Comparison

Duolingo vs Play With ASL

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

Play With ASL

Learn American Sign Language through engaging mini-games. This app uses a gamified approach to help you memorize signs while having fun. Earn points and progress through interactive challenges.

Highlights
  • Gamified learning approach
  • Memory match mini-game
  • Memorize signs
  • Earn banana points
  • Interactive challenges
Features
Read full description

Play With ASL is a gamified approach to American Sign Language for kids, families, classrooms, and ASL learners of all backgrounds. Real ASL signing — filmed by deaf educators — meets fun mini-games designed to make vocabulary stick. == Memory Match == Flip cards to match ASL signs with their English meanings across 12 themed packs: Animals, Camping, Colors, Food, Nature, Vehicles, Crafts, Emotions, Jobs, Space, Travel, and Weather. Earn stars and help Apollo the monkey collect bananas as you build your vocabulary. == TILT! == A brand-new motion-based mini-game. Tilt your device to guide signs through the screen — an active, hands-on way to reinforce the vocabulary you learn. == Free + Subscription == Two packs (Animals + Colors) are free for everyone — try the games before you commit. Unlock the full library of 12 packs across every game with a Monthly or Yearly subscription, or buy individual packs as one-time purchases. == What Makes Us Different == - Every sign filmed by deaf ASL educators - No third-party advertising - No data sold or shared with brokers - Designed with families and classroom use in mind - Account sync across iPhone and iPad - Cancel subscription anytime in Apple Settings == Always Growing == Memory Match and TILT! are just the start. We're actively building more mini-games, story modes, and content packs. Your subscription includes every future addition we ship. Questions, feedback, or ideas? Visit www.playwithasl.com or write to us at jon@playwithasl.com. Made by the Play With ASL team — small studio, big goals. Terms of Use: https://www.playwithasl.com/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.playwithasl.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
Play With ASL3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Play With ASL at none against Duolingo's shown. Play With ASL also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Duolingo's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (5.6M vs 409). On price, rating, review sentiment 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 Play With ASL sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 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 Play With ASL. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.6M ratings behind it against 409, 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 70% of Play With ASL's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, Play With ASL every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Duolingo versus Play With ASL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoPlay With ASL
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.6M ratings)4.7 (409 ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews70.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.6M — better409
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
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 iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size490 MB132 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuolingo, IncPlay With ASL LLC

Customer experience

Duolingo

All ratings5,540,071 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews30,718 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral9.6%
Negative25.6%

Play With ASL

All ratings408 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral3.7%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative10.0%

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

Play With ASL

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
4 purchases

Play With ASL

Subscriptions2
  • PWA Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • PWA Yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • Memory Match Category Pack 1$0.99
  • PWA Card Pack$1.99

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Play With ASL free?
Play With ASL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or Play With ASL?
Play With ASL is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.6M ratings, while Play With ASL averages 4.7 from 409 ratings.
Do Duolingo or Play With ASL have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; Play With ASL does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or Play With ASL?
Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, and Play With ASL every 6 weeks. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on November 1, 2026 and Play With ASL on October 27, 2026.

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