Duolingo Plus Honest Review (2024) – Is the Premium Membership Worth it?

It has always been easy for me to learn the language with the free version of Duolingo. But everything that is free, has its subscription version. The same is the case for Duolingo. Duolingo Plus is the subscription plan offered by Duolingo. It adds some features to the free version. Wondering how do I know it? It’s because I have tested it myself. Without any doubt, there are a lot of differences between both of the versions. But is the subscription plan really worth it? Well, don’t worry. I will help you to know about it and save your money from getting wasted on it.

Quick Takeaways

• Duolingo Plus is a premium version offered on Duolingo.
• There are different features that you get with Duolingo – No Ads, Unlimited hearts, repairing of streaks, etc. 
• There are two types of plans that you can take – Individual and Family Pack
• The cost of the Duolingo Plus will vary with where you are living, what is the duration of the plan, and what type of plan you are using.

What is Duolingo Plus?

Duolingo offers a premium subscription service by the name of Duolingo Plus. Duolingo Plus can be purchased using the app. It helps to get some new features and get rid of unwanted ones. If you have Duolingo Plus you will see the owl of Duolingo ( the app icon) is in a spacesuit and the appearance of the app turns blue. However, currently, it is known as SUPER DUOLINGO. There is no difference between them – all the features are the same. The only difference is the name and the theme. The theme shows a more spacey and galactic vibe of Plus. 

Is Duolingo Plus worth it?

When I was using Duolingo Plus, I didn’t find it worthwhile. The simple reason was that there were not many benefits to it. The features that helped in learning the langauge were almost similar to the free version. Earlier, when I was learning French with this platform, there was a feature to get the course offline. But recently when I took Duolingo Plus, there was no such feature available.

Update: The offline feature was removed in 2021.

Undoubtedly there are still many features available with a subscription, but there are two such features that I think are useful-

1. Unlimited Heart

When you use the desktop version of Duolingo, you will get 5 hearts on the platform. The free version of Duolingo will discourage you when you make a mistake on the platform. So with the plus version, you can practice without the fear of losing your life.

Note: The heart system was earlier available on the mobile app and not on the desktop. But with the recent updates, it is now available on Desktop only.

2. No adds

It was my personal favorite feature that I received with the subscription plan. With the free version, there were many ads on the platform. It was super annoying. But Duolingo Plus helps you to remove unnecessary ads and is a major reason to take up a subscription.

Even though these two features are worth it, I would recommend saving your money for other paid platforms. Further, I have discussed some of the features that you get with Duolingo Plus.

What are the Features of Duolingo Plus Membership?

Taking up a Duolingo Plus membership, also helps you to stay motivated in the language learning journey. The following are the features of Duolingo Plus Membership-

• Zero ads: Duolingo Plus helps you to study without being distracted by advertisements. 
• Proving your mastery: You need to use gems to reach the legendary levels. But with Duolingo Plus you can practice as much as you want without paying gems.
• Personalized Practice: You also get the daily practice plans to work on your weaker areas.
• Unlimited hearts: With the help of Duolingo Plus you can make mistakes without being penalized because you have an infinite number of hearts available to them.

Although, now you know the features of Duolingo Plus, now is the time to know the features which were available earlier-

• Offline learning: Earlier, Duolingo Plus allowed you to download courses to study without an internet connection. (update: you can now download some of the lessons with the free version)
• Progress Quiz: This feature allows you to evaluate your language proficiency and keep track of your progress by taking a quiz.
• Repairing of streaks: Duolingo Plus also allows you to repair your streaks if you have missed a day of learning.
• Skips: If you find a level too easy, you do not need to complete it you can easily skip it. (Update: Now you can take a placement test to know your level)

What is the cost of Duolingo Plus?

The price for Duolingo Plus or Super Duolingo will vary with the area of living, time duration, and which plan you are taking. There are two different Duolingo Plus plans – Individual and family plans. The following table shows the cost of Duolingo plus subscription plans based on 12 monthly subscriptions for different countries-

Countries	Subscription plan
U.S.A	$6.99 a month
UK	£6.49 a month
Australia	$10.83 a month
Canada	$8.91 a month.

However, I mentioned the prices for the annual subscription plan. If you want you can consider taking 1-month or 6-month subscription plans. However, it will increase your per-month cost.

If you have less money to spend on Duolingo, you can think of going for a family plan. It is a plan in which you can club up to 5 different members. If you are going for this plan you can save with its help of it. Suppose you are living in the UK the annual family plan is £105.99 or  £106  per month. So if you are able to bring 5 more people, you will need to pay the cost of  £1.47 per month.

Conditions for taking and not taking Duolingo Plus memberships

You must be wondering when and when not to take the subscription plan. Don’t worry here I will help you to know when or when not you should take the subscription plan-

When to buy	When not to buy
If you are just starting with your language learning program on Duolingo, you must avoid taking the subscription plan. First, try to get familiar with different features like Duolingo gems, leagues, etc.	If you have been on Duolingo for a long time, you can always think of getting Duolingo Plus.
Many people do not stay committed to language learning. Thus, you must not take it if you are not serious about learning the language.	There is no restriction on your budget and you can use extra money for the subscription.
If you are on a tight budget, avoid taking the paid version of Duolingo. It is because the free version has a lot to offer.	If you want to get rid of ads or the heart system.

How to cancel the Duolingo Plus subscription?

Recently when I found that there are not many benefits of using Super Duolingo, I cancelled it. Generally, you get 14 14-day free trial period for cancelling the Duolingo Plus subscription plan. To cancel the subscription, you first have to see how you have taken the subscription to Duolingo Plus. There could be three different ways of taking the subscription-

1. Apple app store

If you have taken the subscription through the Apple app store, go to your settings app and tap your account. You will see an option for subscriptions, tap on it and you will see the option for Duolingo. Select it and tap on the cancel option to get rid of the subscription.

2. Google Play store

If you purchase the subscription from the Play Store, you can use the Duolingo app to cancel the subscription. You will need to tap on the Duolingo Plus icon and tap on settings. Once done you will see the option of managing a subscription, tap on it. You will see some of the instructions coming on your app. Follow them to get rid of the subscription.

3. Duolingo website

The last way of buying a subscription is from its website. If this is the case for you all you need to go to the website and log in to the account. Now select Duolingo Plus and click on cancel the subscription. 

However, here is a detailed guide on how to cancel the Super Duolingo subscription plan.

How to avoid paying the cost of Duolingo Plus?

I never wanted to waste my money again on Duolingo Plus. So I tried finding out the ways by which I can avoid paying the cost of Duolingo Plus. Yes, I was able to figure out some of them. Below are some of the ways by which I was able to get Duolingo freely-

1. 14 Days free trial

Every user of Duolingo gets a 14-day free trial for Duolingo Plus. If you also want to take advantage of it, all you need to select any of the super features like unlimited hearts. Then you will see an upgrade screen where you can try for $0.00. Tap on it and then your free trial will be started. However, make sure to cancel the subscription plan before this trial period is over.

2. Using the mobile version

The two main reasons why Duolingo Plus is worthy are Unlimited Hearts and the removal of ads. The heart system sometimes becomes a barrier in your learning journey. In such a case I prefer using the mobile version. Without paying for the money, I was able to get unlimited hearts.

Note: Earlier it was available on the desktop version.

3. Extend your streaks

This is the one I experienced myself. When I extended the streak score, I was not only able to get some cool goodies but also get some free trials for Duolingo Plus. Although the trial was for less than 3 days but will give you experience of Super Duolingo.

4. Promo codes

One thing that I love about Duolingo is that it keeps on releasing various promo codes that help to get free subscriptions for a long duration. Thus, try to keep a check on it to get some of the amazing promo codes. However, remember that you will have to put in the payment details to get them. Suppose you get a promo code for 30 days, and cancel the subscription before it, you will not be charged for it.

Conclusion

The free version of Duolingo helps in learning different languages, but you can always take the premium version. This premium version also known as Duolingo Plus has much more features than the free version. However, I do not enjoy it much. There are only two important features that you get with it – unlimited health and no ads. Unfortunately, you also get the benefit of unlimited health on the mobile app, which makes Duolingo Plus more useless. I personally believe the money used on Duolingo Plus should be saved for other premium apps. However, if you still want to use Super Duolingo, you can always get the promo codes or the 14-day free trial.

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