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Duolingo Max: reviews and analysis
Gamified courses with AI conversations and video calls in supported languages.
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Our verdict
Duolingo Max combines the market's strongest habit loop with AI conversation. Do not buy before checking your course: Video Call and Max features do not reach every language pair equally.
Best for: Learners needing daily consistency who want conversation inside a structured course.
What changed this week
Sweep of
No substantive change: the Better Business Bureau count moves from 242 to 241 total complaints and from 87 to 88 closed, a noise-level variation, not a trend. Official documentation confirms with a literal quote that full Roleplay only reaches learners studying Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese, while Japanese, Korean and Chinese only get the video call, a nuance that was suspected and is now confirmed.
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Steady: 4 sweeps with no rating change.
We have tracked it since August 1, 2026: 5 sweeps on record, with the score moving between 4.0 and 4.1. We publish the latest change here; the full series is not published.
What the internet says
No new facts change the substance of the previous sweep: the CEO still has not decided whether Duolingo will keep Max or discontinue it, and Max's real price still cannot be verified on the official site without logging in. Official documentation confirms with a literal quote the uneven split by language: full Roleplay only reaches learners studying Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese from English, while Japanese, Korean and Chinese only get the video call. The Better Business Bureau logs 241 complaints in three years and 88 closed in twelve months today, a minor noise-level variation from last week, not a trend.
What the web repeats in favour
- Integrates AI conversation and explanations into a gamified routine that is easy to maintain
What the web repeats against
- The CEO himself said in the 5 August 2026 earnings call that he still does not know whether Duolingo will keep Max or discontinue it, and promised a decision within the next two quarters. It remains unresolved
- AI features require Max and availability depends on the language: learners studying Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese get full Roleplay and video call, while Japanese, Korean and Chinese only get the video call, per official documentation
- Apple's official listing does not show any purchase tier called Max, only Super Duolingo tiers, so Max's real price cannot be checked without logging in
- The Better Business Bureau logs 241 complaints against Duolingo in three years, with 88 closed in the last 12 months, mostly about unexpected charges and difficulty cancelling
Sweep sources: Docs · Review sites · App stores · Docs
Latest Duolingo Max news
Duolingo says it may sunset the Max plan within the next few quarters
On Duolingo's Q2 2026 earnings call, CEO Luis von Ahn said the future of the Max plan is undecided and that discontinuing it entirely is one option on the table, with an answer expected within the next few quarters. Source
Video Call, once Max-only, comes to the cheaper Super plan
Duolingo confirms most new Super subscribers now get Video Call, the feature that used to be the main reason to pay for Max, and will roll it out to existing subscribers in the coming months after cutting the per-call cost to under a cent. Source
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Excellent routine and gamification
- Roleplay built into the course
- Broad language catalogue
Cons
- Features differ by language
- Opaque regional pricing
- Shallower speech correction than ELSA
What it solves and what it does not
Duolingo Max combines the market's strongest habit loop with AI conversation. Do not buy before checking your course: Video Call and Max features do not reach every language pair equally.
Best for: Learners needing daily consistency who want conversation inside a structured course.
The ten-minute speaking test
- Stay in the same real situation for ten minutes without returning to multiple choice.
- Make one deliberate pronunciation and one grammar error; separate useful correction from constant interruption.
- Repeat the scene a week later and check whether it remembers recurring mistakes or merely entertains.
Verified conditions
| Condition | Result |
|---|---|
| Individual subscription | Yes, subject to the stated limits |
| AI conversation | Yes, subject to the stated limits |
| Pronunciation feedback | Yes, subject to the stated limits |
Choose Duolingo Max when…
- maintaining a daily routine
- practising situations through Roleplay
- conversing with the character Lily
Do not choose it when…
- Features differ by language
- Opaque regional pricing
- Shallower speech correction than ELSA
Checked official sources
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