Duolingo Max vs Super: what changes now that Max is being retired

What Duolingo actually announced

The change appears in Duolingo’s third-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, and the reasoning is short: since Video Call without a usage cap will be part of Super, the company has decided to sunset Max, its highest tier. Video Call is the AI conversation feature in which learners talk with the character Lily, and it was the main reason to pay for Max. The letter sets out four points:

• New sales: Max stops being sold this month. On the earnings call, CFO Gillian Munson said the company has “essentially stopped selling Max to new users.”
• Individual Max: Subscribers move to a Super family plan at the same price, keeping the same feature set and gaining the ability to share with family or friends.
• Max Family: Options for legacy subscribers are still being considered and will be addressed in 2027.
• Super: Video Call opened to new subscribers last quarter and is on track for all Super subscribers by year-end.

Some call summaries say Max Family ends by the end of the year. That does not match the letter, and the transcript has Munson saying Max Family is what the company “will be ending the year with.” We treat the letter as the authority here.

Duolingo Max vs Super: the plans compared

Duolingo publishes no single public price list, and prices vary by platform, region and account. The US figures below come from one reviewer’s iOS account, recorded by Language App Guide, so read them as indicative. The Max prices are older because the tier had already vanished from that account’s purchase screen by September.

The price math explains the decision to use Super Family as the landing spot. On these figures, the family plan costs $24 more a year than individual Super and works out to about $24 per account if all six seats are used. CEO Luis von Ahn described Max Individual and Super Family as “roughly the same price” and said the difference is basically that you can invite five more people.

A caveat on “same price”

The letter says “same price”, while Munson said “similar price” on the call. The reported $167.99 Max price and $143.99 family price also differ, though they were recorded at different times on one account. Do not assume that the migration brings a discount. If you are on Max, the number that counts is what your own renewal shows.

What to do, based on your plan today

Individual Max subscribers

Nothing in the announcement requires you to cancel, because Duolingo moves you itself. Since no date was given, note your renewal date and amount in the App Store, Google Play or your account settings. Once you are on the family plan, members join by invitation from the plan dashboard. Duolingo’s Help Center says someone with an active paid subscription cannot be invited until it has been canceled and has expired, so warn anyone you plan to add. Switching plans does not affect learning progress or streaks.

Max Family subscribers

You have no decision to make yet. Watch for messages from Duolingo before your next renewal, since the company has only committed to addressing this group in 2027.

Super subscribers

You do not need to change plans to get Video Call; it should arrive by the end of 2026. If you share a household or a study group with other subscribers, compare what you pay in total against one family plan.

New subscribers

Choose between individual Super and Super Family based on headcount. Members do not have to live together, but Duolingo prohibits reselling seats and may block new members or end a plan where that happens. You may also see a cheaper ad-supported Lite plan. Language App Guide recorded it at $35.99 a year on one account and describes it as a test, and von Ahn said its A/B tests “have just not been home runs,” so do not count on it being offered to you or staying in its current form.

Check Video Call support before you pay for it

Video Call does not cover every course. The Help Center lists English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portuguese learners on iOS and Android, while Duolingo’s blog also lists Japanese and Korean. Those lists name the language you are learning, not the language the course is taught from, and the blog breaks support down further by the learner’s own language in places. Duolingo says learners on unsupported courses still get the regular paid benefits, which is not the same as getting conversation practice.

If speaking practice is your reason for subscribing, take these steps first:

1. Update the mobile app, since Video Call does not run on the web.
2. Look for the camera icon on your course path and in the Practice Hub.
3. Use a free trial if your account is offered one, and try a call before it ends.
4. Hold off on an annual payment until you have seen the feature on your own course.

Why Duolingo is dropping its top tier

Cost is the short answer. Von Ahn said a Video Call used to cost about $0.30 in AI inference and has fallen to “well under $0.01” per call, mainly by moving to open-weight models. A feature that expensive had to sit behind a premium tier; one this cheap can sit in the mainstream plan. He also said the shift lets roughly ten times as many learners reach Video Call.

The commercial risk looks small. Munson said Max is now in the single digits as a share of both paid subscribers and bookings, and the letter says the bookings effect should be minimal and is reflected in fourth-quarter guidance. Duolingo ended the third quarter with 13.1 million paid subscribers and 64.9 million daily active users, up 14% and 29% from a year earlier. The trade-off shows up in margins: Munson expects gross margin to slip slightly in the fourth quarter as Video Call rolls out.

What Duolingo has not said yet

• When the migration happens: the letter gives no date for moving individual subscribers.
• Roleplay: neither the letter nor the call transcript mentions it, so its status for ordinary Super subscribers is unclear.
• Explain My Answer: Duolingo’s own pages are inconsistent about whether it still sits in Max. A Motley Fool writer reported seeing an “explain my mistake” feature promoted in the Super sign-up flow, which is one account’s observation.
• Super pricing: nothing has been announced about whether adding Video Call will change what Super costs.

For most people the practical conclusion is simple: stop comparing Super against Max and start comparing individual Super against Super Family, with Video Call support on your own course as the deciding check.