ChinesePod vs Coffee Break
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ChinesePod
Access over 4,000 Mandarin Chinese lessons on your mobile device. Study offline, filter by skill level, and utilize multiple audio tracks for comprehensive learning. Features native speaker audio, word-by-word translations, and integrated dictionary lookup.
- Over 4,000 Mandarin lessons
- 200+ video lessons
- Five skill levels
- Offline lesson downloads
- Filter by bookmark, level, or download
- Three audio tracks per lesson
- Grammar notes and vocabulary review
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ChinesePod’s Official App gives you the freedom to study more than 4,000 Mandarin lessons in the palm of your hand. Select a lesson, plug in your headphones, and start studying -- on the train, while doing the laundry, when at the gym, wherever! The world is now your classroom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We have a lesson for that. -- Over 4000+ lessons available (the largest lesson library of any Mandarin E-Learning Platform!) -- 200+ video lessons to watch -- Five levels of Mandarin lessons, with over 300 lessons per level: Newbie, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced Study Mandarin in the sky… on a boat… or on the road.... -- Download lessons onto your device so you can listen offline No more searching through a textbook to find what you need. -- Easy-filter feature allows you to find the lessons you need -- Filter by Bookmarked Lessons, Skill Level, or Downloaded Lessons Everything you need, all in one place. -- Three audio tracks for every lesson: listen to the full show, isolate the dialogue, or listen to the audio vocabulary review -- Complete lesson review activities including grammar notes, expansion sentences, vocabulary lists and dialogue breakdowns -- Audio from native speakers are provided for every sentence, as well as each vocabulary word -- word-by-word translations in Traditional & Simplified Chinese, Pinyin and English -- Look up words and sentences in Pleco Dictionary ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Read our reviews and see why people love learning Mandarin with ChinesePod: "When I was learning Mandarin, ChinesePod was my favourite resource by far. It was essential in getting me up to basic conversational level in just a few months. I recommend it to everyone learning Chinese!" Benny Lewis "The Irish Polyglot", Language expert, bestselling author and blogger; Fluentin3months.com "ChinesePod has a vast scope of topics and diversity in levels, which makes it extremely convenient to progress, never-mind the entertaining hosts, great top-down approach and super useful additional content!" Niel de la Rouviere, Language Blogger and Developer at Buffer ConfusedLaowai.com "ChinesePod is an incredible resource for mastering spoken Chinese - a vast library of entertaining lessons from a great collection of teachers, all short and friendly enough to squeeze into a busy schedule." Mike Love, Creator of Pleco Chinese Dictionary Pleco.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To access all features of the app, you need to purchase an in-app premium subscription (monthly/recurring). In-app purchase info: – Title: Premium Membership – Length: 1 month (monthly auto-renew) – Price: $29.99 (price many vary depending on territory) Purchasing Notes: - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase – Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period – Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal – Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase – Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable For further info, please refer privacy policy and terms & conditions. Privacy policy https://chinesepod.com/privacy/ Terms & conditions https://chinesepod.com/terms/ For any questions please contact http://support.chinesepod.com/
Coffee Break
Master new languages with guided lessons and experienced teachers. This app offers a comprehensive learning experience for beginners and advanced learners alike, focusing on spoken and written fluency. Discover and save podcasts, enjoy seamless playback, and track your progress with ease.
- Podcast integration with iTunes search
- Save podcasts to personal library
- Search for specific episodes
- Floating audio player
- Command Center and Lock Screen integration
- Responds to audio interruptions
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Coffee Break App is indeed everything you need to learn languages (Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese,... ), whether you're an absolute beginner or a more experienced learner wishing to build your confidence in spoken and written language. You'll be accompanied by experienced teachers throughout your Coffee Break experience, so you'll make solid progress and build your range of expression and mastery of languages grammar quickly. * FEATURES - Find your favorite podcasts with integrating iTunes searching feature. - Save podcasts into Personal Library - Search for specific episodes using keywords - Floating Audio Player across all screens - Command Center and Lock Screen integration with cover art and playback action buttons - Responds to Audio Session Interruptions including phone calls and headphone connections *FEEDBACK If you like this app and find it useful please take a few seconds to give us a rating in the App Store. For comments and suggestions please send an email to support@vaikeo.com. We love getting feedback from users of our apps. ------------------------------------------ * Subscription Term The Coffee Break app is free to use. Optionally you can remove all ads within app with the Ad-Free subscription. The subscription is automatically renewed, unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription. The open amount will be withdrawn from your iTunes account once the transaction has been confirmed. If you would like to cancel your subscription or opt out of automatic renewal, you can do so right after your purchase in your Apple ID account settings. You may download all bills and get access to all future bills by purchasing a "prescription" (subscription). App offers weekly and annual subscriptions which will auto-renew unless you turn off auto-renew in your iTunes Account Settings. Terms of Use: https://www.vaikeo.com/term Privacy Policy: https://www.vaikeo.com/policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Coffee Break at 4.7 against ChinesePod's 2.3. Coffee Break also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ratings volume (378 vs 27). ChinesePod's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (16% vs 0%). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. ChinesePod sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $29.99 per month and Coffee Break sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Coffee Break holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Coffee Break has 378 ratings behind it against 27, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 16% of ChinesePod's written reviews are positive against 0% of Coffee Break's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ChinesePod ships an update every 2 months, Coffee Break every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChinesePod | Coffee Break |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (27 ratings) | 4.7 (378 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 15.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27 | 378 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 14.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Chinesepod Limited | Linh Huynh Lam |
Customer experience
ChinesePod
Coffee Break
In-app purchases
ChinesePod
- Monthly plan$29.991 Month
- Quarterly plan$78.993 Months
- Annual plan$249.991 Year
Coffee Break
- Remove Advertisement$3.997 Days
Questions
Is ChinesePod free?
Is Coffee Break free?
Which has better reviews, ChinesePod or Coffee Break?
Do ChinesePod or Coffee Break have ads?
Which is updated more often, ChinesePod or Coffee Break?
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