Comparison

Learn Japanese vs Nihongo Lessons

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

Head to head
About

Learn Japanese

Master Japanese with comprehensive lessons based on the Minna no Nihongo series. Features include standard human voice pronunciation, kanji basics, and smart vocabulary recall tools. Interactive grammar explanations and vocabulary games make learning engaging and effective.

Highlights
  • Full 50 Minna no Nihongo lessons
  • Standard human Japanese voice
  • Kanji to basic radical
  • Smart vocabulary recall
  • Easy-to-understand grammar
  • Vocabulary testing games
Features
Read full description

- Full 50 lessons of Minna No Nihongo Standard human japanese voice. Kanji to basic radical. Smart functions to help you remember vocabulary easily. - Grammar is easy to understand with structure, guiding and example. - Game: test vocabulary is verry usefull Learn japanese by Minna No Nihongo is now easy and fun.

About

Nihongo Lessons

This app helps learners of all levels achieve Japanese fluency. It uses a flashcard format to teach vocabulary, grammar, and writing systems, with advanced spaced repetition for effective retention. Content is sourced from real manga for advanced learners.

Highlights
  • Learn Hiragana and Katakana
  • 7000+ handcrafted sentences
  • Professional voice actor audio
  • Advanced Spaced Repetition System (SRS)
  • Vocabulary and grammar from manga
  • Flashcard learning format
Features
Read full description

A new app for people serious about becoming fluent in Japanese, from the maker of Nihongo: a modern Japanese dictionary. Nihongo Lessons is based off the excellent Japanese Level Up (Jalup) series, and is made to help all levels of learners. * If you're a complete beginner, the app starts you off by teaching you to write the Japanese alphabets hiragana and katakana, and then quickly starts building your vocabulary and grammar fundamentals. * If you're at an intermediate level, you can jump into content that will help you grow your Japanese grammar, vocabulary, and listening skills more efficiently than ever before. * If you're an advanced learner diving into the world of native content or studying for JLPT N1, Nihongo Lessons can help fill in the gaps in your knowledge with vocabulary and grammar pulled directly from real manga. Instead of a traditional textbook, everything in Nihongo Lessons is in a flashcard format. Flashcards are easier to take in, easier to know how much to learn and how often to review, and simplify the mountain of information you need to absorb. Each flashcard introduces one new sentence for you to understand, and every new sentence introduces exactly one new word, grammar point, or concept. This keeps you constantly moving forward in your learning journey - never bored, never overwhelmed. * Learn to write hiragana and katakana, the main alphabets of the Japanese language. * Progress from beginner to fluent across 7000 handcrafted sentences, each introducing a single new word or concept. * Listen to sentences spoken out loud by a professional voice actor. * Advanced Spaced Repetition (SRS) to help you retain everything you've learned for the long-term. * Nihongo Lessons doesn’t just plop a fun game on top of the language. It engages the brain’s natural urge to solve problems by making learning the language itself the game.

Screenshots

Learn Japanese4 screens
Nihongo Lessons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Nihongo Lessons at 4.8 against Learn Japanese's 3.5. Nihongo Lessons also leads on ratings volume (126 vs 4) and review sentiment (85% vs 67%). Learn Japanese's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17). 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. Learn Japanese sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Nihongo Lessons sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nihongo Lessons holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nihongo Lessons has 126 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Learn Japanese's written reviews are positive against 85% of Nihongo Lessons's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Japanese ships an update every 2 months, Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Learn Japanese versus Nihongo Lessons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn JapaneseNihongo Lessons
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (4 ratings)4.8 (126 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4126 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB258 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNguyen KinSerpenti Sei Japan

Customer experience

Learn Japanese

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative26.7%

Nihongo Lessons

All ratings126 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews33 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative9.1%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Learn Japanese

One-time1
  • Heart$0.99
13 purchases

Nihongo Lessons

Subscriptions2
  • All Access Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • All Access Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time11
  • Beginner Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Champion Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Expert Deck (Discounted)$59.99
Show 8 more
  • Master Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Intermediate Deck (Discounted)$83.99
  • Beginner Deck (Discounted)$101.99
  • Beginner Deck$119.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$149.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$254.99
  • All Decks$299.99
  • All Decks (Discounted)$299.99

Questions

Is Learn Japanese free?
Learn Japanese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nihongo Lessons free?
Nihongo Lessons is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn Japanese or Nihongo Lessons?
Nihongo Lessons is rated higher. Learn Japanese averages 3.5 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Nihongo Lessons averages 4.8 from 126 ratings.
Do Learn Japanese or Nihongo Lessons have ads?
Neither Learn Japanese nor Nihongo Lessons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn Japanese or Nihongo Lessons?
Learn Japanese ships an update every 2 months, and Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. Most recently, Learn Japanese was updated on October 5, 2026 and Nihongo Lessons on October 9, 2026.

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