Duolingo Brings Back ‘Unhinged’ Marketing After Growth Slows

<img decoding="async" class="size-full-width wp-image-1598017" src="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/11/GettyImages-1541093248.jpg?quality=80&w=970" alt="Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo” width=”970″ height=”647″ data-caption=’CEO Luis von Ahn says Duolingo’s return to “unhinged” social media posts is already boosting user growth. <span class=”media-credit”>Getty Images</span>’>

Duolingo has carved out a path as one of the dominant language-learning platforms. But it’s also become a household name for its playful and chaotic social media presence, featuring its signature owl mascot in irreverent, meme-filled posts. As it turns out, this “unhinged” marketing strategy isn’t just for laughs—it drives a meaningful number of users to the platform.

This became clear after Duolingo’s daily active user (DAU) growth took a dive during the most recent quarter following a pause in such content. “We paused all the ‘unhinged’ posts in our social media for a bit because we were listening to our community and trying to build brand love,” Luis von Ahn, Duolingo’s CEO, told analysts yesterday (Nov. 5).

But less viral content also meant fewer new users. While Duolingo’s DAUs still rose 36 percent year-over-year to 50.5 million for the July-September period, growth decelerated from the 40 percent increase reported in the previous quarter.

Fans of the brand’s antics can breathe easy, though. “Over the last few weeks, we have started the unhinged posts again,” noted von Ahn, who added that this move has already led to “a lot of recovery” and is expected to boost DAU going forward.

Duolingo beat Wall Street expectations on both revenue and profit for the third quarter. Revenue reached $272 million, a 41 percent year-over-year jump, while net income surged to $292 million compared to $23 million a year earlier.

Still, the company’s shares tumbled more than 28 percent today (Nov. 6) after issuing disappointing bookings guidance. The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based company expects total bookings of roughly $329 million to $335 million for the current quarter, below analyst estimates. Total bookings include both existing and future revenues that users commit to through subscriptions and related products.

Betting big on A.I.

One bright spot is the rising demand for Duoling0’s paid tiers. Premium subscribers grew 35 percent year-over-year to 11.5 million in the recent quarter. The platform’s paid offerings include Max, its highest-priced plan at $30 per month, which now accounts for 9 percent of all Duolingo subscribers. Max notably features an interactive, A.I.-powered video call tool that lets users practice languages with a virtual character.

Such features reflect Duolingo’s focus on long-term growth. Von Ahn said the company plans to further develop the video call tool by introducing “guided” options that incorporate users’ native languages—a change expected to boost the number of words spoken per call, a metric that has already more than doubled this year.

A.I. integration is also central to Duolingo’s plans to expand beyond language learning. The company, which aims to strengthen its math offerings, expects the technology to enhance its tutoring capabilities and grow its monthly active users, currently around 135 million. “If we’re able to do an app that teaches much better than we have now, we will be talking about billions of users,” said von Ahn.