Comparison

HelloChinese vs Chinese Characters 汉字

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

Chinese Characters 汉字

Learn to read and write thousands of Chinese characters with detailed instructions. Access free dictionaries, OCR translation, and Pinyin annotations for news articles. Covers HSK and AP Chinese exam requirements.

Highlights
  • Writing instructions for 3000+ characters
  • HSK and AP Chinese exam coverage
  • Free OCR for Chinese text translation
  • Free English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries
  • Pinyin annotation for news articles
Features
Read full description

- Writing instructions for nearly 3000 Chinese characters - Covers all and more characters than required in the official Chinese Proficiency Examinations (HSK levels 1 to 6), and required in AP Chinese exams administered by the U.S. College Board. - Free Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Chinese text for easy translation, which is also free. - Free download of English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries for quick lookup - Links to the Chinese edition of renowned news sites such as New York Times, BBC and Reuters, with free Pinyin annotation to assist you read new words.

Screenshots

HelloChinese4 screens
Chinese Characters 汉字4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: HelloChinese at 24K against Chinese Characters 汉字's 294. HelloChinese also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 75%) and chart position (#61 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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 Chinese Characters 汉字 sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HelloChinese holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HelloChinese has 24K ratings behind it against 294, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of HelloChinese's written reviews are positive against 75% of Chinese Characters 汉字's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HelloChinese ships an update weekly, Chinese Characters 汉字 every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
HelloChinese versus Chinese Characters 汉字: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelloChineseChinese Characters 汉字
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (24K ratings) — better4.7 (294 ratings)
Positive reviews94.8% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings24K — better294
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#61 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB123 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHelloChinese Technology Co., Ltd.YOYASOFT LLC

Customer experience

HelloChinese

All ratings23,666 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews3,794 reviews
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.2%

Chinese Characters 汉字

All ratings286 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral18.8%
Negative6.3%

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

Chinese Characters 汉字

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
3 purchases

Chinese Characters 汉字

One-time3
  • MDBG DictionaryFree
  • English-Chinese DictionaryFree
  • Advanced Chinese Characters$12.99

Questions

Is HelloChinese free?
HelloChinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chinese Characters 汉字 free?
Chinese Characters 汉字 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HelloChinese or Chinese Characters 汉字?
HelloChinese is rated higher. HelloChinese averages 4.9 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Chinese Characters 汉字 averages 4.7 from 294 ratings.
Do HelloChinese or Chinese Characters 汉字 have ads?
Neither HelloChinese nor Chinese Characters 汉字 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HelloChinese or Chinese Characters 汉字?
HelloChinese ships an update weekly, and Chinese Characters 汉字 every 10 days. Most recently, HelloChinese was updated on November 1, 2026 and Chinese Characters 汉字 on October 29, 2026.

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