Is there a Duolingo for general knowledge?

By the edgi team Facts checked September 30, 2026

Yes, more or less. Kinnu is the closest thing to Duolingo for general knowledge: free, gamified, organized into pathways like the Science of Sleep and Greek Mythology, with a review system that brings old material back before you forget it. GenK copies Duolingo's step-by-step path most literally, Brilliant is the Duolingo of math, and edgi, which we make, drops the path on purpose.

We make edgi, so weigh this accordingly. Further down we say when Kinnu is the better pick.

The question has a catch. Duolingo won because it competes with Candy Crush, not Rosetta Stone. The game part travels to any subject. The curriculum doesn't. A language has a finish line: you want to order dinner in Lisbon, so the path is obvious, and every lesson moves you along it. General knowledge has no finish line. Nobody is ever done knowing things. So every app here has to answer a question Duolingo never faced: who decides what you learn next?

Prices are from each app's US App Store listing or its own pricing page, checked in September 2026. Several apps list more than one price for the same plan.

Kinnu: the closest copy

Kinnu is what most people mean by Duolingo for general knowledge. When we asked ChatGPT and Gemini this question three times each in September 2026, all six answers named it. You pick a pathway (Fungi, the Science of Sleep, Secret Societies and Cults), read its lessons, answer questions, and a feature Kinnu calls Memory Shield decides what comes back for review. Its App Store listing promises a "map based design to explore content and conquer new areas." It's free, on iPhone and Android.

The lessons are longer than "bite-sized" suggests. Kinnu publishes 899 of them free on its website, and the median runs about 1,500 words, or six minutes of reading: closer to a textbook section than a Duolingo round. Its homepage now leads with exam prep (the SAT, the CFA, the SQE for solicitors in England and Wales), sold separately. The general-knowledge app got its latest update on September 2, 2026, and is still free.

Pick Kinnu if you want a course, and review questions that keep bringing Rome back until it sticks. We compare it with edgi in more detail in edgi vs Kinnu.

GenK: Duolingo's path, for everything else

If what you loved about Duolingo was the path itself, GenK is the most literal copy. Its App Store listing promises "2-minute lessons," "a clear, engaging path," steps you "unlock" as you go, XP, badges and a streak, across 28-plus topics. ChatGPT named it in two of our three runs of this question. Premium is $24.99 to $49.99 a year on the App Store, depending on which price you're shown.

Brilliant: Duolingo for math

Brilliant is the best-built app here, for a narrower person. It teaches math, science, logic and code through problems you solve by dragging things around and getting them wrong. If general knowledge means finally understanding probability, download Brilliant. If it means history, art or mythology, it has nothing for you. It's also the most expensive: $240 a year on its own site.

Nibble and Imprint: the cousins

Nibble calls itself "an all-around knowledge app of interactive 10-min lessons & quizzes," with topics from art to statistics. Its own llms.txt says it's "Built by Headway Inc.", the company behind the Headway book summary app. Imprint turns big ideas into illustrated chapters you finish in two minutes, and some courses come from real professors (the philosopher John Kaag teaches its philosophy course). It's the prettiest app here.

Kinnu's and Nibble's App Store listings both promise you'll "become the most interesting person in the room," and Headway's sign-up quiz opens with the same line. It's a pitch about impressing other people. edgi is built on a plainer bet: people keep coming back to the things they actually wanted to know.

edgi: no curriculum, on purpose

edgi answers the "who decides" question differently: you do. There are about 104,000 ideas, and 44,000 of them have a 60-second Lesson. Finish one and the idea becomes a card on your Map. The Map shows what that idea connects to, and you follow whichever thread pulls.

The Lesson on slot machines connects to probability, random numbers and keno. Three steps from it, through gambling and psychology, you're in neuroscience. There are 296,000 connections like those, and your Map shows the route you took.

Slot machine Slot machines decide payouts the instant you press the button using a random number generator.

60-second Lesson

Slot machine

The reels are an animation. The computer picked your result before the first one moved.

Play it here Read about slot machine

If you do want a path, edgi has 37 Sets: short, curated runs of ideas. The slot machine Lesson is the first card in one called The Slot Machine in Your Pocket, nine ideas about why a phone is hard to put down.

When Kinnu or something else is the better pick

You want a finish line. Kinnu's pathways end, and GenK's path is built around a daily streak. edgi has no single course to march through unless you pick a Set.

You want to never forget. Kinnu's Memory Shield brings old lessons back as questions. edgi has no review schedule.

You want math, logic or code. Brilliant.

You're on Android. Kinnu, Nibble and Imprint have Android apps. edgi runs on iPhone and in the browser.

It has to be Duolingo. Duolingo itself now teaches math, music and chess.

FAQ

Is there a Duolingo for general knowledge? Kinnu is the closest: free, gamified pathways with built-in review. GenK copies Duolingo's unlock-as-you-go path. edgi is free too, but lets you follow your curiosity instead of a path.

Is Kinnu free? The general-knowledge app is. On iPhone it sells optional certificates for $7.99 to $19.99. Its exam prep is a separate paid product.

Is edgi free? Yes. Lessons, cards and the Map are free. A few Sets are open from the start, and the rest unlock with coins you earn by learning. An optional Pro subscription opens two Sets a day without coins, raises the limits on making your own Lessons and adds offline access.

Does Duolingo teach anything besides languages? Yes. Its App Store listing now includes courses in math, music and chess alongside more than 40 languages.

What's the Duolingo of math and science? Brilliant. It teaches math, science, logic and coding through interactive problems, at $240 a year on its own site.