Office profile

Duolingo Headquarters & offices · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Q: Where is Duolingo's headquarters?

At 5900 Penn Avenue in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Duolingo also leases offices at Liberty East, 141 South Saint Clair Street, nearby.

Q: How big is Duolingo's Pittsburgh office?

Duolingo leases about 195,254 sq ft (≈ 18,140 m²) in several Pittsburgh buildings, up from about 83,586 sq ft a year earlier. Its Liberty East lease alone covers 148,266 sq ft through April 2036.

Q: Who designed Duolingo's headquarters?

AE7 designed the 2016 renovation; Avon Graf Architects designed the 2018 expansion and a later expansion into a former furniture warehouse. MBM Contracting and TEDCO built them.

Q: Does Duolingo work in the office or remotely?

Duolingo says it works in the office Monday through Thursday, with Fridays optional.

Q: What benefits does Duolingo offer?

In the U.S.: 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave, 20 days PTO plus a 2-week winter break, a 2-month paid sabbatical after 10 years, $30,000 for family forming, 10 free therapy visits a year and a 401(k) with a 5% match.

Q: Is there food at the Duolingo office?

Yes. Lunch is provided Monday to Friday and breakfast Monday to Thursday, with stocked micro kitchens and baristas in Pittsburgh and New York. Employees also eat for free once a week at Duo's Taqueria next door.

Q: How many people work at Duolingo?

More than 900 employees at the end of 2025, including more than 430 engineers.

Q: How much do Duolingo employees make?

The median employee's total compensation was $296,588 in 2025. 2026 postings for Senior/Software Engineer II roles list base salaries of $153,000–$207,000 (Android) and $182,800–$247,300 (Backend), plus equity.

Q: Where else does Duolingo have offices?

New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Beijing, London and Berlin.

Q: Who founded Duolingo?

Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, who met at Carnegie Mellon University. Von Ahn has been CEO since 2011.

Two-story gray building with large windows and a duolingo sign on the facade — 5900 Penn Avenue, East Liberty · © MBM Contracting

Lounge with red and yellow sofas beside tall windows overlooking brick buildings — Lounge by the windows · © MBM Contracting

Open office with long desks, a planter wall, gray sofas and a blue accent wall — Open office · © MBM Contracting

Wide wooden terraced stair with handrails rising to an upper level — Terraced seating stair · © TEDCO Construction

Kitchen counter under a wooden frame with pendant lights and long dining tables — Kitchen and dining area · © MBM Contracting

See more of the office →

Duolingo · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A headquarters in East Liberty with a stage, a patio meeting room behind garage doors and a 24/7 gym — and a taco shop next door where Duos eat free once a week.

The Pittsburgh offices, 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a two-month sabbatical after ten years — then the pay. Every number from Duolingo's filings, careers site and the builders' project pages.

16 weeksfully paid parental leave, no tenure requirement
2 monthspaid sabbatical after 10 years
195,254sq ft leased in Pittsburgh (2025)
$296,588median employee pay, 2025

See inside the office Benefits

Sources: Form 10-K 2025 · Proxy statement 2026 · careers.duolingo.com/benefits · Duolingo Blog

Companies / United States / Education technology / Duolingo

THE HEADQUARTERS · EAST LIBERTY, PITTSBURGH

A café, a stage and a patio meeting room with garage doors

The 2016 renovation by AE7 gave Duolingo a reception, an open office for 109 people, a café and dining area, a stage, quiet rooms and five meeting rooms — one a patio room with garage doors for good weather. Break areas have cornhole, foosball, pool, video games and music, and a full kitchen lets the chefs serve a daily lunch buffet. A later expansion by Avon Graf turned 11,600 sq ft of a former furniture warehouse into open offices, learning labs and amenity spaces, joined by a terraced seating stair.

≈ 195,254 sq ft in Pittsburgh (2025)
Design: AE7, then Avon Graf Architects
Former furniture warehouse
24/7 gym and walking track
Lunch Mon–Fri, breakfast Mon–Thu
In the office Mon–Thu

From the street and the office floors

The headquarters is at 5900 Penn Avenue in East Liberty, Pittsburgh; the 2016 renovation by AE7 created an open office for 109 people, quiet rooms and five meeting rooms.

Gray two-story corner building with rows of windows and a church spire behind — From the street · © MBM Contracting

Orange stools around a glass table on a dotted rug, with desks behind — Office floor · © MBM Contracting

Glass-walled meeting room with an orange wall, a long table and black chairs — Meeting room · © MBM Contracting

Meeting room with a long white table, office chairs and a wall screen — Meeting room · © MBM Contracting

Corridor lined with glass-walled rooms leading to a café area — Corridor · © MBM Contracting

Two green upholstered booths with tables and pendant lamps — Booths · © MBM Contracting

Reception area with sofas, plants and frosted glass bearing the duolingo name — Reception · © MBM Contracting

Café, kitchen and break areas

A full kitchen lets the chefs serve a daily lunch buffet, and break areas have cornhole, foosball, pool, video games and music.

Kitchen island with orange stools, food displays and a pool table behind — Café counter · © MBM Contracting

Three tall glass drink dispensers filled with fruit on a white counter — Drinks counter · © MBM Contracting

Long buffet counter with stacked plates and a foosball table nearby — Buffet counter · © MBM Contracting

Commercial kitchen with stoves, pots and stainless-steel counters — Kitchen · © MBM Contracting

Long white dining tables lined with yellow chairs — Dining area · © MBM Contracting

Ping-pong table and pool table in an open games area — Games area · © MBM Contracting

Lounge with orange outdoor chairs, a bar counter and glass garage-style doors — Room with garage doors · © MBM Contracting

Open space with a hammock, colorful stools and a cornhole board — Break area · © MBM Contracting

Lounge with sofas and large bean bags by corner windows — Lounge · © MBM Contracting

More of the office

The Pittsburgh headquarters has grown through several expansions since 2016.

Open office with a blue sofa, an egg chair and planters among desks — Office floor · © MBM Contracting

Lounge in front of a blue wall painted with clouds, with gray sofas — Lounge · © MBM Contracting

Small enclosed booths with pendant lamps and upholstered armchairs — Booths and seating · © MBM Contracting

Bright work area with desks under a long skylight-style light — Office floor · © TEDCO Construction

Facts: MBM Contracting project page “Duolingo Offices and Expansion” · TEDCO project page “Duolingo” · careers.duolingo.com (benefits, FAQ) · Form 10-K 2025, Item 2.

East Liberty, Pittsburgh — and New York

Building	Address
Headquarters	5900 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Liberty East (leased offices)	141 South Saint Clair Street, Pittsburgh, PA
Duo's Taqueria	5906 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA
New York office	4 World Trade Center, 150 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007

Source: Form 10-K 2025 cover and notes · Form 10-K 2024 · Duolingo Blog (Duo's Taqueria) · See them on the map ↓

Pittsburgh space (2025)195,254 sq ft (≈ 18,140 m²)

Liberty East lease148,266 sq ft (≈ 13,774 m²), to Apr 30, 2036

New York office85,666 sq ft (≈ 7,959 m²)

2016 renovationAE7 (architect), MBM Contracting — ≈ 14,400 sq ft

2018 expansionAvon Graf Architects, MBM Contracting

Warehouse expansionAvon Graf Architects, TEDCO — 11,600 sq ft + 6,400 sq ft mezzanine

Source: Form 10-K 2024 and 2025 · MBM Contracting and TEDCO project pages

Office tour videos

Life at Duolingo: An Office Tour!Duolingo (official) · 2022 · YouTube ↗

Benefits (United States)

Parental leave16 weeks

100% paid for all Duos, with no tenure requirement, plus up to 5 Parent Hours a week.

Time off20 days

20 days PTO, 7 company holidays, a 2-week winter break and unlimited sick time; 25 days after 5 years.

Sabbatical2 months

Fully paid, after 10 years.

Family forming$30,000

Lifetime benefit through Carrot: fertility, egg freezing, adoption and more.

Mental health10 + 10

Fully paid Spring Health membership with 10 free therapy visits and 10 coaching sessions a year.

Backup care15 days

Paid backup care — usable for pets too.

First home (Pittsburgh)$10,000

First-time home buyer bonus for Pittsburgh-based employees.

Donation match$1,000

Matched each year, for any U.S.-based or international charity.

Source: careers.duolingo.com/benefits (2026). Also: 401(k) with a 5% match that vests immediately.

Why people stay, in Duolingo's own words

< 6%Attrition in 2021

In 2020 only four employees left — under 2% of the workforce; in 2019 it was about 6%.

2 monthsSabbatical after 10 years

Fully paid; PTO also rises from 20 to 25 days after five years.

DuoTripsLanguage trips abroad

Short international trips to practice a language, for Duos with 2+ years at the company.

EquityRSUs for every Duo

Pay has two pillars for all employees: salary and equity (RSUs).

$600 + $500Learning budget and language challenge

$600 a year for learning, and $500 for 5,000 XP and a 50-day streak (twice a year).

6 ERGsEmployee Resource Groups

Women; LGBTQIA+; Black, African and African American; Hispanic/LatinX; International; Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander.

Source: Form S-1 2021 and Form 10-K 2021 (attrition) · Proxy statement 2026 · careers.duolingo.com/benefits

Who works here

Jobs · Dec 31, 2025 (900+ people)

Engineers 430+Everyone else

900+

employees (Dec 31, 2025)

430+

engineers

office cities, Pittsburgh to Beijing

2011

incorporated, August

Source: Form 10-K 2025 · Form S-1 2021 · careers.duolingo.com (locations). Shares calculated by eciffo from “more than” figures, so they are approximate.

Pay at Duolingo

Median employee · total compensation, 2025$296,588

Includes base pay and equity awards. The CEO's 2025 total compensation was $767,500 — 2.6 times this amount.

Source: Proxy statement 2026 (CEO pay ratio)

Base salary range · Senior/Software Engineer II, New York & Pittsburgh

Senior/Software Engineer II, Android$153,000 – $207,000

Senior/Software Engineer II, Backend$182,800 – $247,300

Source: Duolingo job postings 8628658002 (R-01177) and 8584012002 (R-01159), careers.duolingo.com (2026). Base salary only; equity is on top.

Pay by ageNot published

Duolingo doesn't publish pay by age.

Office history: from Carnegie Mellon to East Liberty

2011
Founded at Carnegie Mellon
Luis von Ahn, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and his Ph.D. student Severin Hacker founded Duolingo; it was incorporated in August 2011.
Source: Form 10-K 2025 · Form S-1 2021

Gates and Hillman Centers, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 2015 · Dllu / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Early years
Above a sports bar
Duolingo started with “a few dozen nerds above a Pittsburgh sports bar”, in the company's own words.
Source: Duolingo Blog, “Inside the Duolingo Company Handbook” (Feb 2025)

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2016
A headquarters with a café and a stage
AE7 and MBM Contracting completed about 14,400 sq ft in June 2016: an open office for 109 people, a café, a stage, quiet rooms and a patio meeting room with garage doors.
Source: MBM Contracting project page

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2018
First expansion
Avon Graf Architects and MBM added nine project offices, more dining seats, a games area and a bigger kitchen, completed in April 2018.
Source: MBM Contracting project page

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2021
IPO year: 5900 Penn Avenue
At its IPO Duolingo leased about 47,000 sq ft in Pittsburgh, with 5900 Penn Avenue as its principal offices; in November it signed a lease at Liberty East. By year end Pittsburgh space was about 84,000 sq ft.
Source: Form S-1 2021 · Form 10-K 2021 and 2024

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2022
A taco shop next door
Duo's Taqueria opened in the space next to the headquarters, at 5906 Penn Ave. Employees eat and drink there for free once a week.
Source: Form 10-K 2025 · Duolingo Blog (Mar 2025)

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2024
Liberty East grows to 148,266 sq ft
Lease amendments added 110,008 sq ft at Liberty East, 141 South Saint Clair Street, for a total of 148,266 sq ft through April 30, 2036.
Source: Form 10-K 2024

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2025
195,254 sq ft in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh space more than doubled to about 195,254 sq ft in several buildings, and the headquarters lease was amended and extended through 2036.
Source: Form 10-K 2025

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.

Annual report	HQ space (sq ft)	m²	As described
S-1 2021	47,000	4,366	Multiple facilities, Pittsburgh (leased)
10-K 2021	84,000	7,804	Multiple facilities, Pittsburgh (leased)
10-K 2023	83,586	7,765	Multiple facilities, Pittsburgh (leased)
10-K 2025	195,254	18,140	Multiple facilities, Pittsburgh (leased)

Map: how the headquarters moved

Duolingo has never left Pittsburgh: from Carnegie Mellon University to East Liberty, about 3 km away, where it now leases space in several buildings along Penn Avenue, including Liberty East.

Loading map…

1 · 2011Carnegie Mellon University — Where the co-founders met and started Duolingo
2 · 20265900 Penn Avenue, East Liberty — Headquarters today (principal executive offices)

Places: Form 10-K 2025 · Form 8-K, Aug 10, 2026 · Locations: OpenStreetMap

What Duolingo does

Duolingo is a learning app for languages, and now also math, music and chess. Most of its money comes from subscriptions; free learners see ads, and the Duolingo English Test is sold to people applying to schools.

One operating segment.

Where the money came from · revenue by type, 2025

SubscriptionsSuper Duolingo and other paid plans

$873.4M

AdvertisingAds shown to free learners

$79.7M

Duolingo English TestOnline English proficiency test

$42.0M

In-app purchasesStreak Freezes, Timer Boosts and more

$40.5M

Source: Form 10-K 2025 (revenue by type)

Revenue, 2025$1.04Bup 39% in a year

Net income, 2025$414.1MGAAP; includes a one-time income-tax benefit

Daily active users52.7MQ4 2025 average

Paid subscribers12.2MDec 31, 2025

Source: Form 10-K 2025

Growth: revenue vs. people

15×revenue, 2019 → 2025
$70.8M → $1.04B

1.8×employees, 2021 → 2025
500+ → 900+

YearRevenueEmployees

FY2019

$0.1B

—

FY2020

$0.2B

—

FY2021

$0.3B

500

FY2022

$0.4B

600

FY2023

$0.5B

720

FY2024

$0.7B

830

FY2025

$1.0B

900

Calendar years. Revenue: Form S-1 2021 and Form 10-K 2021–2025. Employees: Form 10-K (“over”, “approximately” or “more than” the number shown; 2019–2020 year-end counts not published). Multiples calculated by eciffo.

Chief executives

No free-to-use photo.

2011 – today

Luis von Ahn

Co-founder, CEO and Chairman since Duolingo was founded — its only CEO.

Co-founders: Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker (Chief Technology Officer).

Source: Proxy statement 2026

Duolingo: questions people ask

Where is Duolingo's headquarters?

At 5900 Penn Avenue in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Duolingo also leases offices at Liberty East, 141 South Saint Clair Street, nearby.

Source: Form 10-K 2025 · Form 8-K, Aug 10, 2026

How big is Duolingo's Pittsburgh office?

Duolingo leases about 195,254 sq ft (≈ 18,140 m²) in several Pittsburgh buildings, up from about 83,586 sq ft a year earlier. Its Liberty East lease alone covers 148,266 sq ft through April 2036.

Source: Form 10-K 2024 and 2025

Who designed Duolingo's headquarters?

AE7 designed the 2016 renovation; Avon Graf Architects designed the 2018 expansion and a later expansion into a former furniture warehouse. MBM Contracting and TEDCO built them.

Source: MBM Contracting and TEDCO project pages

Does Duolingo work in the office or remotely?

Duolingo says it works in the office Monday through Thursday, with Fridays optional.

Source: careers.duolingo.com (FAQ)

What benefits does Duolingo offer?

In the U.S.: 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave, 20 days PTO plus a 2-week winter break, a 2-month paid sabbatical after 10 years, $30,000 for family forming, 10 free therapy visits a year and a 401(k) with a 5% match.

Source: careers.duolingo.com/benefits

Is there food at the Duolingo office?

Yes. Lunch is provided Monday to Friday and breakfast Monday to Thursday, with stocked micro kitchens and baristas in Pittsburgh and New York. Employees also eat for free once a week at Duo's Taqueria next door.

Source: careers.duolingo.com/benefits · Duolingo Blog

How many people work at Duolingo?

More than 900 employees at the end of 2025, including more than 430 engineers.

Source: Form 10-K 2025

How much do Duolingo employees make?

The median employee's total compensation was $296,588 in 2025. 2026 postings for Senior/Software Engineer II roles list base salaries of $153,000–$207,000 (Android) and $182,800–$247,300 (Backend), plus equity.

Source: Proxy statement 2026 · Duolingo job postings

Where else does Duolingo have offices?

New York City, Seattle, Detroit, Beijing, London and Berlin.

Source: careers.duolingo.com (locations)

Who founded Duolingo?

Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, who met at Carnegie Mellon University. Von Ahn has been CEO since 2011.

Source: Form 10-K 2025 · Proxy statement 2026

You have seen the office, the benefits and the pay