Start with acceptance — including the visa, separately
Every comparison of these two tests eventually gets to cost and convenience. Start somewhere else, because acceptance is the only factor that can make the entire decision for you.
DET acceptance for university admissions has expanded enormously and covers a great many institutions. Acceptance for immigration and visa purposes is a separate question with a different answer, and it is much less reliable.
So the first question is not which test is better. It is: who has to accept my score, and what do all of them accept? If the answer is that one test satisfies everyone and the other does not, the comparison is over and you can stop reading.
What actually differs
| Duolingo English Test | IELTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | At home, on your own computer | A test centre (online options exist in some places) |
| How long | About an hour | About 2 hours 45 minutes |
| Speaking | Into a computer. Short tasks, one recording each. | A conversation with a human examiner, ~11–14 minutes |
| Writing | Short tasks — photo descriptions, a two-part response | Two long pieces, including a 250-word essay |
| Adaptive? | Yes — questions adjust to your level | No — everyone gets the same paper |
| Scale | 10–160, plus four subscores | Bands 0–9, plus four skill scores |
| Results | A couple of days | Days to a couple of weeks, depending on format |
| Marking | AI | Human examiners (speaking and writing) |
Roughly: DET 120 ≈ IELTS 6.5 (both around CEFR B2), and DET 130 ≈ IELTS 7 (the bottom of C1), using Duolingo's own published comparison. Treat that as an average across many people rather than a conversion for you personally.
The two tests fail different people
This is the part a feature table cannot tell you, and it matters more than cost.
| If this is you… | Then… |
|---|---|
| You freeze in front of a person | DET. You speak to a computer. Nobody reacts, nobody watches, nobody follows up. |
| You do better with a human than a microphone | IELTS. A real conversation gives you turn-taking, follow-up questions and a rhythm to hold onto. Many people are far more fluent with a person in front of them. |
| Long essays are your weak point | DET. There is no 250-word essay. The writing is shorter and more practical. |
| You are strong at structured academic writing | IELTS. The long essay is where you can show it, and the DET gives you nowhere to. |
| You get tired, or you lose focus over hours | DET. One hour, and it is over. |
| You need a long ramp-up to warm up | IELTS. The DET is short and adaptive, so a slow start is expensive — it can shape the difficulty you are given. |
| You want detailed diagnostic feedback | DET. The four subscores let you work out which skill is dragging you down, which IELTS's four bands do less precisely. |
An honest word about the DET's convenience
The at-home format is the DET's biggest advantage and also its biggest hidden cost, and the trade is worth understanding before you choose it.
You are recorded, and human proctors review the recording afterwards. The rules are strict and — this is Duolingo's own framing — people fail them unintentionally: looking away from the camera while thinking, a background application still running, someone opening the door. We wrote up the rules that actually catch honest candidates, because an invalidated test costs you the whole sitting.
In a test centre, none of that is your problem. Somebody else guarantees the room, and if the person at the next desk coughs, nobody voids your result.
How to decide
- Check acceptance — university and visa, separately. If only one test satisfies everyone, take that one. This ends most people's decision.
- Check whether there is a per-skill minimum, and be honest about your weakest skill. On both tests the overall is an average, and your floor is what moves it.
- Try one speaking task from each. Record a two-minute IELTS Part 2, and a 90-second DET spoken answer. You will know within twenty minutes which format you handle better, and the difference is often large.
- Ask whether you can guarantee the room. If not, the at-home test is not the convenient one.
- Then, and only then, consider cost and speed. They are real advantages — they are just the last tiebreaker, not the first filter.
Neither test is easier. They are different tests, and the right one is the one that both accepts you and suits how you actually fail.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Duolingo English Test accepted instead of IELTS?
For university admissions, very widely — DET acceptance has expanded enormously. For immigration and visa purposes it is much less reliable, and that is where people get caught: they check that their university accepts the DET, take it, score well, and then find that the student visa route requires an approved test that does not include it. The university and the visa are two separate approvals, and you must check both before booking.
Is the Duolingo English Test easier than IELTS?
It is shorter and cheaper, not easier — the two fail different people. The DET suits candidates who freeze in front of an examiner, who struggle with long essays, or who lose focus over a long test. IELTS suits candidates who are far more fluent talking to a person than to a microphone, and who are strong at structured academic writing and want somewhere to show it.
What DET score equals IELTS 7?
Around 130, using Duolingo's own published comparison, with both sitting at the bottom of CEFR C1. DET 120 is roughly IELTS 6.5, and both are around B2. Treat these as statistical averages across many candidates rather than a conversion that applies to you personally — the same person routinely lands differently on the two tests.
What is the risk of taking the DET at home?
Your test is recorded and reviewed by human proctors afterwards, and honest candidates do get invalidated for breaking the rules unintentionally — looking away from the camera while thinking, leaving a background application running, or being interrupted by someone entering the room. In a test centre none of that is your responsibility. If you cannot guarantee an hour of quiet, privacy and stable internet, the test centre is the safe option rather than the inconvenient one.
Which test gives more useful feedback?
The DET, in one specific respect: its four subscores each combine two skills, so the pattern of which two are low identifies the single skill that is holding you back. IELTS gives you four skill bands, which is more direct but less diagnostic about what to actually do next.