Mondly and Duolingo are two language-learning apps with the most languages you can learn. Naturally, I wondered which one is the best.
I tested both platforms extensively for a thorough comparison because I wanted to know first-hand which app would be better at teaching me a language.
If you are on the fence, this Mondly vs Duolingo comparison guide dives deep, and by the end, you’ll know exactly which app is right for you.
Learn languages quickly with Mondly Premium. Learn the language you’ve always wanted to learn. It’s fun, fast, and easy!
What Is Mondly?
Mondly was created in 2014, and its headquarters are in Romania.
The platform wants to ensure that language-learning is fun and accessible so people can connect more easily with each other when they speak the same language.
Mondly offers courses in 41 languages, known for its conversational focus and use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for immersive learning.
It features daily lessons, real-life scenarios, and interactive exercises, employing a chatbot and speech recognition to enhance speaking and listening skills.
Mondly’s approach combines grammar, vocabulary, and cultural knowledge, making it suitable for beginners and intermediate learners seeking a comprehensive and engaging experience.
Key facts about Mondly:
- It has more than 10 million downloads on Google Play.
- The company partnered with Pearson in 2020.
- The website is available in 15 languages.
- The app has won various awards, like Best New App and Editor’s Choice.
- The mobile app is available for Android and iOS users.
- The website gets 1.65 million monthly visitors. (Semrush)
- Most of the site traffic is from the U.S., followed by Germany, Brazil, Turkey, and the U.K. (similarweb)
- Mondly is mostly popular with the 25-34 age group, followed by 18-24 year olds.
- More ladies use the app than men do.
PROs
- Free version with daily lessons
- Free Language Phrasebooks for travel or exploration
- Focus on conversational skills
- Affordable subscription plans
CONs
- Expensive for learning multiple languages
- Non-linear learning order lacks progression logic
- Limited material for intermediate or advanced learners
- Lessons are quiz-oriented, which may not suit everyone
The Language-Learning Approach of Mondly
Mondly aims to make learning fun (much like Duolingo), so it also has a game-like interface. The language courses and learning approach is backed by research and the latest technology.
When you learn a language via Mondly, you:
- Learn complete phrases and sentences, giving you some context and making it easier to use the target language in real life.
- Hear audio that’s recorded by native speakers.
- Practice simulated real-life conversations via Mondly’s chatbot, speech recognition software, and augmented and virtual reality courses.
The lessons on Mondly are bite-sized, so you can learn a little (or a lot) every day.
Excited to learn more? Explore my rewievs listed below:
What Is Duolingo?
Duolingo, a U.S.-headquartered language-learning solution, was created in 2012. The app also aims to make learning fun, which is why Duolingo features a game-like interface.
The free, gamified language learning app offers courses in over 30 languages. It features bite-sized lessons focusing on vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, using interactive exercises.
Duolingo includes speaking, listening, reading, and writing tasks, with a personalized learning path and regular reviews.
Its engaging format, streaks, and in-app rewards make learning motivating and fun for users of all ages.
Key facts about Duolingo:
- The website is available in 26 languages.
- Android and iOS users can download the mobile app from the Google Play and App Store (respectively).
- About 88.7 million people visit the website every month. (similarweb)
- Nearly 700 million people downloaded the app in 2022.
- Most of the web traffic originates in the U.S., followed by Brazil, the U.K., Germany, and Mexico.
- The app is most popular with those in the 18-24 age group, followed by 25-34 year olds.
- Like Mondly, more ladies enjoy learning on Duolingo.
The Language-Learning Approach of Duolingo
Like Mondly, Duolingo is a game-like app (but to the extreme) and its teaching methods are research-backed.
Duolingo wants you to:
- Learn while you practice with the fun interactive lessons.
- Stay motivated (and addicted to the app) since it also has compact lessons, and you can easily complete an exercise a day.
- Learn via personalization so you can focus on the areas where you need extra practice.
PROs
- Completely free version, with affordable subscription
- Fun, game-like interactive lessons for motivation.
- Personalized practice in the Practice Hub
- Memorization and translation-based learning
CONs
- Limited grammar and language usage explanations
- Superficial understanding in real-life situations
- Glitches and progress loss during updates
- Non-native audio and imperfect speech recognition
Mondly vs Duolingo: Which Languages Can You Learn?
Mondly and Duolingo offer 40+ languages, and what you learn depends on your native language.
With Mondly, you can choose between 33 native languages, and you can learn nearly all 40 languages no matter what language you speak.
With Duolingo, you can choose between 25 native languages, and English as a native language is the only option where you can learn 39 languages. If you don’t speak English, you have limited languages you can learn. Spanish and Chinese speakers can learn 8 and 7 languages respectively, while other natives can only learn 1 to 5 languages.
Here’s a list of the languages you can learn on Mondly vs Duolingo:
Language | Mondly | Duolingo |
Afrikaans | Yes | No |
Arabic | Yes | Yes |
Bengali | Yes | No |
Bulgarian | Yes | No |
Catalan | Yes | Yes |
Chinese (Cantonese) | No | Yes |
Chinese (Mandarin) | Yes | Yes |
Croatian | Yes | No |
Czech | Yes | Yes |
Danish | Yes | Yes |
Dutch | Yes | Yes |
English – UK | Yes | No |
English – USA | Yes | Yes |
Esperanto | No | Yes |
Finnish | Yes | Yes |
French | Yes | Yes |
German | Yes | Yes |
Greek | Yes | Yes |
Haitian Creole | No | Yes |
Hawaiian | No | Yes |
Hebrew | Yes | Yes |
High Valyrian (Game of Thrones) | No | Yes |
Hindi | Yes | Yes |
Hungarian | Yes | Yes |
Indonesian | Yes | Yes |
Irish | No | Yes |
Italian | Yes | Yes |
Japanese | Yes | Yes |
Klingon (Star Trek) | No | Yes |
Korean | Yes | Yes |
Latin | Yes | Yes |
Latvian | Yes | No |
Lithuanian | Yes | No |
Navajo | No | Yes |
Norwegian | Yes | Yes |
Persian | Yes | No |
Polish | Yes | Yes |
Portuguese (Brazil) | Yes | Yes |
Portuguese (Portugal) | Yes | No |
Romanian | Yes | Yes |
Russian | Yes | Yes |
Scottish Gaelic | No | Yes |
Slovak | Yes | No |
Spanish (Latin America) | No | Yes |
Spanish (Spain) | Yes | No |
Swahili | No | Yes |
Swedish | Yes | Yes |
Tagalog | Yes | No |
Thai | Yes | No |
Turkish | Yes | Yes |
Ukrainian | Yes | Yes |
Urdu | Yes | No |
Vietnamese | Yes | Yes |
Welsh | No | Yes |
Yiddish | No | Yes |
Zulu | No | Yes |
Out of a total of 55 langues between the two apps, Duolingo and Mondly overlaps with 28 languages.
Learn languages quickly with Mondly Premium. Learn the language you’ve always wanted to learn. It’s fun, fast, and easy!
What Audiences Do Mondly and Duolingo Target?
Mondly and Duolingo are ideal for beginners, whether you are a kid, teenager, or adult.
Mondly has an app specifically for kids, while Duolingo has the Duolingo ABC app and offers age-appropriate material when you register.
If you like to experiment with virtual reality and augmented reality, Mondly is the way to go because you can try out the Mondly VR and Mondly AR apps and see how these benefit your language-learning.
Intermediate students can still use Mondly and Duolingo, but the platforms will merely help you revise your language skills.
Price Comparison: Mondly vs Duolingo
While it appears that Mondly and Duolingo are in the same price class, they aren’t when you look closer. Mondly is pricier considering you can use Duolingo for free.
Mondly
Mondly has a limited free version, where you can complete the Hello lesson stack, access a chatbot lesson, and do daily lessons for all of the languages.
But you get access to loads more with Mondly Premium, which costs:
- US$9.99 per month
- US$47.99 for an annual subscription
- US$1999.99 for Lifetime Access (often discounted to US$99.99)
Duolingo
Duolingo is a freemium language-learning platform with the option to subscribe to one of their paid-for plans.
The free version of the app gives you access to all the languages, but beware that there’s an ad at the end of each lesson and you have limited hearts (or lives). Every mistake costs you a heart, which can slow down your learning.
If you subscribe to Super Duolingo (offering access to all the languages), you’ll pay:
- US$7.99 monthly
- US$47.99 yearly
- US$71.99 for the family plan
There’s also Duolingo Max with more features than on Super, but you need to live in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or Canada to get access. If you call one of these countries home, a Duolingo Max subscription starts at roughly US$30 per month.
Mondly's Pros and Cons
Pros
- It has a free version where you get access to new daily lessons for any language you want to learn.
- The subscription plans are affordable – if you want to learn only one language at a time.
- Can learn 40+ languages.
- The Language Phrasebooks are free, which are ideal for traveling or dabbling in language-learning.
- With Premium, you get access to loads of language content, daily lessons, weekly quizzes, specialized business language lessons, and the Mondly Kids and Mondly VR apps.
- More grammar instruction (compared to Duolingo) and grammar-specific lessons.
- A heavy focus on getting you conversational with the compact, interactive lessons, real and simulated conversations, and the chatbot.
Cons
- Mondly is expensive if you are interested in learning two or more languages simultaneously and if you want to use the Mondly VR app.
- The Lifetime Access subscription is pricey – unless Mondly has a special on.
- Like Duolingo, the lessons are actually quizzes – while you can learn that way, it isn’t effective for every language student (and can feel intimidating).
- No linear learning order on Mondly, so while it’s great that you can learn what you need or are interested in, there’s no logic for how you progress.
- No suitable material for intermediate or advanced learners to challenge them to learn more about the target language.
Duolingo's Pros and Cons
Pros
- It has a completely free version, and the subscription plans are affordable.
- Can learn 40+ languages on Duolingo.
- The platform is easy to use with no learning curve.
- Compact, fun, and game-like interactive lessons with loads of motivation to keep you entertained and learning.
- Personalized practice with the Practice Hub ensures you review what you’ve learned while improving your language skills in specific areas.
- You learn via memorization and translation, which works to an extent but you miss out on full language immersion.
Cons
- Only ideal for beginners (kids and adults) and not for intermediate or advanced students.
- Very little grammar and language usage explanations are given. You get some tips, but these are often more confusing and don’t teach you.
- You may find that you sacrifice learning to earn more points when you want to win in the Leagues, maintain your Streak, and get the Monthly Badges.
- It’s easy to go through the motions of each lesson and think you learn a lot, but when that knowledge is put to the test, you’ll realize you know words and phrases – not always in context – and can’t use the language in real-life situations.
- The app has glitches, especially when it updates, and you lose progress and some of the completed lessons disappear.
- The audio isn’t from native speakers, and the speech recognition software isn’t great. Sometimes, you don’t have to speak to get “full marks,” and you can even pronounce the words incorrectly (like “americano” and not “americana”) and it’ll give you the green light.
Learn languages quickly with Mondly Premium. Learn the language you’ve always wanted to learn. It’s fun, fast, and easy!
Final Verdict: Which Language-Learning App Is the Best?
Mondly and Duolingo are great if you want to explore language-learning and see if it’s your thing, or if you want a tool to introduce you to the target language.
While both apps are similar in offering 40+ languages and having gamified features to entertain, teach, and motivate you, Mondly offers you more in terms of learning.
You can use their augmented reality, virtual reality, chatbot, daily lessons, and other features. Plus, with a focus on conversation, I can see how the chatbot will help you converse with natives – to an extent.
Duolingo’s interface is the nicer of the two, and it’s the more addictive (or motivating) app that will keep you coming back for more.
But, as with any other language-learning solution, I recommend supplementing your learning journey with more resources. Watching movies, listening to podcasts and music, reading, and chatting with natives in the target language will teach you the nuances of the language while you learn better and faster.
If Mondly or Duolingo isn’t right for you, check out my reviews on Rosetta Stone, Rocket Languages, and Babbel. Maybe one of these will be more up your alley?
If you enjoyed my article, please feel free to share it. Have any questions? Don't hesitate to email me!
Disclaimer: I select and review independently. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions that help support my testing at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.
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