Duolingo Max
Duolingo's AI conversation tier, now being folded into Super
Overview
Duolingo Max is the premium Duolingo subscription launched in 2023, adding AI-powered Video Call and Roleplay speaking practice to Super Duolingo. Video Call has since moved into Super for most new subscribers, and Duolingo has said it may sunset Max. The features first ran on GPT-4; Duolingo now says Video Call runs mainly on open-source models.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 14 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- No ads
- Unlimited Energy
- Monthly Streak Repair
- Video Call for most new subscribers (Q2 2026)
- Everything in Super Duolingo
- Additional AI-powered features and exercises, such as Video Call
Use cases
What you can produce with Duolingo Max
- Spoken practice conversations with the AI character Lily through Video Call
- Scenario-based Roleplay conversations with feedback
- AI explanations of why an exercise answer was right or wrong
- Ad-free lessons with unlimited Energy, inherited from Super Duolingo
- Language courses across Duolingo's full catalogue
ASEAN Perspective
Duolingo Max in Southeast Asia
Duolingo is deeply embedded in APAC: Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin are among the most-studied languages on the platform globally, and Duolingo hired its first Regional Head of Creative for APAC in Singapore in late 2025, signalling serious regional investment. Duolingo Max's Video Call feature supports Japanese and Korean on iOS, directly serving learners in Japan, Korea, and diaspora communities across Southeast Asia. However, the platform's user interface is not localised into Thai, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia, or Bahasa Malaysia, which limits depth of penetration in lower-English-fluency ASEAN markets. The April 2025 launch of 148 new courses — including Japanese and Korean taught from Southeast Asian languages — substantially broadens Duolingo's ASEAN utility even for learners who do not subscribe to Max.
Max was the way to get Duolingo's best speaking practice: Video Call with Lily and scenario Roleplay on top of Super. That premium is disappearing. Video Call is moving into Super, new sign-ups have been offered only Super plans, and Duolingo's chief executive has said Max may be sunset.
Existing subscribers keep it for now, but no Max price is published on Duolingo's website. A new learner should look at Super, which now carries the feature Max was built around.
What we found
Duolingo Max is the top subscription tier of Duolingo, launched in March 2023 as Super Duolingo plus AI features. The launch post said the features ran on OpenAI's GPT-4, and that line has followed Max around ever since. It is now out of date. On the August 2026 earnings call, chief executive Luis von Ahn said the cost of a Video Call had fallen from about $0.30 to under a cent, mainly because of a move to open-source models.
That cost drop is unravelling the tier. Video Call, a spoken conversation with the animated character Lily, was the main reason Max existed, and Duolingo said in February it would move the feature into Super. By August most new Super subscribers had it. Asked what that means for Max, von Ahn said Duolingo did not yet know, that Max might keep unlimited calls while Super gets a limited number, and that "we may actually sunset Max". In mid-September a Motley Fool writer signing up found only Super, Super Family and Super Lite on offer. Existing Max subscribers can still pay for it.
The rest of the case for Max was Roleplay, scenario practice with feedback, which Duolingo's 10-K lists among its AI features beside Video Call and Explain My Answer. Duolingo has not published a Max price on its website, and Max does not appear among the in-app purchases on the US App Store listing, read 14 October 2026, which shows Super Duolingo from $9.99 to $119.99.
The parent business is large and growing: 140.6 million monthly active users and 12.7 million paid subscribers in the second quarter of 2026, after 2025 revenue of $1.04 billion. For a learner deciding now, the speaking practice that justified Max is moving into Super, so Super is the plan to evaluate, and anyone still on Max should check what their renewal will offer.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
Notable facts
- Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn also invented reCAPTCHA, which Google acquired in 2009 — meaning he has twice turned internet-wide human attention into infrastructure.
- Duolingo reached ~960 million cumulative downloads by 2024, making it the most-downloaded education app in history on both the App Store and Google Play.
- The original Duolingo app launched publicly on June 19, 2012 — the same date as the French Revolutionary calendar holiday Fête de la Liberté — a coincidence that delighted language nerds.
- Duolingo's viral marketing mascot Duo the owl has been the subject of countless internet memes about sending threatening reminders to users who miss daily streaks.
Frequently asked questions
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Duolingo Max's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Duolingo Max unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
For the latest details, please refer to Duolingo Max directly →
Spotted something out of date? Suggest an update →
Alternatives to Duolingo Max
More in Education
