How Much Does Duolingo like App Development Cost?

Introduction

“I can speak French”; “I can speak Spanish”

“Quel est votre nom?”; “Mi nombre es Arish”

Being able to speak a language apart from your native tongue, definitely adds an exotic appeal to your personality.

As a multilingual…

• You have an entirely different vocabulary to play with.
• You can communicate with the people living on the opposite side of the world.
• Maybe you get to date a French woman or an Indian guy, which otherwise would have not been possible, if you didn’t share a common medium of communication.

“Knowing an extra language adds so many new possibilities in your day to day life, be it studying abroad or simply being able to pronounce those tongue twisting French wine names in that fancy restaurant.”

But what about the process of acquiring a new tongue?

Well we know it is not a piece of cake…

especially if you are encountering a new language for the first time, for things like “lack of time”,& “no people to practice with”…cause several new language learners to give up mid-way, but with the arrival of

E-learning platforms, language learning was revolutionized.

Some popular language learning apps

What are the benefits of e-learning apps?

• Now you can learn at your own pace.
• At the time you choose.
• You have digital companions to practice with, 24×7.

“Okay I get it, online learning is better in every sense…but which platform should I choose? There are way too many of them…& all seem pretty good to me.”

“Hmm..let’s see what Google says..”

Yeah..as expected it is the “Green bird Duolingo..!”

Also Read:-Key Steps to Designing and Building a Mobile App

Why is Duolingo the best online language learning platform?

Well, not only because Google says so, for Duolingo was estimated to be valued anywhere around $2.4 Billion Dollars in 2020 with an astounding user base of 500 million registered users!

The platform offers 95 different courses in 38 different languages.

Duolingo also generated around $161 million dollars in revenue, in the year 2020.

So Yeah…I think it is safe to say that Duolingo is currently at the pinnacle of online language learning platforms.

What are the steps to build a Duolingo like app?

To develop a language learning app like Duolingo, follow these steps:

Step 1: Gamify

• Make the interface more like a game.
• Introduce levels, targets & competition.
• People love collecting achievements & rewards.
• Give personalized tips on how to perform better.
• Make the UI/UX interactive.
• Overall, make the entire process fun for the user.

Step 2: Simplify the interface.

• The app should be easy to use.
• The user should at no point feel lost.
• The app should constantly guide the user.
• Duolingo smartly uses its owl to help learners maneuver through the various stages of learning.
• The user should have easy access to the app assistant or a real-time chat box.

Step 3: Make it platform independent.

Your app should be supported on both Android & iOS platforms.

• You can either choose to develop them separately in different languages, or you can use React Native to develop a single, platform independent application.
• This way you’ll be able to grab a larger subscription base.

Step 4: Add Social Network integration.

• Simplify the registration process.
• Take Social Networks such as Google & Facebook for quick & effortless registration.
• Make the registration process as short as possible & as simple as possible.
• Those lengthy registration forms often result in potential users losing interest & leaving the form altogether.

Step 5: Add Push Notifications.

• Make sure the learners don’t leave your platform.
• Integrate Push notifications in your app to turn them back to their course.
• Use short personalized messages to grab hold of their attention.
• Use daily/weekly/monthly reminders to keep the learners engaged with the app.

Step 6:

• Voice recognition is a must have feature for any language learning app.
• Integrate artificial intelligence to deliver better user experience.
• This is where the scope of improvement is huge for any language learning application.

What are the Tools Required?

Before making cost predictions for a Duolingo like app, you need to first equip yourself with all the required technological arsenal.

• For Front-end Development

• For Back-End Development

• For UI/UX

• For Database

• For Real-time Analytics

• For Cloud Storage

How long will it take to develop a Duolingo-like app?

Considering all the important factors, the time period is estimated to be anywhere between 47 to 77 weeks or roughly around 11 months to 1.4 years.

How much will it cost exactly?

Estimating the exact cost of a Duolingo like app is not practically possible, because, the cost of development depends on various factors such as:

• Expertise of the developer.
• Methodology the software team uses.
• Geographical location.
• Features included, & the overall complexity of the app.

But if we work with hypothetical figures, by taking an average development rate of $50 Dollars per/hour then we can predict a figure based of the cost breakdown below:

Stagewise Cost Breakdown:

The total cost is estimated to be anywhere between $96,000 to 157,000 for a Duolingo like app. Still, this figure is simply an estimation & you should consult your development company before settling on the final cost.

Other factors that influence the cost of development of a Duolingo like app.

1. Platform:

• The cost of development varies depending upon the platform you are targeting.
• The cost increases if you choose to develop 2 different versions of the same app for both Android & iOS.
• Or you can choose to build your application on React Native, this way you can target both platforms at the price of one.

2. Front End Development:

• Several frontend languages are open source & free to use, such as React Native.
• But some charge a fee to use, like Microsoft’s VB.net.
• Cost of frontend development depends highly upon the language you choose for the same.

3. Back End Development:

• Factors such as languages, frameworks used & hosting servers add to the cost of development.
• Node.js costs less when compared to Java’s.
• Similarly Microservices cost higher but come with better, futuristic features.

4. Designing:

• Vagueness in what exactly to want can lengthen the design process.
• Time & research involved in creating a platform-perfect design is also an influencing factor.

5. Testing:

• It is one of the factors that influence the overall cost of the project.
• Testing is a very important stage in app development.
• This ensures overall quality of the application.
• The cost can vary largely depending upon the number loops or the testing rounds required.

Few takeaways from Duolingo.

These are the few reasons why Duolingo is so successful:

• The UI/UX is clean & perfectly placed.
• The user is constantly assisted by the Duolingo owl, which helps the user navigate through the interface.
• The owl also acts as a visual motivator, for the positive & sweetly negative feedback it gives motivates the user to perform better & stay on track.
• The learning process at Duolingo is highly interactive, & features like speaking tests take it to the next level for a holistic E-learning application.
• A well strategized syllabus of every language makes Duolingo a complete application for beginners & intermediate learners.
• Rewards & a constant track of progress motivates learners to “Do more”
• The application feels more like a game & less like a boring educational application.

What can you do to stand out?

To stand-out from the competition you need to:

• Integrate a real time chat box which is able to interact with the user in real time using AI, in more than one language.
• Secondly & most importantly you need to integrate a flawless voice recognition system into the application.

“For you don’t want your application to fail in distinguishing between terms like ‘Sit’ & ‘S#it’.”

This also holds an opportunity for you as the voice recognition features of such applications are still far from perfect, and are still maturing with time & technology.

An application with a better voice recognition technology from the rest will not only help you stand out from the already existing competition, but it will also be a strong propelling force for your application’s overall popularity.

Conclusion

The right answer to the question “How Much Does Duolingo Like App Development Cost?” is “It depends.”

It depends on the various cost influencing factors as discussed above. Still, you can expect it to be around the rough estimate that we came up with, through market research & our past experiences in the app development industry. We also discussed various opportunities for developers who are looking forward to developing a Duolingo-like app, such as, scope for improvement in real time chat box & Voice recognition technology.

After reading this blog, you can expect to have developed a better understanding on what goes into developing a Duolingo-like app & also about the factors that influence its overall cost.