Comparison

Du Chinese vs Duory

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

Head to head
About

Du Chinese

Learn Mandarin Chinese through engaging stories with integrated tools for reading and listening comprehension. Access definitions, pinyin, native audio, and translations instantly. Build vocabulary with a built-in dictionary and flashcards.

Highlights
  • Extensive library of Mandarin stories
  • Content for all learning levels
  • Instant pinyin, definitions, and translations
  • Native speaker audio
  • Built-in dictionary and flashcards
  • Simplified and Traditional Chinese options
Features
Read full description

Du Chinese is a Chinese reading and listening app designed to help you learn Mandarin Chinese through stories. Whether you’re a beginner or working toward fluency, Du Chinese gives you the tools to read, listen, and understand Mandarin naturally, offering effective Chinese reading practice at every level. Tap to see word definitions, pinyin, native audio, and sentence translations—all without leaving the reading. Stay focused on learning, and we’ll take care of the rest. With Du Chinese, every story is carefully written, recorded, and translated by our language experts to help you improve your Mandarin Chinese skills faster. We follow proven language learning methods to help you make real, lasting progress in your Chinese language skills. Dive deeper into your learning with detailed grammar tips, built-in dictionary, and a built-in flashcard system to reinforce your Mandarin Chinese vocabulary. Learning that fits your lifestyle: If you are looking for a quick read before bed, quality focus time with a reading, or a story to listen to while commuting, you’ll find what you need in Du Chinese. Our extensive library of immersive Chinese stories helps you stay engaged, making Mandarin feel natural and fun, so you’ll look forward to reading Chinese every day. Why Du Chinese? • Extensive library of Mandarin Chinese stories, courses, article collections, and articles • Content for all levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced readings (including HSK-aligned content) • Instant access to pinyin, definitions, translations, and grammar explanations • Native speaker audio for every reading • Built-in dictionary and flashcards for building Chinese vocabulary • Choose between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese • Chinese dictionary integration with Pleco, Skritter, and Hack Chinese Learn Chinese for free or upgrade to unlock access to: • 3000+ articles, stories, and courses to explore • Offline study for learning Mandarin Chinese on-the-go • Audiobook mode for Chinese listening practice Download Du Chinese and start reading today! Privacy Policy: https://www.duchinese.net/privacy_policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.duchinese.net/tos.html

About

Duory

This app helps you study, practice, and journal in your target languages. It centralizes your language notes, vocabulary, and phrases, offering hands-free practice and journaling features. Capture phrases from anywhere and reinforce learning with widgets.

Highlights
  • Organize notes for multiple languages
  • Hands-free practice
  • Journaling in target languages
  • Capture phrases from various sources
  • Vocabulary browsing from notes
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • On-device language tasks
Features
Read full description

Save time and stay focused—no more bouncing between translation apps, Google search and your notes. Study, practice, and reflect with dynamic language notes. Why Duory? • Duory is the smartest way to take language notes on your phone. • Duory lets you keep and organize notes for all your target languages in one place. • Save time and stay focused — no more bouncing between Google Search and your notes. • Practice hands-free while doing boring chores. • Improve your output by journaling in your target languages. • Capture interesting phrases from anywhere! • Browse vocabulary from your own notes in a focused, immersive way. • Make them stick with Home and Lock Screen widgets. • Duory supports 40 target languages. NOTES • Duory is designed to perform language tasks on-device thanks to Apple’s language APIs and other offline language tools. • To perform translations, iOS needs to download language dictionaries for each language pair. This only happens once for each pair. • Duory requires access to your microphone for you to record pronunciation of phrases and your camera for scanning text. FREE FOREVER Get started for free with these features: • Create notes and journals in one target language. • Enhance your language journals with Apple Journaling Suggestions. • Capture phrases from your physical textbooks, Duolingo sessions, images, or RTF/PDF documents. • Use a handy widget to reinforce recently learned words and phrases. • In-app translation and transliteration, including Hiragana and Pinyin. • Record and play back your phrases (no playlists on the free plan). • Access notes you create during your free trial or subscription – forever! Important: If you create notes in target languages outside of the initial language during an active subscription, they will become read-only when your subscription expires (the notes you create in your oldest target language will remain editable forever) DUORY PLUS PLANS Unlock the full power of Duory with a subscription: • Create notes and journals in multiple languages. • Turn your phrases into playlists for hands-free practice. • Control playback from your lock screen or Control Center. • Turn plain notes into memorable ones with stickers and pictures. • Sync your notes and journals to iCloud. Plans are available on a monthly or annual basis. Your payment is charged to your iTunes account. Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can turn off auto-renewal at any time by going to your Account Settings on the App Store after purchase. Start your journey with a 14-day free trial on annual plans—cancel anytime to avoid charges. You will always have permanent access to notes created during the trial period or while your subscription was active. However, an active subscription is required to create new notes or edit existing ones in languages other than the first target language you added in Duory. Notes created in the first target language you add to Duory remain editable forever with or without an active subscription. LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SUPPORT ** Duory uses Apple’s Translation API for on-device translation. Here’s the full list of supported languages: • Arabic • Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified) • Chinese (Mandarin, Traditional) • Dutch • English • French • German • Hindi • Indonesian • Italian • Japanese • Korean • Polish • Portuguese (Brazil) • Russian • Spanish (Spain) • Thai • Turkish • Ukrainian • Vietnamese PRIVACY Duory is designed with your privacy in mind. We don’t track your data or store your information. Privacy Policy: https://duory.alewa.co/privacy.html Terms of Service: https://duory.alewa.co/terms.html

Screenshots

Du Chinese4 screens
Duory4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Du Chinese at 90% against Duory's 0%. Du Chinese also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (4.6K vs 1). Duory's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Du Chinese sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and Duory sells 4 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

Du Chinese holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Du Chinese has 4.6K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Du Chinese's written reviews are positive against 0% of Duory's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Du Chinese ships an update every 2 months, Duory every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Du Chinese versus Duory: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDu ChineseDuory
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (4.6K ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.6K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB149 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSinamon ABAdegboyega Dada

Customer experience

Du Chinese

All ratings4,542 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.8%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews509 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.1%

Duory

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Du Chinese

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional issues with audio playback and speed controls
  • Some users report problems with subscription and access to premium content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to filter/organize saved vocabulary
  • Incorporate more pronunciation/speaking practice
  • Provide more narrative-style stories and longer texts
  • Include stroke order and character etymology information
  • Add writing practice and grammar lessons

Duory

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Du Chinese

Subscriptions3
  • Du Chinese Premium7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Du Chinese Premium7 Days trial$79.996 Months
  • Du Chinese Premium7 Days trial$119.991 Year
4 purchases

Duory

Subscriptions4
  • Duory Plus (Monthly)$2.991 Month
  • Duory Family Plus (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Duory Plus (Annual)14 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Duory Family Plus (Annual)14 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Du Chinese free?
Du Chinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Duory free?
Duory is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Du Chinese or Duory?
Du Chinese is rated higher. Du Chinese averages 4.9 out of 5 from 4.6K ratings, while Duory averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Du Chinese or Duory have ads?
Neither Du Chinese nor Duory shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Du Chinese or Duory?
Du Chinese ships an update every 2 months, and Duory every 5 days. Most recently, Du Chinese was updated on October 29, 2026 and Duory on October 24, 2026.

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