Yes, Duolingo works, for a specific part of learning a language. It is very good at giving you vocabulary, everyday sentence patterns and the habit of coming back every day. It does much less for the part most people are really after: holding a conversation out loud.
Here is what Duolingo’s own research measured, what changed this month with Video Call, whether the paid plan is worth it, and how to use the app so that it gets you speaking. Every fact about Duolingo below comes from its own blog or its latest shareholder letter, checked on 5 November 2026.
Does Duolingo actually work? The short answer
Is Duolingo good? For vocabulary, reading and listening, yes. For speaking, it gives you a start and leaves most of the work to you.
- What it does well: words, everyday sentence patterns, and a daily routine that is easy to keep.
- What it does less of: making you build your own sentences, in real time, for someone who answers back.
- Where it fits best: as the daily base, alongside regular conversations with people.
A quick way to see where you stand: close the app and describe your day out loud for one minute, in the language you are learning. If the sentences come, Duolingo has done its part. If you stall after the second one, you have found what to work on next.
How effective is Duolingo? What its own research says
Duolingo publishes studies on its own courses. They are worth reading closely, because they show where the app is strongest.
Speaking. In a study published in June 2021, Duolingo had 258 learners take Pearson’s Versant speaking test. All of them had just finished the beginner sections (A1 and A2) of the Spanish or French course, without using any other study material. 66% of the Spanish learners and 53% of the French learners scored at A2 or above. Spanish learners did best on pronunciation, close to B1, while pronunciation was the lowest score for French learners.
What A2 means. A2 is the second of six levels on the European scale (CEFR), which runs from A1 to C2. At A2 you can talk about familiar, everyday things in simple sentences: introduce yourself, order, ask and answer simple questions. It is a real start, and still a beginner level. Here is what each Spanish level sounds like out loud.
Reading and listening. In the same post, Duolingo reports that learners who reach that point have reading and listening scores equivalent to four semesters of university classes. Those are the skills the app trains most directly.
Two things to keep in mind when you read these numbers. They come from Duolingo’s own research team. And they measure learners at the end of the beginner sections: they show what Duolingo does for a beginner, not how far it takes you towards an easy conversation.
What Duolingo is good at
Three things, and it does them well.
- Vocabulary in small doses. Words come back until they stick, inside short sentences rather than lists.
- Sentence patterns by repetition. After seeing quiero un café a hundred times, it comes out without thinking.
- The habit. Streaks, reminders and short lessons are built to bring you back every day, and a few minutes a day for months adds up.
Since April 2026 it also goes further. Duolingo’s nine most popular courses, Spanish and French included, now teach up to B2 on the CEFR scale, where most learners could previously only reach A2. The new content is open to free users too. B2 is the level Duolingo describes as being able to interact with other speakers and express your views on a wide range of topics.
Where Duolingo falls short for speaking
In our view, the limits come from the format rather than the content. A lesson needs an expected answer, and a conversation does not have one.
Recognising is not producing
Choosing the right words from a list, or putting tiles in order, trains you to recognise a sentence. Speaking asks you to find the words yourself, with nothing on screen. Duolingo says the share of exercises you can answer out loud has doubled this year, which helps, but the sentence you say is still the one the lesson expects.
Nobody asks the unexpected question
In a real conversation, the other person picks up on what you just said and asks something you had not prepared. That moment, where you freeze and then find a way round it, is where speaking improves, and a lesson can only partly recreate it.
Nobody is waiting for your answer
When you talk to a person, they need to understand you to reply. That gentle pressure is what makes you rephrase, slow down, point, and try again, and it is what makes a conversation feel like one.
It is also why so many learners understand far more than they can say. If that sounds like you, here is why you can’t speak Spanish yet, and how to get unstuck.
Practise speaking with a real partner, free
Duolingo Video Call and the end of Duolingo Max
Video Call is Duolingo’s answer to the speaking gap. From the app, you call Lily, an AI character, and have a short spoken conversation in the language you are learning. It adapts to your level, you can ask it to repeat or slow down, and it does not correct your grammar out loud, so the exchange feels closer to a real chat. When Duolingo launched it in September 2024, calls lasted about a minute early in a course and up to three minutes further on.
What changed in November 2026. Video Call used to be part of Duolingo Max, its most expensive plan. In its shareholder letter of 3 November 2026, Duolingo announced that it is ending Duolingo Max. It stops selling new Max subscriptions this month, moves existing individual Max subscribers to a Super family plan at the same price, and is making unlimited Video Call part of Super. New Super subscribers have started getting it, and Duolingo says every Super subscriber will have it by the end of 2026.
That is good news if you pay for Super: speaking practice is now part of the plan rather than an upgrade. Video Call gives you a patient partner who is there at any hour. A person gives you something else: their own accent, their own questions, and a reason to come back next week. The two train different things, and they work well together.
Duolingo Max vs Super: is Max still worth it?
For new subscribers, the question is settling itself: Max is no longer sold from November 2026, and its main feature, Video Call, is moving into Super. If you already pay for Max as an individual, Duolingo says you will be moved to a Super family plan at the same price, with the same features, and you can share it with family or friends. If you are choosing today, Super is the plan to look at.
Is Duolingo worth it? Free vs Super Duolingo
The free version gives you the full courses, now up to B2 for the most popular languages. In exchange, it shows ads and limits how much you can do in a day.
Hearts and Energy: the free version’s daily limit
Depending on your account, that limit is Hearts or Energy. With Hearts, each mistake costs you one. Energy is the system Duolingo is testing as a replacement: each lesson uses a little, you earn some back by getting several answers right in a row, and it refills in about a day. When you run low, you can watch an ad or spend gems to keep going.
What Super Duolingo adds
Super Duolingo, the paid plan, removes the ads and the daily limit, and by the end of 2026 it includes Video Call for every subscriber. The lessons themselves are the same in both versions. Prices vary by country and by app store, so check the current price in the app before you subscribe.
So is it worth paying? If the daily limit keeps stopping you mid-lesson, or you want Video Call, Super can be worth it. If you mainly want the course, the free version covers it. And if you are still choosing an app, here is Duolingo vs Babbel, compared by goal.
Can you become fluent with Duolingo?
Being fluent means speaking at a comfortable pace, without building every sentence in your head first. That comes from hours of speaking, and an app mostly gives you hours of exercises. You can take your reading and listening a long way with Duolingo, now up to B2. Getting to the same level out loud takes conversations.
For what fluent really means and how long it takes, see how to become fluent in Spanish.
How to make Duolingo work for speaking
Keep the app, and add what it leaves out. Duolingo gives you the words; conversations make you use them.
- Say every answer out loud, even the ones you could tap. It costs nothing and turns recognition into production.
- Keep sessions short. Fifteen focused minutes a day do more than an hour spent saving a streak.
- Reuse the lesson the same day. Describe what you did, ate or saw, out loud, with the words from that morning.
- Talk with a person once a week. Thirty minutes with someone who answers back is where those words turn into conversation.
That weekly conversation is what PalVivo is for. You say which language you speak, which one you are learning and when you are free, and PalVivo pairs you with your mirror image: a Spanish speaker learning English, for example, if you speak English and are learning Spanish. You meet on video for 30 or 60 minutes, the language switches every five minutes so you both get the same time to speak, and if you both want to continue, the same slot is booked for next week. It is free, for adults, in English, Spanish and French.
Want to know where you stand first? The free Spanish level test and French level test give you your speaking level, from A1 to C2, in a couple of minutes. And to compare other ways to find a partner, here are the best language exchange apps.
So, does Duolingo work?
For what it is designed to do, yes: vocabulary, reading, listening and a daily habit, now up to B2 in its main courses. For speaking, its own research shows a real start at beginner level, and Video Call, now coming to Super, adds practice with an AI. What turns all of that into easy conversation is talking with people, regularly.
Speak with a partner every week, free
Facts about Duolingo come from its own blog (the speaking study of June 2021, the Video Call launch of September 2024, the Energy explainer of July 2025 and the advanced courses of April 2026) and from its shareholder letter of 3 November 2026, checked on 5 November 2026. Plans and features change, so check the app before you subscribe. Duolingo is a trademark of Duolingo, Inc. PalVivo is not affiliated with Duolingo.
