If your target university lists both the TOEFL and the Duolingo English Test (DET) as accepted proof of English proficiency, the honest answer to "which should I take" is: it depends far more on your situation than on which test is objectively "better." They measure similar underlying skills through very different formats, at very different price points, with very different turnaround times.
This guide compares both tests directly — format, scoring, cost, turnaround, and acceptance — so you can make a decision based on your actual timeline and target schools rather than guessing. If you've already decided TOEFL is the right test and just want to know how to prepare, start with our complete guide to the 2026 TOEFL format. If you're comparing TOEFL against IELTS instead, see our TOEFL vs IELTS comparison.
Take the free TOEFL Benchmark Test and get your estimated band score in about 45 minutes.
Here's the full picture side by side before we go section by section.
| Factor | TOEFL iBT (2026 Format) | Duolingo English Test |
|---|---|---|
| Test length | About 2 hours total appointment (≈90 min base testing time) | About 1 hour, sometimes less |
| Where you take it | Authorized test center or Home Edition, live human proctor | Online, on your own computer, AI + human review proctoring |
| Scoring scale | 1.0–6.0 band, in 0.5 increments (legacy 0–120 shown through Dec 2028) | 10–160, in 5-point increments |
| Sections | Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking (fixed structure) | Adaptive mixed-skill items — no fixed section order |
| Results turnaround | Typically 4–8 days | Typically 1–2 days, often within hours |
| Retake wait | Minimum 3 days between attempts | No mandatory minimum wait between attempts |
| Typical cost | Higher — varies by country (see our registration guide) | Lower — generally a fraction of the TOEFL fee |
| University acceptance | Extremely broad — the long-established standard, especially in the US | Growing fast, but still not accepted everywhere, especially outside the US |
| Speaking format | Recorded responses to fixed prompts (Listen and Repeat, Take an Interview) | Recorded responses to varied prompts, including some open-ended photo/topic description |
The 2026 TOEFL iBT tests Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking in that fixed order, in one continuous sitting. Reading and Listening are adaptive — your performance on an early task influences the difficulty of what comes next — while Writing and Speaking are linear, meaning every test-taker sees the same task structure. Each section produces its own band score, and your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest 0.5. For the full task-by-task breakdown, see our TOEFL 2026 format guide.
The Duolingo English Test doesn't separate Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking into distinct blocks the way TOEFL does. Instead, it presents a single adaptive stream of item types — things like reading-and-selecting real words from fake ones, filling in missing letters in a passage, writing short responses to prompts, and recording spoken answers — that adjust in real time based on your performance. At the end, DET produces one overall score from 10 to 160, along with sub-scores for literacy, comprehension, conversation, and production that map loosely onto the traditional four skills.
This structural difference matters for how you prepare. TOEFL prep can be organized cleanly by section, because the test itself is organized that way — which is exactly how this site's Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking guides are structured. Duolingo prep tends to be more about broad adaptability across item types, since you can't predict which format a given skill will be tested in.
The two tests also feel different to sit. TOEFL, whether at a test center or via Home Edition, follows a fixed appointment structure: check-in, identity verification, a short tutorial, then the four sections in order without the ability to skip ahead or return to a previous section once it's submitted. Duolingo's test session is more self-contained — you launch it from your own device once your identity is verified, and the entire adaptive item stream runs in one unbroken block, typically finishing in under an hour. Neither format is inherently more stressful, but test-takers who prefer a longer, clearly segmented experience with defined breaks between skills tend to prefer TOEFL's structure, while those who prefer to get the whole thing over with quickly tend to prefer Duolingo's.
Direct score conversion between the two tests is approximate — DET and TOEFL are built on different item pools and different statistical models, so any conversion table is a general guideline, not an exact equivalence. That said, here's a commonly cited rough mapping to help you sanity-check requirements listed in one scale against the other.
| TOEFL Band (2026) | Approx. Legacy 0–120 | Approx. DET Score | CEFR Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | 118–120 | 155–160 | C2 |
| 5.5 | 110–117 | 140–150 | C1 |
| 5.0 | 103–109 | 125–135 | C1 |
| 4.5 | 95–102 | 110–120 | B2 |
| 4.0 | 87–94 | 95–105 | B2 |
| 3.5 | 78–86 | 85–90 | B1 |
| 3.0 | 65–77 | 70–80 | B1 |
If a program lists a DET requirement but not a TOEFL requirement (or vice versa), treat this table as a starting estimate only — contact the admissions office directly to confirm which score they'd actually consider equivalent, especially for borderline cases. You can also run your TOEFL numbers through our TOEFL score calculator or our TOEFL/IELTS/PTE/Duolingo converter to see estimated equivalents instantly.
Take the free TOEFL Benchmark Test and get your estimated band score in about 45 minutes.
This is the area where the two tests differ most sharply, and it's often the deciding factor for students choosing between them.
Cost. The Duolingo English Test is priced as a single flat global fee that is substantially lower than the TOEFL iBT fee in most countries. TOEFL pricing varies by country and testing format — see our TOEFL registration cost guide for exact current figures in your region. If budget is the binding constraint and your target schools accept either test, Duolingo's lower price point is a genuine practical advantage.
Turnaround. DET results are typically available within one to two days, sometimes within hours. TOEFL results typically take about four to eight days to post. If you're applying against a tight deadline, this gap can matter — a DET taken a week before a deadline can still arrive in time, while a TOEFL attempt on the same timeline is cutting it much closer.
Retake flexibility. TOEFL requires a minimum three-day gap between attempts. Duolingo has no mandatory minimum wait, which makes it easier to retake quickly if your first attempt falls short — though repeated same-day attempts are unlikely to change your score meaningfully without a genuine change in preparation.
Despite Duolingo's growing acceptance, TOEFL remains the more universally recognized test, particularly for graduate admissions, scholarship committees, visa-adjacent requirements, and institutions outside the US. Before choosing based on cost or convenience alone, check three things specifically:
If any of your target programs or funding sources specifically require TOEFL and don't accept DET as a substitute, that settles the decision regardless of cost or convenience.
Beyond logistics, the two tests genuinely reward slightly different skills.
Because TOEFL's task types are fixed and publicly documented — Build a Sentence, Write an Email, Take an Interview, and so on — you can prepare very specifically for exactly what you'll see on test day. If you're the kind of student who does well with a clear syllabus and repeatable practice drills, TOEFL's predictability is an advantage, not a limitation.
Duolingo's shifting item types reward students with strong, generalized English ability who can handle unpredictable formats without needing to memorize a fixed task structure. If you already have strong all-around English skills and dislike the idea of drilling narrow task types repeatedly, Duolingo's format may feel more natural.
Both tests record your spoken responses rather than using a live interviewer — a real advantage for test-takers who feel anxious speaking to another person in real time. TOEFL's Speaking section under the 2026 format uses two task types, Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview, both of which are described in detail in our TOEFL Speaking section guide. Duolingo's speaking prompts vary more in structure, sometimes asking you to describe an image or answer an open-ended question, which some test-takers find either more natural or more unpredictable, depending on their preparation style.
Start structured TOEFL preparation built around the current 2026 format.
Comparison tables are useful, but seeing how the decision plays out for applicants in different situations often makes it more concrete.
A student applying to competitive master's or PhD programs, especially in the US, is usually better served by TOEFL. Graduate departments and the faculty committees reviewing applications tend to have more conservative, long-established testing expectations than general undergraduate admissions offices, and many graduate scholarships and teaching-assistantship funding structures specifically reference TOEFL bands rather than DET scores.
A student who discovers an application deadline is ten days away, and hasn't taken any English test yet, is in a genuinely different situation. If the target program accepts Duolingo, its one-to-two-day turnaround and shorter, one-hour format make it realistic to schedule, take, and receive results in time — something a TOEFL attempt on the same timeline would struggle to achieve given the typical four-to-eight-day results wait.
A student self-funding their applications, applying to multiple programs, and needing to budget carefully across application fees, score reports, and travel to a test center may reasonably prioritize Duolingo's lower price point and take-it-from-home convenience, provided every program on their list explicitly accepts it.
A student applying broadly across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia — where testing conventions and visa-linked requirements differ by country, as detailed in our score requirements by country guide — is generally safer choosing TOEFL, since it clears the widest range of downstream requirements (visa pathways, scholarships, university admission) with a single test, reducing the risk of needing to sit a second test later for a requirement DET doesn't satisfy.
Take the free TOEFL Benchmark Test and get your estimated band score in about 45 minutes.
Once you've picked a test, resist the temptation to prep for "English in general" — both tests reward preparation that's specific to their actual format, and generic practice is measurably less efficient than targeted practice.
If you've chosen TOEFL, the highest-leverage first step is a full-length diagnostic test to find your real starting band across all four current-format sections, then build a plan around your weakest section specifically. Our full-length TOEFL practice tests match the current adaptive 2026 format exactly, and our free starter kit is a good zero-cost way to get a first look at the task types before committing to a paid plan.
If you've chosen Duolingo, prioritize broad reading speed, listening comprehension under time pressure, and comfort switching quickly between item types — since, unlike TOEFL, you won't know in advance which skill a given question will test. Timed, mixed-practice drills tend to transfer better to Duolingo's format than section-by-section study.
And if you're still genuinely unsure which test fits your timeline and goals, a quick free strategy session with a TOEFL coach can help you map your specific application list against both tests' requirements before you commit time or money to either one.
Check your exact TOEFL band requirement and see how it maps to Duolingo, IELTS, and PTE with our free converter tool.