HelloChinese vs Modern Chinese
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Game-based learning
- Graded stories
- Immersive lessons
- Video lessons
- Speech recognition
- Character handwriting
- HSK level courses
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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.
Modern Chinese
Learn beginner Chinese through a story-based approach featuring six college students. This app offers interactive activities for listening, reading, and speaking practice, focusing on practical communication skills for adult learners.
- Story-based learning approach
- Interactive Text Video
- Reading Practice exercises
- Role Play scenarios
- Proficiency Demonstration
- Progress tracking based on ability
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Modern Chinese is a beginner Chinese language textbook designed for college students and adult learners with no previous exposure to Chinese. This unique program adopts a story-based approach that follows the lives of six college students whose multi-cultural backgrounds reflect today's globalized world. The themes are designed to provide students with the vocabulary and context to engage and communicate in real-life conversations quickly. This is the iPhone version of Modern Chinese, which leads the way to create the most innovative and holistic Chinese learning experience. It has 4 activities - Text Video, Reading Practice, Role Play, and Proficiency Demonstration, creating the best language learning experience by offering ample opportunities to practice listening, reading, and speaking. The iPhone application measures students' progress by what they can do in the Chinese language rather than how many vocabulary words they know. Subscriptions purchased from the app will be charged to your iTunes account and will automatically renew within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period unless auto-renewal is disabled beforehand. To manage your subscriptions or to disable auto-renewal, go to your iTunes account settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.betterchinese.com/Privacy-Policy.html Terms of Uses: https://www.betterchinese.com/pages/terms-of-use
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: HelloChinese at 24K against Modern Chinese's 1. HelloChinese also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and chart position (#113 vs unranked). Modern Chinese's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). 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
Both are free to download. HelloChinese sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and Modern Chinese sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for HelloChinese against 5.0 for Modern Chinese. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HelloChinese has 24K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
HelloChinese ships an update weekly, Modern Chinese monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HelloChinese | Modern Chinese |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (24K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 94.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 24K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #113 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 98 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HelloChinese Technology Co., Ltd. | Better Chinese, Inc. |
Customer experience
HelloChinese
Modern Chinese
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
Modern Chinese
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
HelloChinese
- HelloChinese Premium$11.991 Month
- HelloChinese Premium+$19.991 Month
- HelloChinese Premium$25.993 Months
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 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
- 300 coins$4.99
Modern Chinese
- TextBook 1A1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- TextBook 1B1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- TextBook 2A1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- TextBook 2B1 Month trial$2.991 Month
- TextBook 1A1 Month trial$19.991 Year
- TextBook 1B1 Month trial$19.991 Year
- TextBook 2A1 Month trial$19.991 Year
- TextBook 2B1 Month trial$19.991 Year
Questions
Is HelloChinese free?
Is Modern Chinese free?
Which has better reviews, HelloChinese or Modern Chinese?
Do HelloChinese or Modern Chinese have ads?
Which is updated more often, HelloChinese or Modern Chinese?
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