How Much Does Duolingo Cost in 2026? Super, Family, Max

The short answer

Duolingo is free. Every course is free to use, and Duolingo says it gives paying members the same lesson content as everyone else. What costs money is Super Duolingo, the plan that removes the ads and the daily Energy limit.

In the US App Store, Super is listed at six prices: $9.99, $12.99, $79.99, $83.99, $95.99 and $119.99 (checked 2026-10-13). Apple does not say which is which. Read against what reviewers see on their own paywalls, the two low prices are monthly plans and the four high ones are yearly plans, so a year of Super works out to $6.67 to $10.00 a month (checked 2026-10-13). Which price you are offered depends on your account, your device and the test Duolingo happens to be running.

Two more plans sit around Super. Super Family shares it with up to five other people and is the cheapest way in per person. Duolingo Max adds AI conversation practice, is sold only in the app, and may not last: in August 2026, Duolingo's CEO said the company might retire it.

Duolingo plans and prices at a glance

The Family, Max and Lite prices come from other people's screens, because none of the three can be read without a logged-in account in the right test group. We say whose reading each one is, and when it was taken.

Why every site quotes a different price

Look up what Duolingo costs and you will find $12.99 a month, $16.99 a month, $83.99 a year and $119.99 a year, sometimes on the same page of results (checked 2026-10-13). Most of these numbers are real. They are different slices of a price list that Duolingo never publishes. Duolingo's Super page shows no price at all until you log in, and Apple's listing names all six items "Super Duolingo" without a billing period.

The six prices the US App Store lists for Super Duolingo (checked 2026-10-13). Apple names every item just "Super Duolingo" and shows no billing period; the monthly and yearly grouping is our reading. Data from Duolingo's US App Store listing. Chart by Mindomax.

The list also moves. We have read it four times in four weeks for our other Duolingo pages. The $79.99 item was there on 2026-09-15, missing on 2026-10-02 and 2026-10-11, and back on 2026-10-13 (checked 2026-10-13).

Three things decide the price on your screen. The first is testing: Duolingo's help center says it sometimes runs small tests on its subscriptions, and its shareholder letter describes testing hundreds of product changes. The second is where you pay, because the App Store, Google Play and the website run their own offers; on Google Play, Duolingo's in-app items range from $0.99 to $239.99 (checked 2026-10-13). The third is time: Duolingo's report for the second quarter of 2026 mentions a price increase in the same quarter of 2025.

To see your own price before you pay, open the app, tap the gem icon to open the Shop and choose Get Super. The plan screen lists each option's price before you confirm, so check what you will pay once any free trial ends. On a computer, log in and open the Shop from the side menu.

What the free version gives you

The free plan is the whole course. The App Store listing says every course is free, and Duolingo's help center says it offers the same lesson content to all users. The lessons themselves are the same ones a subscriber gets.

What you put up with is ads and Energy. Since 2025, Duolingo has been moving free accounts from Hearts to Energy, a battery that powers your lessons. Each lesson uses a little, a run of correct answers earns some back, reviewing your mistakes at the end of a lesson costs nothing, and the battery refills in about a day. When it runs out, you wait, watch an ad or spend gems. Gems are earned in lessons and also sold in packs from $0.99 to $19.99 (checked 2026-10-13). Some accounts still use Hearts, which you lose for mistakes, because Duolingo is still testing the system.

If your habit is a lesson or two a day, you may never hit the limit. If you like long sessions, you will.

What Super adds, and when it is worth it

Super removes the ads and the Energy limit, or gives unlimited Hearts on accounts that still have them. It adds Personalized Practice, a lesson built from the mistakes you made, unlimited tries at Legendary levels, and one streak repair a month. It does not add lessons or a different course. Duolingo also warns that some subscribers sit in tests where a perk such as unlimited Hearts is missing.

Super is worth it if you use Duolingo every day on your phone and the Energy limit or the ads get in the way. On the $83.99 yearly plan, that is $7.00 a month, about 23 cents a day (checked 2026-10-13). It is probably not worth it if you do a single lesson a day and rarely run out of Energy, because the free plan teaches you exactly the same material.

If you are sure you will keep going, pay for a year rather than a month. Twelve months at $12.99 cost $155.88, which is $71.89 more than the $83.99 yearly plan (checked 2026-10-13).

The Family plan: the cheapest Super per person

Super Family gives the full Super plan to you and up to five other people. Duolingo's Family Plan rules let you invite anyone, friends included, in any country and learning any language. Each member keeps their own account, progress and streak, and only the plan's manager can add or remove members. You cannot invite someone who already pays for Duolingo until their own subscription runs out.

Apple's US list does not label a Family item. Most sources, including our own earlier pages, read the $119.99 item as Family; one reviewer's iPhone showed $143.99 for Family and $119.99 for a single Super year (checked 2026-09-06 by Language App Guide). Either way the split is cheap: $119.99 across six people is $20.00 a year each, and $143.99 across six is $24.00 a year each, about $2 a month (checked 2026-10-13). Even two people sharing $143.99 pay $72.00 each, less than any single yearly Super price in Apple's list (checked 2026-10-13).

One rule matters more than the price. Duolingo forbids reselling Family slots for money and can block or close a plan whose slots were sold, so a cheap seat bought from a stranger online can disappear.

You can upgrade a single plan to Family in the app or on the web. On an iPhone you pay the full Family price at once and Apple refunds the unused part of your old plan; on Android you pay the prorated difference; on the web you pay the full price and get a prorated refund within 5 to 10 business days. If you pay monthly through Google Play, the upgrade option does not appear.

Duolingo Max, Super Lite and what changed in 2026

Duolingo Max is Super plus two AI features: Roleplay, short conversations with Duolingo's characters, and Video Call with Lily, a spoken call with one of them. Max is sold only in the iOS and Android apps. It cannot be bought on the web, and a web subscription cannot be upgraded to it. The features also depend on your course: Roleplay works for English speakers learning French, Spanish, German, Portuguese or Italian, and Video Call for learners of English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese. On any other course, Max gives you Super and nothing more.

Three things changed this year, and all three come from Duolingo itself. First, Video Call is moving to Super: the company's shareholder letter for the second quarter of 2026 says most new Super subscribers already have it and existing subscribers should get it later in the year.

Second, Max may be retired. On the earnings call of August 5, 2026, CEO Luis von Ahn said he did not yet know what would happen to Max. One option he named was a limited number of calls for Super and unlimited calls for Max; the other was to sunset Max.

Third, a cheaper tier is being tested. On the same call he described Super Lite: the ads stay, you get twice the Energy instead of unlimited Energy, and it costs about half as much as Super, depending on the country. One reviewer saw it at $35.99 a year (checked 2026-09-06 by Language App Guide).

Free trials are getting longer too. The App Store text offers 14 days and the website one week, and the CEO said most trials are moving from seven days to one month. During a trial, Energy and ads are switched off.

The practical advice: do not pay extra for Max to get Video Call before you check whether your Super plan already includes it.

How to pay less without breaking the rules

Pay yearly. It saves $71.89 against twelve monthly payments at $12.99 (checked 2026-10-13).

Share a Family plan with people you know, not with strangers selling seats.

Use the free trial with a reminder. On the website's trial, Duolingo sends a reminder on day 5 and charges on day 7, so cancel at least 24 hours before the end if you do not want to pay.

Use promo codes the way they work. They can only be redeemed at duolingo.com/redeem in a web browser, only by people who do not already subscribe, and Duolingo's terms allow one extended free-trial code per calendar year.

Ask your employer. Duolingo for Business sells Super in bulk at a discount. And if you are enrolled in a Duolingo classroom through school, leave it first: Super is not available to students in one.

How to cancel, and when you get money back

Cancel in the same place you subscribed. In the app, tap the Super icon, then the gear, Manage subscription and Cancel subscription, and confirm in the App Store or Google Play. On the web, click your profile picture, then Settings, Super Duolingo and Cancel subscription. Deleting the app or your account does not cancel anything.

After you cancel, Super keeps working until the end of the period you paid for, and Duolingo does not refund the unused part. Its terms say payments are nonrefundable "unless otherwise required by the law in your jurisdiction".

You can still ask for a refund in four situations. If you paid through the App Store, ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com under I'd like to, then Request a refund; Apple says to expect an update within 24 to 48 hours. If you paid through Google Play, Google may refund you within 48 hours of the purchase; after that, the decision is Duolingo's, through its support form under Purchase Issue. If you paid on the website, email Duolingo support from the Super page and say the refund is for a web subscription. And if you live in New York state and pay through Google Play, Google lets you cancel and request a prorated partial refund within 14 days of an opt-out price increase, one that applies unless you cancel.

What the same money buys elsewhere

If you are going to pay for a language app at all, Super Duolingo's year sits in the middle of the App Store pack. Here is what twelve months of eleven other apps cost there, followed by what each one does differently. For full head-to-heads, see Babbel vs Duolingo and Rosetta Stone vs Duolingo, and our list of Duolingo alternatives covers 28 apps.

What a year costs in the US App Store: the lowest 12-month price each app lists (checked 2026-10-13). Duolingo's item carries no period label; $79.99 is the lowest of its four yearly-looking prices (checked 2026-10-13). Free options, such as Duolingo's free plan, Mango through a library card, AnkiDroid and Mindomax, are not drawn. Data from each app's US App Store listing. Chart by Mindomax.

The free route deserves a second look. Mango Languages says its library patrons get in with just their library card, and many public libraries in the US pay for it. Ask yours before you pay anyone.

What no Duolingo plan does

Every Duolingo plan teaches the same course. Paying more buys fewer interruptions, not a place for the words you pick up elsewhere: from a textbook, a class or a show you are watching. Those stick when you review them at growing intervals, which is what spaced repetition does, and a free flashcard app handles it well next to Duolingo. Anki for language learning explains the classic way to set that up.

If you want a free place to keep and review those words, Mindomax is free to try.

Sources

Duolingo: Duolingo on the US App Store and on Google Play; Super Duolingo page; help center articles What is Super Duolingo, What is Duolingo Max, Family Plan, How do I cancel, How do I request a refund and How do I use a promo code; Terms and Conditions (revised September 8, 2025); Why Duolingo switched to Energy (July 3, 2025).

Duolingo, Inc.: Q2 2026 shareholder letter (SEC filing); Q2 2026 earnings call transcript (August 5, 2026).

Stores: Apple, Request a refund; Google Play Help, refund policies and partial refunds for subscriptions. Alternatives: each app's US App Store listing, plus AnkiDroid on Google Play and Mango for Libraries.

Other people's readings: Language App Guide, Duolingo cost (updated September 6, 2026), for the Family, Max and Lite prices marked as theirs. Store prices and ratings checked 2026-10-13.