Duolingo Pricing in 2026: Every Plan, and What You Are Actually Paying For

Paying for Duolingo does not get you more lessons.

That is not my opinion. Duolingo's own help centre states that the same lesson content goes to every user, free or paying, because keeping education free is the point of the company.

So as far as I can tell, a subscription does not unlock extra languages, extra levels or a better curriculum. It removes restrictions from the product you already have.

I think that single fact should sit at the top of any honest guide to Duolingo pricing, and it appears in almost none of them.

Why Every Article Quotes a Different Duolingo Price

Before I give you numbers, an explanation for something you may have already noticed.

Search for how much Duolingo costs and you will find Super listed at $12.99, $13.99 and $16.99 a month, and at $83.99, $95.99 and $119.99 a year. The Family Plan appears as both $119.99 and $143.99.

Those articles are not all wrong, and I do not think they are careless either. Duolingo runs tests on its own subscriptions.

Its help centre says so directly, noting that if a subscriber does not see unlimited hearts, that may be part of a test, and that Duolingo sometimes runs small tests on subscriptions and features to find options that suit different budgets and goals.

Add currency, country and platform on top of that, and there is no single correct answer to what Duolingo costs. There is only what your account is being shown today.

I would treat every figure below, including mine, as a range to sanity-check against your own app rather than a quote.

Duolingo Plans and Pricing in 2026

Here is what recent sources report. I have given the spread rather than one confident number, because the spread is the honest answer.

Two things in that table are new enough that I did not find them in most guides.

Lite exists now. A guide published in September 2026, working from a screenshot of an actual iOS account, shows a Lite tier at around $35.99 a year sitting between Free and Super.

Max may be on the way out. That same account showed Max no longer offered as a new subscription, with existing subscribers keeping it. I have not seen Duolingo confirm this, so I would treat it as a strong signal rather than a fact.

What Super Duolingo Actually Removes

Since the lessons are identical, it is worth being precise about what a Super Duolingo subscription buys.

An ad free experience between lessons. No energy or hearts cap, so mistakes do not stop your session. Offline lessons. Streak repair. Personalised practice on your past mistakes, plus progress quizzes.

I would call that a real improvement to the experience if you study daily. It is a feature-removal subscription rather than a content upgrade, and pricing it in your head that way leads to better decisions.

The energy system matters most here. Free users hit a daily cap that ends the session, and Duolingo has been testing variations of it, which is why two people can describe the free tier completely differently.

That is also why I would not decide based on someone else's description of the free experience. Use it for a fortnight and see whether the cap actually interrupts you, because for a lot of casual learners it never does.

Duolingo Max and the AI Features

Max sits above Super and adds AI conversation practice through Video Call and Roleplay, plus explanations of why an answer was wrong.

Two caveats I would weigh. The AI features cover a limited set of languages, mostly Spanish and French. And reviewers report the Video Call conversations running around 30 seconds without pronunciation scoring, which is thin for roughly double the Super price.

At around $167.99 a year, I would only consider Max if speaking practice is the specific thing you want and you are learning one of the supported languages. Otherwise the gap between it and Super is hard to justify.

The Family Plan Is the Real Value

If two or more people in your household use Duolingo, this is where I think the maths stops being close.

The Super Family Plan covers the manager plus five others, six accounts in total. Everyone gets their own account and their own progress. It is not a shared login.

At $119.99 a year across six people, the per person cost is about $20 each, or under $2 a month. Even split across only two or three people it beats individual Super subscriptions comfortably.

One detail from Duolingo's help pages that I have not seen explained anywhere. If you upgrade from an individual subscription to the Family Plan, you are charged for the Family Plan immediately, then a prorated refund for the remainder of your individual plan processes in five to ten business days, and your renewal date resets to the upgrade date.

So the upgrade is not free, it is refunded afterwards. Worth knowing before it appears on your card.

The Rules Nobody Reads Until It Is Too Late

These come from Duolingo's own support pages, and I suspect they cost people money every month.

Refunds are limited. In-app purchases are generally nonrefundable, and there are no credits for partially used periods. If you subscribed through iOS, Apple handles refunds, not Duolingo.

Cancelling is platform-specific. Wherever you first subscribed, whether the App Store, Google Play or the web, is where you must manage and cancel it. All plans auto renew until you do. Deleting the app does not cancel anything, and neither does deleting your account.

Cancelling does not cost you your streak. Starting, ending or switching a subscription leaves your progress and streak untouched. I mention it because it is the thing people most worry about.

Promo codes only work on the web. You cannot redeem one in the app, and you cannot apply one to an active subscription. So if you plan to use a code, do not subscribe first.

Costs That Are Not the Subscription

Three things sit outside the plans, and I would budget for them separately.

Gems. The in-app currency can be bought outright, and that is separate from any subscription. Super subscribers still spend gems on the same things, so a subscription does not remove the temptation to buy them.

The Duolingo English Test. This is a different product with its own fee, and it is the largest cost associated with Duolingo for anyone using it for university or visa applications. Two attempts plus a rush result runs well into three figures.

Duolingo for Business. Bulk subscriptions exist for organisations, priced separately from consumer plans.

Is Duolingo Worth Paying For?

My honest answer depends on one question: does the energy cap actually stop you?

Stay free if you study a few times a week and the ads do not bother you. The free tier covers every language course, and the lessons are the same ones subscribers get.

Buy Super if you study daily and keep hitting the cap mid-session. Buy it annually, not monthly, because the monthly rate is roughly double the effective annual rate.

Buy the Family Plan if two or more people will use it. The break-even is two people, not six.

Consider Lite if it appears on your account and all you want is the ads gone. It sits below Super at around $35.99 a year, and not every account is shown it.

Skip Max unless you specifically want AI speaking practice in Spanish or French.

And if your goal is actually speaking a language rather than maintaining a streak, no tier here fully solves that. Duolingo is strong on vocabulary and recognition and weaker on production, which is a limitation of the product rather than of the plan you choose. Our EdTech listings cover tools that approach it differently if that is the gap you are trying to close.

Duolingo Pricing, Question by Question

How much does Duolingo cost?

Free is $0. Super is reported between $12.99 and $16.99 monthly, or $83.99 to $119.99 annually. Super Family is $119.99 to $143.99 a year for six accounts. Max is around $167.99 a year. The range exists because Duolingo tests prices, so check your own account.

Is Duolingo free, and how much is Duolingo really?

Yes, permanently, with every language course included. Free users see ads and hit a daily energy cap.

What does Super Duolingo include?

No ads, no energy limit, offline lessons, streak repair, personalised practice and progress quizzes. Not extra lessons, because the content is the same for everyone.

Why does Duolingo show me a different price than my friend?

Because Duolingo tests its subscription pricing and features, and prices also vary by country and platform.

Is the Family Plan cheaper than Super?

For two or more people, yes, substantially. Six people on the Family Plan pay roughly $20 each per year.

Does Duolingo have a free trial?

Trials are commonly offered, typically around seven days, though availability varies by account and promotion.

How do I cancel my Duolingo subscription?

Through whichever platform you originally subscribed on: the app, your device settings, or the web. Deleting the app does not cancel it.

Will I lose my streak if I cancel?

No. Duolingo confirms that starting or ending a subscription does not affect your streak or your progress.

Can I get a refund?

Generally no. Purchases are nonrefundable with no credit for partial periods. iOS refunds go through Apple.

Is Duolingo Max worth it?

Only for AI speaking practice in a supported language. At roughly twice the Super price for features reviewers describe as thin, I would not default to it.

Is Duolingo cheaper on the website than in the app?

It can be, and promo codes can only be redeemed on the web, so always check both before subscribing.

How to Pay Less for Duolingo

Five things that genuinely reduce the bill, in the order I would try them myself.

Always take the annual plan. The monthly rate works out to roughly double the effective annual cost. If you are going to subscribe at all, this is the largest single saving available.

Wait for a sale. Duolingo discounts heavily around New Year and back-to-school, and the student-heavy autumn window has carried reported reductions of 25 to 60 percent. An annual Super picked up in a January sale can land near $35 to $42.

Split a Family Plan. You do not need actual family. The manager can invite any eligible Duolingo user by link, and everyone keeps separate accounts.

Check the web price before the app. Prices differ by platform, and promo codes only work through a browser.

Redeem the code before you subscribe. A promo code cannot be applied to an active subscription, so subscribing first throws the discount away.

Prices in this article are drawn from published comparisons and account screenshots from August and September 2026, with program rules taken from Duolingo's own help centre. Because Duolingo tests its pricing, check your own account before subscribing.