Comparison

Polyglot Reader vs LingoDeer

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

Head to head
About

Polyglot Reader

Read books in foreign languages and learn new vocabulary. Tap on unknown words for instant translations and save them to flashcards for later study. Supports various document formats and offers pronunciation practice and knowledge tests.

Highlights
  • Read books in multiple formats (PDF, EPUB, TXT)
  • Translate unknown words and phrases instantly
  • Create flashcards for vocabulary learning
  • Pronunciation support for words and phrases
  • Knowledge tests for vocabulary sets
  • Scan and recognize text from documents
Features
Read full description

Read books in any foreign language and turn every unknown word into a flashcard you'll actually remember. Version 5.0 brings a complete redesign — a calmer reader, a smarter library and a new way to study. Polyglot Reader is your pocket library, dictionary and flashcard trainer in one app. Tap any word or phrase in a book, get an instant translation with transcription, hear the pronunciation, and save it to a deck to review later. Built for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a refined dark theme. — READ — • Completely redesigned reader, bookmarks, translation popup and settings • New System theme that follows iOS automatically, plus refined Light and Dark • Open books in PDF, EPUB, FB2, RTF and TXT • Import from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or any file app • Scan a paper page — the app recognizes the text and saves it as a book • Highlights words you don't know yet, right inside the page • Vertical scrolling, comfortable type settings, picture zoom — LIBRARY — • Thousands of free classic books in 38+ languages, sorted into sections like Classics, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare, Horror & Mystery, Children's Books, Philosophy, Adventure • Adapted A2–B1 readers for German learners, plus original literature in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Latin, Greek and many more • New sorting, new sections and search inside every shelf • Filter to show only recent books • Difficulty level and tags shown right on each cover • Drag and drop to reorganize your shelves • New "Added manually" section for everything you imported yourself • Smoother search, scroll and sharing on iPad — LEARN — • Redesigned cards and study screens • Ready-made flashcard sets for English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese and Japanese — verbs, nouns and themed categories • Smart virtual decks: All cards, Recent, Unknown — see progress at a glance • Quick preview and actions inside every deck • Pick a default deck for new words you save while reading • Per-card knowledge level with a colored progress bar (red → green as you master each word) • Three study modes: foreign only, foreign + native, native only • Hands-free mode — keep learning without touching the screen • Long-press context menu: mark as known or unknown in one tap • Optional shuffled order during study • Filter to show only words you haven't learned yet • Pronunciation for both the word and its translation • Knowledge tests for every deck • Export and import cards in CSV — TRANSLATE — • 111 offline dictionaries — no internet, no quota • On-the-fly transcription for all popular languages • Speech-to-text: just say the word, get the translation • Translate your own phrases and add them to any deck • Edit translations when you want a better wording • 90+ languages supported, including Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and many more — AND ALSO — • System, Light and Dark themes • Choose Google or Yandex as default online translator • Compact mode on iPhone, expanded card view on iPad • Notifications to bring you back to recent cards Whether you're reading Sherlock Holmes in English, Kafka in German, Don Quijote in Spanish or Dostoevsky in Russian — Polyglot Reader turns reading into vocabulary, one tap at a time. Questions or feedback: support@readandlearnapp.com

About

LingoDeer

This app offers structured language lessons created by teachers, making learning effective and easy. It covers 20 languages, from beginner alphabets to conversational fluency, with interactive exercises and native speaker audio.

Highlights
  • Short, interactive lessons
  • Clear learning path
  • Grammar tips and notes
  • Native speaker audio
  • Flashcards and quizzes
  • Offline learning
  • Real-life conversation practice
Features
Read full description

#1 app for learning Asian languages and more! Over 20 million people choose to learn with LingoDeer. Why? Our structured lessons created by language teachers make learning easy and effective. From the alphabet, LingoDeer will get you to a conversational level in 20 languages: Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish(Latin American or European), Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and English. Download LingoDeer Today! ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ What will you get on LingoDeer? ※ Short, interactive lessons Easy 5-min lessons that fit into your daily plan ※ Clear learning path Each course is tailored to your target language ※ Customized for Asian languages Read & write in a unique alphabet system like Korean or Japanese ※ Better understanding of the grammar Tips & notes within lessons to help you build sentences confidently ※ Listen, imitate, and speak Studio-recorded audio from native speakers ※ Reinforce what you learn Flashcards, quizzes, target training, and more ※ Offline learning Take lessons everywhere you go Powerful features you'll love: • Fluent: real-life conversations! Practice reading, writing, listening, speaking, and get cultural tips as you learn. • Travel Phrasebook: audio phrasebook! Get ready for your trip to your dream country. • Character Drill: writing practices for Japanese kanji and Chinese characters. • Story: mini stories with captions! Expand what you learned in lessons. • Knowledge Cards: printable grammar flashcards! Keep essential grammar concepts at your desk. *Fluent is only available for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and French courses at the moment. ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ Find tips, guides, and resources on language learning: ※ LingoDeer Blog: https://blog.lingodeer.com ※ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/lingodeer Come chat with us on social media! Follow us for language learning advice, support, and memes: ※ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lingodeerapp ※ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LingoDeer ※ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingodeer ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ You will need a subscription in order to get full access to all courses and features. The subscription price starts at $14.99/month. Prices are in US dollars, may vary by country, can be converted to local currency depending on the country of residence, and are subject to change without notice. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your iTunes Account Settings. When a subscription is canceled, access to the app's courses and features will expire at the end of the current payment period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase a LingoDeer subscription, where applicable. - Terms of Use: https://www.lingodeer.com/terms-conditions-html - Privacy Policy: https://www.lingodeer.com/privacypolicy-html CONTACT US: Got ideas you want to share or feedback for the app? Email us at hi@lingodeer.com ⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓⎓ Real reviews from the LingoDeer community: "This has been helping me study Japanese way better than any book can!" "LingoDeer is worth every penny and more, it is an essential tool in the shed for anyone learning any of their offered languages, in or out of a classroom." YOUR JOURNEY TO FLUENCY STARTS HERE: • Learn Korean • Learn Japanese • Learn Mandarin Chinese • Learn Arabic • Learn French • Learn German • Learn Greek • Learn Hindi • Learn Indonesian • Learn Italian • Learn Malay • Learn Polish • Learn Brazilian Portuguese • Learn Russian • Learn Spanish (Latin American or European) • Learn Thai • Learn Turkish • Learn Ukrainian • Learn Vietnamese • Learn English

Screenshots

Polyglot Reader4 screens
LingoDeer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Polyglot Reader at free with in-app purchases against LingoDeer's subscription. LingoDeer's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (28K vs 74). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Polyglot Reader sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and LingoDeer sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

LingoDeer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LingoDeer has 28K ratings behind it against 74, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Polyglot Reader's written reviews are positive against 77% of LingoDeer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polyglot Reader ships an update every 2 months, LingoDeer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Polyglot Reader versus LingoDeer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolyglot ReaderLingoDeer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (74 ratings)4.7 (28K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.7% of reviews76.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7428K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank—#182 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size120 MB216 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnton IvanovLingoDeer Co, Ltd.

Customer experience

Polyglot Reader

All ratings74 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral6.8%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive65.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative20.0%

LingoDeer

All ratings27,589 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews1,237 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative17.1%

Bugs and requests

Polyglot Reader

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

LingoDeer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Progress bar not updating correctly
  • Incorrect answers sometimes marked as correct
  • Inability to resume lessons after app update
  • Keyboard issues when typing answers

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow typing answers instead of just selecting
  • Provide feedback on pronunciation accuracy
  • Improve spaced repetition for vocabulary review
  • Add more languages, especially less common ones
  • Implement a community feature to connect with other learners

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Polyglot Reader

Subscriptions8
  • Monthly subscription$3.991 Month
  • Monthly subscription3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly subscription$7.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Monthly subscription$9.991 Month
  • Annual subscription$22.991 Year
  • Annual subscription$34.991 Year
  • Annual subscription7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Annual subscription$59.991 Year
One-time3
  • Upgrade from advanced to professional version$3.99
  • Upgrade from Starter to Advanced version$15.99
  • Full version$99.99
17 purchases

LingoDeer

Subscriptions11
  • Spanish Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • Japanese Monthly Subscription$12.991 Month
  • Korean Monthly subscription$12.991 Month
Show 8 more
  • Multilingual Pass - Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Korean Quarterly subscription$32.993 Months
  • Multilingual Pass - Quarterly$34.993 Months
  • Korean Pass - Yearly$76.991 Year
  • Multilingual Pass - 6 Months$83.996 Months
  • Multilingual Pass (Annual)$95.991 Year
  • Multilingual Pass (Annual)7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Yearly subscription - discount3 Days trial$109.991 Year
One-time6
  • Buy 1200 Gems$4.99
  • Buy 3000 Gems$9.99
  • Multilingual Pass - Lifetime$119.99
Show 3 more
  • Multilingual Pass - Lifetime$159.99
  • lifetime membership for new$299.99
  • lifetime membership discount$499.99

Questions

Is Polyglot Reader free?
Polyglot Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LingoDeer free?
LingoDeer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Polyglot Reader or LingoDeer?
LingoDeer is rated higher. Polyglot Reader averages 4.4 out of 5 from 74 ratings, while LingoDeer averages 4.7 from 28K ratings.
Do Polyglot Reader or LingoDeer have ads?
Polyglot Reader shows ads; LingoDeer does not.
Which is updated more often, Polyglot Reader or LingoDeer?
Polyglot Reader ships an update every 2 months, and LingoDeer every 3 weeks. Most recently, Polyglot Reader was updated on September 23, 2026 and LingoDeer on September 24, 2026.

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