Does Duolingo Have Farsi? No, Here Are the Alternatives
Duolingo has no Farsi or Persian course, and none is planned. Here is why Persian is missing, and the best free alternatives for learning Farsi in 2026.
The Short Answer
No. Duolingo has no Farsi course, and it never has.
Persian has been one of the most requested languages on Duolingo for over a decade. It is still missing, and Duolingo has announced no plans to build it.
If you came here to check before signing up, that is your answer. The rest of this post covers why Persian is missing, and what to use instead.
Why Duolingo Has No Persian Course
Duolingo built many of its smaller courses through the Incubator. Volunteers wrote the lessons, and Duolingo published them.
The company closed the Incubator in 2021. New courses now come from the in-house team, and that team favours languages with the largest audiences.
Persian also brings extra work. The script runs right to left, letters change shape depending on their position, and short vowels are often left out. A course has to teach reading before it can teach much else.
None of this makes Persian impossible. It makes Persian expensive, and it keeps losing to Spanish and French on the roadmap.
What to Use Instead of Duolingo for Farsi
Several apps teach Persian well. The right one depends on what you want from it.
Learn Farsi sits closest to the Duolingo format: short lessons, a daily streak, spaced repetition, and free content you can start today. It runs on the web, iPhone and Android, and your progress syncs across all three. You can compare it feature by feature on our Duolingo Persian alternative page.
Pimsleur suits listening and speaking. Clozemaster suits learners who already read the script and want volume.
For a wider comparison, see our guide to the best apps to learn Farsi.
Start With the Alphabet, Not the App
Whichever app you pick, the Persian script comes first. There are 32 letters, and most are easier than they look.
Learners who skip the script lean on transliteration, which slows everything down later. A week on the Persian alphabet opens up the rest of the language.
Wondering how hard the whole thing gets? We answered that in is Farsi hard to learn. The short version: Persian grammar is kinder than French, with no genders and no cases.
Will Duolingo Add Farsi?
Maybe, but do not plan around it.
Duolingo has added languages before, and Persian has a large audience. Over 100 million people speak it across Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Still, the request has stayed open for more than ten years. Waiting for a course that may never ship costs you the time you could spend learning.
You can start free Farsi lessons today, and add Duolingo later if Persian ever arrives.