Comparison

HelloChinese vs iHuman Chinese

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HelloChinese

This app offers a fun and effective way to learn Mandarin Chinese from beginner to conversational levels. It combines game-based lessons, stories, videos, and speech recognition to help you master pronunciation, characters, and practical conversations while exploring Chinese culture.

Highlights
  • Game-based learning
  • Graded stories
  • Immersive lessons
  • Video lessons
  • Speech recognition
  • Character handwriting
  • HSK level courses
Features
Read full description

HelloChinese is the best Mandarin Chinese learning app for beginners! Featured on the App Store in New Apps We Love and Notable Education Apps! Designed in a fun and highly effective manner, HelloChinese helps you rapidly learn Mandarin Chinese from scratch to a conversational level. With HelloChinese, learners can "learn the Chinese language, explore Chinese culture" – you will not only learn Mandarin Chinese but also enjoy the process of delving into the culture intertwined with the language. Features: ◉ Game-based Chinese learning: You will never get bored. ◉ 1000+ graded stories: read engaging stories at your level! ◉ Immersive lessons help you to have real-life, practical conversations quickly. ◉ Over 2,000 videos - all featuring authentic Chinese speakers! ◉ Innovative self-adaptive learning games that incorporate Chinese cultural education. ◉ Speech recognition corrects your pronunciation and makes speaking Chinese a breeze. ◉ Handwriting specially designed to learn Chinese characters at a faster rate. ◉ Systematic courses based on HSK levels. ◉ A well-designed Pinyin (pronunciation) course for newbies. ◉ Bite-sized curriculum to fortify your Chinese listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. ◉ Simplified and traditional Chinese(Mandarin) are both supported. ◉ Offline accessibility: Once a course is downloaded, no internet connection is required. ◉ Study progress tracking across multiple devices. With these tools at your disposal, nothing can stop you from mastering Chinese. Start on your path to fluency today! HelloChinese Premium offers: One-month subscription for $11.99 Three-month subscription for $25.99 Twelve-month subscription for $69.99 The above prices are for U.S. customers. Pricing in other countries may vary, and charges may be converted to your local currency depending on your country of residence. Once purchased, subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off in your iTunes Account settings at least 24 hours before the end of the payment period. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloChineseApp/ Privacy Policy: https://www.hellochinese.cc/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.hellochinese.cc/terms.html Premium users can always reach us at premium@hellochinese.cc if they need any help.

About

iHuman Chinese

This app makes learning Chinese characters fun and engaging for young children. It uses animations, songs, interactive activities, and original picture books to teach over 1,300 common characters and 50 idioms. Personalized learning paths and data analysis help tailor the experience to each child's needs.

Highlights
  • 1300 Chinese Characters
  • 130 Original Picture Books
  • 50 Chinese Idioms with Videos
  • 800+ Interactive Activities
  • Personalized Learning Experience
  • Character Stroke and Radical Learning
Features
Read full description

Master Chinese Characters. Start With iHuman. App Store Popular and Recommended iHuman Chinese is fun and engaging app for young children to master 1,300 common Chinese characters. Children engage with Chinese characters through animations, children’s songs, interactive activities, and 130 original leveled picture books. Learn, read, and play at your own pace with customizable content settings. iHuman Chinese has been carefully designed to provide a wide range of age-appropriate activities and content for young learners. 【Product Features】 1300 Chinese Characters We have carefully selected 1300 characters so children can explore the rich history and magical world of Chinese characters. Personalized Your Learning Experience We help you find the best way to learn. Our step-by-step content system, combined with data analysis tools, means we can create personalized settings that work best for you. 130 Original Picture Books iHuman Chinese has 130 simple books that use only the words learned on the app. Join the adventures of Little Polar Bear while practicing your reading skills! Learn the History of Chinese Idioms Explore and learn 50 commonly used Chinese idioms. Watch fun videos about idioms before saying and using them yourself. Unique and Fun Activities iHuman Chinese is jam-packed with over 800 activities designed to help you learn what characters look and sound like—all while having fun! Special Features Learn about the strokes and radicals in each character, see how characters were originally developed, use memorization methods to help you learn, and much more! CONTACT US Email:service@ihuman.com We offer 3 subscription methods: ANNUAL VIP:$47.99,valid for 1 year 3-MONTH VIP:$18.99 valid for 3 month 1-MONTH VIP:$6.99 valid for 1 month 1.All purchases will be processed and confirmed through your iTunes account. 2.Membership will be automatically renewed unless you turn off the renewal at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. 3.Subscription fee for the next month will be charged within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. 4.You can manage subscriptions and turn off automatic renewal in your iTunes account settings. 5.Membership will remain active until the end of the current subscription period. 6.Privacy policy:https://www.ihuman.com/new_privacy.html?appid=1&lang=en 7.Terms of service:https://www.ihuman.com/new_terms.html?appid=1&lang=en

Screenshots

HelloChinese4 screens
iHuman Chinese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: HelloChinese at freemium against iHuman Chinese's subscription. HelloChinese also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 58%) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). iHuman Chinese's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. HelloChinese sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and iHuman Chinese sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for HelloChinese against 4.8 for iHuman Chinese. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 23K and 5.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of HelloChinese's written reviews are positive against 58% of iHuman Chinese's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HelloChinese ships an update every 6 days, iHuman Chinese every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
HelloChinese versus iHuman Chinese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelloChineseiHuman Chinese
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (23K ratings) — better4.8 (5.7K ratings)
Positive reviews94.8% of reviews — better58.1% of reviews
Number of ratings23K — better5.7K
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#97 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size102 MB835 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHelloChinese Technology Co., Ltd.iHuman Inc.

Customer experience

HelloChinese

All ratings23,059 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews3,648 reviews
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.2%

iHuman Chinese

All ratings5,691 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews210 reviews
Positive58.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative31.4%

User reviews

HelloChinese

From 23K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to learn
  • 👍 Engaging and fun
  • 👍 Helpful for beginners
  • 👍 Good for pronunciation practice
  • 👍 Useful for learning Chinese characters

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent speech recognition
  • 🐛 Audio quality issues in some videos
  • 💰 Paywall limits access to full content
  • 💰 Premium subscription is expensive

iHuman Chinese

From 5.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging learning experience
  • 🚀 Effective character learning process
  • 💡 Leveled books and stories
  • 👍 Suitable for kids with zero Chinese background

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and login issues
  • 🔒 Lack of English support and options
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 📢 Excessive advertisements even for paid users
  • 🤖 Repetitive animations and game mechanics

Bugs and requests

HelloChinese

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional login issues
  • Inconsistent performance on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • More advanced lessons beyond HSK3
  • Option to toggle pinyin on a per-word basis
  • Improved review system with more customization
  • Addition of traditional Chinese characters
  • More real-life conversation practice

iHuman Chinese

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Unable to log in or restore purchases
  • Progress and account data being lost or reset
  • Compatibility issues with newer device updates
  • Inability to search for specific characters

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add English language support
  • Improve customer service and account management
  • Expand character library beyond 1300 words
  • Provide more customization options for parents
  • Introduce more diverse learning activities

In-app purchases

13 purchases

HelloChinese

Subscriptions10
  • HelloChinese Premium$11.991 Month
  • HelloChinese Premium+$16.991 Month
  • HelloChinese Premium+$19.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • HelloChinese Premium$25.993 Months
  • HelloChinese Premium$48.991 Year
  • HelloChinese Premium+$62.996 Months
  • HelloChinese Premium$69.991 Year
  • HelloChinese Premium+$89.996 Months
  • HelloChinese Premium+$104.991 Year
  • HelloChinese Premium+$149.991 Year
One-time3
  • 300 coins$4.99
  • 750 coins$9.99
  • 1650 coins$19.99
16 purchases

iHuman Chinese

Subscriptions6
  • 识字+子集绘本月卡 优惠价$2.991 Month
  • 识字 + 子集绘本月卡$5.491 Month
  • 识字+子集绘本季卡 优惠价$9.993 Months
Show 3 more
  • 识字 + 子集绘本季卡$12.993 Months
  • 识字+子集绘本年卡 优惠价$29.991 Year
  • 识字 + 子集绘本年卡$30.991 Year
One-time10
  • 永久成语包$14.99
  • 子集绘本包$29.99
  • 拼音永久包(老用户专享)$29.99
Show 7 more
  • 永久识字包$59.99
  • 识字+子集绘本永久包$69.99
  • 识字+子集绘本+拼音永久包$79.99
  • 识字+拼音+幼小$79.99
  • 识字+思维永久包$89.99
  • 识字+拼音+思维永久包$119.99
  • 识字+拼音+思维+ABC永久包$179.99

Questions

Is HelloChinese free?
HelloChinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is iHuman Chinese free?
iHuman Chinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HelloChinese or iHuman Chinese?
HelloChinese is rated higher. HelloChinese averages 4.9 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while iHuman Chinese averages 4.8 from 5.7K ratings.
Do HelloChinese or iHuman Chinese have ads?
Neither HelloChinese nor iHuman Chinese shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HelloChinese or iHuman Chinese?
HelloChinese ships an update every 6 days, and iHuman Chinese every 3 weeks. Most recently, HelloChinese was updated on September 24, 2026 and iHuman Chinese on September 22, 2026.

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