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I returned to Duolingo after about a year away and found the experience worse than I expected—but that is a personal verdict, not a universal product review. The difference matters: Duolingo changes features through tests and rollouts, so what one returning learner sees can depend on their course, device, account tier, region and app version.
Important: The assignment does not provide the writer’s return date, device, operating system, course, plan, app version or specific screens and sessions observed. Those details are necessary to substantiate a first-person account, so this article does not invent them or claim to have personally tested the app. Instead, it explains what a returning learner should compare and what Duolingo’s current company statements do—and do not—establish.
What can—and cannot—be concluded from a year away
“Worse” can describe several different things: more interruptions, a tighter free-tier pace, a changed lesson path, or less satisfying learning. They are not interchangeable. A return after a year is also not a controlled comparison unless the learner can identify what changed in their own use: the same course, account tier and platform, and comparable lessons.
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Duolingo says it tests hundreds of product changes and balances retention, learning outcomes and monetization. That helps explain why two learners may encounter different screens or access at the same time; it does not demonstrate that a particular update improved teaching or caused a particular user’s experience to worsen. Duolingo’s Q2 2026 shareholder letter reports company-defined business metrics, not an independent assessment of learning quality.
#1 Best Overall
Separate the complaint into the thing you noticed
- Learning: Did you understand and remember more, or did the lesson simply feel less useful? A short session can feel productive without establishing lasting proficiency.
- Pacing: Did you run into a limit on how many exercises you could do, or did the course itself feel too slow?
- Monetization: Did an ad, subscription prompt or plan feature interrupt the session? Exposure can vary by account.
- Interface and motivation: Did the route through lessons or the reward system change in a way that made it harder to keep going?
Why the free experience may feel different
Duolingo describes its service as free learning supported by advertising and paid subscriptions. Its company overview says Super removes ads and provides unlimited hearts; Max includes AI features such as Video Call, Explain My Answer and Roleplay. These are plan descriptions, not confirmation that every feature is available to every subscriber in every market or course.
Duolingo’s engineering team says free non-subscribers may see either an in-house promotion for a subscription or a network ad for an outside advertiser after a learning session. The company says ads contribute materially to its business. That makes interruptions part of the free-tier model, but it does not establish how many ads any individual learner will see. Duolingo’s explanation of advertising describes the company’s approach.
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Hearts and Energy are not the same system
In its Q2 2025 shareholder letter, Duolingo described Energy as a usage-based pacing system replacing Hearts for free users in an iOS rollout. In that account, exercises used one unit whether an answer was right or wrong, while a run of correct answers restored some energy. The company said the rollout increased daily active users, median time spent “learning well” and subscriber conversion. Those are company-reported engagement and business outcomes; they are not evidence that learners became more proficient. The letter described an iOS rollout, not a universal change across platforms or accounts. Read Duolingo’s Q2 2025 shareholder letter.
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Because the rollout and account experience can differ, check what your own app actually shows before assuming a limit is a Heart or Energy rule. A complaint such as “Watch an ad to earn a heart” describes one kind of user concern, not a measure of how common that experience is.
New speaking features may not be available to everyone
In February 2026, a Duolingo employee announced expanded voice answers and free speaking adventures, alongside an experiment moving Video Call from Max to Super. The experiment was slated to start with new learners in early March; an announcement of a test is not evidence of universal access. The employee post also used phrases including “More speaking for everyone” and “New free speaking adventures.”
In its Q2 2026 letter, Duolingo later said most new Super subscribers had Video Call access and that it expected to extend access to existing Super subscribers later in 2026. That is a dated company update and expectation, not a guarantee about a particular account today. Confirm the feature and plan details in the app for your region before comparing tiers. Duolingo’s Q2 2026 letter.
Company growth does not answer whether your learning got better
Duolingo reported 58.7 million daily active users in Q2 2026, compared with 47.7 million in Q2 2025, and 12.7 million paid subscribers, compared with 10.9 million. It also reported an 84% current-user retention rate, about one percentage point higher year over year. These are figures defined and reported by the company for those quarters. They describe platform use and subscriptions; they do not measure whether an individual returning learner found lessons more effective or enjoyable.
The company’s strategy overview separately lists 52.7 million daily active users, 133.1 million monthly active users and 12.2 million paid subscribers as of Q4 2025. It also says that in 2026 nine popular language courses—English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Chinese—extended to B2, which Duolingo calls an independent-user level. These are company statements, and course depth should be checked in the specific course rather than assumed for every learner. Duolingo’s strategy overview.
Best Value
How to make your own before-and-after comparison
Before deciding whether Duolingo has become worse for you, record the conditions of the return. Otherwise, a changed course, plan or platform can look like a product-wide change when it may be specific to your account.
- Note your setup: record the return date, device and operating system, app version, language course and account tier. Include your country if you are comparing plan access or price.
- Choose comparable sessions: use the same course and similar lesson types if you can identify what you did before leaving. Do not treat a different course or a new feature as a direct like-for-like comparison.
- Write down what happened: note the lesson path, exercise types, speaking prompts, ads or subscription prompts, and any limit displayed. Separate what you saw from what you infer it means.
- Judge learning separately from convenience: ask what you can recall or use after the session, not only whether the app felt fast, fun or motivating. A personal check is useful, but it is not a formal test of proficiency.
- Recheck volatile details: verify current plan features, course content and any local subscription price in the app. Feature access and prices can vary by rollout, region and platform.
When another language app is worth considering
Babbel is one possible comparison, but the available editorial evidence does not establish that it is better than Duolingo. A 2026 TechRadar review describes its reviewer using Babbel to brush up on French and Duolingo for Japanese and math. That is one reviewer’s experience, not a controlled comparison of the same language, learner or course goals. The article lists Super at $12.99/£10.99 per month, but that is a dated, region- and platform-sensitive example—not a current or universal price.
Compare apps against the need that is making Duolingo feel inadequate:
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- Speaking practice: inspect the actual speaking exercises and whether they are included in the plan available to you.
- Explanations and review: see whether the app helps you understand errors and revisit material in a way that suits you.
- Free-tier pacing and interruptions: test whether limits and ads are acceptable for the length of sessions you want.
- Local subscription cost: check the current price and billing term shown in your own country and app store.
TechRadar’s reviewer praised Duolingo’s short lessons, variation, review and explanation feature, while noting possible gaps in app-based grammar nuance. That observation may help identify a comparison question, but it is not proof that either app is the right fit for every learner.
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