So, Duolingo is undoubtedly the most well-known language-learning app in the world. Is it worth the hype, though? Or Memrise is better? We did our research to give you the answers.
While both apps offer gamified learning experiences, they have distinct features that set them apart.
In this article, we will compare those features and help you find the one that best suits your language-learning goals.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: In A Nutshell
Not feeling like going through the entire article? Our reviews are long, but only because they are detailed! But don’t worry; we have here a quick table comparing Memrise and Duolingo for our busy readers.
| Criteria | Memrise | Duolingo |
| Free version | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $14.99/month | $12.99/month |
| Money back guarantee | Yes | No |
| Number of languages | 19 | 40 |
| Grammar | Limited, tips are incorporated into lessons. | More detailed and focused. Gram |
| Best For | Building vocabulary and grammar. | Learning the essential skills: reading, writing and speaking. |
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Pros And Cons
Here are the pros and cons of both platforms:
Memrise
| Pros | Cons |
| Best for vocabulary acquisition. | Limited grammar instructions. |
| Spaced repetition for optimized learning. | Lack of structured curriculum. |
| Offline learning is available. | Course quality may vary depending on the language. |
| Adaptive learning. | Fewer languages than other platforms. |
| Native user-generated content. | User-generated content quality may not be up to the mark. |
Duolingo
| Pros | Cons |
| Structured curriculum. | Less vocabulary-based. |
| Balanced approach. | Simplified sentences used in exercises do not reflect real-world complexities. |
| Supplementary resources like Duolingo Stories and Podcasts. | Limited explanation of grammar rules. |
| Social features like leaderboards add motivation. | Limited conversational practice. |
| Most of the core features are available in the free version. | Limiting users’ ability to produce language independently due to heavy reliance on MCQ-type questions. |
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Overview
Memrise and Duolingo both use gamification and engaging interactive exercises that make the learning process enjoyable. However, there are notable differences between the two.
Memrise
Memrise primarily focuses on vocabulary and incorporates memorization techniques in its lessons. It covers various proficiency levels in 19 languages and has tailored lessons for beginners and advanced learners. The language-learning platform uses multimedia flashcards and mnemonic techniques to help users build their vocabulary and remember new words better.
Memrise allows users to watch and learn from the native locals. There are typing, reading, and listening exercises that create an immersive experience. However, the grammar is comparatively limited.
Duolingo
Duolingo offers a much wider range of languages than Memrise. While both platforms offer a gamified experience, Duolingo’s lessons are bite-sized and easier to complete. This is strategic because people usually have a short attention span. Duolingo focuses on building vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.
Duolingo’s stand-out feature is its speech-recognition technology which helps learners improve their pronunciation and speaking skills. The app allows you to follow your friends, see their progress and interact with a vast community of learners.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Key Features
Memrise and Duolingo offer a range of features that helps users achieve their language-learning goals. Here are the key features:
Memrise key features
- Grammar tips between lessons.
- Learn from natives directly.
- Special practice sessions.
- Create your own language courses.
- Tailored spaced repetition algorithms.
- Downloadable learning material.
- Track your progress.
Duolingo key features
- Scientifically-proved teaching methods.
- Friendly challenges and reminders.
- AI-tailored lessons.
- English proficiency test.
- Courses for business interactions.
- Special courses for students.
- Mobile-friendly user interface.
- Structured and organized curriculum.
Verdict: Memrise may be the right one for you if you want more vocabulary-based learning. On the other hand, if you are looking for a more balanced approach that teaches reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills, Duolingo proves a stronger volunteer.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Lesson Structures
Both Memrise and Duolingo offer gamified and structured lessons but use different approaches to cater to different learning preferences.
Memrise
As we’ve already stated, Memrise’s lesson structure revolves around vocabulary building. It offers a variety of language courses with different levels, each with its own vocabulary theme.
Users get learning sessions; as they complete each session, they get new and bigger words to learn. Each session includes audio and video recordings for learning. Users get several multiple-choice and recall exercises to ensure they retain the information they’ve just learned.
Helpful learning drills include fill-in-the-blanks, selecting correct translations, speed rounds, writing sentences, and more. One of the best things about Memrise is that you can control the length of the sessions by setting your preferences.
Duolingo
Lessons in Duolingo consist of a series of interactive exercises with the end goal of learning a specific language skill or concept. Each lesson comprises reading, writing, listening, and speaking exercises from the beginning. As you progress, you get more challenging questions.
Each session consists of new as well as already learned words and phrases. Therefore, you can build your vocabulary without forgetting what you’ve learned. These words and phrases come in written form and audio recordings to aid your speaking skills and pronunciation.
Exercises include translation, speaking, listening, reading, matching, and fill-in-the-blanks. One of the best things about Duolingo is that you receive immediate feedback, regardless of whether your answer is correct or incorrect.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Languages Offered
Memrise and Duolingo offer various language courses for English language speakers. Here is a list of the languages offered by both platforms:
Memrise
- Chinese
- Danish
- Dutch
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Japanese (no script)
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Russian
- Spanish
- Spanish (Mexico)
- Swedish
- Turkish
- Yoruba
Duolingo
- Spanish
- French
- Japanese
- German
- Korean
- Hindi
- Italian
- High Valyrian
- Scottish Gaelic
- Hungarian
- Esperanto
- Finnish
- Romanian
- Chinese
- Vietnamese
- Ukrainian
- Irish
- Russian
- Arabic
- Portuguese
- Turkish
- Dutch
- Indonesian
- Danish
- Greek
- Polish
- Swedish
- Latin
- Norwegian
- Hebrew
- Hawaiian
- Czech
- Welsh
- Haitian Creole
- Swahili
- Klingon (beta)
- Zulu
- Navajo (beta)
- Yiddish (beta)
Note that the lists contain language courses only for English speakers. There are additional languages for speakers of other languages.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Customer Service
You’re studying French on an app, and suddenly you lose all progress. What do you do? You’ll need to be assisted by the platform’s customer service.
A good language-learning app must also have a good and responsive customer care team. Let’s take a look at how Memrise and Duolingo take care of their users.
Memrise
Memrise has relatively good and active customer service. Users can reach out to their team in several ways, such as the Help Centre, Submit a Request, and Community Forum.
By visiting the Help Centre page, you can find answers to some of the most commonly asked questions by users. To search your question, you can type it in the search bar. You can submit your question through the Submit a Request page if you don’t find your specific query.
Memrise also has a community of active members where users can interact with each other and ask and answer each other’s questions.
Another way to get help regarding your lessons or subscription is through social media. Memrise has an active social media presence on platforms like Twitter and Facebook. You can reach out to them there.
Duolingo
Duolingo’s team is ready to answer your questions through their Help Centre page, In-App Support, and social media.
The Help Centre page is much like Memrise, where you can find a range of commonly asked questions on various topics. If you want to report an issue, you can do it through the Submit Bug Report page.
Duolingo’s social media presences include Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. They reply quickly, so you can contact them whenever you have a doubt.
The Community Forum of Duolingo is also full of interactive users willing to answer your queries.
Memrise Vs Duolingo: Pricing And Subscriptions
It is pretty impossible to make a decision without knowing about their pricing. We know that both Memrise and Duolingo offer a basic version of their courses for free of cost. However, both platforms allow users to upgrade their free plans at a price to access additional features.
Memrise
The free version of Memrise offers minimal features to its users and grants access to only a limited selection of language courses.
Memrise Pro offers access to all languages, offline learning modes, and progress statistics. With the Pro version, users can learn with Memrise ad-free and on multiple devices. Here are the prices for the Pro version:
| Monthly | $14.99 |
| Annually | $44.99 ($3.75/month) |
| Lifetime | $199.99 |
The Lifetime subscription allows users to access all the language courses of Memrise for an unlimited time without the need for renewals every month or year. Curious to grab the Memrise coupon and get upto 15% Off here.
Duolingo
One of the best things about Duolingo is that it offers its core features in the free version. In fact, Duolingo was created with the mission of providing free language learning for all. While they offer excellent features for free, users can access additional features by upgrading to Super Duolingo.
Here are the additional features you get:
- Ad-free learning.
- Unlimited hearts.
- Personalized reviews for your mistakes.
- Unlimited attempts of Legendary challenges.
Here are the prices of Super Duolingo:
| Monthly plan | $12.99 ($155.88 yearly) |
| Annual plan | $6.99/month ($83.88 yearly) |
| Family plan (2-6 members) | $9.99/month ($119.88 yearly) |
As you can see, you can get Super Duolingo for almost half the price when you get the annual plan. If you know several people who want a Super Duolingo subscription, you can get the Family Plan and save a few bucks! Moreover, since you will be sharing the account with other people, you won’t have to pay the full amount by yourself. It’s a steal deal!
Grab your Duolingo discount and get up to 50% off purchasing the premium version!
Final Verdict: Which One Is Better?
Determining which platform is the best depends on the language you want to learn, your goals, preferred learning approaches, weaknesses, and strengths. It also depends on which features are important to you.
Memrise- Best for those who want to build their vocabulary and prefer the spaced repetition study method.
Duolingo- Best for serious learners looking to balance all four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Based on our research, we think Duolingo will win this one. Overall, Duolingo has more languages and features that can help serious learners. Even though it lacks in certain areas, the pros outweigh the cons.
So to answer your questions, Duolingo is the winner in this battle!
Related Read:
Conclusion: Memrise Vs Duolingo (2024)
Choosing between Memrise and Duolingo ultimately depends on your personal needs, objectives, and learning styles. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but using Memrise and Duolingo by combining their resources is worth considering.
Since both platforms offer free features, there is no harm in using all the free resources you can. For example, you can use Memrise to build your vocabulary and refer to Duolingo for a more comprehensive learning experience.
The answer to which one is the best can be subjective. Try different platforms and experiment with each to find the one that suits your needs the best. By doing this, you can maximize your learning journey and make it worthwhile.
FAQs
Duolingo offers a more structured and balanced curriculum than Memrise. It guides learners through different topics and levels and ensures a comprehensive learning experience.
Duolingo offers additional supplementary resources that users can learn from besides the app’s lessons. For example, Duolingo Stories offer reading practice, and Duolingo Podcast offers listening practice.
Yes. Duolingo and Memrise offer free versions, but only Duolingo offers free access to its core features.
