--- title: Duolingo’s competition is TikTok and Netflix - The Hustle description: Once a PhD project, the company is expanding fast. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/765658625-final_size-FjK3434XwAIxBL7_20221205020843.webp --- # Duolingo’s competition is TikTok and Netflix ![Jacob Cohen](https://thehustle.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png?width=48&height=48&name=IMG_5670-1-modified-768x768.png) [Jacob Cohen](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/jacob-cohen) [Jacob Cohen Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/ImJacobCohen) Published: December 05, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 Bill Gates and Khloé Kardashian probably don’t have a ton of common interests. But, per [*Bloomberg*](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-12-02/duolingo-plus-gave-fans-of-free-app-a-cost-worth-paying?sref=3Ac2yX40), Duolingo is one of them. ![Duolingo’s competition is TikTok and Netflix](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/765658625-final_size-FjK3434XwAIxBL7_20221205020843.webp?width=595&height=400&name=765658625-final_size-FjK3434XwAIxBL7_20221205020843.webp) Launched in 2012, the gamified language app has transformed from a PhD project into a 500-person public company now on a mission to make profits. The app, which views sites like TikTok and Netflix as its competition, now boasts ~15m daily users, up 51% YoY, and 3.7m paid subscribers. Barring any unexpected fiscal blowback over its [highly controversial](https://www.change.org/p/reverse-newest-duolingo-update) redesign, revenue this year is projected to surpass $365m, up 45% YoY. - The company is now expanding through in-app purchases, subjects like reading and math, and a $49 online English test accepted at 4k+ institutions that made ~$25m last year. **Fun fact: **Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn invented the web authentication tool CAPTCHA, which he gave to Yahoo for free, and reCAPTCHA, which he sold to Google. Topics: [Education](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/education) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Student loan repayments are back and more confusing than ever](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1645811006-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-StudentLoans_20230831230545.webp) ### Student loan repayments are back and more confusing than ever - ![Looking for an edge in attracting talent? Give ’em a reasonable place to live](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1955417428-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-housing_20230816223900.webp) ### Looking for an edge in attracting talent? Give ’em a reasonable place to live - ![Academia drama involves lying about… lying](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/834884206-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-data-files_20230801221130.webp) ### Academia drama involves lying about… lying - ![Investors worry Chegg could be schooled by ChatGPT’s A+ homework help](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/478804961-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay205202023Chegg.webp) ### Investors worry Chegg could be schooled by ChatGPT’s A+ homework help - ![Degrees of separation: As college enrollment drops, trade school sign-ups rise](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/869946443-19-News-Brief_2023-04-24T001028.648Z.webp) ### Degrees of separation: As college enrollment drops, trade school sign-ups rise - ![It’s a pretty great time to get a PhD in AI](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1800076214-19-News-Brief_2023-04-16T234042.716Z.webp) ### It’s a pretty great time to get a PhD in AI - ![Higher education meets high finance](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1520721760-HS-News-Brief_2022-07-21T231834.548Z.webp) ### Higher education meets high finance - ![The student loan forgiveness hearing, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/436575476-HS-News-Brief_2023-03-01T014833.522Z.webp) ### The student loan forgiveness hearing, explained - ![Would ChatGPT get a Wharton MBA?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1417838308-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T003354.977Z.webp) ### Would ChatGPT get a Wharton MBA? - ![Maybe you shouldn’t get that master’s degree in this economy](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/322771577-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-04T024415.710Z.webp) ### Maybe you shouldn’t get that master’s degree in this economy Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. 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Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jacob Cohen", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/jacob-cohen" }, "datePublished" : "2022-12-05T10:35:57.000Z", "headline" : "Duolingo’s competition is TikTok and Netflix", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/765658625-final_size-FjK3434XwAIxBL7_20221205020843.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12-5-duolingo", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jacob Cohen", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/jacob-cohen" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:41:25+0000", "datePublished" : "2022-12-05T10:35:57+0000", "headline" : "Duolingo’s competition is TikTok and Netflix", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/765658625-final_size-FjK3434XwAIxBL7_20221205020843.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```