Busuu vs Duolingo: Which is Better for Language Learning?

You must have heard about Busuu and Duolingo if you have been searching for a beginner-friendly website/app to learn a language.

Both offer free and premium versions. Therefore, which one is the right website for you?

Let’s see if Busuu vs Duolingo is a battle for the ages or if one website gets knocked out too quickly. 

About Busuu And Duolingo

Busuu is among the popular language-learning websites for beginners and lower-intermediate learners. It offers clear explanations when teaching you something new. Moreover, it quizzes you on the concepts and rules you learn to check how much you comprehend. You are not only asked to translate a sentence or choose the right spelling.

For example, it may show you a sentence and ask you whether the sentence is describing someone’s day. You have to pick true or false. The community will help you learn by correcting your practice exercises. The premium version provides more benefits and access to additional features.

Duolingo is the most popular app/website for learning a language, especially if you are a beginner. Its guidebook for every unit makes it easy to learn languages. Moreover, Duolingo is the best website for you if you want to learn to be fun and not dull. Its gamified teaching approach is what sets it apart from its competitors.

The match the words events it holds sometimes are fun, too. You have to be lightning quick and match the words in the language you are learning to the corresponding English word. The timer makes it feel like a game; the race against the clock gets your heart pumping with adrenaline. Duolingo proves learning something new doesn’t have to be boring and difficult.

Key Features Comparison

Let’s study in detail the free and paid versions of Duolingo and Busuu to determine which one is worth our while. Each website offers unique benefits. You will gradually know the answer to ‘Which is better Busuu or Duolingo?’ as we compare each feature and declare a winner. 

Content Quality

The content quality of both websites’ free versions is good. Duolingo has a minor edge over Busuu because of the limited content in the free version. However, Busuu has better content if you compare the paid versions. Busuu Premium unlocks grammar lessons, enabling you to construct sentences confidently. 

Super Duolingo doesn’t provide access to additional lessons though you can access other benefits. They are awesome, too. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get brownie points for that here, as we are discussing content quality. Duolingo’s deplorable lack of grammar explanation cost it this round in the Duolingo Vs Busuu battle.

✅ Winner – Busuu

Learning Methods

Using diverse learning methods is Duoingo’s forte. It helps you improve reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in the language you learn. Since it’s like playing a game, you assimilate everything you learn faster. You can match words, fill in the blanks, read stories, speak a sentence, and type what you hear to learn new words and phrases. 

If you ask ‘Is Busuu better than Duolingo?’, the answer is no. Busuu does have some good learning methods. You hear the natives speak and are asked to pick the right answer or word, match the right answer to the questions, speak a sentence, and spell out individual words to improve your language skills. However, it can’t hold a candle to Duoling in this area.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Practice Exercises

Reviewing new words or phrases you learned is simple in Duolingo. It even lets you cheat by hovering over a word if you are stymied and don’t recognize it. You can see the possible translations of the words when you hover over them. However, you can’t cheat in the final quiz of each section. 

After all, it tests you on everything you have learned in that section to give you a trophy if you pass. Busuu’s free version doesn’t offer much practice. On the other hand, Busuu Premium unlocks several quizzes to test your language comprehension and AI vocabulary review. Super Duolingo and Busuu Premium have something in common. 

They target your weak areas and help you strengthen them. Busuu goes a step further and lets you know when you will attain your learning objectives if you select how many minutes you can spend per day learning a language. You will feel motivated to practice harder when you see the end date. However, it can’t beat the comprehensive practice Duolingo provides.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Customer Support

Busuu’s customer support is better than the atrocious customer support Duolingo provides. However, people have varying experiences when they want to get a refund. You can’t get a direct refund from Busuu; a refund can be received only from Apple or Google Play after you cancel your subscription on the Busuu website.

Duolingo doesn’t provide much customer support. However, you can report bugs and the Duolingo team will address them based on the priority score given by the Report Quality Estimation Tool. That is Duolingo’s saving grace. Getting a refund can be a trying battle though. So, think well before subscribing to paid versions of both websites.

✅ Winner – Busuu

Pricing And Value For Money

Busuu Premium usually costs $13.95 per month. However, it currently costs $ 6.95 per month. It is worth subscribing to at the usual cost. So, don’t hesitate to subscribe to the Premium plan. You will gain cultural insights besides gaining access to all 14 languages taught in Busuu.

Super Duolingo’s monthly plan costs $ 12.99 per month and the annual plan costs $ 6.99 per month. Super Duolingo is worth subscribing to if you really love its learning methods, practice exercises, and interactive characters. You can opt for Busuu or other alternatives if you find Duolingo too gimmicky.

✅ Winner – Duolingo (because even the free version allows you to learn all 43 languages).

Community

Busuu has an excellent community. You can befriend native speakers to learn from them. Moreover, you can ask community members to correct your practice exercises and ensure their answers are right. However, this feature doesn’t always help you, as sometimes the right answers may be marked as incorrect. 

Still, it is nice to know you have a community to have your back when you need it. You probably heard good things (and some bad things, too) about Duolingo while asking how well it teaches you. However, if you ask ‘Is Busuu or Duolingo better at providing community support?’, the answer would be the former.

Duolingo only has an unofficial discord server for learners to connect. But, it isn’t the same as connecting with fellow learners on the same website or app, is it?

✅ Winner – Busuu

User Interface

Busuu’s UI is good; it doesn’t put you off learning. You can smoothly navigate the website or app. Duolingo has a stunning user interface. You will fall in love with it the second you start learning a language. You won’t have trouble navigating the website or app. The interactive characters in Duolingo jump for joy when you complete a chapter in each section.

The owl’s enthusiasm is infectious, and you can’t help but stay on the website far longer than you intended. I spent an hour on the app even though I only planned on using it for 10 minutes. I was on fire and getting all the answers right. I was fully immersed in the app until my sister asked me what game was making me grin like a maniac.

So, if you ask me ‘Which website’s UI is better – Busuu or Duolingo?’, it’s Duolingo. It’s almost like having a gaming system instead of a language-learning app. So, you can understand why interacting with this website or app is so fun.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Device Compatibility

Busuu web version is compatible with Windows and MacOS, as long as you use supported browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. All devices you use will be automatically synched. You don’t have to be worried about losing progress. The app version is compatible with Android 9 and up and iOS 15.0 onward.

Duolingo web version is compatible with Windows 10 onward, macOS 12.0 or later, and mobile web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. The app version is compatible with Android 10 and up and iOS 15.0 onward. You can use any device or multiple devices if you want as synching won’t be a problem. 

✅ Winner – Duolingo (because of its mobile-friendly web version).

User Feedback

Busuu free version doesn’t get much love, and I am with those suffering souls that criticize it. I can deal with the limited content, but what makes me fume is it makes us watch an ad to unlock every lesson. A lesson lasts for about 3 minutes. Therefore, imagine how irritating it will be to watch an ad every 3 minutes. Fortunately, the ads are for only 10 – 15 seconds.

Busuu Premium is a fantastic option for improving conversational skills and learning essential grammar rules. Duolingo is an amazing choice whether you pick the free or paid version. You get unlimited hearts if you choose Super Duolingo, whereas the free version only offers 5 hearts daily.

Therefore, Duolingo is better if you are wondering ‘Which is better Duolingo or Busuu?’. Not only do you not have to deal with ads every 3 minutes, but you also have a blast learning using this website or app.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Language Variety

Duolingo is the victor when comparing the variety of languages taught. Duolingo has 43 languages for you to learn, whereas Busuu only has 14 languages. However, wider variety doesn’t always mean all languages have high-quality content. So, let’s check out a few languages and how these websites fare in teaching them:

Busuu Vs Duolingo Japanese

Surprisingly, neither Busuu nor Duolingo seem to be people’s choice for learning Japanese. Anki, Italki, Human Japanese, and JapanesePod101 are the favorites. So, perhaps, it is better to stick to the popular opinion and avoid Busuu and Duolingo for learning Japanese – a complicated language. 

Busuu Vs Duolingo French

Busuu is preferable to Duolingo if you want to learn French. Duolingo is at a disadvantage because it doesn’t recognize the numerous alternative ways to express yourself. You have to follow whatever is taught even if it is an unnatural manner of speaking. 

Busuu’s fantastic grammar explanations and tenancy to teach sentences used in everyday conversations make it a better choice. However, some complain that it has trouble recognizing their microphone and has limited review material.

Busuu Vs Duolingo German

Duolingo is the favorite language-learning app for beginners. It teaches German in bite-sized fun-filled lessons that make you want to stay and learn for a longer period than you can afford to spend. On the other hand, Busuu’s tedious practice exercises can make learning German dull.

Busuu Vs Duolingo Spanish

Duolingo scores again; it is preferable to Busuu if you want to learn Spanish. I have been using Busuu’s free version to learn Spanish, and I feel Duolingo’s teaching methods are better. It’s not that Busuu is bad, Duolingo is more suitable. That’s all.

✅ Winner – Duolingo (because its free version is almost as good as Busuu Premium).

Who Should Use Busuu?

Grammar explanation is the only chink in Duolingo’s armor. Otherwise, the free version of Duolingo can beat almost any website or app available to learn a language. Therefore, anyone who needs crisp and clear grammar rules explanation can use Busuu. You will find it refreshing. Busuu Premium is a whole lot better than the free version. So, stick to it.

Who Should Use Duolingo?

Anyone with a penchant for a gamified approach to learning can use Duolingo. The free version is fabulous. However, Super Duolingo will be more suitable if you are serious about improving the language areas you haven’t quite grasped yet. Duolingo is ideal for those who lead a busy life because it has a way of teaching you faster than other apps.

Alternatives

Websites like Memrise, Babbel, and Mango Languages are popular alternatives to Duolingo and Busuu. You can also subscribe to YouTube channels recommended in Reddit or Quora for the specific language you are trying to master. Blogs, podcasts, and telenovelas are excellent alternative resources. 

Textbooks are also fantastic alternatives depending on your learning level. You have to do intense research before choosing a particular channel, website, textbook, podcast, etc. Don’t stick to only one website or YouTube channel. Find the right mix of alternative resources to speed up your learning journey.

Final Thoughts

Pick Busuu if you prefer structured learning paths, need grammar explanations, and love gaining cultural insights.

Duolingo is the one for you if you want language learning to be exciting and stress-free. Both websites/apps are for beginners. However, Duolingo emerges as the winner because its free version is better than most language learning websites.

Busuu doesn’t make the cut in the Busuu Vs Duolingo battle even though its premium plan is good because people don’t always need grammar explanations to grasp a language’s fundamentals. I have been using Duolingo’s free version for learning Italian, and I had no trouble figuring out the rules while having fun at the same time.