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Weird, I haven't paid for quite some time

I never had to pay for Duolingo. I decided to pay because I wanted to. It's legitimately teaching me a new language and I'm pretty happy with it.

not at all, they are pushy about you taking a premium sub but you can still learn for free...

what did you click in duolingo that required payment?

Did you run out of hearts? Those recharge over time, you don’t need to pay.

I uninstalled it when they switched over to the Candy Crush model of making you wait to practice when practicing is what you need most.

The other way they could have monetised it is to limit the amount of time you can spend on it per day. I prefer this system.