Comparison

VLJ Words Lite vs Ringotan

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

Head to head
About

VLJ Words Lite

Features
Read full description

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ Let's learn Japanese with the intelligible method! ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ With this app, you can experience how easy it is to learn Japanese by the original learning method (*1) with cards of various colors and shapes, which represent Japanese grammatical structure of each part of speech. *This free application with limited well-selected contents, is a part of the new cloud-based Japanese language educational service "Visual Learning .Japanese", which is provided by NTT ExC Partner Corporation. Please use “VLJ Words” app(*2) which comes with full contents, not this app; “VLJ Words Lite”, if you are the students of the VLJ course provided by your company or your school. 【Main Functions】 In this app, practical words from mainly beginner level to middle level are included. Users can learn not only meaning, various conjugations of verb and honorific expressions but also the pronunciation of native Japanese speakers.(*3) Users can also freely register any words which are not covered in this app in "My Word Bank." You can check well-selected 200 words in this lite version. (“VLJ Words” App, which is for students in the VLJ course, includes Hiragana and Katakana, more than 2,000 words and more than 200 Kanjis, which are from mainly beginner level.) (*1) This method is called “The Ezoe Method”, which is a Japanese learning method developed with nearly 40-year devotion by the Shinjuku Japanese Language Institute. By visualizing sentence structures with original cards learners can understand Japanese in a very intuitive way. (*2) ID and Password will be required. (*3) All words and descriptions are translated into 8 languages below English Japanese Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) Simplified Chinese (简体中文) French (français) Portuguese (português) Arabic (العربية) Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)

About

Ringotan

Master Japanese Kanji by practicing writing. This app uses advanced input detection and spaced repetition to help you learn quickly and effectively. Focuses on the physical act of writing characters, not just recognition.

Highlights
  • Learn Kanji by writing
  • Advanced input detection
  • Spaced repetition system (SRS)
  • Focus on writing, not just reading
  • Frequent updates with new features
Features
Read full description

Learn Kanji by actually writing it! Ringotan is the first app built from the ground up to teach you how to WRITE Japanese Kanji, not just read them. By combining advanced input detection with industry-standard SRS (spaced repetition) algorithms, Ringotan ensures you learn as fully and quickly as possible. ----------------- Ringotan is free for a limited time. We update frequently, so be sure to check back for new features!

Screenshots

VLJ Words Lite4 screens
Ringotan2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ringotan at every 3 days against VLJ Words Lite's every 8 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VLJ Words Lite ships an update every 8 months, Ringotan every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
VLJ Words Lite versus Ringotan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVLJ Words LiteRingotan
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.9 (567 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—95.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—567 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better12.2
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB206 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNTT Learning Systems Corporation.Daniel Pflughoeft

Bugs and requests

VLJ Words Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Ringotan

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional issues with stroke order recognition
  • Some kanji pronunciations not accurately represented

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Allow users to create and save custom kanji lists
  • Provide more detailed keyword hints before writing
  • Implement device sync to continue progress across platforms
  • Add notification system to remind users of upcoming reviews

In-app purchases

None

VLJ Words Lite

No in-app purchases

None

Ringotan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VLJ Words Lite free?
VLJ Words Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ringotan free?
Ringotan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VLJ Words Lite or Ringotan have ads?
Neither VLJ Words Lite nor Ringotan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VLJ Words Lite or Ringotan?
VLJ Words Lite ships an update every 8 months, and Ringotan every 3 days. Most recently, VLJ Words Lite was updated on October 1, 2026 and Ringotan on October 9, 2026.

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