endless Waddle: Players must help the penguin move through 3 lanes on an icefield and select one picture/text (from a choice of 3) that matches a target ASL handshape. Beware of ice holes! Hungry Penguins: Penguins are standing along a shore and are waiting to be fed! But these penguins are picky eaters! They'll only eat fish whose picture/text matches the ASL handshape on their belly. Memory Match: Test your ASL handshape knowledge with this game of memory and concentration. Build your memory skills while improving your sign vocabulary and/or your print vocabulary. Hungry Penguins and Memory Match feature 2 gameplay options: Picture mode or Text mode supporting sign and/or print vocabulary learning and practice! Note: This app does not contain any audio.

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
ASL Handshape Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Duolingo at Free against ASL Handshape Games's $2.99. Duolingo also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 32 months). ASL Handshape Games's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 28) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Duolingo is free to download; ASL Handshape Games costs $2.99 up front. Duolingo sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. ASL Handshape Games asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Duolingo holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.5M ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, ASL Handshape Games every 32 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Duolingo versus ASL Handshape Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoASL Handshape Games
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (5.5M ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings5.5M — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 32 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size490 MB316 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingo, IncSign2Read Literacy Initiatives, Inc.

Customer experience

Duolingo

All ratings5,536,376 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%

ASL Handshape Games

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

ASL Handshape Games

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

ASL Handshape Games

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ASL Handshape Games free?
ASL Handshape Games costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or ASL Handshape Games?
Duolingo is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.5M ratings, while ASL Handshape Games averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Duolingo or ASL Handshape Games have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; ASL Handshape Games does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or ASL Handshape Games?
Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, and ASL Handshape Games every 32 months. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on October 27, 2026 and ASL Handshape Games on October 6, 2026.

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