The short answer: pick Duolingo if you want a free, game-like daily habit and a gentle first pass at the alphabet. Pick Aravoca if you want to build a large reading vocabulary quickly, starting with the words that appear most often, each in a sentence you can already read. Both teach Modern Standard Arabic, neither teaches a spoken dialect, and plenty of learners will do best with both.
Updated October 2026
Duolingo's Arabic course compared with Aravoca, as of October 2026. Numbers link to the sources at the bottom of the page.
| Feature | Duolingo (Arabic course) | Aravoca |
|---|---|---|
| Which Arabic | Modern Standard Arabic. There is no dialect course to switch to.3, 4 | Modern Standard Arabic. Aravoca does not teach a spoken dialect either. |
| The script | The alphabet is part of the first section of the course, taught with sound exercises: letter shapes, letters in different positions, matching sounds to letters.3, 5 | A short script tutorial at the start, teaching the letters in the order they first appear in the most common words. |
| Vocabulary order | Words arrive with the course's units: 46 units across three teaching sections, plus a review section.3, 10 | By frequency: the words that appear most often in Arabic come first. 5,000+ words in total. |
| Example sentences | Short sentences, often built by tapping word tiles.3 | Words come with example sentences built from words you have already learned, plus one new word. |
| Listening and speaking | Audio and sound exercises, notably in the alphabet units.3, 5 At launch in 2019, Duolingo said the course trained the ear for Arabic sounds that English does not have.4 | Audio for every word and every example sentence. No speaking practice: Aravoca focuses on building vocabulary. |
| Course size | 46 units and 798 lessons, with no Stories. An unofficial tracker labels the course A1. Its last update, in June 2025, regrouped the units into one more section rather than adding lessons.2, 3, 11 | Vocabulary-first: 5,000+ words with example sentences and reviews, plus a short script tutorial. |
| Keeping you going | Streaks, leagues and gems.1, 3, 8 In 2025 Duolingo began switching free accounts from Hearts to Energy: each lesson uses some, it recharges in about a day, and you can watch an ad or spend gems to top it up.8 | A daily streak and spaced-repetition reviews that schedule each word just before you would forget it. |
| Price | Every course is free, with ads. Super Duolingo, a paid subscription, removes the ads and gives unlimited Energy; the App Store offers a 14-day free trial.1 Prices vary by country, platform and offer.7 | The first 300 words are free for good, no card needed, no ads. Pro (all 5,000+ words) is $8.99 a month or $59 a year; Lifetime is $149 once. No free trial. |
| Where it runs | Apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.1, 9 | Works in any modern browser, including on your phone. Progress syncs across devices. |
Duolingo puts the alphabet inside the first section of its Arabic course rather than in a separate script course. You work through letter shapes, the forms letters take at the start and end of a word, and matching sounds to letters.3 When the course launched in 2019, Duolingo said it was "focused on grounding people in the alphabet", with exercises on sounds that English lacks.4 Even a review written by a competing app calls the script sections the strongest part of the course.3
Aravoca starts with a short script tutorial that teaches the letters in the order they first appear in frequency-ranked vocabulary. Instead of finishing the alphabet first, you meet each letter inside the common words you are about to learn, and every word and example sentence comes with audio.
If the script is your biggest worry, doing both is reasonable: Duolingo's drills for recognition and sound, Aravoca's tutorial for reading letters inside real words.
At the start: work through Duolingo's alphabet units and Aravoca's script tutorial side by side. Two angles on the same 28 letters.
Every day: one Duolingo lesson to keep your streak, then your Aravoca reviews and a few new words. At 10 new words a day you would pass the 500 most common words in under two months (words beyond the first 300 need Pro).
Every week: try a short text from the free reading library. The more high-frequency words you know, the more of each page you will recognise.
When Duolingo's path ends: keep Aravoca's daily reviews going and move further down the frequency list. If you need spoken Arabic for conversation, add a dialect course or a tutor — neither app teaches a dialect.
As a start, yes. It's free, it makes a daily habit easy, and its first section is a sound-first introduction to the alphabet. It is a short course, though: 46 units and 798 lessons, with no Stories, and an unofficial tracker labels it A1. Many learners will want something alongside it to keep building vocabulary and reading.
We couldn't find a level that Duolingo itself publishes for its Arabic course. The unofficial tracker duolingodata.com labels it A1, the first level of the CEFR scale. Treat it as a beginner course.
Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the shared written language of the Arab world. There is no Egyptian, Levantine or Gulf course. Aravoca also teaches MSA only, so if you need a spoken dialect for conversation, add a dialect course or a tutor.
Yes. The alphabet is folded into the first section, with letter shapes, letter positions and sound-matching exercises. Aravoca takes a different route: a short script tutorial that teaches letters in the order they appear in the most common words, so you practise them inside real vocabulary.
Yes. Every Duolingo course is free, with ads. Since 2025 Duolingo has been switching free lessons from Hearts to Energy, which recharges in about a day; you can also watch an ad or spend gems to top it up. Super Duolingo, a paid subscription, removes ads and gives unlimited Energy; its price varies by country and platform.
It depends on what you need. For vocabulary specifically, look for an app that teaches the most common words first and reviews them on a schedule. That is what Aravoca does: 5,000+ words in frequency order, with example sentences built from words you already know. The first 300 words are free — try it and judge for yourself.
Yes, and for many learners that is the sensible choice. Use Duolingo for its alphabet section and daily game, and Aravoca to build vocabulary in frequency order. Both teach Modern Standard Arabic, so what you learn in one carries straight over to the other.
No credit card needed. Try the first 15 words without an account, then sign up free for the first 300.
Try Aravoca free →Duolingo is a trademark of Duolingo, Inc. Aravoca is not affiliated with or endorsed by Duolingo. Details checked October 2026; prices and features change — check duolingo.com for current details. Aravoca prices are in USD; see Pricing.