Comparison

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn vs Hanly

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

Head to head
About

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn

This app offers over 9,500 news-based lessons to enhance Chinese reading skills. It provides content for all proficiency levels, with daily updates and features like offline study and a one-tap dictionary. Improve fluency and vocabulary through interactive exercises and detailed lesson breakdowns.

Highlights
  • 9,500+ news-based lessons
  • Offline study mode
  • One-tap dictionary
  • Reading and listening exercises
  • Vocabulary tracking
  • Stroke order and writing practice
  • Cross-platform study
Features
Read full description

The Chairman’s Bao (TCB) features 9,500+ news-based lessons to improve Chinese reading, with more published daily. Learn Chinese with beginner, intermediate and advanced level news to practice and improve fluency. New Release in October 2023! Brand new app release with improved user interface, new features and greater study personalization options! Key Platform Features: 1. 9,500+ News-Based Lessons 2. Brand New User Interface 3. New: Study Offline Mode: Learn on the go! 4. Test Your Skills: Reading and listening exercises for each lesson 5. One-Tap Dictionary: Look up and save any word 6. Retention Tools: Track vocabulary study and lesson progress 7. Stroke Order & Chinese Writing: View and practice stroke order to improve writing 8. Cross-Platform Study: App and website 9. Lesson Package: Explore keywords, grammar explanations, idioms, and proper nouns for each lesson. 10. Bonus Content: Chinese myths and legends, beginner video series and more! Free sample lesson at each level of proficiency. TCB offers a Premium service for paid subscribers. Terms of Use: https://www.thechairmansbao.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://www.thechairmansbao.com/privacy-policy/ Embark on your Chinese language learning journey with The Chairman’s Bao. Download now and join a community of Chinese language enthusiasts!

About

Hanly

Learn thousands of Chinese characters efficiently by understanding their structure and origin. This app uses visual breakdowns, engaging stories, and interactive elements to build an intuitive grasp of characters and aid memorization. It focuses on frequently used vocabulary and offers a structured learning progression.

Highlights
  • Character etymology and mnemonics
  • Interactive component exploration
  • Structured learning progression
  • Spaced repetition system
  • Extensive character dictionary
  • Stroke order animations
Features
Read full description

Chinese characters are not just random shapes - learn 1000 characters in months by understanding their structure and origin! Through visual breakdowns and engaging stories, Hanly helps you develop an intuitive grasp of Chinese characters and to efficiently remember them. Hanly starts with simple components and quickly builds up to complex characters, while focusing on the most frequently used vocabulary. CARDS THAT MAKE CHARACTERS COME ALIVE Etymology, memorable illustrations, mnemonics: we will provide the most helpful information to get a character to come alive in your imagination and stick in your memory for good. INTUITIVE INTERACTIVE UI Play with characters like they’re Lego blocks! Explore radicals, components, compound words, and character relationships - all just one click away! CAREFULLY OPTIMIZED LEARNING PROGRESSION Start with simple building blocks and naturally progress to complex characters. Our carefully designed levels introduce the most frequent characters early while maintaining coherent, meaningful themes. EXTENSIVE CHARACTER DICTIONARY & SEARCH Search by character, pinyin or meaning to find: - Character meanings and pronunciations - Usage in compound words and characters - Frequency and HSK level - Radical forms - Stroke order animations - Character evolution history SPACED REPETITION ENGINE INTEGRATED WITH THE UI Built-in spaced repetition helps you review characters at the perfect time, with review schedule optimized for how well you know a given character. Character progress is deeply integrated with the UI, so that you can spot the characters you are learning on any page. AND MANY MORE FEATURES! - Detailed learning statistics - Character etymology stories & fun facts - Explore characters & radicals sorted by their frequency - Personal note-taking system - Easily mark characters you already know Terms of use: https://www.hanlyapp.com/terms-of-use Privacy policy: https://www.hanlyapp.com/privacy-policy Contact us: We’d love to hear from your feedback about Hanly! Please send us an email with your thoughts and suggestions at tutu@hanlyapp.com

Screenshots

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn4 screens
Hanly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Hanly at free against TCB | Read Chinese to Learn's freemium. Hanly also leads on review sentiment (99% vs 77%) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). On price, ratings volume, 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. TCB | Read Chinese to Learn sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $11.00 per month and Hanly sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hanly holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 546 and 357 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of TCB | Read Chinese to Learn's written reviews are positive against 99% of Hanly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
TCB | Read Chinese to Learn versus Hanly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTCB | Read Chinese to LearnHanly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (546 ratings)4.9 (357 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews99.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings546 — better357
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB241 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperThe Chairmans Bao LtdArtur Gorokh

Customer experience

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn

All ratings546 ratings
Positive89.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews261 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative15.7%

Hanly

All ratings357 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive99.1%
Neutral0.5%
Negative0.5%

User reviews

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn

From 546 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Continuous content updates
  • 👍 Interesting and engaging content
  • 🔍 Helpful learning tools (vocabulary, grammar, quizzes)
  • 🎧 Good audio quality and narration
  • 📚 Wide range of content for all levels

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy app with crashes and glitches
  • 🔍 Inconsistent dictionary definitions
  • 🔍 Lack of full sentence translations
  • 🔍 Suboptimal user interface and navigation
  • 💰 Expensive subscription

Hanly

From 357 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and efficient way to learn characters
  • 🚀 Effective learning method that builds on prior knowledge
  • 💡 Helpful mnemonics and stories to aid memorization
  • 👍 Customizable learning pace and progress tracking
  • 🚀 Comprehensive coverage of characters and components

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Some AI-generated illustrations could be improved
  • 💡 Addition of writing practice and example sentences would be helpful

Bugs and requests

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes on startup
  • Inconsistent behavior when toggling pinyin
  • Issues with saving user preferences
  • Unreliable audio playback
  • Bugs in comprehension test functionality

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to mark articles as read and track progress
  • Option to adjust text size
  • Improved flashcard/vocabulary review system
  • Offline content access
  • Customizable notification/reminder system

Hanly

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • No known major bugs reported

Requested features

3 requests
  • Addition of writing practice for characters
  • Inclusion of example sentences for each character
  • Expansion of content to cover more advanced vocabulary

In-app purchases

5 purchases

TCB | Read Chinese to Learn

Subscriptions4
  • 1 Month$11.001 Month
  • 3 Month$27.493 Months
  • 6 Month$49.496 Months
Show 1 more
  • 12 Month$88.001 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Package$419.99
1 purchases

Hanly

Subscriptions1
  • Hanly Premium$5.991 Month

Questions

Is TCB | Read Chinese to Learn free?
TCB | Read Chinese to Learn is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hanly free?
Hanly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, TCB | Read Chinese to Learn or Hanly?
Hanly is rated higher. TCB | Read Chinese to Learn averages 4.6 out of 5 from 546 ratings, while Hanly averages 4.9 from 357 ratings.
Do TCB | Read Chinese to Learn or Hanly have ads?
Neither TCB | Read Chinese to Learn nor Hanly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TCB | Read Chinese to Learn or Hanly?
TCB | Read Chinese to Learn ships an update every 2 weeks, and Hanly every 2 weeks. Most recently, TCB | Read Chinese to Learn was updated on September 19, 2026 and Hanly on September 23, 2026.

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