Babbel is the better of the two for French verbs, but the honest answer is that neither app is built to teach conjugation, and picking between them matters less than what you add alongside. Babbel explains the patterns and groups them into grammar lessons; Duolingo mostly hopes you'll infer them. Both are recognition-heavy, which is the thing that keeps learners stuck. Here's the detail.
The test that actually separates verb tools
Before comparing features, apply one question to any app:
Does it make you produce the form, or only recognise it?
- Recognition is picking
avonsfrom four options, or tapping tiles from a word bank. It feels like progress and it builds streaks. - Production is typing
nous avonsinto an empty box from a bare prompt. It's slower, more uncomfortable, and it's what conversation and exams demand.
Duolingo and Babbel are both, by design, recognition-first. That's a reasonable choice for a broad course, because recognition is more fun and keeps people subscribed. It's also why so many learners can explain the passé composé rule but freeze mid-sentence trying to use it.
Hold everything below against that test.
How they handle French verbs
Duolingo
What it does with verbs: exposes you to conjugated forms constantly, in context, from day one. You'll see je suis, tu as, il va hundreds of times, and the highest-frequency irregulars do genuinely stick through sheer repetition.
Where it falls down: grammar explanation is thin and optional. Conjugation is something you're expected to absorb from examples rather than something you're taught, and the exercise types lean on word banks and multiple choice. There's no systematic sweep through tenses, so coverage is whatever the tree happens to surface. It's entirely possible to hold a long streak and still not be able to produce the imparfait of a regular -ir verb on demand.
Best for: daily habit, vocabulary breadth, and early exposure if consistency is your weak point.
Babbel
What it does with verbs: teaches conjugation explicitly. Grammar notes are part of the lesson rather than buried, patterns are named, and verbs appear inside dialogues that show realistic usage. The review manager resurfaces what you've studied on a sensible schedule.
Where it falls down: conjugation is one strand of a general course, not a dedicated track. Practice is still largely recognition-style, coverage stops around the B1 tense set, and it's sequential, so if you need the subjunctive today but it sits four units ahead, you wait. There's no way to say "drill me on -re verbs in the futur simple until I stop missing them."
Best for: learners who want a structured course with real grammar explanation and are willing to pay for it.
Head to head
| Duolingo | Babbel | |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar explanation | Minimal, optional | Explicit, built into lessons |
| Answer method | Word bank, multiple choice | Mostly multiple choice, some typing |
| Tense coverage | Incidental | Through roughly B1 |
| Target a specific tense | No | Only by jumping units |
| Free tier | Yes, genuinely usable | Trial only |
On verbs specifically, Babbel wins on explanation and structure. Duolingo wins on cost and on getting you to show up. Neither wins on production.
What to add either way
The gap both apps leave is daily typed production across the tenses you actually need. A realistic stack:
- A free reference, Le Conjugueur or Reverso, for instant lookups when you're stuck.
- A typed-answer conjugation trainer for the production drilling. This is Bonjour Verbs, which is what we make: typed answers across all 15 tenses and moods, verbs ordered by frequency, and feedback that shows the derivation of a wrong answer rather than just flashing the right one. It's deliberately narrow, no vocabulary, no dialogues, no culture, so it's a supplement to a course, not a replacement for one.
- Optionally, whichever broad course you'll actually open, for vocabulary and motivation.
We obviously have an interest in point 2, so treat the recommendation with that in mind. The general principle stands regardless of which trainer you pick: the production step is the one neither Duolingo nor Babbel is built to cover.
Common questions
Is Duolingo or Babbel better for French verbs?
Babbel, narrowly. It explains conjugation patterns explicitly and groups verbs into grammar-focused lessons, while Duolingo largely leaves you to infer the rules. The gap is smaller than it sounds, though, because both are recognition-heavy. Neither reliably gets you to producing a form from a blank prompt.
Can Duolingo alone teach you French conjugation?
Not to production level. You'll absorb the common forms of être, avoir, aller and faire through repetition, but there's no systematic drilling across tenses and no unprompted typing, which is why learners often finish a long French tree still hesitating on the imparfait.
Does Babbel cover all French tenses?
It covers the tenses you need through roughly B1, présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur simple and conditionnel. The full set of 15 tenses and moods isn't covered, literary tenses are essentially absent, and access is sequential rather than on demand.
Which is better value?
Duolingo's free tier makes its floor unbeatable. Babbel costs less than most tutoring hours and delivers more structured grammar per hour. If money is the constraint, Duolingo free plus a free reference; if time is the constraint, Babbel.
What should I use instead for conjugation?
Pair whichever course you enjoy with a free reference for lookups and a typed-answer trainer for daily production. The reference tells you what the form is; the trainer builds the automaticity to recall it under pressure.
