Comparison

Duolingo vs The ASL App

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Duolingo

Master new languages, chess, and math with fun, bite-sized lessons. This educational app uses a game-like approach to build vocabulary, grammar, and strategic skills. Track your progress and compete with a global community.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized language lessons
  • Chess learning and play
  • Interactive math courses
  • Music reading and playing
  • Progress tracking and achievements
  • Competitive leaderboards
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

The ASL App

Learn American Sign Language with this intuitive app designed by Deaf individuals. Master conversational ASL through organized phrases and signs, with features like adjustable playback speed, search, and a favorites folder for practice.

Highlights
  • Learn conversational ASL
  • Adjustable video playback speed
  • Searchable sign index
  • Slow-motion option
  • Favorites folder for practice
  • Share learned signs on social media
Features
Read full description

The ASL App is made by Deaf people for you! Learn conversational ASL right now, on the go, with all phrases and signs organized to make it easy for you to learn. The ASL App is designed to help you learn a new visual language in a way that is easy, intuitive, and well paced. You can drag your finger on the videos to control the speed - totally at your pace. There is a search index (when you need to know a sign right away), slow-motion option, info (tips), and a favorites folder. You can save the signs you want to review again in your own favorites folder where you can go back to it and practice more; and even better - you can upload different what signs you've learned to Twitter and Facebook. Share with your friends, make learning ASL fun, and progressive!! Get started NOW - download and get your first bundle of signs today! The ASL App Pack offers you everything - the entire collection - of current available bundles and future releases! Everything for $9.99. This also removes ads. Bundles: • Know Your ABCs - Learn the ASL alphabet (included, FREE!) • Know Your Numbers - Learn all the numbers (included, FREE!) • Universal Gestures - Review what you already know (included, FREE!) • Handshape Exercises - Warm up your hands, and get used to the different handshape positions. Get your muscles to become fluently aware. (included, FREE!) • The Basics! A good way to get started! (included, FREE!) • More Basic Signs! Again, a collection of more basic signs. (Paid) • Looking Good Today! A collection of signs that is related to looks, fashion, and different complimenting phrases. (Paid) • Mood Swings! A collection of signs for different moods, emotions, feelings. (Paid) • Life of the Party! A collection of signs/phrases designed to fit what will be said at social events, or at bars. (Paid) • Dining & Signing! Signs and phrases for eating out, for the restaurant industry. (Paid) • Foodies, Rejoice! Signs and phrases covering food, dishes, drinks, and different ways related to eating. (Paid) • The Wilderness Beckons! Different signs and phrases of our natural environment. Perfect if you like camping, hiking, or road trips a lot. (Paid) • Great Timing! Signs related to time, scheduling, calendars, days of the week, and more. (Paid) • Dollar and Signs! Everything related to money, budgeting, invoicing, making payments and so on. (Paid) • Country Name Signs! Learn the name signs of countries around the world. • Colors! Learn all the signs for colors with some phrases! (Free) •Nyle's Sampler! Features Nyle DiMarco, winner of American's Next Top Model and ABC's Dance With The Stars. (Free) • Sign That! with Nyle. Many fun signs and phrases you want to ask Nyle, or ask through social media! (Paid) • Celebrations! Nyle loves holidays and celebrations, especially Halloween and Valentine. He will teach you how to be festive in ASL! This bundle include a variety of signed words and beneficial phrases to help your season greetings look authentic. (Paid) • Family Signs! This bundle will teach you the signs for family members: immediate and extended, loved ones and even your nosy neighbors! • Family Milestones & Life Events! You'll learn signs for marriage, wedding, divorce, children, adoption, pregnancies, and much more! • Pop Culture and Social Media! What's current, popular and trending? Here, Nyle shows you the signs from 3D movies to buying tickets for Broadway! • Sign and Vote! Learn how to say "register to vote" and how to sign President, blue or red states, and many more! • All About Sports! Learn signs to use with your fellow sports fans! • Education & Higher Education! Learn all about those signs used in Education! • LGBT & Pride! Learn all about Pride and LGBT signs! • Emergency Signs! Learn signs to use in first responder or emergency situations. Got questions, comments, or ideas - contact us at hello@theaslapp.com! Start signing!

Screenshots

Duolingo4 screens
The ASL App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Duolingo at 4.7 against The ASL App's 3.6. Duolingo also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (5.6M vs 850). The ASL App's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and The ASL App sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. 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 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.6M ratings behind it against 850, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Duolingo's written reviews are positive against 59% of The ASL App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, The ASL App every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Duolingo versus The ASL App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuolingoThe ASL App
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (5.6M ratings) — better3.6 (850 ratings)
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews — better59.3% of reviews
Number of ratings5.6M — better850
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 3 months
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 iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size499 MB162 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperDuolingo, IncDeafDigits Inc

Customer experience

Duolingo

All ratings5,559,528 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews30,720 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral9.6%
Negative25.6%

The ASL App

All ratings838 ratings
Positive61.5%
Neutral10.6%
Negative27.9%
Written reviews194 reviews
Positive59.3%
Neutral13.9%
Negative26.8%

User reviews

Duolingo

From 5.6M 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

The ASL App

From 850 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy and simple to learn
  • 👍 Engaging and fun videos
  • 👍 Variety of presenters and signing styles
  • 👍 Slow motion feature helpful for learning
  • 👍 Comprehensive curriculum covering many topics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Inability to restore purchases on new devices
  • 🐛 Some incorrect or outdated signs
  • 🔒 Lack of customer support responsiveness
  • 💰 Limited free content, most features require payment

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

The ASL App

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Bundles won't download after purchase
  • App crashes on startup or shortly after opening
  • Inability to restore previous purchases on new devices

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add more advanced vocabulary and conversational phrases
  • Include religious and spiritual signs
  • Implement a flashcard or quiz mode for review
  • Allow users to create custom playlists
  • Add more categories like medical, sports, and hobbies
Show 1 more
  • Improve search functionality and organization of content

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Duolingo

Subscriptions5
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$83.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo1 Month trial$119.991 Year
One-time5
  • Chest of Gems$0.99
  • Barrel of Gems (1200)$4.99
  • Chest of Gems (1200)$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Cart of Gems (3000)$9.99
  • Cart of Gems (6500)$19.99
10 purchases

The ASL App

One-time10
  • The Basics!Free
  • Universal GesturesFree
  • Handshape ExercisesFree
Show 7 more
  • Colors!Free
  • The Nyle SamplerFree
  • Signs on Elections!Free
  • More Basic Signs$0.99
  • Meet and Greet with Nyle DiMarco!$0.99
  • Family Signs$0.99
  • The ASL App Pack$9.99

Questions

Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The ASL App free?
The ASL App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Duolingo or The ASL App?
Duolingo is rated higher. Duolingo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.6M ratings, while The ASL App averages 3.6 from 850 ratings.
Do Duolingo or The ASL App have ads?
Duolingo shows ads; The ASL App does not.
Which is updated more often, Duolingo or The ASL App?
Duolingo ships an update every 5 days, and The ASL App every 3 months. Most recently, Duolingo was updated on November 5, 2026 and The ASL App on November 1, 2026.

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