Abbott announced two over-the-counter glucose sensors on the same day in June 2024: Lingo, a wellness sensor, and the FreeStyle Libre Rio, a sensor for adults with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin. They look similar, wear on the same arm, and share a maker, but they are built for different people. This guide explains the differences, what is available to buy, and how the two compare on price. For Lingo against Dexcom’s Stelo, see our Stelo vs Lingo guide.
Quick answer: Lingo is intended for adults 18 and older who are not on insulin, and Abbott says it is not intended to diagnose any disease, including diabetes. Libre Rio is indicated for non-insulin-using adults 18 and older with type 2 diabetes who manage it through lifestyle changes. Lingo is on sale now at about $49 for one 14-day sensor and $249 for twelve weeks at the prices we found. Libre Rio was cleared in June 2024 but, as of the latest sources we could read, had not launched in the United States. If you want a sensor this month, Lingo is the Abbott option. This is education, not medical advice.
Read this first: the FreeStyle Libre Rio was cleared by the FDA in June 2024, but the most recent sources I could read (published April and August 2026) say it had not launched commercially in the United States, with no confirmed retail date and no announced price. I could not open Abbott’s own product page from my tools, so check Abbott’s FreeStyle site before you plan around it. Be careful with any site that offers Rio “pre-orders,” because one 2026 buying guide warns against them. The comparison below therefore describes what is on paper, not a product you can necessarily buy today.
Two products, two jobs
Abbott’s own announcement describes Lingo as aimed at general consumers who want to improve their health and wellness, with a coaching app that gives insight into how food, exercise, and stress affect glucose. It describes Libre Rio as the first over-the-counter option for people with diabetes, aimed at adults with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin. Put plainly: Lingo is a wellness tool, and Rio is meant to be a diabetes tool.
| Question | Lingo | FreeStyle Libre Rio |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 18 and older | 18 and older |
| Insulin | Not for people on insulin | Non-insulin users only; not compatible with insulin pumps (ADCES) |
| Diabetes | Not intended to diagnose diseases, including diabetes; usable by adults without diabetes | Aimed at adults with type 2 diabetes who manage it through lifestyle changes |
| Main purpose | Wellness and metabolic health insight | Glucose monitoring for type 2 diabetes |
| Prescription | No | No |
If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin, both are within their labels, though only one is aimed at you. If you do not have diabetes and want to learn how food affects you, Lingo is the one built for that.
Side-by-side specs
| Feature | Lingo | FreeStyle Libre Rio |
|---|---|---|
| Wear time | 14 days | Reported as up to 15 days (ADCES); diaTribe says two weeks |
| Warm-up | 60 minutes (Lingo guide) | Not stated in the sources we could read |
| How readings arrive | App shows minute-by-minute glucose | ADCES says scan to read, with readings recorded every 15 minutes; other sources describe an app. Confirm with Abbott |
| Range shown | 55 to 200 mg/dL in the app | Measures 40 to 400 mg/dL |
| Alarms | None | No customizable alerts (ADCES) |
| Calibration | Factory calibrated | Factory calibrated |
| Water resistance | Up to 3 feet for 30 minutes (Lingo guide) | Can be worn during exercise, showering, and swimming (ADCES) |
| App style | Lingo Count daily score, challenges, weekly reports, meal logging | Described as insights into glucose patterns; details not confirmed |
| Availability | On sale in the United States | Cleared June 2024; no confirmed US retail launch in the latest sources |
Two cells deserve a second look. First, how Rio delivers readings is described differently by different sources, and the difference matters for catching overnight highs and lows. Second, the app range for Lingo is narrower than what the sensor can measure in Rio, which is a difference in what you see, not a statement about accuracy.
Price and cost over three months
These are the example Lingo prices from our cost guide, with Stelo shown for scale. Libre Rio has no announced price, so it is left blank rather than guessed. The three-month column scales each plan to 90 days. Sources vary slightly: one lists a single Lingo sensor at $49 and another at $54.
| Plan | Price | Days covered | Per day / 90-day cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stelo, one-time two-sensor pack | $99 | 30 | $3.30 / $297 |
| Stelo, monthly subscription | $89 | 30 | $2.97 / $267 |
| Stelo, three-month plan | $252 | 90 | $2.80 / $252 |
| Lingo, six sensors (12 weeks) | $249 | 84 | $2.96 / $267 |
| Lingo, two sensors (4 weeks) | $89 | 28 | $3.18 / $286 |
| Lingo, one sensor | $49 | 14 | $3.50 / $315 |
| FreeStyle Libre Rio | No price announced | – | – |
Worked check: Lingo’s twelve-week plan is $249 for 84 days, or $249 ÷ 84 = $2.96 a day, which would be about $267 for 90 days. Buying one sensor at a time at $49 for 14 days is $3.50 a day, or about $315 over 90 days. The difference is $315 − $267 = $48. Buying in bulk matters more than which brand you pick.
Who should choose which
- Choose Lingo if you want a low-cost way to experiment with how meals, walks, and sleep move your glucose, you like a daily score and guided challenges, and you want a sensor you can buy now.
- Watch Libre Rio if you have type 2 diabetes without insulin and prefer a sensor aimed at that, or you want to see Abbott’s price before deciding. Do not plan around a date that has not been announced.
- Consider Stelo or a prescription CGM if you want longer wear, smartwatch display, or clinic sharing. Our which CGM is right for your goal guide walks through the options, and Lingo alternatives lists other ways to see your glucose.
- Choose none of these if you use insulin, have had serious low blood sugar, or need urgent alarms. Read prescription vs over-the-counter CGM after a diagnosis and ask your clinician about a prescription sensor.
Which sensor fits your situation
Lingo and Libre Rio share a maker, but they answer different questions. These scenarios describe who each product seems built for. They are general education and do not replace advice from a clinician who knows your history.
If you do not have diabetes and are curious about food
Lingo is the one aimed at you. Abbott describes it as a wellness product that helps you see how food, exercise, and stress affect your glucose, and says it is not intended to diagnose any disease. Libre Rio is described for adults with type 2 diabetes, so it is not the natural fit. Go in with modest expectations. A spike after a meal is information about that meal, not a verdict on your health.
If you have prediabetes or a borderline A1C
Lingo is the sensor you can buy today and fits the adult, non-insulin label. A sensor can help you test small habits, such as a walk after dinner, while you work with your clinician on the bigger plan. It cannot tell you whether you have prediabetes. For ranges, see our normal blood sugar chart.
If you have type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin
Both sit inside their labels on paper. Libre Rio is the one pitched at your situation, but it had no confirmed US launch in the latest sources we read. Lingo is available and cheaper per sensor to try, but it is positioned as a wellness tool rather than a diabetes tool. Ask your prescriber whether any of your medicines can cause low blood sugar. If they can, an over-the-counter sensor without urgent alarms may not be the right choice.
If you are an athlete or an active person
Lingo’s coaching app is designed around food, exercise, and stress, which makes it a natural fit for experimenting with fueling. Remember that sensor readings trail blood readings by several minutes, so the graph is behind during hard efforts. Use it to learn patterns across weeks, not to react minute by minute.
If you use insulin or have had serious low blood sugar
Neither product is the right tool. Both are labeled for people who do not use insulin, and neither offers urgent alarms. Ask about a prescription CGM, and read prescription vs over-the-counter CGM after a diagnosis.
How the Lingo app approach differs
One reason people choose Lingo is the app. Based on the product details we found, it turns raw glucose into a daily score called Lingo Count, adds challenges, produces weekly reports, and lets you log meals so you can see how a particular food played out. That framing suits someone who wants gentle coaching rather than a medical dashboard. It also means the app is built around behavior change, not treatment, which is consistent with Abbott saying Lingo is not intended to diagnose disease. A score is only as useful as the habits it nudges. If a daily number makes you anxious or sends you chasing a perfect day, it may be working against you. If it helps you notice that a walk after dinner calms your evening curve, it is doing its job. Libre Rio, by contrast, is described as a tool for glucose monitoring in type 2 diabetes, and we could not confirm what its app will look like. Treat any claim about its features as unverified until Abbott publishes them.
A three-month plan for using a sensor well
People often wear one sensor, glance at the graph, and move on. A plan helps you get your money’s worth. This one assumes Lingo because it is on sale, and uses its 14-day sensors, so each month is about two sensors. The same structure would apply to Libre Rio if it launches.
| Month | Focus | What to write down |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Learn your baseline. Eat as you normally do and change nothing on purpose. | Meals, walks, sleep, stress, and any surprising reading |
| Month 2 | Change one variable at a time, such as swapping breakfast or adding a post-dinner walk. | What you changed, on which days, and what your graph did afterward |
| Month 3 | Keep what worked, drop what did not, and prepare for your appointment. | Repeatable patterns and two or three questions for your clinician |
The most common mistake is changing everything at once. If you start a new diet, a new gym routine, and a new sleep schedule in the same week, no sensor can tell you which one moved your numbers. Treat each month like a small experiment with one question. A pattern worth trusting is one you can see on at least three or four days. Our CGM reading guide explains what to look for first.
Worked examples with the numbers
Each figure below is computed from the example prices in the table above. Prices change, so use these as arithmetic you can redo with current numbers.
- A four-week experiment. Two Lingo sensors cost $89 and cover 28 days, which is $3.18 a day. Compare that with the twelve-week plan at $249 for 84 days, or $2.96 a day. If you are not sure you will stick with it, the four-week pack costs $89 up front, while the long plan costs $249.
- A full year of Lingo with twelve-week plans. A year is 365 days, and each plan covers 84 days, so 365 ÷ 84 = 4.35, which rounds up to 5 plans. At $249 each that is $1,245. Four plans cover only 336 days and cost $996.
- A full year one sensor at a time. 365 ÷ 14 = 26.1, so you would need 27 sensors. At $49 each that is $1,323. Buying in bulk saves $78 compared with single sensors over the same year.
- Lingo against Stelo over 90 days. Using the figures in the table, Lingo’s twelve-week plan works out to about $267 for 90 days, while Stelo’s three-month plan is $252. The difference is $267 − $252 = $15 in Stelo’s favor, which is small enough that features should decide.
- An illustrative day. These numbers are invented to show the arithmetic. If 72 of a day’s 96 values fall inside a range you and your clinician choose, that is 72 ÷ 96 = 75.0% of the day in range. The right range for you is a clinical decision.
A decision flowchart in table form
Read from the top. Stop at the first row that applies.
| Step | Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do you use insulin, or have you had serious low blood sugar? | Skip both. Ask about a prescription CGM. | Go to step 2 |
| 2 | Are you under 18? | Neither is cleared. Talk with a pediatric clinician. | Go to step 3 |
| 3 | Do you want readings this month? | Lingo is the Abbott sensor you can buy. Go to step 5. | Go to step 4 |
| 4 | Do you have type 2 diabetes and want a sensor aimed at it? | Watch for a Libre Rio launch and price. | Lingo or Stelo both fit; compare cost |
| 5 | Does your medicine list include anything that can cause lows? | Ask your prescriber before buying. | Go to step 6 |
| 6 | Do you want to experiment before committing? | Buy the two-sensor pack first. | Compare the twelve-week plan |
What these sensors can and cannot tell you
A sensor measures glucose in fluid under your skin, not in your blood, which is why readings can trail blood readings by several minutes and can differ from a finger-stick. That difference is usually acceptable for learning patterns and less suitable for urgent decisions.
What a sensor can help you see:
- How different meals affect your glucose over the next few hours.
- Whether a walk after eating changes the shape of your curve.
- How sleep, stress, and workouts relate to your readings across several days.
- Whether a new habit produces a repeatable change.
What a sensor cannot do:
- Diagnose diabetes. Abbott says Lingo is not intended for diagnosis, and diagnosis uses lab tests.
- Tell you how much medicine to take.
- Replace urgent low and high alarms. Neither device has them.
- Replace a meter when your symptoms do not match the number.
- Be fully reliable in the first hours after insertion or when you lie on the sensor.
Pros and cons of each device
| Device | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Lingo | On sale now; lower entry cost, with single sensors around $49; coaching app with daily score, challenges, and meal logging; no prescription | Wellness positioning, not a diabetes tool; 14-day sensors; no alarms; narrower 55 to 200 mg/dL display range |
| FreeStyle Libre Rio | Cleared for adults with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin; reported 15-day wear; from the same maker as Lingo | No confirmed US launch or price in the latest sources; delivery of readings is unclear; no customizable alerts |
Questions to ask the manufacturer
Ask these of Abbott when Libre Rio has a launch page, and of Lingo’s support team before you buy a large bundle:
- How do I get my readings: continuously in an app, or only when I scan?
- What is the exact wear time for one sensor?
- What is the total price for 90 days, including shipping and taxes?
- Can I cancel a plan or return unused sensors?
- Is the sensor eligible for HSA or FSA spending?
- What is the replacement policy if a sensor fails early?
- How is my data stored and shared, and can I delete it?
What else moves your glucose besides food
It is tempting to blame every spike on the last thing you ate. In practice, several other factors shift glucose, and a sensor makes them visible. Poor sleep can leave morning readings higher than usual. Stress and illness can push numbers up even when your meals are unchanged. A hard workout can raise glucose briefly before it falls, which surprises many people. Some medicines, including steroids, raise glucose, and others can lower it. Even the order you eat things in and the time of day can change the shape of the curve. Our guide to the dawn phenomenon explains one common morning pattern, and the walking after meals guide covers a habit many people test first. The point is not to memorize every cause. It is to keep a short note beside each interesting reading, so that when you look back you can tell a food effect from a sleep effect or a stress effect.
How to prepare for your appointment
A sensor is most valuable when it makes a short appointment more productive. Before you go, export or screenshot a typical week and a week that surprised you. Write down three observations in plain words, such as my morning readings were higher on days I slept under six hours. Add the two questions that matter most to you. Bring your medicine list, because your clinician will interpret the graph in light of what you take. Ask what range they want you to aim for, since that is their call and not the sensor maker’s. Finally, ask whether a longer or different kind of monitoring would help. The goal is not to impress your clinician with data. It is to give them a clear picture that a single office reading cannot show.
Bottom line by situation
| Situation | Best fit today | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Want a sensor this month, no insulin | Lingo (or Stelo) | Available now; confirm current price |
| Type 2 diabetes, no insulin, can wait | Watch Libre Rio | No confirmed launch or price in the latest sources |
| No diabetes, curious about food | Lingo | Built as a wellness product |
| Uses insulin or has serious lows | Neither | Ask about a prescription CGM |
| Tight budget | Lingo two-sensor pack | $89 for about four weeks |
If you remember one thing, make it this: Lingo is for learning, Libre Rio is meant for people managing type 2 diabetes, and neither is a safety device. Pick the one you can actually buy, use it with a plan, and take what you learn to a clinician.
Common mistakes
- Using Lingo to check whether you have diabetes. Abbott says it is not intended for diagnosis. Diagnosis needs lab tests, covered in our normal blood sugar chart.
- Waiting on Libre Rio instead of learning now. There is no announced date or price.
- Trusting a pre-order page. A 2026 buying guide warns against third-party listings for Rio.
- Reading one number as a verdict. Our CGM reading guide explains why patterns matter more than any single value.
- Making medicine changes based on a graph. Bring the data to your clinician.
Questions to bring to your appointment
- Is a wellness sensor like Lingo useful for me, or should I be monitored differently?
- Do I fit an over-the-counter sensor, or do my medicines mean I should ask for a prescription CGM?
- What do you want to see from a two-week trial?
- When should I check with a finger-stick meter?
- Would you rather I wear a sensor continuously or for short experiments?
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Lingo and the Libre Rio?
Lingo is intended for adults 18 and older who are not on insulin, including people without diabetes, and is not intended to diagnose any disease. Libre Rio is indicated for non-insulin-using adults 18 and older and is aimed at people with type 2 diabetes who manage it through lifestyle changes.
Is the Libre Rio on sale?
The FDA cleared it in June 2024, but the latest sources we could read (April and August 2026) said it had not launched commercially in the United States and had no announced price. We could not open Abbott’s product page, so check Abbott for current status.
Can Lingo diagnose diabetes?
No. Abbott states that Lingo is not intended for diagnosis of diseases, including diabetes. A clinician diagnoses diabetes using lab tests.
How long does a Lingo sensor last?
Up to 14 days. Libre Rio is reported as up to 15 days by one source and two weeks by another, so confirm with Abbott when it launches.
How much does Lingo cost?
At the prices we found, about $49 for one sensor, $89 for two sensors (four weeks), and $249 for twelve weeks. One source lists the single sensor at $54, so confirm on Lingo’s site.
Does Lingo have glucose alarms?
No. Over-the-counter sensors like Lingo do not offer urgent low and high alarms and are not designed for people who use insulin.
Which should I pick if I have type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin?
Both fit within their labels, but only Lingo can be bought today, and Rio is the one aimed at type 2 diabetes. Stelo is another available choice. Talk with your clinician about whether any over-the-counter sensor suits you.
Is Lingo the same as the Libre Rio?
No. They share a maker and wear on the upper arm, but Lingo is a wellness product for adults who do not use insulin, while Libre Rio is indicated for non-insulin-using adults and aimed at type 2 diabetes.
Can I use Lingo if I have type 2 diabetes?
Lingo is labeled for adults 18 and older who do not use insulin, and Abbott says it is not intended to diagnose or manage disease. Ask your clinician whether a wellness sensor makes sense for your situation.
Does insurance cover Lingo or the Libre Rio?
Over-the-counter sensors are generally paid for out of pocket, and we did not find confirmed coverage for either. HSA or FSA eligibility varies, so check with your plan administrator before buying.
Sources used: Abbott newsroom (June 25, 2024), ADCES DANA product page for FreeStyle Libre Rio, diaTribe on the Abbott clearances, diaTribe on Stelo, Best Buy Medical Supplies comparison (April 21, 2026), My Medicine Advisor (August 28, 2026), and Tech Byte Haven (April 28, 2026). Stelo and Lingo details also match our own Stelo vs Lingo guide. Several of these are retailer or review sites, not regulators.
About the author: Charles Kirkland is the founder of Metabolic Clarity Labs and author of The Journey Back. He is not a physician. This is general education, not a medically reviewed treatment plan.
Sources checked October 31, 2026. Discuss personal decisions with a qualified clinician. Do not start, stop, or change prescribed treatment based on this article.
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