Duolingo is alive and growing. It shipped version 7.147.1 in November 2026 and holds a 4.7 rating from 5.6 million App Store reviews. It teaches 40-plus languages plus chess, maths and music. The core course is free with ads. Super Duolingo is the paid upgrade, from $12.99 a month or $83.99 to $119.99 a year (US in-app prices). Duolingo Max adds Video Call with the AI character Lily and Roleplay, and a May 2026 guide puts it at about $29.99 a month or $168 a year in the US.
People leave for three reasons. Grammar is taught by guessing, so adults hit a wall in the middle units. The game layer pays you for speed, so a long streak can hide the fact that you still cannot order dinner. And some learners never forgave the April 2025 memo in which CEO Luis von Ahn called Duolingo "AI-first" and said contractors would gradually be replaced by AI where possible; he later told the New York Times, as Fortune reported in August 2025, that the memo did not give enough context. The seven apps below each fix one of those gaps.
Prices below are as of November 8, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babbel | Grammar explained in English | $17.99/mo or $89.99/yr (one language) | iOS, Android, web |
| Busuu | Course plus native-speaker feedback | From $6.99/mo, yearly plans vary | iOS, Android, web |
| Pimsleur | Speaking by ear, hands-free | $19.99/mo for one language, 7-day trial | iOS, Android, CarPlay, Android Auto |
| Memrise | Vocabulary from real native-speaker clips | $24.99/mo or $61.99/yr | iOS, Android, web |
| Mondly | Many languages on one cheap plan | $74.90/yr for all languages | iOS, Android, web |
| Rosetta Stone | Immersion with no translations | $44.99 for 3 months, $199.99 lifetime course | iOS, Android, web |
| LingQ | Reading and listening after the basics | $14.99/mo or $119.99/yr | iOS, Android, web |
Babbel
Babbel, from Babbel GmbH in Berlin, is what most Duolingo users try next. Lessons are short dialogues followed by a grammar tip written in plain English, so you learn why a verb changes instead of guessing until the app accepts your answer. Speech recognition checks pronunciation, and a beta AI partner called Babbel Speak runs practice conversations.
You trade breadth for depth: English speakers get 13 languages, Norwegian and Indonesian among them, and can try lesson one of each at no cost. Our Babbel alternatives guide covers the apps to try if Babbel feels too text-heavy.
Best for: Adults who want each grammar point explained before they practise it.
Pricing:
- Single language in the US App Store: $17.99 monthly, $45.99 per quarter, $89.99 per year
- Every language: $107.99 per year
- First lesson of each course free
Watch out for:
- No Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Arabic, which Duolingo teaches for free.
- The first lesson of every course is free, with up to 80 free lessons in some languages. Past that, every lesson needs a subscription.
Official site: Babbel.
Busuu
Busuu, a Chegg company, keeps Duolingo's fixed lesson order but adds people. Submit a written or spoken exercise and fluent members of the community mark it up, feedback no points system can give. A paid plan opens a dozen courses and certificates.
The Busuu Premium page promises your money back within seven days, which helps because the in-app price list is long and confusing.
Best for: Learners who want a real person to check their writing and speaking.
Pricing:
- Paid by the month: from $6.99 up to $23.49 in the US App Store
- Premium for a year: anywhere from $70.00 to $138.99, charged once
- Premium Plus for a year: $139.99
Watch out for:
- What you pay depends on which promotion the app happens to show you, with eight US prices in play.
Official site: Busuu.
Pimsleur
Pimsleur is the opposite of tapping word tiles. Each 30-minute lesson is audio: a speaker says a phrase, pauses, and you answer out loud before you hear the correct version. Lessons run in CarPlay and Android Auto, so a commute becomes study time without looking at a screen.
Simon & Schuster sells it, with 51 languages and a 7-day free trial. The Pimsleur plans page sells Premium if you want one language and All Access if you want them all.
Best for: Learners who want to speak sooner and can practise during a drive or walk.
Pricing:
- 7-day free trial
- Premium, one language (US App Store): $19.99 a month
- All Access, every language: $20.99 a month, or $131.99 or $164.99 a year
Watch out for:
- Reading and writing get little time, so learners of Japanese or Arabic script need a second tool.
Official site: Pimsleur.
Memrise
Memrise builds vocabulary with short videos of native speakers instead of synthetic voices, which trains your ear for real accents and speed. Practice with AI Buddies and role-play chats sits on top of the word lessons, and Pro opens every vocabulary lesson.
Its iPhone app holds a 4.8 average across more than 200,000 ratings on the Memrise App Store page, with an update in late October 2026. Few big language apps still sell a lifetime plan, and Memrise does.
Best for: Learners who want everyday words and phrases from real speakers, with a one-time payment option.
Pricing:
- Monthly: $24.99 a month
- Annual Pro: $61.99 a year
- Lifetime: $329.99 one-time; offers sometimes drop it to $98.99 or $131.99
- US App Store prices
Watch out for:
- The user-made community courses many people joined Memrise for left the app on March 31, 2024 and now live on a separate website.
- Grammar gets less attention than vocabulary, so pair it with Babbel or Busuu for sentence structure.
Official site: Memrise.
Mondly
Mondly, part of Pearson, sells one plan that opens all 41 of its language courses. That makes it the cheap route for someone who wants Spanish now and Italian next summer, since Babbel and Rosetta Stone charge more for all-language access.
Lessons are short and game-like, closer in feel to Duolingo than to Babbel. Version 11.8.1 of the Mondly iPhone app came out in late October 2026.
Best for: Polyglots on a budget who plan to dip into more than one language this year.
Pricing:
- All languages for a year: $74.90, charged once
- All languages by the month: $15.90, or $7.99 during a half-price offer
- 1-week free trial on monthly and yearly plans
Watch out for:
- Less common languages get less care: one App Store reviewer in December 2022 found the Thai course ignores gendered pronouns.
Official site: Mondly.
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone teaches with pictures and sound only. You match words to images and work out meaning from context, with no English translation on screen. Some learners find that sticks better than Duolingo's translate-this-sentence drills, and it teaches 23 languages, with regional variants of Spanish, English and Chinese.
A newer app, Sapphire, is now the one Rosetta Stone advertises. The previous app carries on as Rosetta Stone Classic (2024), and Classic holds a 4.8 rating from 239,000 App Store reviews. A one-time purchase of a full course is still available for some languages.
Best for: Learners who want full immersion and dislike translating in their head.
Pricing:
- US App Store, one language: $44.99 or $54.99 per quarter, $109.99 or $119.99 per year
- Every language for a year: $109.99
- Latin American Spanish, all 5 levels, bought outright: $199.99
Watch out for:
- Without a single translated word, a tricky screen can turn into a long guessing game.
- Classic and Sapphire are sold side by side, so check which app your purchase covers.
Official site: Rosetta Stone.
LingQ
LingQ is where Duolingo graduates go when the tree runs out. You read and listen to real texts with audio, including articles you import yourself, click the words you do not know, and LingQ saves them for review. Progress comes from the amount you read and hear, not from finishing units.
It covers more than 50 languages but gives no lesson path, which is a shock after Duolingo's guided units. For readers, video tools and free self-hosted options built on the same idea, see our LingQ alternatives guide.
Best for: Intermediate learners who want to read and hear real content in the language.
Pricing:
- No cost: up to 20 saved words and 5 imports
- Premium in the US App Store: $14.99 monthly, $80.99 per half year, $119.99 yearly
- Premium Plus: $29.99 monthly or $269.99 yearly
Watch out for:
- Without at least a Duolingo-level base, the open library feels like being dropped into a foreign newspaper.
- Twenty saved words go fast, so the free tier is a short trial in practice.
Official site: LingQ.
How to choose
| If you need | Pick |
|---|---|
| Grammar rules explained, not guessed | Babbel |
| Corrections from native speakers | Busuu |
| Practice while driving or walking | Pimsleur |
| Vocabulary from real speakers on video | Memrise |
| Every language on one yearly fee | Mondly |
| Immersion without translations | Rosetta Stone |
| Real texts and audio after the basics | LingQ |
When to stay with Duolingo
Stay on Duolingo if the habit is what you need. Its free tier is a full course with ads, it teaches Japanese, Korean and Chinese, which Babbel does not, and it now covers chess, maths and music in the same app. Its AI grammar feature, Explain My Answer, has been free for most learners in seven major courses since January 2026, per Duolingo's announcement. Many learners keep it as a daily warm-up next to one of the apps above.
Frequently asked questions
What is better than Duolingo for learning a language?
It depends on the gap. Babbel is better for grammar, Pimsleur for speaking, Busuu for corrections from real people, and LingQ for reading and listening once you know the basics. Many learners combine Duolingo with one of them.
How much does Duolingo Max cost?
In the US, about $29.99 a month or $168 a year, and a family plan for up to six people runs about $240 a year, per a May 2026 guide. Max's AI features, Video Call and Roleplay, cover Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean for English speakers. Prices vary by country and appear in the app.
Is Babbel better than Duolingo?
For adults who want grammar explained, yes. Babbel's lessons explain rules in English and focus on real dialogues. Duolingo is free and teaches more languages, including Japanese and Chinese, which Babbel lacks.
Is there a free alternative to Duolingo?
Memrise and LingQ have free tiers with limits, Pimsleur and Mondly offer short trials, and the first lesson of every Babbel course is free. None is as complete for free as Duolingo itself, which is why it stays the default free app.
Did Duolingo replace its staff with AI?
Not its full-time staff. In April 2025 the CEO said Duolingo would become "AI-first" and gradually stop using contractors for work AI can do. In August 2025 he said the company has never laid off full-time employees and has no plans to.
