Comparison

Learn Japanese vs Immersion Reader

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

Head to head
About

Learn Japanese

Enhance your Japanese language skills by reading native content daily. This app offers one-tap word lookups with audio, automatic furigana, and flashcard creation to help you memorize new vocabulary. Track your progress with word and kanji tracking, and access curated reading materials or your own content.

Highlights
  • One-tap word lookups with audio
  • Automatic furigana
  • Flashcard creation and review
  • Word and kanji tracking
  • Curated and custom reading materials
  • EPUB ebook support
  • Offline-friendly
Features
Read full description

Expand your Japanese vocabulary and kanji comprehension by getting in the habit of reading short, native content daily. Manabi Reader makes it easy to jump into interesting material without having to worry about your level: just one tap on any word you don't know to see its reading and definition. Tap again to add flashcards into Manabi or Anki. Don't waste time trying to find engaging reading material—a curated selection of news feeds, online magazines, blogs, folktales and ebooks are collected here for you. You can of course also open any webpage or RSS feed in Manabi Reader to help you through it. Make a habit out of getting your news in Japanese and you'll find your skills multiply. With even a few minutes each day, reading is essential to picking up Japanese. Memory is one of those things where it sticks best when you're having fun, so dive in! • Read native texts. • One-tap word lookups (with audio!). • Word tracking: you'll see how much of an article's vocabulary is already familiar. New words are highlighted for you. • Kanji tracking: we'll also track the kanji you're familiar with as you read articles. Check your progress within JLPT levels. • One-tap flashcard creation: memorize the words you look up. • Review flashcards from an article once you're done reading it. • Automatic furigana. • BYOC (bring your own content) via URL or copy/paste; or, choose from our curated selection of reading materials. • EPUB ebooks. • 3rd-party dictionary apps are supported. • Offline-friendly. • Respects your privacy like a web browser. ========================= The core app is fully functional without payment. Word tracking behaviors are limited to a subset as a preview. The companion Manabi flashcard app is limited to 10 flashcard reviews per day. Full word tracking functionality as well as unlimited flashcard reviews in the companion app may be purchased as a subscription. You may purchase a subscription, which will be charged to your iTunes Account upon purchase and will auto-renew within 24 hours prior to the end of the purchasing period. You can manage this in your Account Settings after purchase. Manabi Reader subscriptions are offered on a monthly or annual basis, with free trials—the annual subscriptions offer a discounted rate. This purchase supports the ongoing development of Manabi. We offer a substantial discount for students, educators, and parents. Privacy Policy: https://manabi.io/privacy-policy/ Terms of Service: https://manabi.io/terms-of-service/ Chat with Team Manabi: https://tawk.to/manabi

About

Immersion Reader

Easily look up Japanese words while reading ebooks with a single tap. Import custom dictionaries and export saved vocabulary for spaced repetition learning. Offers customizable themes for a comfortable reading experience.

Highlights
  • One-tap word lookup in Japanese ebooks
  • Import Yomichan and frequency dictionaries
  • Export vocabulary to Anki
  • Light and dark mode themes
  • Lookup neighboring words
Features
Read full description

Look up Japanese words as you read! Features - One tap to look up words in Japanese Ebooks. Tabs to help you look up neighboring words - Import Yomichan dictionaries and frequency dictionaries - Export saved vocabulary to Anki via Anki Dojo - Light mode, dark mode, and other themes for the dictionary

Screenshots

Learn Japanese4 screens
Immersion Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Learn Japanese at 4.5 against Immersion Reader's 4.0. Learn Japanese also leads on review sentiment (74% vs 62%) and ratings volume (226 vs 26). Immersion Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Immersion Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Japanese holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Japanese has 226 ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Learn Japanese's written reviews are positive against 62% of Immersion Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Japanese ships an update every 11 days, Immersion Reader every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and July 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Learn Japanese versus Immersion Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn JapaneseImmersion Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (226 ratings) — better4.0 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews73.9% of reviews — better61.5% of reviews
Number of ratings226 — better26
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size202 MB80 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperJohn A EhlkeMathew Chan

Customer experience

Learn Japanese

All ratings226 ratings
Positive87.6%
Neutral4.4%
Negative8.0%
Written reviews142 reviews
Positive73.9%
Neutral11.3%
Negative14.8%

Immersion Reader

All ratings26 ratings
Positive76.9%
Neutral3.8%
Negative19.2%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral7.7%
Negative30.8%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Learn Japanese

Subscriptions7
  • Monthly Subscription (Student)$4.991 Month
  • Monthly1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly$7.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Annual Subscription (Student)1 Year trial$12.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription (Student)$14.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription$39.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription1 Year trial$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Immersion Reader

One-time1
  • Immersion Reader Premium$4.99

Questions

Is Learn Japanese free?
Learn Japanese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Immersion Reader free?
Immersion Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn Japanese or Immersion Reader?
Learn Japanese is rated higher. Learn Japanese averages 4.5 out of 5 from 226 ratings, while Immersion Reader averages 4.0 from 26 ratings.
Do Learn Japanese or Immersion Reader have ads?
Neither Learn Japanese nor Immersion Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn Japanese or Immersion Reader?
Learn Japanese ships an update every 11 days, and Immersion Reader every 6 days. Most recently, Learn Japanese was updated on September 26, 2026 and Immersion Reader on July 23, 2026.

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