COMPARE · LANGUAGE-LEARNING APPS

Carna vs Duolingo

Duolingo is the gamified app that gets you started; Carna runs A1 to C2 and scores eight skills.

Where Carna falls short, its column says so

The short answer The rows of the table below that decide between Duolingo and Carna.
Question Duolingo Carna
Use Duolingo when you want to dabble in several languages and start free.
Free tier, no credit card Duolingo: All courses are freeCarna: The app will open with a free plan Yes No
Use Carna when English is the one language you mean to take far, with eight skills scored on one path from A1 to C2.
All eight skills No Yes
Full A1 to C2 curriculum No Yes

See all 8 rows Checked May 2026; free plan and price on 27 September 2026

IN SHORT

Duolingo and Carna, in short.

What is Duolingo good for?

Duolingo is built for a daily habit: short, game-like lessons with streaks, in many languages. Every course is free, with pronunciation feedback and a path that adapts as you go.

Free
All courses
Paid, from
Super from $9.99 a month (US App Store)

Checked on 27 September 2026 on duolingo.com/super.

How is Carna different from Duolingo?

Carna teaches English only, on one path from A1 to C2, and scores eight skills from 0 to 100 along it. Where Duolingo's column has no conversation practice or writing evaluation, the Carna app, which is in early access, has live speaking practice with Mia, its AI tutor, and writing scored by AI on four criteria. Duolingo is open to anyone for free today; the Carna app is in early access, and it will open with a free plan.

— SIDE BY SIDE

Feature by feature.

The same questions, asked of Duolingo and of Carna.

Carna and Duolingo, feature by feature, checked May 2026
Feature Duolingo Carna
What you learn
All eight skills No Yes
Full A1 to C2 curriculum No Yes
Real conversation practice No Yes . Live speaking practice with Mia, the AI tutor
Pronunciation feedback Yes Yes . Scored from your own voice, one of eight skills
Essay & writing evaluation No Yes . Writing scored by AI on four criteria
Adaptive learning path Yes Yes . Each day's plan picked from your answers
IELTS / TOEFL exam prep No Partly . An IELTS band on a practice grading, not a course
How you get it
Free tier, no credit card Yes . All courses are free No . The app will open with a free plan

Checked ; free plan and price on 27 September 2026

The Duolingo column reflects the plans and features Duolingo publishes. Products change quickly: check Duolingo's own site for the latest, and read how this comparison was built in the questions below.

Running in schools today

A level on every step.

A course app runs you through its sequence; Carna's runs from A1 to C2 and says where each step sits. In Carna for Schools, which runs today, every module a student is assigned wears its CEFR level and the list runs soonest due first, so the climb is visible one module at a time.

A student's Learn screen in Carna for Schools: the assigned modules, each with its CEFR level and the skills it works on, sorted by due date. Carna School London is a sample school; the names, courses, levels and scores are demo data.

FAQ

Common questions.

Straight answers about Duolingo and Carna, including how this comparison was built and what the individual tutor cannot do yet.

Does Carna do everything Duolingo does?

No, and the table says where. Duolingo is free to start and teaches many languages; Carna teaches English only, and its app, in early access now, will open with a free plan. What Carna does is take one language far: a levelled path from A1 to C2 with eight skills scored along it and, in the Carna app, each day's plan picked from your answers.

Can I sign up for Carna the way I can for Duolingo?

Not yet. Duolingo is open to anyone; the Carna app is in early access, so the early-access list is the way in, and joining it is free. The app will open with a free plan, and schools and teams run on Carna today.

Will Carna take me past the intermediate plateau Duolingo leaves me at?

Carna's material runs from A1 to C2 in eight stages, so there are levels past B1 to work on, and the same eight skills are scored at every one of them. The individual tutor is not open yet: the early-access list is how you hear when it is.

How did you check the Duolingo column?

The Duolingo column reflects the plans and features Duolingo publishes, as we checked them in May 2026. Its free plan and prices were checked again on 27 September 2026, on duolingo.com/super. Carna's column is held to the same standard as the Duolingo column, so where it falls short, it says so. "Partly" means a feature exists with a limit, and the limit is named under the row. Products change quickly, so check duolingo.com for the latest.

EARLY ACCESS

Get in first.

The Carna app is in early access: no individual sign-up yet, and it will open with a free plan. Leave your name on the early-access list, free to join, and we write once, when your place opens.