Brilliant
Duolingo
| Feature | Brilliant | Duolingo |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $11.99/mo | Free / from $9.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | stem-learners, students, career-changers, lifelong-learners | language-learners, students, travelers, beginners |
| Founded | 2012 | 2011 |
| Interactive Lessons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Daily Challenges | ✓ | ✗ |
| Visual Explanations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Progress Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Offline Access | ✓ | ✗ |
| Community | ✓ | ✗ |
| Lessons | ✗ | ✓ |
| Stories | ✗ | ✓ |
| Podcasts | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Chat | ✗ | ✓ |
| Leaderboards | ✗ | ✓ |
| Streaks | ✗ | ✓ |
| Placement Tests | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Brilliant Pros
- Highly interactive visual learning approach
- Excellent for building mathematical intuition
- Short daily lessons that fit busy schedules
- Covers fundamentals through advanced topics
✗ Brilliant Cons
- Limited free content (only a few lessons per course)
- Focused on STEM only (no humanities/language)
- Can feel too gamified for serious learners
✓ Duolingo Pros
- Completely free core experience
- Gamification makes learning addictive
- AI conversation practice
- 40+ language courses
✗ Duolingo Cons
- Limited for advanced learners
- Ads on free tier
- Grammar explanations can be minimal
The Verdict
Brilliant is built for stem learners and students, with a focus on interactive-lessons and daily-challenges. Duolingo targets language learners and students and leads with lessons and stories.
Pricing is close: Duolingo starts at $9.99/mo versus $11.99/mo for Brilliant — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Duolingo offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Brilliant takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Both tools are a solid fit for students — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.