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

Duolingo vs Rosetta Stone Classic (2024)

Duolingo 4.7★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Duolingo
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 4.8★ · Free + IAP 60

Duolingo is generally better for casual, free learning with a gamified approach, while Rosetta Stone offers a more immersive, structured, and potentially effective learning experience, despite its technical flaws and pricing issues.

Full reviews: Duolingo · Rosetta Stone Classic (2024)

Duolingo excels in making language learning accessible and fun, though recent updates and ads frustrate many free users. Rosetta Stone provides a more traditional, immersive method, but its app struggles with speech recognition and has faced criticism for its pricing and handling of lifetime subscriptions.

Head to head

Learning Experience & Effectiveness tieR2R7R8R14
Duolingo Duolingo is praised for making learning fun and accessible, helping users with basic conversation and vocabulary, and even other subjects like chess R2R8R14. However, some users find it teaches 'useless stuff' and doesn't provide enough grammar or pronunciation help R7R21R30. Recent updates have also been criticized for making lessons longer and forcing users to re-learn content .
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) Rosetta Stone is valued for its immersive approach, visual learning, and focus on pronunciation, helping users build confidence in speaking . However, many users struggle with the lack of explicit grammar explanations and translations, forcing them to guess meanings from pictures .
Ease of Use & UI edge: DuolingoR1R3R4R9
Duolingo Duolingo is generally seen as easy and fun to use, with a gamified interface . However, recent updates have introduced frustrating changes like the 'energy' system replacing 'hearts' or 'lives', limiting learning time R1R3R4R9. Some users also report bugs, crashes, and loss of progress R11R16R31R39.
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) Rosetta Stone's app UI is described as generally good and easy to follow, with clear enunciation and visual learning R67. However, some users find it boring or outdated compared to other apps . Issues include minuscule or unclear photos, making it hard to identify objects R112, and a clunky, temperamental writing module .
Reliability & Performance tieR11R16R31R39
Duolingo Duolingo users frequently report issues with the app crashing, especially mid-lesson, leading to lost progress and wasted 'energy' R31R39. Other bugs include delays, receiving duplicate items, and lessons showing as completed when they haven't been R11R16.
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) Rosetta Stone's most significant reliability issue is its speech recognition, which many users find consistently faulty, failing to recognize correct pronunciation or even any speech input R61R64R67. Users also report issues with offline use and syncing across devices .
Price & Value tieR3R4R6R10
Duolingo Duolingo offers a free tier, which many appreciate, but it's heavily criticized for constant, 'creepy' ads and aggressive pushes to upgrade to Super or Max R6R10R19. The new 'energy' system is seen as a paywall, severely limiting free learning R3R4. Some users feel the free version is 'pretty worthless' without the full plan R21.
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) Rosetta Stone users express significant frustration over pricing, particularly regarding 'lifetime memberships' not being honored for new app versions or requiring additional subscriptions R61. Many feel forced to pay to access full content or progress beyond initial lessons .
Support & Communication tieR19R49R96R112
Duolingo Duolingo users report difficulty getting support for bugs or issues, with links leading to empty pages and no feedback received after reporting problems R19R49.
Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) Rosetta Stone users mention minimal help from tech support for technical difficulties R96. There are also complaints about the feedback feature within the app not working R112.
Pick Duolingo if

you want a free, gamified, and fun way to learn basic vocabulary and phrases, are okay with ads or willing to pay for a subscription, and appreciate a less formal learning structure R2R8.

Pick Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) if

you prefer an immersive learning style with a strong focus on pronunciation and visual cues, are serious about language learning, and are willing to pay for a more structured, traditional course, despite potential app issues .

Evidence note: Duolingo has a much larger user base, leading to a higher volume of reviews, both positive and negative, especially concerning recent changes to its free tier. Rosetta Stone's reviews are fewer but highlight significant issues with speech recognition and lifetime subscription policies, which are critical for a paid product.

Frequently asked

Which app is better for learning grammar?
Neither app is consistently praised for its grammar explanations; Duolingo users often feel they need to supplement with external resources to understand grammar R21R30, while Rosetta Stone is noted for being great for vocabulary and pronunciation but lacking in grammar explanations, especially for complex structures R102R108.
Can I learn a language fluently with these apps?
Users suggest that while both apps can be helpful for learning, neither is sufficient for achieving fluency on its own; Duolingo is seen as good for basics and review R33R53R54, and Rosetta Stone is often used in conjunction with other methods or for specific skills like speaking R71R96.
Are the free versions of these apps useful?
Duolingo's free version is seen as useful for casual learning, but many users are frustrated by frequent ads and the limiting 'energy' system R3R4R6R10. Rosetta Stone's free access is more limited, with users often hitting a paywall quickly to continue learning .
Which app has better speech recognition?
Rosetta Stone's speech recognition is a major point of contention, with numerous users reporting it to be highly unreliable, often failing to recognize correct pronunciation or any speech at all R61R64R67. Duolingo's speech recognition is mentioned less frequently as a core issue, though one user notes frustration with it marking correct pronunciation as wrong R53.

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. [R2] Duolingo 5/5 · US The best app ever: This app helped me learn Spanish for a my trip to Mexico this is defo a 5 star app
  2. [R7] Duolingo 1/5 · US ts app is glazed too much: Great app if u wanna be able to say useless stuff in another language like “the penguin is under the bridge”🫩
  3. [R8] Duolingo 5/5 · US Very good: It's vary good I'm learning Spanish so i can talk to my grandma and this has helped me a lot I can now speak Spanish with her and she's also learning English so we're both trying to each others language
  4. [R14] Duolingo 5/5 · US I LOVE DOULINGO: Duolingo has been helping me with learning Arabic so I can understand and translate for other people and I love Duolingo so much and that’s way I give it 5 stars
  5. [R1] Duolingo 1/5 · US Stupid and unnecessary update: Why would you replace the hearts with batteries
  6. [R3] Duolingo 3/5 · US Solid app: Hi, for anyone reading this, this is a great app the only reason thats its three stars is because of the energy and not being able to do video calls without plus. I do think it’s really stupid because they are basically just stopping their users from learning… but beside from that, it’s a good app.
  7. [R4] Duolingo 1/5 · US Please go back to the lives/hearts instead of energy!!!: Absolutely terrible since they switched to the stupid energy system. You can’t even get through more than two lessons without running out! And you have to speed through so you can’t even take the time to repeat words or actually learn. Absolutely ridiculous, completely contrary to what they claim is the purpose of duo, to make learning a for
  8. [R9] Duolingo 3/5 · US It’s alright: It’s good but I wish you didn’t run out of energy fast you don’t really get to learn a lot in one day because of it running out fast
  9. [R11] Duolingo 4/5 · US It’s good but: It’s good but they need to fix some things like with the suits there are delays and I join in and got the same suit I already have like I love the app but they really need to fix some stuff (=①ω①=)
  10. [R16] Duolingo 1/5 · US Constant bugs: Constant bugs - would not recommend to anyone serious about learning a language.
  11. [R31] Duolingo 1/5 · US Game keeps closing out!: While in the middle of a game, it just closes out, and I have to start all over again. This is very frustrating, especially while it’s happening in the middle or towards the end of a lesson. How can we fix this? Please Help!
  12. [R39] Duolingo 3/5 · US Not what it used to be: I hate the energy system. When my app crashes halfway through a lesson, I lose all the spent energy. Lessons can be fun, but the slow but inevitable increase of ads has been disappointing.
  13. [R6] Duolingo 3/5 · US Its ok: Its ok but the ads are crazy! And it forces you to get a free trial but its a good app if your ok with ads :)
  14. [R10] Duolingo 1/5 · US Ads: i really like this app, but the advertising irritates me
  15. [R19] Duolingo 2/5 · US THE ADS ARE CREEPY: OK, so I am a child just to let you know, but I have seen some creepy dinks in the Duolingo ads. It freaks me out because in the car’s ad for super Duolingo there’s something in the back moving and this one is kind of creepy too because it’s a dude with barely anything on. I just asked Duolingo. Why would you do this to a 10 year-old why not to explain how I reported it and I s
  16. [R49] Duolingo 1/5 · US DO NOT GIVE THIS APP MONEY: This app is a total scam. They steal your money and erase all your progress after 2 months. There is no way to request help or report a problem. The links just go to an empty page. Even worse, Apple is colluding with them. They deleted my previous negative review. Do NOT pay them any money. You will regret it!!
  17. [R96] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 3/5 · US Valuable learning method-Technical difficulties with app: I have been using this app for over a year for Japanese on an iPhone. I continue to have technical difficulties- sound disappearing; microphone not picking up my voice. Minimal help from tech support. Using headphones resolves some of sound problems. The learning method itself is a valuable addition in conjunction with other methods. I
  18. [R112] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 2/5 · US Meh: So far, I’ve identified two big problems with this app. It uses minuscule photos in which you must identify the object being referred to. The pictures are hard to see. I’m quite frustrated with this aspect of the program. The second and VERY BIG problem is that, although there is a place to leave feedback, it won’t actually allow you to do so. Frankly, I’m ready to ask for a refund.
  19. [R21] Duolingo 3/5 · US Different plans: We didn’t know that there were different plans when we signed up. We’re in a contract for one year. And it’s pretty useless using this app unless you have the whole super plan because you cannot learn grammar and without grammar, you cannot read or write correctly. All this teaches you is words. Not how to form them. The app is pretty worthless unless you have the full plan. I wa
  20. [R30] Duolingo 3/5 · US Incomplete information: Thank goodness for Google searches. I feel like I’m teaching myself because I’m constantly looking for explanations of what I’m learning. What the heck is a reflexive pronoun? That’s just one example of how frustrating it is learning on this platform.
  21. [R102] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 3/5 · GB Small changes: I’m learning Japanese, I’ve done bits in the passed but I think without Duolingo for the basics, this course would feel almost impossible. There’s not much explanation for anything, like I’ve struggled through some of the grammar lessons as there’s genuinely been no explanation for why I’d use certain grammar at certain points. Feel like I’m just learning by making mistakes without
  22. [R108] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 3/5 · GB Great for vocabulary and pronunciation but doesn’t explain grammar.: I’ve been using Rosetta Stone for 4 years. This has been fantastic for practicing pronunciation and vocabulary, although as the sentence structures and tenses become progressively more complex, there’s very little guidance to understand the grammar, other than certain letters being highlighted in different colours. You will defin
  23. [R33] Duolingo 3/5 · US it’s okay: Good for review and recall is you are already very familiar with the language. Not the program I’d use to “teach” a language I didn’t already have some familiarity with.
  24. [R53] Duolingo 5/5 · US I love duo…. sometimes: This stupid freaking app pisses me off so much. yes i do it every night before bed but only to keep my streak. i have worked too hard to give it up but on night where im crying and the stupid bird can hear that i’m sad it says im saying it wrong and i got it wrong. i didn’t you dumb hoe i said it just like you and you still said i got it wrong. anyways it doesn’t teach you
  25. [R54] Duolingo 3/5 · GB Poor.: Probably the best app you can download to learn a foreign language. However that probably speaks to how poor all the apps are, rather than you actually learning a new language.
  26. [R71] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 5/5 · US You can get a job: This is one of the best apps in order to grow and expand your knowledge of languages. Now I do use this app along with ChatGPT, but this combined can help you no to grow in language to learning as well as develop further vocabulary in the language. from this, you can learn as much languages as possible in order to be a translator for school or for a lawyer‘s office or for busine
  27. [R61] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 1/5 · US DOESN’T WORK!: I have a new headset. The app can’t hear me, it doesn’t even recognize input when I speak. I say something correct and it tells me I am wrong. Very frustrating. How am I supposed to learn? I paid for a lifetime membership of DISAPPOINTMENT.
  28. [R64] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 1/5 · US Very unhelpful and unclear: I'm learning German, and the speaking lessons are the most difficult because of the app's inability to recognize the actual words being spoken. For example, I was in a room of people speaking English while doing my German speaking lesson, and i paused speaking because it was too loud. The app heard the voices and thought that they were saying the words on the screen, so
  29. [R67] Rosetta Stone Classic (2024) 1/5 · US Content is fine, microphone detection doesn’t work: The content within the app is good and the app is easy to follow however, you are constantly fighting the app to recognize the words you’re saying. The microphone on my iPhone works perfectly fine but the Rosetta Stone app is constantly telling me that the microphone has bad quality and it doesn’t matter how you hold the phone, if you use headpho

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