The Duolingo English Test is cheaper, shorter and taken only online; the TOEFL is longer, more academic and offered at test centers as well as at home. Which one is right comes down to what your institutions accept, and which format lets you show your English best.
Fees are as of October 2026 and change over time. The TOEFL fee varies by country, so the US figure is only a reference point; ETS shows the fee for your location during registration.
The DET is built from a large number of short items of many types — Duolingo’s 2026 question guide lists types such as Read and Select, Fill in the Blanks, Listen and Type, Interactive Reading, Interactive Listening, Write About the Photo and Speak About the Photo — followed by a separate Writing Sample and Speaking Sample at the end. Duolingo describes the whole session as about one hour: roughly five minutes of onboarding, about 45 minutes of adaptive questions and about ten minutes for the two samples.
The TOEFL since January 21, 2026 is organized into four sections in a fixed order — Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking — with twelve task types between them. Some are short and skill-focused, such as Complete the Words and Build a Sentence; others are academic, such as Read an Academic Passage and Listen to an Academic Talk. ETS states that there are no scheduled breaks.
This is the most useful practical difference. The TOEFL deliberately samples university English: lectures, academic passages and a written contribution to a class discussion. If you are about to study in English, preparing for it is also preparation for the work you will do in your first semester. The DET leans more on general-purpose items, which suits people whose English is strong but who have little experience with academic formats.
Both tests record your speech and writing rather than using a live examiner. On the TOEFL, Speaking is eleven responses in about eight minutes — seven Listen and Repeat items and four interview questions — and Writing includes a seven-minute email. On the DET, speaking and writing appear as several short task types plus the samples at the end. If you freeze when speaking to a microphone, practice either test with a recorder before deciding.
The DET is only available online. Duolingo’s 2026 guide requires a government-issued photo ID, a computer with a microphone, speakers and a camera, and a phone used as a second camera — to verify identity, scan the room and record your keyboard and screen during the test.
The TOEFL gives you a choice. At a test center the room and computer are provided. With the Home Edition you test on your own Windows or Mac computer under a live remote proctor, alone in a room, with notes taken on a small whiteboard or a sheet in a transparent sleeve. Our Home Edition guide covers the equipment and room rules in detail. If your home is noisy or shared, the test-center option is a real advantage of the TOEFL.
The two scales do not convert directly. Duolingo’s concordance with the TOEFL was built against the retired 0–120 scale, and in February 2026 Duolingo said that table remains its recommended reference while institutions use ETS guidance to relate 0–120 to the new bands. ETS, for its part, states it has not conducted a concordance study with the DET. Chaining one table into another adds error at each step, so we do not print a DET-to-band conversion.
What both organizations do publish is an alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference. Lining those up gives a rough sense of which scores describe similar ability:
Duolingo notes that its CEFR alignment studies are ongoing and its table may change. Treat this as orientation, not an exchange rate: a program that asks for, say, a TOEFL band of 4.5 and a DET of 120 has set each number on its own evidence, and those are the numbers to meet. For the full TOEFL picture, see TOEFL CEFR levels.
On cost the DET is clearly cheaper: US$70 as of October 2026, against a TOEFL fee that ETS sets per country (US$280 in the United States as of October 2026). The DET also includes unlimited free score sending; the TOEFL fee includes up to four free score reports chosen before test day, with additional reports charged.
On speed, Duolingo says results arrive within 48 hours. ETS says TOEFL scores reach your account 3 days after the test. Both are quick enough for most deadlines.
On retakes, the TOEFL is more flexible once you have paid: any number of attempts, at least 3 days apart. The DET allows up to three tests in any 30-day period. Both scores are valid for two years.
Choose the DET if every institution you care about accepts it, your budget is tight, and you are comfortable with a fully online test and its camera rules. It is a sensible choice for a straightforward application list.
Choose the TOEFL if any program on your list accepts only the TOEFL (or a set that excludes the DET), if you want the option of a test center, or if you are heading into degree study and want preparation that rehearses academic listening, reading and writing. If you need the old 0–120 equivalent of a band for an older requirement, our converter uses the official ETS concordance.
Whichever you choose, take the free practice material first. A single practice run tells you more about which format suits you than any comparison table.
Going with the TOEFL?
Start with free lessons covering every 2026 task type, from Complete the Words to Take an Interview.
Official pages checked for this guide. Last reviewed October 2026.