What if you invested in Duolingo in 2021?
DUOL · Technology · Data through 2026-06-01
If you invested $1,000 in Duolingo in 2021
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $2,168(+116.8%)
The S&P 500 returned $2,168 on the same $1,000. S&P 500 outperformed by $1,348.
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See how Duolingo stacks up since 2021, head to head.
What if Duolingo keeps this up?
Project forward with custom growth rates. See 5-30 year scenarios.
Growth of $1,000
Duolingo vs. S&P 500 vs. US Dollar, 2021 to present
Year-by-Year Returns
$1,000 invested in Duolingo starting January 2021
| Year | Price | Value | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $140.25 | $1,000 | - |
| 2022 | $100.01 | $713 | -28.7% |
| 2023 | $95.49 | $681 | -4.5% |
| 2024 | $178.89 | $1,276 | +87.3% |
| 2025 | $363.99 | $2,595 | +103.5% |
| 2026 | $134.06 | $956 | -63.2% |
What this return means
Buying Duolingo (DUOL) in 2021 cost you money. That stake is worth $820 as of 2026-06-01, a -18.0% move that left you with less than you started with after 5.6 years.
That averages out to -3.5% a year, meaning the position shrank in compound terms across the 5.6-year window. A plain S&P 500 fund would have grown that $1,000 to about $2,168 instead, beating Duolingo by around $1,348. The index compounded at about 14.9% a year, a reminder that a single stock can lag a basket of them.
The year-by-year record shows how bumpy the ride was. The best single year was 2025 at +103.5%, and the worst was 2022 at -28.7%. At its lowest point the position was down about 63% from an earlier high. These figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, trading fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
Treat this as history rather than advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
What if you invested $100 a month instead?
Most people do not drop a lump sum in on day one. They add a fixed amount every month. Putting $100 into Duolingo at the close of every month from July 2021 through June 2026 means 60 buys and $6,000 contributed over about 5 years.
$100/month, dollar-cost averaged
$4,786
-20.2% on $6,000 in
Same $6,000, all in at the start
$4,921
-18.0% on $6,000 in
Going all in at the start beat spreading the buys out by $135. That is the usual result when a stock trends up: each monthly buy pays a higher price than the last, so the average cost climbs. Averaging in also meant an average buy price of $144.19 per share across the whole stretch, so the monthly buyer never had to time a single low. Neither number counts dividends, taxes, or trading costs.
Illustrative fixed $100/month example, not a recommendation. Figures are computed from DUOL split-adjusted monthly closes through June 2026. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.