Duolingo
Khan Academy
| Feature | Duolingo | Khan Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $9.99/mo | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | language-learners, students, travelers, beginners | students, parents, teachers, self-learners |
| Founded | 2011 | 2008 |
| Lessons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Stories | ✓ | ✗ |
| Podcasts | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Chat | ✓ | ✗ |
| Leaderboards | ✓ | ✗ |
| Streaks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Placement Tests | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Lessons | ✗ | ✓ |
| Practice Exercises | ✗ | ✓ |
| Progress Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Tutor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Teacher Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mastery Learning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sat Prep | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Khan Academy Pros
- Completely free for all learners worldwide
- Comprehensive K-12 math and science curriculum
- Personalized learning with mastery-based progression
- Khanmigo AI tutor for personalized help
- Teacher tools for classroom integration
✗ Khan Academy Cons
- Content depth limited for advanced college topics
- Video-based format not ideal for all learners
- Some subjects have less coverage than others
The Verdict
Duolingo is built for language learners and students, with a focus on lessons and stories. Khan Academy targets students and parents and leads with video-lessons and practice-exercises.
Khan Academy uses custom enterprise pricing, while Duolingo starts at $9.99/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
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.