I’m finally quitting Duolingo after the latest controversial change

It’s no secret that I have been frustrated with the experience Duolingo offers. A few months back, I considered why it might be time to ditch my Duolingo streak. However, I clung onto my streak as the app’s mascot pestered me and I grappled with letting go of what felt like an achievement.

However, now over 700 days into my streak, I’m finally quitting Duolingo due to the app’s introduction of a new energy system.

As long as I can remember, Duolingo has used the hearts feature for free users. The system granted you five hearts, which would deplete as you made mistakes. If you used all of your hearts, you would have to wait for them to recharge or do practice lessons to earn hearts back.

However, in July 2025, Duolingo announced a switch to an energy system. Instead of five hearts, free users would get 25 energy points. The main difference is that while hearts depleted only when you made mistakes, energy depletes with every exercise you do. If you get a certain number of answers correct in a row, some of this energy replenishes. But ultimately, even if you get perfect lessons, free users will eventually run out of energy.

To replenish energy, users can use in-game gems to buy more energy, do practice lessons, or watch ads. Ultimately though, the app pushes you to subscribe to its premium plan so that you can avoid the energy system entirely.

The Duolingo subreddit has been a source of heavy criticism of the feature. While announced in July, the feature has been rolling out gradually. My own app switched over to the system in September. And over the past few weeks, I can see why people are so against it.

I hit a roadblock on my language learning journey when Duolingo updated its Mandarin course. The app has an annoying habit of updating a course with new vocabulary and treating it as if you’ve already learned the relevant phrases and words. It’s also difficult to pinpoint where these new words are introduced if you’re relatively far along in your course. For a while, I kept revising old lessons, but the changes and updates stacked up.

Eventually, I kept practicing Chinese characters (Hanzi) instead of progressing in my lessons. But I hoped to return to more thorough learning eventually when I was feeling less burned out.

The new energy system has dashed those hopes. My half-hearted Hanzi lessons are the only thing that kept the battery from curbing my learning significantly, since they are shorter and require less energy. It’s also more difficult to make mistakes in these lessons. But I don’t want to be tethered to these lessons forever.

I tried out a few full lessons after the change to energy to see whether the main course learning experience was the same with energy. I saw other users complaining about the inability to complete missions as a result of energy and decided to see for myself. I soon realized just how much the new system impedes learning.

When doing full lessons, I run out of energy during the third lesson, even if I haven’t made any mistakes. I also noticed that Duolingo seems to be incentivizing new lessons over revision, with multiple missions requiring me to complete two or three new lessons. When I make mistakes, I run out of energy even quicker.

While Duolingo’s announcement stated that “You’ll start each day with a full battery and a fresh chance to grow your skills,” the reality is different. When I would return to Duolingo the next day at around the same time, I’d start with around 23 energy. Even when I received a notification that my energy was recharged, I’d come back to 24 energy rather than a full battery.

I tried to practice vocabulary as a way to regenerate energy, but this only recoups five energy — which isn’t enough to get through a full lesson. My only other options are to use gems to recharge the battery, invite friends, or subscribe to Duolingo’s premium plan. Some users have the ability to watch ads to regenerate energy, but this depends on the region you live in.

While I understand the need to generate revenue, the app offers an increasingly worse experience in its push for monetization. Over the years, multiple changes have stacked to create an experience that no longer feels fulfilling or rewarding.

I already started looking at other potential language apps I could use to expand my knowledge of Mandarin. I had originally planned to use these to supplement my Duolingo learning, but now they will act as a replacement.

SuperChinese is one app I’ve started using to see if it will be an effective replacement. There are other language learning apps out there, but many either don’t include the languages I want to learn, or lock elements like grammar lessons behind a paywall. I may also try Google Translate’s Practice feature if it eventually rolls out and plan to see whether Google’s Little Language Lessons are helpful for me.

I’m not sure where I’ll head next with my language learning journey, but I know for sure it won’t continue with Duolingo anymore. My burnout used to be the biggest barrier to my learning in the app, but now Duolingo’s system for free users is the biggest obstacle. As a result, it’s no longer the right fit for me.