Yalango vs Duolingo
Duolingo is a polished, gamified course that tells you what to learn next. Yalango is where you keep and review the words you meet outside the course - in class, books, shows and conversations. Many learners use both.
How they compare
Details about Duolingo are kept general because products change - check Duolingo directly for current plans and features.
| Feature | Yalango | Duolingo |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | A workspace for your own material: decks, tables, texts, notebooks and public content from other learners. | A guided course with short lessons and a set path. |
| Price | Free plan with generous limits. Premium is optional. | Free with limits and a paid subscription. Check Duolingo for current plans. |
| Languages | 180+ languages, with a source and target language on every deck. | A curated set of languages with courses built by Duolingo. Check its app for the current list. |
| Your own vocabulary | Create decks, import from Anki, Quizlet or CSV, and save words while reading or watching YouTube. | Learning follows its lessons. Check Duolingo for current options to add your own words. |
| Spaced repetition | Automatic, with a daily queue and 8 mastery levels that track every word across all games. | Practice is built around its lessons and review. Check Duolingo for details. |
| Motivation | Daily goals, streaks, stars and a leaderboard, plus practice games such as quiz, memory, hangman and cloze. | Famous for streaks, leagues and bite-sized lessons that are easy to keep up. |
| Reading and listening | Click-to-translate reading for any text, YouTube study with a translate panel and sentence-by-sentence text study. | Stories and listening exercises inside the course. |
| Notes and grammar | Grammar tables and private notebooks that embed decks, tables, texts and PDFs. | Short grammar tips inside lessons. |
| Automation and AI | REST API with an OpenAPI schema and an MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor, free on every account. | Check Duolingo for current integrations. |
Pick the one that matches how you study
Choose Yalango if you want
- To study vocabulary from your class, textbook, shows or tutor
- A language that is not covered by a course app
- Reading, notebooks and tables next to your flashcards
- Control over what you learn and the order you learn it in
- To let an AI assistant build decks and notebooks for you
Choose Duolingo if you want
- A guided path from zero with lessons chosen for you
- Short daily lessons that are easy to start
- A strong social and league system
- A polished app for one of its supported languages
You do not have to choose forever - Yalango imports your existing decks, so trying it costs you nothing. See the reading tool with click-to-translate
Frequently asked questions
Is Yalango an alternative to Duolingo?
Partly. Duolingo is a guided course, while Yalango is a place to study your own vocabulary and reading material. If you want to choose what you learn, Yalango can replace it. If you want a set path, they work well together.
Can I use Yalango alongside Duolingo?
Yes. Add the words you want to remember from lessons, books and videos to a Yalango deck and let spaced repetition bring them back.
Does Yalango cover languages Duolingo does not?
Yalango supports 180+ languages, so you can make decks for languages without a course app. Check each app for its current language list.
Is Yalango free?
Yes. The free plan includes spaced repetition, the practice games, imports and progress tracking. Premium is optional and mainly lifts creation limits and adds audio features.
Try Yalango alongside Duolingo
Free account. Import your decks and see which feels better.