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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Khan Academy vs Duolingo

Khan Academy 4.6★ · Free to download 70
Winner Tie
Duolingo 4.7★ · Free + IAP 75

For structured academic learning across various subjects, Khan Academy is generally preferred, especially for its comprehensive content and lack of ads, while Duolingo excels for language learning with its engaging, gamified approach, despite its aggressive monetization tactics.

Full reviews: Khan Academy · Duolingo

Khan Academy offers in-depth, ad-free educational content across multiple subjects, though it struggles with app stability and user interface issues. Duolingo provides an engaging, gamified platform for language learning and other subjects, but its free tier is heavily restricted by 'energy' limits and constant upsells to its paid subscription.

Head to head

Content & Subject Variety edge: Khan AcademyR11R18R20R21
Khan Academy Khan Academy is praised for its thorough and clear teaching across various topics, helping students from elementary to high school and even adults refresh their knowledge R11R20. Users appreciate the well-organized and thoughtful content . However, some users find it difficult to find specific subjects for homework R21 and wish for more content or courses directly within the app R6R18.
Duolingo Duolingo is primarily known for its language learning, with users reporting significant progress in Spanish, Japanese, and English . It has expanded to include math, music, and chess R75, though some users feel the music course needs updating and more genuine theory . There are also concerns about the accuracy of language teaching, with some users claiming it teaches incorrect phrases R73 and that the AI-driven exercises can be nonsensical .
Ease of Use & User Interface tieR1R6R10R13
Khan Academy Khan Academy's app experiences frequent crashes, videos not playing, and glitches in lessons R1. Users report issues with the in-app keyboard, which is described as 'finnicky' and prone to incorrect inputs R1R6. Account creation and login are problematic R1R10, and some users lose all their progress R13. The app sometimes fails to save data for downloaded courses and forces users to online content, defeating the purpose of the app . Mobile users also note that answers may not fully show up on smaller screens .
Duolingo Duolingo is generally found to be easy, simple, and entertaining . However, it suffers from frequent crashes and lags, especially during speaking exercises . Users report issues with the microphone not picking up words correctly R63 and the flashcards being unhelpful without a specific keyboard . Some users find the constant pop-ups and gamification overwhelming and distracting from learning .
Reliability & Accuracy tieR1R3R9R13
Khan Academy Khan Academy faces significant criticism for incorrect solutions in lessons R1R3. Users report that the app sometimes marks correct answers as wrong, even after verification by teachers . Progress tracking is also an issue, with some users not seeing where they left off or losing all their progress R9R13. Videos can go fuzzy when downloaded .
Duolingo Duolingo has issues with accuracy, with some users claiming it teaches incorrect Spanish and that AI-driven exercises have wrong pronunciations and don't make sense . Bugs are common, with users reporting the lightning round getting stuck and the app losing legendary progress after updates . The app also struggles to distinguish between genuine mistakes and typos .
Price & Value edge: Khan AcademyR56R63R64R66
Khan Academy Khan Academy is entirely free, with no ads or pop-ups for subscriptions, which is highly valued by users R56. This makes it an excellent resource for learning without financial barriers R56.
Duolingo Duolingo is free to download but heavily pushes in-app purchases and subscriptions R63R64R66. The free tier is severely limited by an 'energy' or 'heart' system, which restricts the number of lessons users can complete daily, effectively forcing them to pay to continue learning R85R91R93R100. Users who pay for a premium subscription still report being spammed with ads for family plans R64. There are also serious complaints about unauthorized charges and deceptive billing practices, with users being charged even after canceling and uninstalling .
Engagement & Motivation edge: DuolingoR2R6R7R8
Khan Academy Khan Academy is seen as helpful and motivating for some users, aiding in academic success and personal learning goals R8. However, many users, particularly younger ones, find it boring, unpurposeful, and lacking in fun or creativity R6R7. Some suggest adding games or making lessons more engaging .
Duolingo Duolingo is widely praised for being fun, engaging, and addictive, with its gamified approach keeping users motivated R2. The app's structure helps users learn a lot . However, some users dislike the ranking system and the excessive gamification, which they feel distracts from actual learning R66. The constant streak notifications are also a point of annoyance .
Pick Khan Academy if

you need a free, comprehensive educational resource for academic subjects like math and science, appreciate well-organized content, and prefer an ad-free learning environment R56.

Pick Duolingo if

you want to learn a new language with a fun, gamified approach, are motivated by streaks and rankings, and don't mind potential in-app purchases or ads for premium features .

Evidence note: Khan Academy's reviews show a significant number of 1-star ratings related to app functionality and accuracy issues, which contrasts with its higher lifetime rating. Duolingo's free vs. paid asymmetry is evident, with many negative reviews stemming from limitations and aggressive monetization of the free tier.

Frequently asked

Is Khan Academy truly free?
Yes, Khan Academy is completely free to use and does not have any ads or pop-ups for subscriptions, making it a valuable educational resource without cost R56.
Does Duolingo offer a good free experience?
Duolingo's free experience is often criticized for being heavily restricted by an 'energy' or 'heart' system, which limits the number of lessons users can complete daily, effectively forcing them to pay to continue learning R85R91R93R100.
Can you learn a language fluently with Duolingo?
While Duolingo can be a good starting point for learning languages and helps with vocabulary and basic phrases, some users who have studied languages at a college level attest that it is difficult to learn proper grammar or achieve fluency with the app alone R73R75.
Are there technical issues with Khan Academy?
Yes, Khan Academy users frequently report technical issues including app crashes, videos not playing, glitches in lessons, finnicky in-app keyboards, and problems with account login and progress saving R1R6R10R13.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R11] Khan Academy 5/5 · US Good app: My son is getting ready for fourth grade and he has learned so much on khan academy what he learns on this app will surely help him later
  2. [R18] Khan Academy 3/5 · GB We need this pls 😭: This app is goated, we just need y’all to put the courses in the app, it’s hard to find the chrome tab with the course when it’s surrounded by a million others
  3. [R20] Khan Academy 5/5 · US Luv🌟: I have a quiet fear of going back to school now that im in my early 20s, and this has helped me find an easy service that helps me learn on my own in an easy and digestible way. I reccomend if you want to kickstart yourself in different topics!! Thank you!
  4. [R21] Khan Academy 3/5 · GB Ok until subject: I love khan academy, and it’s great until you need a specific subject then… not that great. For me I was trying to get khan academy to explain something for my homework, but I just couldn’t find the exact thing I needed. So it’s great and all if you don’t need a specific subject question and are fine with just following their ways.
  5. [R1] Khan Academy 1/5 · US Needs more work: Videos sometimes do not play, app crashes frequently and lessons also very frequently have incorrect solutions and glitches requiring you to restart the lesson. Typing using the in-app keyboard is also very finnicky, creating and logging into accounts do not work well, and things taught in the videos aren't in the lessons after.
  6. [R6] Khan Academy 3/5 · US keybord ragebait: the keyboard is absolute ragebait it thinks 2 = 1 and 7 = 9 the keyboard is the most annoying form of ragebait Hope to see more content too My parents make me do this a million times a day and learning is not fun and you cannot learn anything Unpurposeful app = this Ragebait app = this Uidfciugreifugiuefrgiufre
  7. [R10] Khan Academy 1/5 · US Fix this!: I had an account for a couple months and I made 5 accounts because of this problem!when I'm signing in my account it's saying "you password or username is incorrect" even though i know it is! Looks like I have to make another 2 accounts.
  8. [R13] Khan Academy 2/5 · US Khan academy deleted all of my progress: So I just came back to do khan academy and I see a screen telling me to sign up even though I was at the end of 4th grade. Khan academy should see what happened. Now all of my progress is gone and I was on my last unit in 4th grade
  9. [R3] Khan Academy 3/5 · US This is not math: They said 12 equals 10
  10. [R9] Khan Academy 3/5 · US Khan academy: It was OK but it never showed me where I left off in the unit so I ended up retaking a whole unit over again!!
  11. [R56] Khan Academy 5/5 · US Khan academy: It’s an awesome educational app. It has very descriptive videos and it’s free no ads no pop-ups for “ get your subscription”. If you’re looking for an educational app, I recommend this.
  12. [R63] Duolingo 3/5 · US OK, I Guess: I guess it's good to start somewhere, but I noticed that there are a lot of mistakes in the app. Sentences which I know are correct keep getting marked as incorrect only because the app doesn't hear you correctly. You check with other sources and it is confirmed I'm saying it correctly. The app is just not very accurate. The only ads I ever see are for Duolingo. The app you are alre
  13. [R64] Duolingo 2/5 · US Can you stop constantly trying to: Force us to use your stupid family plan. I pay for no ads. I get spammed with ads to sign up for family plan. How does that make any sense I do not have a family. I do not want a family plan. I do not want ads. Stop spamming me with family plan ads.
  14. [R66] Duolingo 3/5 · US Video Game Monetization: Love that it is audio, visual, speaking, and typing as well as other methods of responding but I do NOT like that everything is XP, rankings, pay to get gems to continue timed rounds. I’m paying for the service, I don’t want to pay on top of that to continue learning. I also dislike the lack of a reference glossary, as the units sometimes speak with new words and phrases I
  15. [R2] Khan Academy 5/5 · US Idk: So much fun
  16. [R7] Khan Academy 1/5 · US Boo: Too much learning
  17. [R8] Khan Academy 5/5 · US Khan Academy is better than IXL: This is way better than Ixl because Ixl smartscore system is making me very angry. I rather not recommend to use Ixl ever again. Ixl, this is all your fault, khan academy wins forever.
  18. [R85] Duolingo 1/5 · US Terrible: You can only do like 1-2 lessons at a time before your energy runs out
  19. [R91] Duolingo 2/5 · US Stupid Battery Life!: I hate that they changed to the battery life. I can’t even finish one lesson, even when I answer every answer perfect! I understand a company wanting to push people to upgrade but this feels like they are basically forcing you to upgrade in order to even finish a single lesson. I’ve kept a 365 day streak but I think I will probably switch to a new app because of this. So anno
  20. [R93] Duolingo 3/5 · GB the energy: duolingo is an amazing app that helps you learn languages. but i just think the energy bar is too much. it means it prevents people from learning, meaning they have to wait to get more energy do they can do the lesson. please fix this.
  21. [R100] Duolingo 1/5 · US Not great anymore: I haven’t used the app in a very long time, but I hate that energy was added because now I can only get through ONE lesson for free and then I have to wait until the next day, whereas before, I could get through several lessons as long as I had enough hearts.
  22. [R73] Duolingo 1/5 · US DO NOT PAY FOR DUOLINGO!: Duolingo is an extremely poor way to attempt to learn Spanish. It’s mediocre if you have studied Spanish and use it for review. As a person who has studied Spanish at the college level, I can attest that it is impossible to learn proper grammar with Duolingo. In addition, they now restrict the time you can use the app without paying for it. Given its vast shortfalls, it i
  23. [R75] Duolingo 3/5 · US Pretty good: Not amazing to be fluent in a language, but it’s nice to get started on. Little weird but in a funny way. I would also like to include that it teaches math, music, and chess. Good for older kids. 👍🏻🥒🫪

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store