Rosetta Stone vs Duolingo: What’s the Difference?

Rosetta Stone and Duolingo are popular websites for learning a language. They can help you advance to the intermediate level from the beginner level. Rosetta Stone Vs Duolingo is a ridiculous debate. Duolingo is a much better option for grasping a language’s basics. Once you gain that knowledge, you can use other resources to become an advanced learner.

About Rosetta Stone and Duolingo

Rosetta Stone is a good website known for the immersive experience it offers. Therefore, why am I recommending Duolingo instead of Rosetta Stone? Because Rosetta Stone costs a lot. The cost doesn’t justify the benefits you derive from the website.

You can pick better websites that help you advance to a lower advanced learner level for that same expense. On the other hand, you can learn any language for free on Duolingo. It delivers on its promise to help you advance to the intermediate level. Moreover, you must spend at least 30 minutes on Rosetta Stone daily to learn a language.

Duolingo helps you master a language with 10 – 15 minutes of daily practice. Remember neither website helps you completely master a language. Rosetta Stone is a website for beginners with a serious mindset, whereas Duolingo is for beginners who like a casual learning approach. 

Comparing Rosetta Stone vs Duolingo

When we study them in detail, you will see that Rosetta Stone has several good features. It has the potential to be better than Duolingo but falls short because of its much too expensive subscription plans. Duolingo has some great features but has its flaws, too. So, let’s take a look at them:

Content Quality

Both websites have high-quality content; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to hold their own against the competition. Rosetta Stone supporters say it offers more comprehensive content than Duolingo. However, Duolingo’s content quality is never questioned. 

If you ask ‘Is Rosetta Stone or Duolingo better?’ in this area, there is no clear answer. The only ones who complain about Duolingo don’t get the purpose of Duolingo or they don’t like its gamified approach. Duolingo is for beginners; almost everyone who uses it knows that. So, why trash-talk Duolingo for not helping you become an advanced learner? 

✅ Winner – Both

Learning Methods

Rosetta Stone relies on visual and auditory cues to help learn a language. Typically, in a lesson, four images are shown and you have to pick the image that matches the word displayed. The problem here is newbies have no idea what the word means. So, how can they choose the right ones? That’s right, you learn through trial and error initially.

Honestly, I would go mad if I was asked to learn in such a manner. I need to know what the word means. Duolingo lets you hover over the word to see the translation. Moreover, you can slow down the audio to understand what is being said in the listen and type learning method. Rosetta doesn’t provide personalized feedback, unlike Super Duolingo.

Rosetta Stone provides live lessons; however, you must have some experience before you can use them. It is not suitable for beginners, no matter what the website claims. The tutor will use a combination of English and the language you are learning. How can a rookie possibly understand what is being taught? Besides each session costs $14 or $19. Ugh!

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Practice Exercises

Rosetta Stone doesn’t help you improve your writing skills. It focuses on helping improve your listening and speaking practice. The problem is the speech recognition software is good but can be improved. One Quora user saw red when the software wouldn’t accept her input even though her Russian accent and pronunciation were on point.

She also said she would hesitate to recommend Rosetta Stone for learning complex languages.

Duolingo is spectacular and provides fantastic practice exercises. You will have plenty of practice to hone your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Of course, Duolingo’s speech recognition software, too, needs improvement. Otherwise, it is better than Rosetta Stone in every way.

In the Duolingo Vs Rosetta Stone battle, Duolingo shines with its practice exercises such as match and select, fill in the blank, multiple choice, word banks, speak & record, etc. 

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Customer Support

If you are using Duolingo, you can file bug reports, and they try to take care of it. However, getting a refund has been a messy experience for some people. Most people love Super Duolingo because they chose it after trying the free version. Therefore, this may not be a big issue. You can call them or email them to solve any problem.

Rosetta Stone is pretty much the same. People have faced refund issues here, too. So, there won’t be a winner in the Rosetta Stone versus Duolingo battle in this round. Almost all language-learning apps provide poor customer support. Getting hold of someone responsible is purely a game of chance, I guess.

✅ Winner – None

Pricing And Value For Money

Is Duolingo better than Rosetta Stone? Absolutely. The main reason why people are miffed with Rosetta Stone is because of its expensive subscription plans. Hey, if it works for you, go for it. However, the consensus is that the cost is too high.

The regular subscription pricing is as follows on Rosetta Stone: The 3-month plan costs $ 15.99/month, the annual plan costs $ 13.99, and the lifetime subscription is available for a one-time payment of $399. You can access all 25 languages taught if you choose the lifetime plan. However, it is only useful for polyglots.

Super Duolingo costs $12.99/month, and the annual plan costs $6.99. Try using the free version before opting to subscribe to Super Duolingo. Alternatively, you can use the Super Duooingo 14-day free trial. Because that way you won’t be caught off-guard by Duolingo’s teaching techniques. You will know for sure whether it suits your requirements.

The personalized feedback, focus on strengthening your weak areas, and unlimited hearts make Super Duolingo worth every penny.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Community

Is Duolingo or Rosetta Stone better at providing community support? Rosetta Stone’s community can help you understand a language better by chatting with fellow learners. Duolingo users use a dynamic discord server to interact.

✅ Winner – Both

User Interface

Now you may be wondering what’s better Duolingo or Rosetta Stone, especially when comparing their user interface. Duolingo has the upper hand with its sleek design, interactive characters, and excellent graphics. Rosetta Stone doesn’t stand a chance here. In fact, most websites can’t beat Duolingo’s user interface.

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Device Compatibility

Both websites are compatible with Windows and Macs. Androids and iOS support the app versions of these apps. So, you can use multiple devices to learn any language. Just remember to log in using the same way.

✅ Winner – Both

User Feedback

Is Rosetta Stone better than Duolingo? No, they both have loyal supporters and use different teaching techniques. So, you can’t say one website is better than the other based on common criteria. 

However, more people will prefer Rosetta Stone if it reduces the ridiculous pricing. Why subscribe to this website when Babbel, Mango Languages, or Memrise can do a better job of teaching you for similar prices?

✅ Winner – Duolingo

Who Should Use Rosetta Stone?

Those who don’t care about the expensive subscription plans and want to learn a language in a structured way may use Rosetta Stone. Usually, when people scratch their heads thinking whether they should use Duolingo or Rosetta Stone it is because they don’t know whether they want to have fun or study a language seriously.

You can choose Rosetta Stone if you already have some grasp of the language’s basics. That way, you can join live lessons, live group lessons, or one-on-one lessons to improve your language skills. Even then You can’t progress past the intermediate level.

Who Should Use Duolingo?

Duolingo is for anyone who wants to have fun when studying a language. Contrary to the popular belief that Duolingo does a poor job of honing your grammar skills, it helps you understand grammar implicitly. Duolingo’s teaching methods ensure you grasp the grammar rules. You merely need to keep practicing regularly.

Alternatives

Babbel, Mango Languages, Lingvist, and Memrise are popular alternative language-learning websites to Rosetta Stone and Duolingo. So, you can pick one of them instead of worrying about the Duolingo versus Rosetta Stone debate. Moreover, books, novels, short stories, and telenovelas are fantastic resources to aid in your language-learning journey. 

You can use Fluentu if you have a good understanding of the fundamentals and need to advance to further levels. Blogs, YouTube channels, and podcasts are also fantastic alternatives. Fluent in 3 months, Lindsay does Languages, Omniglot blog, and 5-minute Language are great blogs to learn a language.

Final Verdict

Pick Duolingo if you are an absolute beginner who likes having fun. It is also the only option if you love games. Choose Rosetta Stone if you are more serious-minded and require live tutoring. Of course, you must be ready to pay the extra cost per session in addition to the subscription price.

Alternatively, you can use both Duolingo and Rosetta Stone at the same time as they complement each other well. After all, Rosetta Stone Vs Duolingo is a never-ending battle. Ultimately, the choice depends on your personal preference and learning style.