Duolingo Alternatives for Tracking Language Progress
People search for "Duolingo alternatives" for two different reasons. Some want a different way to learn. Others are happy with Duolingo but want a better way to see their progress, because Duolingo's stats only cover Duolingo. This post is for the second group. It doesn't compare learning apps; it compares ways to track what you're doing across all of them.
On this page
First: what Duolingo already gives you
To be fair to it, Duolingo tracks a lot. Your streak counts consecutive days with at least one lesson, XP counts activity, and the Duolingo Score (up to 160) shows the level of the content you've reached; Duolingo says its top courses now teach through B2 (Duolingo blog, April 2026). If Duolingo is all you do, those numbers are enough.
The gap appears when you add anything else. A podcast, a show, a tutor or a flashcard deck doesn't show up anywhere in Duolingo, and the streak counts a day with one lesson the same as a day with two hours of study. (More on that in Duolingo streak vs real study hours.)
Option 1: Each platform's own stats
Many tools you already use track their own time. Anki's statistics screen shows cards studied and time spent; Dreaming Spanish tracks hours watched on its platform and lets you add outside hours on its progress page; tutoring platforms keep a history of your lessons.
- Pros: automatic and accurate for that platform.
- Cons: every number lives in a different app, and none of them adds up your total. Things without a platform (a series, a conversation with a friend) aren't counted anywhere.
Option 2: A spreadsheet
A sheet with date, minutes, language, activity and source columns covers everything, costs nothing and is entirely yours. A pivot table gives you totals by week, language and activity.
- Pros: free, flexible, future-proof.
- Cons: logging on a phone is fiddly, and most people stop after a few weeks. Charts and goals take work to build.
Our Google Sheets language tracker walks through a setup, and the language learning log template gives you the columns ready to copy.
Option 3: Notion or another database tool
Similar to a spreadsheet, with nicer views. Good if you already live in Notion. The same trade-off applies: you build and maintain it, and adding an entry on a phone takes more taps than in a purpose-built app.
Option 4: A general time tracker
Time-tracking apps built for work, such as Toggl Track, can track language study with a project per language and tags for activities. They're good at timing and reporting. They don't know anything about language levels, so hours-to-a-level estimates are up to you.
Option 5: A habit tracker
Habit apps record whether you did something today, often as a simple tick. They're excellent for building the daily routine and very light to use. Most record a yes or no rather than minutes, so they replace the streak rather than add the missing hours.
Option 6: A language learning tracker
A tracker built for languages logs minutes by language, activity and source, and usually adds goals and stats designed around language study. The trade-off is that it's another app, and like a spreadsheet it relies on you logging sessions, since most platforms (Duolingo included) don't share your activity with outside tools.
LangTrack is one of these, and it's ours, so weigh this accordingly. It logs Duolingo as one source next to YouTube, anime, Anki, Dreaming Spanish or a tutor; your usual ones become one-tap shortcuts; and a level goal estimates hours to your target from FSI-based figures, with a finish date at your pace. You can enter your past hours as one starting total and export everything. It's a web app, free for one language. The language learning tracker page compares it with a spreadsheet, Duolingo's stats and a Notion template.
Which to choose
| If you… | Try |
|---|---|
| Only use Duolingo | Duolingo's own stats |
| Mostly use one platform | That platform's stats, plus outside hours if it allows |
| Love spreadsheets | A spreadsheet or Notion |
| Just need to show up daily | A habit tracker |
| Use several sources and want total hours | A language tracker |
Whatever you pick, add a real check
No tracker measures ability. Every few months, check your hours against something outside any app: a practice exam (DELE, JLPT, Goethe), an episode without subtitles, or a conversation you'd have avoided a year ago. Hours tell you how much you've put in; those checks tell you what it's turned into. If you'd like a place to keep the hours, LangTrack is free to try.
FAQ
Is there a Duolingo alternative that tracks all my study?
Duolingo's stats only cover Duolingo. To track all your study, use a spreadsheet, a general time tracker or a language learning tracker, and log Duolingo as one source alongside podcasts, series, flashcards and conversation.
Can I import my Duolingo history into a tracker?
Few people have a record of how many minutes they spent on Duolingo. The practical approach is to estimate your past hours once (for example from your streak and a typical day's minutes), enter them as a starting total, and log Duolingo sessions going forward.
Track everything, not one app
Duolingo, YouTube, Anki and conversation in one log, with hours to your level. Free for one language.
Start tracking — free
