Lingo Bus vs Dot Languages
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lingo Bus
Offers live, 1-on-1 Chinese language lessons for children aged 5-12. Features native teachers, an immersive curriculum aligned with international standards, and progress tracking tools. Focuses on developing cultural awareness and making learning fun.
- 1-on-1 live Chinese classes
- Native Chinese teachers
- Immersive curriculum
- Progress tracking
- Preview and review materials
- Cultural awareness development
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Lingo Bus offers online 1-on-1 immersive Chinese language education for kids aged 5 to 12. At Lingo Bus, children learn Chinese from the most loving, passionate and experienced native teachers, develop cultural awareness and curiosity, and most importantly, have fun while doing it. Our immersive curriculum is developed in-house in accordance with the internationally recognized ACTFL and YCT standards, thanks to a team of experts with background in linguistics, education and developmental psychology. With our curriculum, students can learn in a Chinese-only environment, absorb the language faster and start speaking Chinese from day one. With this iPad version, you can: * Take 1-on-1 live Chinese classes with native Chinese teachers * Access preview and review materials (homework, videos, flashcards, audiobooks, etc) * Monitor study progress with unit quizzes and assessments Receive feedback from teachers and review teachers * Watch class playbacks ;) CONTACT US If you have any questions or suggestions, you can send email to us : service@lingobus.com
Dot Languages
Master Mandarin Chinese with engaging texts tailored to your skill level, from beginner to advanced. Practice reading, listening, and writing with daily new content covering diverse topics. Share and discover texts with a community of learners.
- Learn Mandarin Chinese texts
- HSK 1-9 level categorization
- Daily new text additions
- Custom text creation and sharing
- Reading, listening, and writing practice
- Progress tracking
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Dot Languages is a complete Chinese learning app: lessons carefully written and crafted by humans, advanced exercises powered by AI — all built around a structured curriculum aligned to HSK 3.0 (2021 and 2025) and TOCFL 2.0 (2023), with personalised practice. Learn at your own pace through a dynamic HSK-aligned learning path with 11,000+ lessons covering vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Read new articles daily, refreshed for every HSK level, and look up any word in a comprehensive Chinese-English dictionary with character components. Practice that adapts to you: spaced repetition for vocabulary retention, animated stroke-order character writing, speech recognition for pronunciation, multiple choice, matching, sentence arrangement, flash cards, and AI-evaluated open-ended questions. Stay motivated with awards, streaks, learning milestones, leaderboards, and social profiles. Track your performance with weekly progress charts. Bring your own content — add private articles from any source and generate study material from text you paste in. More features: family plans, teacher classroom tools, grammar with sentence-structure analysis, and variable-speed audio narration of articles.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lingo Bus at none against Dot Languages's 5. Dot Languages's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and rating (4.2 vs 3.8). On price, ratings volume, ads and iOS requirement 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. Dot Languages sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.00 per month. Lingo Bus asks for nothing beyond the download.
Dot Languages holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 55 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Lingo Bus's written reviews are positive against 72% of Dot Languages's.
Lingo Bus ships an update every 2 months, Dot Languages every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Lingo Bus | Dot Languages |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (38 ratings) | 4.2 (55 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 72.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 38 | 55 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 120 MB | 198 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | VIPTEACHER PTE. LTD. | Dot Languages ApS |
Customer experience
Lingo Bus
Dot Languages
Bugs and requests
Lingo Bus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Dot Languages
Reported bugs
12 issues- App closes every time after signing up
- App not opening
- App crashes on startup
- Articles disappear when hitting back icon
- Return button partially visible after lesson
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- Bug where leaving and re-entering a story counts as two reads
- App freezes and never works again
- Login screen freezes
- App doesn't load at all
- Kicks out of login every time app is opened
- Streak and articles read does not carry across devices
- Button of 'open more stories' doesn't work
Requested features
9 requests- Add Korean and Japanese language options
- Add stories in addition to articles
- Option for lifetime subscription
- Speaking exercises
- More vibrant colors and backgrounds
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- Pictures to help remember words
- Way to practice tones for each character
- Option to switch to traditional characters
- App for Cantonese
In-app purchases
Lingo Bus
No in-app purchases
Dot Languages
- Standard Monthly7 Days trial$9.001 Month
- Dot Premium - Monthly7 Days trial$18.491 Month
- Standard Yearly7 Days trial$72.001 Year
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- Dot Premium - Yearly7 Days trial$135.991 Year
- Dot Premium - Family Plan7 Days trial$339.001 Year
Questions
Is Lingo Bus free?
Is Dot Languages free?
Which has better reviews, Lingo Bus or Dot Languages?
Do Lingo Bus or Dot Languages have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lingo Bus or Dot Languages?
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