Mondly vs Duolingo

Mondly vs Duolingo: Which Language Learning App Is Best?

Maria Claudia Alvarado Published on August 11, 2023
Mondly vs Duolingo

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Learning a new language can take time, but using the right app can make the process more entertaining. If you are looking for the best app to add to your study routine, you may have heard about Mondly or Duolingo. These are both popular language learning apps but, for its flexibility and modern technology, Mondly is the clear winner.

Mondly Overview
Mondly offers language courses that let you pick what you want to study. You can start as a complete beginner and use Mondly’s quick lessons and modern tools such as AR, VR, and chatbots to train all the language skills you need to become fluent.
Mondly logo
Price $9.99/month
Free trial 7 days
Try Mondly

Most people compare Mondly and Duolingo because both language apps use brief lessons and interactive exercises to develop your language vocabulary and grammar skills. Still, there are some differences in their features and how they help you learn languages. In this article, we will look at both apps and help you choose the one that best fits your needs.

Mondly vs Duolingo: A Quick Breakdown

Duolingo and Mondly have interactive lessons and focus heavily on teaching you useful vocabulary. But Mondly has more high-quality content and modern features like AR, VR, voice recognition, and a chatbot that can develop your speaking and listening skills. The app is flexible and lets you choose which topic you study next. Duolingo has complete structured language courses for free with game-like elements like collecting points, completing challenges, and competing against friends to keep you motivated and engaged.

The table below shows you a direct comparison between Duolingo and Mondly based on the different languages available, their price, and their free trial offers.

MondlyDuolingo
41 languages39 languages
$9.99/month$12.99/month
7-day free trial14-day free trial
Try NowTry Now

Duolingo vs Mondly: Cost Comparison

The Mondly app gives you access to one free lesson per day, but if you want to unlock all the content, you need a subscription. A Mondly subscription costs $9.99 per month to study one language, or you can get an annual subscription for $47.99 per year. You can also get lifetime access for $89.99 and have access to all 41 languages that Mondly offers. You can try Mondly’s premium service with a 7-day free trial.

Duolingo offers a free version for all the languages available on the platform. But if you don’t want to get interrupted by ads in between lessons and get unlimited mistakes, you have to upgrade to Super Duolingo (previously called Duolingo Plus). A Super Duolingo subscription starts at $12.99 per month, or $83.99 per year ($6.99 per month). There’s also a Family Plan that lets you share your subscription with friends and family for $9.99 per month if you get a yearly subscription. You can try Super Duolingo with a 14-day free trial once you create a Duolingo account.

Both apps have similar price ranges, but for the value of its content, I would recommend using Mondly. Duolingo’s subscription doesn’t add much to its content other than being able to make unlimited mistakes and skip ads. Mondly’s annual subscription, on the other hand, lets you take the lessons in the order you prefer, practice with the chatbot, use the Mondly VR and AR app, and study all the languages available on the platform. For the price, I would choose Mondly’s all-access annual subscription, and explore all the languages that I want to learn. 

If you are not convinced by either of these apps, don’t worry. There are plenty of other options that can help you reach your language goals. Here are some apps that are similar to Mondly and Duolingo.

Mondly vs Duolingo: How They Help You Learn a Language

Mondly and Duolingo focus on teaching you new vocabulary and phrases in the language you’re learning. They have similar fill-in-the-blank and mix-and-match exercises, but Mondly lets you pick the order for the topics you study while Duolingo has a set order. Duolingo offers a more gamified experience that includes collecting points, completing challenges, and competing against other users. On the other hand, Mondly has more modern features like AR and VR lessons, a chatbot, and voice recognition that can develop your speaking and listening skills.

RatingsMondlyDuolingo
Langoly4.43.6
Apple Store4.84.7
Google Play4.54.6
Trust Pilot3.71.6
Total Average Score4.43.6

How Mondly Works

Mondly is a popular app known for its modern approach to language learning. You can start as a complete beginner and use its tools and resources to work on your vocabulary, grammar, speaking, and pronunciation skills. Mondly’s language courses have flexible lesson plans that let you choose which topic you study next. You can choose to learn sets of words relevant to travel, seasons and weather, hotel reservations, and more.

mondly bulgarian lesson

In each lesson, you hear a native speaker say a word and match it to its meaning. Then, you complete different fill-in-the-blank and mix-and-match exercises that use new vocabulary. Mondly uses images to help you associate the meaning of each word, but there are also English translations available. At the end of the lesson, there’s a Hands-Free Review that uses Mondly’s advanced voice recognition tool to help you practice saying different words and phrases in your target language.

Mondly has additional technology tools available in its premium subscription like a chatbot that mimics a conversation with a native speaker, as well as AR and VR lessons. There are also flashcards and reviews you can use to practice. You can easily track your progress and compare it with other users on the Leaderboard.

If you want to learn more about the app, you can read our complete Mondly review.

How Duolingo Works

Duolingo is a platform and app with the mission to make language learning accessible to everyone around the globe. It has complete language courses for free that you can use to learn the basics of any of the 39 available languages to choose from. It offers a gamified experience that can make learning addictive and motivating.

Duolingo lesson

Each unit has 5-8 lessons that tackle different vocabulary topics like going shopping, telling the time, ordering food, and more. For each study session, you complete translation exercises as well as use Duolingo’s voice recognition and audio tools to train your listening and speaking skills. Depending on the language you are learning, you can also find alphabet charts, stories, and podcasts.

In its free version, Duolingo gives you five “hearts” that you lose every time you make a mistake. Once you run out of hearts, you need to wait until they fill up to continue studying. To make things more interesting, Duolingo has daily and weekly challenges that you can complete alone or with your friends. You can collect points with each study session you complete and move up the Leaderboard, much like in a videogame. 

You can read more about the app in this complete Duolingo review

Mondly: What We Like (and Don’t Like)

Mondly’s modern approach to language learning is the feature that sets it apart from its competitors. The app offers AR and VR lessons to simulate different scenarios and encourage you to speak. Mondly also has advanced voice recognition tools that you can use to practice pronouncing words, and a chatbot to practice conversations.

Its flexibility makes it the perfect tool to learn useful vocabulary before traveling to a different country. Because you can pick which topic you study next, you can practice word sets for real-life situations you are likely to find once you step off the plane. Other apps also have flexible lesson plans, but Mondly stands out because it uses natural language and helps you practice pronunciation to ensure native speakers can understand you.

Mondly start screen

However, it’s important to mention that there’s not much difference between what you learn at the beginner level and the advanced level. The exercises you complete in both levels are similar (fill-in-the-blank and mix-and-match), with the only difference being that the advanced level will include some more grammatically complex phrases once in a while. If you are at an advanced level and are looking for a resource that will pose a challenge, you might need to look for a different app.

While the Mondly language app can increase your vocabulary and introduce you to basic grammar rules, it doesn’t provide extensive explanations to teach how to actually apply the language. You also won’t find any sort of reading practice to develop your comprehension skills. This can be a big letdown if you are looking for the perfect app to train all areas of language. Overall, this is a good app to learn natural-sounding phrases and words, but Mondly isn’t going to make you fluent.    

Duolingo: What We Like (and Don’t Like)

Duolingo stands out because it offers all its content for free. You can start learning a language from zero and quickly develop your vocabulary skills. The app offers lots of gamified features like challenges and tournaments to engage users and motivate them to complete more study sessions and win more points. You can compete with your friends and family, which can make using Duolingo addictive.

This app is the perfect tool to start exploring a language before committing to a more serious study routine or purchasing a subscription. You can use Duolingo to learn more than one language, and even some rare ones that aren’t available in many other apps. Duolingo also offers lessons available for fictional languages like Klingon and High Valyrian, which is great if you are a Star Trek or Game of Thrones fan. 

languages available on duolingo

However, Duolingo has areas where it could improve. Many users have reported finding mistranslated or unnatural-sounding phrases in Duolingo’s lessons. The worst part is that, unless you apply the language the way the app thinks is correct, you won’t be able to move forward. The frequency with which you can run into one of these mistakes is enough that it causes users to question Duolingo’s reliability. 

Duolingo could also improve the repetition rate for its vocabulary and phrases. Even though the app uses spaced repetition to make sure you retain the words introduced, some are used way too often which makes the learning process feel boring. This is also not too useful for intermediate and advanced students who can feel like they are wasting time studying basic phrases.

Mondly or Duolingo: Which is a Better Language Learning Experience?

Mondly and Duolingo are both apps with a big focus on vocabulary learning. They both have interactive exercises and tools that can make learning a language feel like playing a game, and you can easily complete their exercises during break time. However, there are important key differences between these two apps that make one better than the other.

The Duolingo language app succeeds in fulfilling its promise of making language learning accessible, but there are some major areas of improvement in its app that can’t be ignored. The app can be useful if you want to test out learning a new language for the first time or if you want to explore a language that is different from yours. But the number of unnatural phrases and mistranslations in its courses is too big to make it the “to go” app for more serious language students. Its subscription also doesn’t add much to the equation.

Mondly, on the other hand, does have a similar structure for its lessons. But it offers a lot more flexibility in allowing you to study the word sets in the order you want. You can also choose between the AR and VR tools, and the chatbot to review what you learned. In general, Mondly has a lot of high-quality content that can help you sound more natural in the real world which is why I like Mondly better than Duolingo

Duolingo or Mondly: FAQ

Which one is better, Mondly or Duolingo?

Mondly is better than Duolingo because it has modern tools and flexible language courses. Duolingo can help you learn a lot of vocabulary quickly, but you can’t choose which word sets you can study next and its features aren’t as advanced as the ones included in Mondly. However, if you are looking for completely free language lessons, Duolingo is a good option.

Is Mondly free to use?

Mondly gives you access to one free daily lesson once you create an account. If you want to access all the content available on the app, you need to upgrade to a premium subscription. Mondly has different options for its premium service, including a yearly all-access subscription that lets you switch between languages and study as many as you like.

Is there anything better than Duolingo?

Duolingo is a good option to start exploring a foreign language but, if you are looking for more comprehensive language courses, there are other alternatives you can use. Apps like Babbel, Mondly, and Rocket Languages have flexible lesson plans that can teach you vocabulary and grammar. Preply and italki are secure platfroms to look for a language tutor to practice speaking. There are also many free language authentic resources you can find online like videos, newspapers, and podcasts.

What are the disadvantages of Mondly?

One of the disadvantages of Mondly is that it doesn’t provide any written practice to develop your reading and writing skills. The app can teach you a lot of vocabulary quickly, but you’ll need to use other resources to fill in the gaps in your study. Language textbooks can be great reference tools. There are also magazines and newspapers you can find online that can help you develop a better understanding of the language.

Can Duolingo make you fluent?

Duolingo can help you learn a lot of vocabulary quickly, but it won’t make you fluent. To reach fluency, you need to practice all areas of language. Duolingo also doesn’t provide any written practice, so you need to use other resources if your goal is to become fluent.

Maria Claudia Alvarado

Maria Alvarado is a content writer and translator from Lima, Peru. She graduated from the Savannah College of Arts and Design in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Writing. She is fluent in Spanish and English, has intermediate knowledge of French and German, and is learning Japanese. She hopes to bring consciousness about the importance of language learning through her articles and aspires to learn as many languages as possible.

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