Calliplus vs CharacterMatrix
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calliplus
Explore Chinese calligraphy with a dictionary of styles from renowned masters. Practice your own strokes with interactive guides and scoring, and save your favorite pieces.
- Search calligraphy by character
- View styles from famous calligraphers
- Learn about calligraphers and masterpieces
- Bookmark favorite copybooks
- Interactive writing practice
- Handwriting scoring
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Chinese Calligraphy Dictionary. Search calligraphy written by famous calligraphers. == Look up == 1. Look up single character: list how the Chinese character is written in different styles by different calligraphy masters. 2. Look up multiple characters: you can swipe left/right to see different character lists. 3. Show information about the calligrapher and it's written in which masterpiece. 4. You can bookmark favorite calligraphy copybooks. == Writing Practice == 1. Click on characters to see large one. 2. Grid lines can be displayed in background. 3. Characters can be shown in contour. 4. Use your finger to write on the screen. 5. You can score your handwriting. Calligraphy images are provided by 行政院國家發展委員會,CNS11643中文標準交換碼全字庫網站
CharacterMatrix
Master the 1000 most common Chinese characters with this comprehensive learning tool. It provides example sentences, pronunciation, translations, and character summaries to aid fluency. Explore traditional and simplified characters with customizable display options and audio playback.
- 1000 most common characters
- Example sentences with translations
- Pinyin pronunciation
- Traditional and simplified characters
- Audio playback
- Customizable themes (dark/light)
- Search functionality
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With the most common 1000 characters you can read 89% of modern Chinese. This app is a great companion on your journey towards fluency. For every character you get: ⇨ 3 example sentences ⇨ Pinyin pronunciation ⇨ English translations ⇨ Character summary CharacterMatrix also offers: • Traditional (繁體) and simplified (简体) characters • Several Chinese fonts to choose from • Audio playback for all characters and sentences • Dark mode and light mode • Clean designs that look amazing on iPad and iPhone • A "random" button to jump to an arbitrary character • Search by character, Pinyin or frequency number Take these 1000 characters everywhere you go and learn at your own pace. This app displays the 1000 most used 中文 characters in a matrix that you can adjust (zoom level, font, dark/light theme). Its simple and clean user interface adapts to your device's size. If you use it in your iPad you can see more characters at the same time or split the screen. Some ideas of how to use this app: √ Learn new characters starting with the most common ones √ Understand and remember the characters using the 3 examples √ Listen to the examples and repeat to improve your pronunciation √ Use the "random" button to test your knowledge √ Use the app as a reference to practice writing/calligraphy (with various fonts) √ Use screen mirroring to show the characters on a smart TV and study with friends √ Explore by tapping on characters you don't know in the example sentences to learn more
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Calliplus at none against CharacterMatrix's 1. Calliplus also leads on update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). CharacterMatrix's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (9 vs 2). On price, rating 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. CharacterMatrix sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Calliplus asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Calliplus against 5.0 for CharacterMatrix. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively.
Calliplus ships an update weekly, CharacterMatrix monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calliplus | CharacterMatrix |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 9 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 119 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MAO YUAN KAO | CopyBucket, Inc. |
Customer experience
Calliplus
CharacterMatrix
In-app purchases
Calliplus
No in-app purchases
CharacterMatrix
- Unlock All 1000 Characters$9.99
Questions
Is Calliplus free?
Is CharacterMatrix free?
Which has better reviews, Calliplus or CharacterMatrix?
Do Calliplus or CharacterMatrix have ads?
Which is updated more often, Calliplus or CharacterMatrix?
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