Duolingo Internships 2027: Programs, Pay and How to Apply

Duolingo runs a software engineering internship in two tracks, Standard and Thrive, almost entirely out of Pittsburgh. It's small and hard-deadline: Duolingo doesn't review on a rolling basis, and thousands of students apply for roughly 25 Thrive seats plus a small Standard class each year.

Standard vs Thrive

Both figures come from recent postings rather than a permanently published rate, and Duolingo can adjust them cycle to cycle. Both tracks are almost entirely based in Pittsburgh, so budget for relocation if you don't already live there.

What Duolingo actually does

Duolingo builds a language-learning app and platform, along with newer products like Duolingo Math and Duolingo Music, used by hundreds of millions of people. It's a publicly traded consumer tech company built around gamified daily habits, so a lot of intern work touches product features the applicant pool has already used themselves, which is part of why the program draws so many applicants relative to its seat count.

Eligibility and what you need

Both tracks want a computer science or related technical major with at least two college-level CS courses completed and hands-on programming experience in a language like Java, Python, Kotlin or Swift. Thrive specifically targets second-year students from groups underrepresented in tech, while Standard targets juniors. Neither track is remote.

When to apply

Duolingo typically opens applications for the following summer between September and November, and does not review applications on a rolling basis. Missing the posted deadline means waiting a full year for the next cycle, unlike many companies that keep a posting open until it's filled. As of this guide's last update, ApplyBolt's live board doesn't show a 2027 internship posting yet, which fits that fall application window rather than meaning the program has been cut.

Given how selective both tracks are, a resume built around a couple of concrete coding projects, described specifically rather than listed generically, tends to matter more here than at companies that hire larger intern classes. Duolingo's own recruiting posts describe interns shipping features that reach real users during the internship, not a sandboxed practice project, so be ready to talk through how you'd approach an ambiguous, product-facing problem, not just algorithm questions.

If you don't have prior internship experience, personal projects carry real weight here. Duolingo is a product almost every applicant has actually used, so a small project that improves on some part of the app, even a rough prototype, gives you something specific to discuss that a generic class assignment doesn't. For the broader software engineering internship timeline, see our summer 2027 SWE internships guide, and for how Duolingo's pay compares across the market, see our highest paying internships 2027 guide.