Verdict
- Memrise came out the clear winner in our Memrise vs. Duolingo matrix below. But really my advice is – use them both! If you want to invest in paying for pro versions, I prefer Memrise over Duolingo for sheer depth and breadth of content in the ecosystem, and for their video learn-with-locals content.
Overall Thoughts
- Duolingo and Memrise are similar products, with some major differences. They both aim to teach you language through small chuncks of information, such as words , sentences and phrases, in a gamified environment. But Memrise is more of an “ecosystem”, that houses large amounts of user generated content. Duolingo is more of a standardised, curated course. You could say that Memrise is closer to a an android phone, or a Windows PC, that is open to various software makers, and Duolingo is closer to an iPhone or Apple computer, which is a closed software environment that aims to provide a streamlined and seamless experience.
- Another way to look at is as Memrise being a “swiss army knife” and Duolingo being a “screwdriver”. You can use Memrise to learn just about anything that requires memorising a large amount of information. You will find user generated courses on learning everything from Morse Code, to sign language, all the way through to Harry Potter Spells!
- To do a solid comparison of Memrise vs. Duolingo, we’ve put the features of each side-by-side in matrix below. We assigned either a check, neutral, or cross rating for each criteria. We then assigned 2 points for a check, one for neutral and 0 for a cross.
- In this comparison Memrise came out with 25 out of a possible 34 points (which is 73.5 out of 100).
- Duolingo came out with 16 out of a possible 34 points (which is 47 out of 100)
- Neither of the platforms work as an all inclusive, silver-bullet for learning language. These are best used in conjunction with some of the tools listed below:
Too really learn a language, combine with these tools:
- Pimsleur Method – Most highly recommended for a systematic, listening and speaking focused program backed by a scientific approach
- Rocketlanguages – For a systematic, wholistic course for begginner to intermediate students.
Too really learn a language, combine with these tools
- Japanese Pod 101 – for a continually updating, dynamic podcast approach to learning with masses of content.
Memrise Vs. Duolingo Matrix
Feature
Price
Memrise
Free or $5.83 per month
On an annual subscription
Duolingo
Free or 6.99 per month
On an annual subscription
Does paying for premium get you much?
More lessons
Access to all the Memrise native produced “learn with locals” video content, learn “difficult words” function, Grammar and Chat bots, statistics.
No ads
Remove ads, unlimited hearts (don’t have to keep restarting lessons), do lessons offline, monthly repair streak, progress quizzes.
Does it teach you much?
Teaches basic vocab and phrases
Access to all the Memrise native produced “learn with locals” video content, learn “difficult words” function, Grammar and Chat bots, statistics.
Teaches you longer sentences that build on words you already know.
You can click/touch any word at anytime to find the meaning
Audio Lessons
No audio only lesson
A resources such as Pimsleur is better for learning on the go.
No audio only lesson
A resources such as Pimsleur is better for learning on the go.
Video Lessons
Yes
Body language is present, which actually makes a big difference and is a lot more realistic. Gives language in context.
No
Native Speaker Audio
“Learn with locals” video lessons
Body language is present, which actually makes a big difference and is a lot more realistic. Gives language in context.
Computer generated sentences
Duolingo has lots of individual words that it has recorded which are then strung together by the computer to make sentences. The way real people pronounce words when they string them together is actually quite different. This means Duolingo example sentences sound mechanical and less realistic.
Gamification
Uses Gamification including levels, points and leaderboards.
Uses Better Gamification including levels, points and leaderboards.
This is really well done in Duolingo and really does help keep you motivated. You can compete against friends, or against the whole world. There are series of leagues, such as gold, silver, bronze etc. It’s all well laid out, seamless, and one of the major up sides of using Duolingo.
User Generated Content
Memrise has a huge amount of user made content
This is one of the big strengths of Memrise. Users have contributed lessons on a HUGE range of topics, including frivolous things like learning Harry Potter Spells or fictious languages, but also really great niche things like learning all the jargon to do with buddhist thought and philosophy in Japanese. It also has many of the curriculums of your favourite textbooks. You could use it to learn Morse Code.
No
Curated Structured course
Memrise has native courses made in-house.
Duonlingo has highly streamlined content.
Duolingo does a great job of introducting new words and sentence structures in a logical, systematic way where each new step builds on the last.
Spaced repetition
Yes
Platform dynamically repeats content for optimal recall.
Yes
Platform dynamically repeats content for optimal recall.
Speaking Practice
Includes pronunciation recording lessons.
Includes pronunciation recording lessons.
Amount of content
The amount of user content makes the Memrise a clear winner over Duolingo
Duolingo has enough content to get you to a basic conversational level of knowledge
Grammer
Memrise native content does include some limited grammer notes.
This is certainly not a strong point of the Memrise platform.
Duolingo does include grammer notes with many lessons, and comes out slightly on top of Memrise.
Mnemonics
Customizable mnemonics on content
No
Quizes and Review
Gives you regular reviews and quizes
but doesn’t do a great job of quizes of material across everything you’ve learnt
Tests current material as you go
But only lets you quiz yourself across everything you’ve learnt in the paid version. This becomes an issue as you progress and you want to see how far you have actually come.
Lesson Length
Memrise lessons are shorter than Duolingo
Duolingo lessons are longer than Memrise
meaning you may not always have time to finish them in one sitting. This can be annoying because, in Duolingo's gamified environment, you can lose your progress when you try to come back to completing a lesson you had to pause half way through.
Summary Duolingo Versus Memrise
Even though Memrise came out as a clear winner in our head to head Memrise vs. Duolingo matrix, we think they are both useful tools that should be in your language arsenal. Neither of these tools is really enough to take you all the way with your language study though, so you will need to combine them with some of the programs below.
- Pimsleur – for a focus on listening and speaking backed by a scientific approach (Japanoscope review here)
- Rocketlanguages – For a systematic, wholistic course
- Japanese Pod 101– a fully fledged, podcast based audio program with loads of content (Japanoscope review here)
- Duolingo – For well designed, gamified, entry-level practice (Japanoscope Review here)
Japanoscope is a member of affiliate programs for some of the products it recommends. Japanoscope receives a commission when these products are purchased from a referral from this site.
Language Learning Program Reviews
iTalki Japanese Review 2023
An in depth, first hand of using iTalki for Japanese language speaking practice.
Rocket Japanese Review 2023
I take an in depth look at the Rocket Japanese platform, 2021 edition, in depth and outline what I like, what I don’t like and what some of the alternatives are.
Memrise vs. Duolingo – A Head-To-Head Comparison
We do an in-depth comparison of Duolingo and Memrise including an overall score, screenshots, feature comparison, a matrix of the two platforms. Other platforms you might want to check out are also listed.
Pimsleur Japanese Review 2023 and Real World Experience
My personal experience of using Pimsleur Japanese. Screen shots, things I noticed and liked or didn’t like. Where to buy Pimsleur cheap, if it’s your thing, and alternate language programs if it’s not.
Japanese Pod 101 Review 2023 – Hands on and In Depth
My personal experiences of using Japanese Pod 101 as a long time Japanese learner. Includes discount codes and free resource pack link.
About the reviewer
I’m Peter Head. I have succesfully completed the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (N1). I lived in Japan for four years as a student and on working holiday. I have toured the country six times playing music and singing songs in Japanese and English.
