Comparison

Ling vs Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese

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

Head to head
About

Ling

Master over 70 languages with fun, bite-sized lessons. Develop speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills with native speaker audio and cultural insights. Science-backed methods ensure retention, making even difficult languages accessible.

Highlights
  • 70+ languages available
  • Bite-sized lessons
  • Native speaker audio
  • Cultural insights
  • Speaking, reading, listening, writing skills
  • Science-backed learning methodology
Features
Read full description

Finally, a language-learning app that helps beginner to advanced learners speak, read, write, and listen in 70+ languages. Download Ling for FREE and start learning… Afrikaans • Albanian • Amharic • Arabic • Armenian • Azerbaijani • Bengali • Bosnian • Bulgarian • Burmese • Cantonese • Catalan • Cebuano • Chinese Simplified • Chinese Traditional • Croatian • Czech • Danish • Dutch • English • Estonian • Finnish • French • German • Georgian • Greek • Gujarati • Hebrew • Hindi • Hokkien • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ilocano • Indonesian • Irish • Italian • Japanese • Javanese • Kannada • Kazakh • Khmer • Korean • Lao • Latvian • Lithuanian • Macedonian • Malaysian • Malayalam • Maori • Marathi • Mongolian • Norwegian • Nepali • Polish • Portuguese • Pashto • Persian • Punjabi • Romanian • Russian • Serbian • Sinhala • Slovak • Slovenian • Somali • Sorbian • Spanish • Sundanese • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tamil • Telugu • Thai • Turkish • Ukrainian • Urdu • Uzbek • Vietnamese • Yoruba Build speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills all in one place, plus… - Hard languages made easy: Find languages not commonly featured in other apps and enjoy lessons that make learning simple - Cultural insights: Understand the beautiful cultures behind lesser-known languages with our Culture Notes feature - Native speaker guidance: Learn correct pronunciation with audio from native speakers - Science-backed learning: Our methodology ensures you retain what you learn, making even the most difficult languages stick - Motivating: Track your progress, set language goals, and earn rewards as you practice and grow - Daily practice: Turn language learning into a habit with daily lessons that fit into your routine Experience more of Ling... https://ling-app.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ling_app/ https://www.youtube.com/@LingLearnLanguages https://www.tiktok.com/@ling_app?lang=en https://www.facebook.com/Ling.learn.languages/ https://www.quora.com/Ling-Language-Lessons If you have any comments, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to reach out at support@ling-app.com Terms of Use: https://ling-app.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://ling-app.com/privacy-policy/

About

Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese

Features
Read full description

Cantonese has six tones. Say the same syllable on the wrong pitch and you have said a different word — or nothing at all. Most language apps gloss over this. Hou² is built around it. Every word you learn shows its tone. Every word you say gets scored against the pitch contour it should have followed. You see your own pitch drawn next to the target, so you know exactly what to fix instead of guessing why you sound off. WHAT'S INSIDE • 20 chapters, 64 lessons, from your first hello to talking about your week • 475 words and phrases, each with Jyutping romanisation and tone marks • 650+ exercises: speaking, listening, sentence building, tone identification • 21 Hong Kong dialogues — ordering dim sum, the MTR, markets, hotel check-in • A test at the end of every chapter • Grammar notes on the things that actually trip learners up: sentence-final particles, classifiers, aspect markers HOW SPEAKING PRACTICE WORKS Tap, speak, get scored. Hou² tracks the pitch of your voice, compares its shape to the expected tone contour, and colour-codes the result syllable by syllable. Speech recognition checks that you said the right thing; pitch analysis checks that you said it the right way. There is also a dedicated tone trainer for telling the six tones apart by ear, a pronunciation drill for practising any word from any chapter, and spaced review that brings vocabulary back before you forget it. REAL HONG KONG CANTONESE This is the Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong, written in Jyutping and traditional characters. Colloquial, not textbook-formal. Chapters cover buying things, getting around, work, weather, feelings, telling stories about your weekend — the things you need in the city. BEFORE YOU START Hou² teaches pronunciation using your iPhone's built-in Cantonese voices. The app walks you through installing one during setup — it takes about a minute in iOS Settings, and it is free. Installing two lets dialogue speakers sound different from each other. Your progress syncs across your iPhone and iPad through iCloud. FREE AND PRO Chapters 1 and 2 are free forever — the six tones, the sound system, greetings, numbers and money. They are complete lessons, not a demo. Chapters 3 to 20 need Hou² Pro, available monthly or annually. PRIVACY Pronunciation scoring happens on your iPhone. Hou² never stores or uploads your recordings. Speech recognition uses Apple's on-device engine where your device and language support it; otherwise iOS may send the audio to Apple to transcribe, exactly as it does for dictation. Your progress is yours, stored on device and in your own private iCloud. SUBSCRIPTION TERMS • Hou² Pro is an auto-renewing subscription, offered monthly or annually • Title: Hou² Pro Monthly (1 month) and Hou² Pro Annual (1 year) • Price is shown in your local currency on the subscription screen before purchase • Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase • It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period • Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period • Manage your subscription or turn off auto-renewal in your Apple Account settings • Chapters 1 and 2 remain free whether or not you subscribe Privacy Policy: https://www.hou2hou2.com/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.hou2hou2.com/terms Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Ling4 screens
Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese at none against Ling's shown. Ling's advantage is chart position (#60 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, 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. Ling sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Ling versus Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLingHou²Hou² Learn Cantonese
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (17K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews61.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings17K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#60 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size177 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSIMYA LABS COMPANY LIMITEDBenjamin Schubert

Bugs and requests

Ling

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Progress resets to zero
  • Incorrect translations and pronunciations
  • Lessons skipping ahead unexpectedly
  • Microphone issues, can't record properly
  • Sync issues across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow retry/go back in lessons
  • Improve speech recognition
  • Add grammar explanations
  • Provide more review and practice options
  • Introduce alphabet/writing system first

Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

20 purchases

Ling

Subscriptions19
  • Ling Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Language Learning Plan$10.991 Month
  • Ling Monthly Subscription2 variants$14.991 Month
Show 16 more
  • Ling Pro 1 Month Subscription$16.991 Month
  • Ling Half Yearly Subscription$39.996 Months
  • Ling 3 Month Subscription$39.993 Months
  • Learn Language Pro Yearly 77 Days trial$48.991 Year
  • Ling Pro Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$54.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription$59.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Black Friday Offer7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial2 variants$79.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription$79.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription3 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription14 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Ling Pro 12 Month Subscription7 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Ling Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$119.991 Year
One-time1
  • Ling Pro Lifetime Plan$199.99
2 purchases

Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Yearly$49.991 Year

Questions

Is Ling free?
Ling is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese free?
Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ling or Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese have ads?
Ling shows ads; Hou²Hou² Learn Cantonese does not.

Other comparisons