Duolingo (Max)

Gamified courses with AI roleplay and explanations

Check it for your country

The Four Mismatches · Duolingo (Max)

Fits on everything we could check

For a student in the United States, the country it was built for.

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CurriculumNo exam claimed
It names no school exam, so this counts neither for nor against it.
- The maker names no exam
✓
LanguageFits
Teaches in the classroom languages of the United States.
- The maker lists 32 languages, including English
- Classrooms in the United States use: English
✓
PriceFits
It has a free plan.
- Free plan available
✓
DeviceFits
Works on a laptop or tablet, what most students in the United States use.
- The maker says it works on: a phone, a laptop or tablet
- 96.1% of homes in the United States have a computer (ITU, 2023)

Worked out from the maker’s own published facts, checked 4 and 5 October 2026. Nobody hand-scores these. How it’s worked outlearnerfirst.com · The Four Mismatches Test

Independence: our publisher builds learning products too. We never review or score its products, and no tool pays to be listed or to rank higher — how we assess fit.

What it does

What the AI actually does — Duolingo Max adds GPT-4-powered 'Explain My Answer' and 'Roleplay' conversation practice with an AI partner.

Why it was built — Make quality language education free and universally accessible (von Ahn's response to unequal access in Guatemala).

Who built it

Company: Duolingo, Inc.
Founders: Luis von Ahn · Severin Hacker
HQ / origin: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Founded: 2011
Model: B2C
Languages: 40+ course languages
Pricing: Freemium; Super Duolingo and higher 'Max' tiers

We record durable facts only — no funding-raised or user-count figures. Unverified fields are marked [TBD] rather than guessed.

Where it sits

Duolingo (Max) is on the Learning Tools Index, in language learning, built in United States.

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Related & alternatives

Sources

Luis von Ahn