The Ultimate Guide to Developing an App Like Duolingo

In the age of modern technologies and the internet, individuals want to learn new things quickly, whether it’s a language or new skills. The world is fascinated with almost everything nowadays, so mobile apps are crucial. Furthermore, you do not need to be enrolled in any college to learn the language spoken in your country.

Mobile apps like Duolingo make it easy to learn an entirely new language. Mobile applications aim to bring people together. Many programs are accessible on the App Store to aid you in learning a language you want to know in your native language.

Since the market is expanding rapidly, competition to be the market leader is escalating. Numerous apps for learning languages on smartphones have proved to be the dominant players in the market. However, the market leader is Duolingo.

What is Duolingo?

Duolingo is a popular language learning platform with over 300,000 users and the highest-rated educational app in the world. Its principal goal is to make education more accessible by offering it free.

The application is entirely accessible for free and is data-friendly, offering rapid progress in the acquisition of languages. With various games and exercises, Duolingo facilitates the mastery of more than thirty languages. It is notable for its unique method of learning, which makes learning fun with engaging lessons and games and transforms how people learn new language abilities.

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Why Invest in Creating Language Learning Apps such as Duolingo?

The global e-learning market is booming, with projections estimating it will reach $648.6 billion by 2030. Statista further predicts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.48% for the online education market between 2023 and 2027, expanding to $239.3 billion. Complementing this trend, Technavio’s 2023-2028 study forecasts a $4.18 billion increase in demand for educational apps at a CAGR of 11.78%. By 2026, the global online education market is expected to hit $400 billion, underscoring the immense growth potential of this sector.

Language learning apps, such as Duolingo, are a standout success story in this market. As of January 2024, Duolingo generated $37.8 million through in-app purchases, establishing itself as the top-performing language learning app. Its freemium-based model provides free access while securing substantial revenue streams, making it a prime example of profitability and user engagement.

Developing a language learning app like Duolingo offers several compelling advantages:

Global Reach: These apps appeal to a vast international audience, enabling rapid user acquisition and market expansion.

Revenue Potential: Subscriptions and in-app purchases create diverse and sustainable income streams.

Market Demand: The language learning market mirrors the broader e-learning industry’s growth, presenting significant opportunities for revenue and innovation.

Educational Impact: Such apps improve global access to quality language education, addressing educational disparities.

Operational Efficiency: They offer cost-effective and scalable solutions, enhancing user experiences with engaging, data-driven features.

By adopting Duolingo’s proven strategies—such as gamification and user-centric design—businesses can create apps that attract users, maximize retention, and secure financial success. With the e-learning industry’s upward trajectory, now is the ideal time to invest in developing a language learning app that captures the growing demand for accessible, innovative education solutions.

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Features of an Educational App Like Duolingo

Utilize the components listed below to make your program to learn languages distinguish itself from thousands of other programs.

1. Register

The most important feature is this: Enrollment is kept simple, similar to the Duolingo online learning application. Social media is also employed to make enrollment quick and simple.

2. Manage Profile

Users can manage their profiles using this app and monitor their online assignments and other tasks. Users can also save tutorial videos and lectures to be edited later.

3. Select Your Language

If you allow this feature, users can choose which language they would like to learn with the program for language learning. The length and degree of difficulty for the program to master can also be a choice for users. You should incorporate it in your key features to ensure that people of all ages can benefit from your program.

4. Choose Courses

You can integrate this feature or create it as a separate feature to provide a more enjoyable user experience. Using this option, users can sign up for online language classes according to their budget.

5. Test Online to See your Score.

Experts from the most reputable education app development company will add this feature to enhance the user experience of your software. Users can conduct online revising exams to examine their performance and increase their skills. They can identify weak areas and make the necessary modifications.

6. Present a Certificate

Give the students an award to increase the credibility and legitimacy of the language program. To award certificates to competent people, all you have to do is collaborate with other institutions to collaborate. If you can make your software easier to use, this will help in building confidence among consumers. Choose from the top educational software providers; experts can help you with this.

7. Making a Payment

Everybody prefers an app that allows users to pay using a safe and easy process. This is why, when creating educational apps, it is essential to include various payment options that allow users to pay with any method. This crucial feature will earn your users’ trust quickly and ensure they will continue to utilize your application over an extended period.

8. Support and Help

Educational apps are similar to any other app in that they must have the ability to support and assist users. Therefore, ensure that you include this feature when creating an app for language learning, like Duolingo. If you add this feature, users can quickly get answers to questions concerning courses, services, or payment, among other things.

9. Gamification

Integrate gamification into your application to make language learning more fun and stand out from the competition. It will attract consumers’ interest and help make learning more enjoyable. The most appealing thing is that adults can use the app and be faithful to it, and so will youngsters who love the app.

Several factors are vital to the Duolingo-like app in learning languages. Once you’ve got an idea of the feature you’d like to add to your app, you can begin to develop the feature. It is best to consult experts from an educational app development company if you’re not skilled enough. This is to ensure that your app is running for a long time. You may also ask about their maintenance plan for educational apps.

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How to Develop Language Learning Apps like Duolingo?

To create apps like Duolingo, you must adhere to the steps below in detail. These steps and some tips will help the app develop in the language area and keep it running at a high rate.

1. Create your Unique Learning App Concept

When creating an app for learning languages, such as Duolingo, it is essential to start from the beginning. Sketch out your idea for the app and then create the wireframe.

It starts with market research before listing the features, budget, features, platforms, design aspects, and more of the app. Planning the process ahead of time helps clarify the ideas. This means you won’t lose anything later and can manage the project effectively.

2. Join Forces with Teachers or Experts in the Language

The principal characters in educational app development like Duolingo are experts in language and teachers. The app’s main product is the program you provide to students. Therefore, the assistance of teachers is essential when it comes to framing and recording lessons. You must find and submit proposals to various professionals in languages. Then, you can shortlist the applicants and schedule an interview. Additionally, it allows you to present your business concepts and request collaboration.

3. Pick a Relevant Tech Stack.

Your tech stack will follow the same based on the platform you select. If you choose iOS, using Objective-C or Swift to create iOS apps is required. For Android app development, you use Kotlin or Java languages.

In addition, the most sought-after cross-platform option is Flutter. It’s a cost-effective solution and the best solution for creating industry-specific incredible apps, as evidenced by the success of Google Pay, which was built with Flutter. Google Classroom, an e-learning platform, has also shifted to Flutter. You can benefit from the Flutter SDK by creating apps like Duolingo.

4. Hire an App Development Team

The next step is to start hiring experts in app development. The project will require an entire development team, including designers, developers, testers, business analysts, and project supervisors. Therefore, you’ll be at peace with the whole professional team. An exclusive model can significantly reduce the expense of building an app like Duolingo.

5. Fabricate App Design

Once you’ve hired the team, begin the design stage of your app. Talking with the team responsible for app development and creating a user-friendly and appealing app is essential. Your app for learning should incorporate modern-day UI/UX components to provide easy app navigation.

6. Build MVP app

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) procedure for app development that is fully-fledged. It lets you integrate the most basic functions to test your app concept. Make sure you have a striking MVP that will attract the attention of investors, too.

7. Test and Launch your app

Conduct a quality test of the app and then debug the bugs. After the app’s deployment, users can access the app with improved performance. In addition, you can launch the app using the selected platforms.

8. Maintain and Upgrade your app.

To increase visibility, you should upgrade your app to include advanced features and the latest technology developments. In addition, keeping up the quality of your app’s language learning capabilities is essential to retain customers and add new features. To better understand the importance of features you should incorporate into your app, read the following list.

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How Much Does It Cost to Build a Language Learning App Like Duolingo?

As you can see, launching an app for learning languages like Duolingo and Memrise needs a budget. The more money you have, the more sophisticated features you can provide. If you’re limited by cash, you should start with your MVP model.

But we’re talking about Duolingo’s mobile service. What’s the price of creating a language application similar to Duolingo? Let’s find out!

1. Design

The design stage comprises:

UI research and UX Map. In the initial phase, we try to find the UI concept. That is, we determine the style, theme, and color palette, as well as other crucial aspects of the interface to come. Furthermore, designers must create a UX map to evaluate the ease of using the application.

Designing the logo. Typically, our designers present various logos so that the user can pick the one that best suits their needs.

The development of application screens. Now, we’re discussing the most important step in the design process, and it demands the greatest attention because there are so many screens.

It is common for the designing phase to be about 200 hours long, and just 40-50 hours of that time is spent creating a UX Map, designing a logo, and doing UI research. The majority of time is spent developing each screen for the app.

To develop an app that teaches languages like Duolingo (with the appearance of the same sophistication), it is necessary to spend between $5,000 and $7,000.

2. Development

Development of a language app involves the steps listed below:

iOS, Android development. In the ideal scenario, your language learning program is compatible with various devices.

• Backend development.
• Engineering for QA to test the product
• The language application.

Developing a language application phase takes around 1000 hours ($25,000-35,000).

The prices listed above are based on $35 per hour, which is typically requested by IT specialists from Eastern Europe ($35-56 per hour). Of course, if you prefer firms from other countries, the cost could rise several times (since the cost of American or West European developers is prohibitive and often exceeds $150 per hour).

Remember that all these calculations depend on the Duolingo feature. The price will differ if you plan to develop an app for learning languages independently. The cost will depend on the app’s concept, complexity level, number of supported platforms, and design style.

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Things to consider regarding the cost of the Duolingo App

It is challenging to create apps like Duolingo. Duolingo app prices can differ depending on several factors. Let’s examine in depth the major factors that influence the price of developing an app comparable to Duolingo.

1. App System

The choice of platform, which includes Android, iOS, or both, significantly affects the price of Duolingo. Each platform comes with its own technology set, and each has unique issues. Development for both platforms will generally cost more due to the greater growth and testing requirements. Numerous companies provide developing mobile applications with custom services, allowing specific solutions to their clients.

2. Frontend Development

The process for frontend development involves establishing the layout of UX (UI) together with UX design. The Cost to develop an app in Canada depends on whether you opt for open-source or paid programming and software development environments. The possibility of modifying your application and the price of licensing-specific tools may impact the price.

3. Backend Development

The backend infrastructure of any business that develops E-learning applications is an expense that includes programming frameworks and languages, in addition to hosting servers. Although initially costly, Microservices architecture can provide longer-term, more sophisticated benefits. The choice between technologies like Node.js and Java can also affect the cost. You can also save money by hosting the backend yourself.

4. Design Process

Design is an essential element in the user’s involvement. The price of Duolingo could differ based on the design tools, animations of components, and other factors. Certain companies charge additional charges for user personas, UX research, and mapping out the user’s journey. Picking an app development company that provides these services at no extra charge is cost-effective.

5. Quality Assurance

Ensuring the app’s quality is maintained through testing and fixing bugs is essential. Methods and tools, along with the regularity of testing, increase costs. The durability of QA methods is crucial to ensuring the app is reliable—software for learning languages. The result is that using mobile application development services is a great way to assure the quality of your application if they are mindful of the budget set for the project.

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Features and Functionality

The range and quality of features directly impact Duolingo’s pricing for apps. Here are the most popular features offered by Duolingo

• Language and course selection
• Questions and lessons that are made gamified
• Monitoring progress and accomplishments
• Features for community and sharing with friends

Models of Subscription and Purchases in the app

Here are some popular subscription models and in-app purchases, check it out below.

1. Offline Mode

Recognition of speech and feedback about pronunciation

Each feature needs time and resources to develop, impacting Duolingo’s total cost.

2. Content Creation

Duolingo app development demands a huge collection of materials for learning languages, which includes exercises, lessons, and multimedia elements, which could increase the price. Quality content is essential for ensuring user engagement and retention.

3. Maintenance and Updates

Updates, regular maintenance, and continuous support are essential for the long-term viability of your application. It is crucial to include post-launch costs to create a durable platform for learning languages. However, it may increase the cost of a language-learning app.

4. Monetization Strategy

Choosing a monetization method, such as subscription packages, purchase advertising, or subscription plans, could affect the revenue generated and the general financial well-being of your app. It is also possible to employ mobile app developers to get better results.

5. Legal and Compliance

Compliance with privacy laws, regulations, and copyright issues could incur legal costs. Therefore, it is vital to ensure that your application conforms to the rules that must be adhered to.

6. Team Expertise

The expertise and experience of your development team affect the cost. Finding a skilled and experienced team of Android development experts could cost you extra, but it can result in a more refined and well-featured application.

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Beneficial Business Model of an App Like Duolingo

Here are a few typical ways that language learning apps like Duolingo can earn a profit. This will help you learn how to make money from educational apps.

1. Freemium Model

A freemium model permits applications to be downloaded at no cost and use certain free services. To upgrade to premium versions, the app charges a one-time premium fee. This allows users to gain access to services that are only available to premium users in the application.

2. In-app Purchases

The most common and highest source of revenue is when customers purchase courses on your app. Your company generates the most significant revenue when students enroll in the course and purchase study materials from your education app. Therefore, designing and launching quality-driven courses and educational materials in your app is essential. Positive reviews and ratings can boost the number of people who use your app.

3. Subscriptions

The subscription-based business model was first introduced using trial features. Then, users could subscribe to services. Users must pay monthly or annual subscription fees to continue using the service. This is an efficient way to ensure that your customers are kept for a more extended period.

4. Advertising Campaigns

The ability to run advertising campaigns through your app is an extra source of income. As your app develops and develops a brand recognition business, other businesses will contact you to promote their services. Therefore, you could earn money through commissions.

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Tips And Strategies To Make Your Education App Successful

To stay ahead of your competition in the market, You must be more than just offering basics of features and functionality. Duolingo is an app that incorporates different modern features that don’t only entice but also increase user involvement. In addition, there are some ways to learn how to develop a language-learning application.

Here are some of the best strategies as well as strategies to boost your chances of success:

1. Pay Attention to App’s Accessibility

Duolingo apps offer a complete app structure but don’t make users uncomfortable with its complex features. There’s a myriad of learning and language courses for which they’ve cleverly created this app for education that is simple and accessible.

Therefore, the best approach is to concentrate on the UI/UX concept behind your app and steer clear of overly graphic decoration. Use a straightforward approach to simplify the task and design an intuitive and clean interface.

2. Make The Learning Process Enjoyable With Gamification!

E-learning apps like Duolingo offer all the benefits of gamification and make the entire learning process extremely engaging. Learning is based on solving puzzles or quizzes and earning points with each successful completion.

If you want to develop apps like Duolingo, start gaming at every stage to ensure its instant success.

3. Leveraging Personalized Push Notifications

Utilizing a push notification feature in your application can be an excellent way to increase conversions. Duolingo has recognized this strategy and introduced a variety of push notification options into its application. The app has used this method to remind users of their weekly, daily, and monthly educational goals and to encourage them to take a different course by providing them with a personalized learning experience.

4. Integration Voice Recognition

Did you realize that in 2045, the majority of people will have access to information via voice commands? If you’d like to ensure that your app is ahead of the curve in technology, it is worth considering ways to incorporate Voice Recognition in your app to provide a more enjoyable user experience. Duolingo is a similar education app that provides users with a pleasant experience because it has been included with the most up-to-date technology-based stacks.

Conclusion

The demand for app development companies like Techugo specializing in e-learning continues to grow, and numerous applications are emerging as leading players, including language learning apps like Duolingo, stand out. If businesses are contemplating creating and expanding a flourishing E-learning platform, it’s essential to consider the fundamental aspects, features, and revenue generation strategies mentioned in the past.

Incorporating these elements in their software, companies could create an extremely efficient educational application that is a hit with users and generates the sales and revenue they desire.

In today’s competitive world, an organized mobile app development company in Canada for language e-learning will provide a satisfying and enjoyable learning experience that encourages user engagement and builds loyalty.

Additionally, by using clever monetization strategies, companies can ensure the longevity and financial viability of their e-learning venture. A complete approach that combines high-quality content, exciting features, and effective monetization is the recipe for success in today’s dynamic world of language learning apps and online learning platforms.

Get in touch with us today to discuss your ideas and how we can help you develop apps like Duolingo that engage and inspire learners!