HelloChinese vs Chengyu Calendar
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.
Chengyu Calendar
Learn a new Chinese idiom daily with a widget that mimics a traditional tear-off calendar. Explore idiom history, meanings, and usage examples. Supports both Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters and works offline without ads.
- Daily idiom widget
- Idiom breakdown (character, pinyin, meaning)
- Example sentences
- Idiom history and origin
- Simplified/Traditional character support
- Offline functionality
- Ad-free and private
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Build your Chinese, one idiom at a time. Chengyu Calendar puts a new Chinese idiom on your Home Screen every day, on a page designed after the traditional Chinese tear-off calendar. Glance at your phone, learn something new, and come back tomorrow for the next one. Chengyu (成语) are the short, vivid sayings Chinese speakers use every day. Each one carries a story, often centuries old, and knowing them makes your Chinese sound natural. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN The widget shows today's page, just like a real tear-off calendar: • The date, with the day of the week • The idiom, broken down character by character, with pinyin and an English meaning for each • What the whole idiom means • An example sentence, with pinyin and an English translation A new page arrives every morning. IN THE APP Tap the widget to open the full page and go deeper: • Its history: where the idiom came from, and how it came to mean what it does now • More examples: three more sentences showing how it's used, each with pinyin and an English translation TRADITIONAL OR SIMPLIFIED, 都可以! Switch between Simplified and Traditional characters at any time, and every page changes instantly. EVERY DETAIL, CONSIDERED Inspired by the Chinese daily tear-off calendar, Chengyu Calendar was designed to feel more like a physical object than a piece of software. Pages are printed in green on working days and in red on weekends and holidays, just like the real thing. SIMPLE AND PRIVATE • No account needed • Works offline • No ads and no tracking A page a day, made with care by a team of one. SUBSCRIPTION Chengyu Calendar requires a subscription, with weekly, monthly and yearly plans. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm your purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before it ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple ID settings at any time. Terms of Use: https://chengyucalendar.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://chengyucalendar.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HelloChinese at 4.9 against Chengyu Calendar's 3.8. HelloChinese also leads on monetization model (freemium vs subscription) and ratings volume (24K vs 9). Chengyu Calendar's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On price, review sentiment, 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 13 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month and Chengyu Calendar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HelloChinese holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HelloChinese has 24K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 95% of HelloChinese's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chengyu Calendar's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
HelloChinese ships an update weekly, Chengyu Calendar every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HelloChinese | Chengyu Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (24K ratings) — better | 3.8 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 24K — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #74 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 98 MB | 119 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HelloChinese Technology Co., Ltd. | Fiachra MacFadden |
Customer experience
HelloChinese
Chengyu Calendar
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
Chengyu Calendar
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
HelloChinese
- HelloChinese Premium$11.991 Month
- HelloChinese Premium+$16.991 Month
- HelloChinese Premium+$19.991 Month
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- 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
- 300 coins$4.99
- 750 coins$9.99
- 1650 coins$19.99
Chengyu Calendar
- Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
- Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly3 Days trial$24.991 Year









