Duolingo (DUOL) Citi’s 2026 Global TMT Conference summary

Strategic focus and growth targets

• Shifted strategy to prioritize user engagement and audience growth over monetization, aiming for 100 million daily active users (DAUs) by 2028.

• DAU growth has re-accelerated across all regions, with current user retention at an all-time high of 84%.

• Product stickiness is driven by continuous A/B testing, behavioral design, and personalized notifications.

• Marketing pivoted to more brand-aligned, diversified, and user-generated content, enhancing effectiveness.

• Financial boundaries set for the year, with a focus on user growth while maintaining revenue within set targets.

Product innovation and teaching quality

• Teaching quality is improving, with a goal to match one-on-one human tutors in learning outcomes within 2–3 years.

• AI and data-driven insights power thousands of behavioral nudges, such as progress bar manipulation and culturally tailored notifications.

• Video Call feature, initially exclusive to higher-tier subscribers, is now being rolled out to more users due to significant cost reductions from open source AI.

• Video Call is highly valued by users for developing speaking skills, contributing to better learning outcomes.

• Expansion into math, music, and chess, with chess showing the fastest growth due to its game-like nature and educational value.

Subscription and monetization evolution

• Subscription tiers evolved from a single premium tier to multiple, with ongoing tests to optimize features and pricing.

• Cost of AI-driven features like Video Call dropped from $0.30 to less than $0.01 per use, enabling broader access without revenue loss.

• Free trial periods extended from 7 to 30 days, increasing both DAUs and conversion to paid subscriptions.

• Ongoing A/B testing determines optimal trial lengths and feature allocation across tiers.

• Next year may see a renewed focus on monetization alongside continued user growth.