Babbel vs Duolingo

Editor's Choice

Babbel

• Frequent Discounts
• Money Back Guarantee

• Frequent Discounts
• Money Back Guarantee

Our Score

9.4

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Pros

• Babbel's lesson exercises are engaging, fast-moving and fun
• Frequent inclusion of English translations and directions really helps
• Lessons take just 10 to 15 minutes to complete, making it easy to squeeze in learning
• Babbel's focus on quick, daily reviews boosts language retention
• Babbel's grammar explanations are better than Duolingo's

Cons

• No free version like Duolingo (though that version does have limitations)
• Wish lessons included more conversational practice

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How the Babbel Lessons Work

Let’s start this comparison off with a quick rundown of how the Babbel program works. This should help provide some context for our thoughts.

To start with, the program is very well organized, with different learning levels (newcomer, beginner, intermediate, and advanced) to make sure you’re appropriately challenged. Within each level, you’ll find 2 to 8 courses organized by theme. A typical course contains about 5 to 15 individual lessons.

The Babbel core lessons each take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and generally speaking, go by super fast. This is largely because each lesson is made up of several quick-hit, interactive exercises.

For the first couple minutes, you might be tasked with listening to and repeating new words and phrases. Then the lesson will quickly transition into a digital flashcards drill for a few minutes, before shifting gears again into a short grammar lesson.

From there, you might be asked to type in words or phrases on your keyboard or complete a fill-in-the-blank exercise by following a mock conversation. The practice exercises are similar for all Babbel language courses, including French and Italian.

And since the Babbel mobile app includes an offline mode, you can work through these drills anytime, anywhere. Depending on your lifestyle, that convenience and flexibility could end up being a game changer.

In short, it’s just a very fast-moving, blended approach with lots of different drills. It’s clear Babbel’s aim is to keep their program engaging and effective.

Our Thoughts On The Babbel Program

Now let’s get into our thoughts on Babbel, particularly as compared to Duolingo. And I’ll just start by saying that my experience was largely very positive.

Babbel Is Better For Grammar

I like that Babbel incorporates grammar right into its lessons, whereas Duolingo doesn’t really prioritize grammar. The nice thing is that Babbel doesn’t hit you over the head with dense, boring grammar assignments.

Honestly, I think that approach can sometimes do more harm than good, especially at early stages.

Rather, Babbel integrates grammar instruction into their lessons in a very subtle and efficient way.

For example, one grammar exercise might include just a quick one- to two-sentence explanation in English regarding adjectives vs adverbs, followed by a fill-in-the-blank drill to reinforce what you just learned.

They don’t hit you over the head with grammar, but they do make sure to sneak it in.

So overall, I just really like that Babbel makes grammar instruction a priority, and I like how they integrate it into their lessons.

Babbel’s More Natural Language Usage

The second difference I noted between these programs is that Babbel is better with using natural sentences and phrases. A recurring complaint about Duolingo is that their example sentences are sometimes really awkward.

I also saw a lot of complaints from other users regarding Duolingo’s incorrect translations, though I didn’t see this as much. And to be fair, it does seem like Duolingo has improved in this area more recently.

But you still occasionally come across an awkward sentence or phrase that sort of turns your head.

Sometimes it’s just a small grammatical error that catches your eye, but other times you literally stop and think “wait, did I hear that right?“.

A couple examples of unnatural sentences or incorrect translations I saw with Duolingo were, “I am making dinner out of you,” and, “The bed is food.”

I mean, it’s not the end of the world, and it doesn’t happen all the time. However, it can distract your learning occasionally. Babbel does a better job making sure you’re always practicing with the kinds of phrases that you might actually say.

So overall, the key takeaway here is the Babbel seems to be more consistent and accurate when it comes to using natural sentences and correct translations within its lessons.

Speaking and Listening Exercises

In my opinion, Babbel does a better job than Duolingo of developing your speaking skills. I just think their verbal exercises are a little more robust than Duolingo’s.

With Duolingo, you’re essentially just asked to repeat words and phrases in a vacuum. There’s no real context.

In addition, Duolingo’s voice recognition technology is just alright. I definitely think Babbel wins in that department, as their tech is more accurate.

Plus, Babbel does a better job of developing your listening comprehension skills. They use about twice as many direct audio exercises per lesson as Duolingo, and even when you’re working through matching drills, you’re constantly hearing the word repeated out loud just to make sure it truly sticks. Duolingo, on the other hand, is more oriented around reading and typing out words – so you could be mispronouncing them in your head the whole time, which means you’re not being set up well for understanding the actual language.

Bottom line, when it comes to practicing your conversational skills, I’d give Babbel the edge over Duolingo. However, if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t consider either to be industry leaders in this respect.

If you value verbal practice over everything else, you may want to check out Pimsleur. Their language programs do a really good job of getting you to remember, repeat and respond to native speakers in the context of actual conversations. I’ll link our review of Pimsleur here if you want to check that out.

Focus On Learning, Not Games

Babbel prioritizes focused learning over entertainment, which means the lessons are designed to help you truly understand and retain the language. Instead of earning points or competing on leaderboards like you do with Duolingo, you spend your time mastering vocabulary, grammar, and real-world phrases.

This approach keeps the experience efficient and meaningful, ensuring you build practical language skills. By avoiding distractions, Babbel helps you stay on track and see faster, more tangible progress in your learning journey.

Greater Flexibility

This one is simple. I found Babbel to offer more flexibility than Duolingo. For one, with Babbel, you can jump around from level to level, or course to course. You’re not forced to follow a strict progression.

Duolingo, on the other hand, dictates your learning path. New learning units only become active once you’ve completed the previous one or you’re able to “test out” of it early.

Another example is that Babbel’s review sessions let you choose how you want to review. You can opt for flashcards, listening, speaking or writing, which I loved.

So if you feel you’re weak in any particular aspect, you can hammer practice exercises until you see some improvement. You can also opt to engage with the language in a fresh way by jumping into the Babbel magazine, videos, audio lessons, or podcast whenever you want to take a break from the typical lessons while still making progress. Duolingo’s lessons, review sessions, and progress quizzes don’t offer that sort of flexibility.

➡ Read our full review of Babbel Spanish here.

Duolingo

• Free & Paid Subscriptions
• 30+ Languages

• Free & Paid Subscriptions
• 30+ Languages

Our Score

7.4

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See our full review process

Pros

• Lessons are game-like and addictive
• Duolingo offers a totally free version
• We like the wide variety of exercises and drills in the lessons
• Sleek, modern interface that is smoother than most apps

Cons

• Fails to develop real conversational speaking skills
• "Gamification" creates a false sense of progress
• Teaches bizarre, useless sentences lacking context
• Inefficient compared to structured courses like Babbel

Is Duolingo Enough? Why We Stopped Using It

Read Verdict

How the Duolingo Lessons Work

Let’s start by diving into what the Duolingo lessons are like. And to be honest, similar to Babbel, they are very short. In fact, they move even quicker.

Each Duolingo lesson is only about 5 to 10 minutes long. Like Babbel, the Duolingo lessons are made up of a dozen or so quick-hit, interactive exercises that include listening drills, fill-in-the-blanks, matching pairs, verbal practice, writing full sentences, and completing mock conversations.

So all in all, Duolingo and Babbel are very similar in how they deliver their lessons. Both companies rely on short, interactive exercises that span reading, writing, speaking and listening.

I’m a big fan of how Babbel and Duolingo throw the same content at you in a variety of ways, all within a short time frame. I think this helps keep you engaged and attentive to what’s happening, rather than being a passive learner.

I also think it’s great for busy professionals or parents who maybe don’t have an hour every day to dedicate to learning a new language.

With Babbel and Duolingo, you just need 5 to 15 minutes per day to knock out lessons and feel like you’re making progress.

Our Thoughts On The Duolingo Program

Let’s switch gears now and cover our evaluation of Duolingo, especially as it compares to Babbel. That way, you can finally make a decision as to which of these language apps is the best fit for your learning style.

The Free Version

The clearest highlight of the Duolingo program is the fact they offer a free version. However, just to set expectations here, there are some serious downsides that come along with that free price tag.

Most notably, the free version is ad supported, and frankly, the ads can become distracting and annoying. It’s not bad at first, but it does start to wear on you over time.

Second, the free plan comes with a limited number of “hearts,” which are essentially just misses or incorrect answers. You start with 5 per day, and if you answer a question incorrectly during a lesson, you lose a heart. Then, when your five hearts are up, you either need to stop for the day or go back to old lessons in order to earn some hearts back.

And from reading the forums, it sounds like a lot of folks just end up giving up for the day, which is what I did before upgrading to the paid plan. Simply put, it can be very discouraging.

Finally, free users have a limited amount of “test outs.” In short, if there’s a skill or topic that you already know really well and you want to skip ahead to keep learning new material, you can take a short quiz to “test out” of that particular topic and move on to the next lesson. However, free users only have a very limited amount of “test outs” they can use. There are also some limitations around navigating lessons; you can’t just hop back and forth to easily review work you’ve already completed, which is kind of a bummer.

These are three pretty significant drawbacks to the the free version, in my opinion. I love that there is a free version, but it is extremely limited.

👉 Also Worth Reading: Rocket Languages vs Rosetta Stone Comparison

Learning Gamification

My final highlight worth noting is that I like that they try to gamify the learning experience (though this can also be viewed as a negative). As you complete each lesson, you earn experience points (or XP points for short), as well as Duolingo currency known as “gems.”

The XP points relate to your daily goals and allow you to track your progress, while the gems can be used to purchase additional features within the Duolingo store.

I’m also a fan of Duolingo’s digital platform, as well as all the visuals and reminders they provide. The community feature is nice, too – you can work together on quests, which can help keep you going if you struggle with motivation.

Their dashboard is clean and easy to navigate. It includes a daily goal tracker, plus a scoreboard where you can compete against other users and keep track of your achievements.

Together, this all creates a fun, game-like environment to keep you motivated. It’s almost like a long-term questing game.

However, this fun factor is a double-edged sword. While addictive, we found the app prioritizes ‘streaks’ over actual learning. In fact, I often found myself choosing easier lessons just to keep my streak alive, rather than challenging myself with new grammar. This is why you can feel productive without actually progressing.

AI Features – Helpful or Problematic?

Duolingo recently announced that they will rely more on AI to develop its courses, which is causing a huge pushback among veteran users who are concerned that bots will produce lower-quality content than humans.

Personally, I’m inclined to agree with them. While AI definitely has a role to play in language learning, I think it’s risky to hand over too much of the lesson planning itself to bots, so I prefer Babbel’s approach. They’re a little more strategic in only implementing AI wherever they think it will genuinely add extra benefit, like using chatbots to give beginners opportunities to practice conversations without embarrassment.

Babbel has made a commitment to not use AI in designing any of its content, and they’re still paying real language experts to create every lesson in the program.

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Cost Comparison

Before jumping into the final verdict, let’s compare pricing. In short, both companies offer multiple subscription options.

Babbel offers consumers four different plans, three of which include access to one selected language (of their ~14 different languages to choose from).

You have the 3-month plan, which costs around $15 per month; the 6-month plan, which costs about $13 per month; the 12-month plan, which costs around $8 per month; and the lifetime plan, which costs around $300 and includes access to all Babbel languages.

With Duolingo, you have their free version (which I’ve discussed above), as well as their paid subscription plan called Super Duolingo, which costs around $13 per month. Paying upfront for the annual subscription, however, brings your price down to about $7 per month – or you can go with the family plan for up to 6 users, which costs about $10 per month.

And just to be clear, for upgrading to the Super plan, Duolingo removes those annoying ads, includes unlimited hearts, unlimited test out attempts, and adds personalized lessons to review your mistakes.

So if you compare the paid plans from both companies, pricing is fairly close. To me, since you’re spending about the same amount for either program, the question of cost really comes down to value – or what you’re getting for the money you put in. And in that regard, Babbel is hands-down the better deal.

Also, what I will say is that both Babbel and Duolingo are more affordable than other competitors in the language learning space like Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur.

In addition, both companies give consumers the chance to test their programs before fully committing. With Babbel, you have a 20-day money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied, and with Duolingo, consumers have a 14-day free trial period to test out the Plus subscription.

Verdict: Babbel or Duolingo For Language Learning?

So which language app is better, Babbel or Duolingo? It’s not even close; Babbel is clearly the winner.

While Duolingo is fun for casual gaming, our testing showed it fails to teach actual conversational skills. Because it relies on translation drills and “gamified” addiction loops, you can play Duolingo for months and still be unable to order food in a restaurant or ask for directions.

Babbel is far more effective. It is priced reasonably, and it uses a proven, structured curriculum that explains why the grammar works. It prioritizes speaking and natural dialogue over merely “winning” points.

Bottom line: if you want to play a fun mobile game, download Duolingo. If you want to actually speak a new language, get Babbel.

👉 Read Next: Why I Quit Duolingo (And 6 Apps That Actually Work)

How We Tested Babbel vs. Duolingo

We evaluate both apps against the same set of criteria. That way, the winner is based on a consistent process, not vibes.

• Lesson design: structure, clarity, and how well lessons build on each other
• Skill progression: whether the course actually moves you forward in a logical sequence
• Speaking and listening practice: quality and frequency of real-world audio and speech work
• Review mechanics: spaced repetition, refresh prompts, and how easily you can revisit weak areas
• Grammar teaching: clarity of explanations and how well rules are introduced and reinforced
• Content variety: range of lesson types, topics, and formats to prevent plateaus
• UX friction: interruptions, pacing issues, and anything that slows down momentum
• Pricing transparency: how clearly pricing, upgrades, and plan limits are explained