Comparison

Readibu vs Pinyinize

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

Head to head
About

Readibu

Access a vast library of Chinese web novels, short stories, and children's tales. Enhance your learning with integrated dictionary lookups, text-to-speech, and pinyin display. Premium features offer advanced tools like sentence translation and offline reading for an immersive language learning experience.

Highlights
  • Explore Chinese web novels
  • Tap for character definitions
  • Reader mode for web pages
  • Pinyin/zhuyin display
  • Text-to-speech
  • Offline reading (Premium)
  • Sentence translation (Premium)
Features
Read full description

Discover new stories and worlds in Chinese! Ready to move beyond flashcards and graded readers? Readibu is your portal to the world of popular Chinese web novels, short stories and children stories enjoyed by native readers — or bring your own books and read them the same way. From historical to sci-fi or romance to horror, there's always something good to read. Readibu is a Chinese reading app where you can: 1. Explore popular web novels, short stories, and children stories from native Chinese sites — browse by ranking, category, or search 2. Import your own EPUB, PDF, or TXT files and read them alongside your web library 3. Tap on characters for definitions 4. Open web pages in a reader for immersive reading 5. Absorb the language while you're immersed in gripping adventures Supported features: • Tap for dictionary • Text-to-speech • Simplified and traditional conversion • Pinyin/zhuyin display over words • Add custom url to display in reader • Import EPUB, PDF, and TXT files into your library • Organize your reading with collections, bookmarks, and history • Check the difficulty of any text with HSK-level breakdowns • Look up words in Pleco, MDBG, Yellow Bridge, Baidu Translate, and more • Export saved vocabularies • Auto-detect next chapter • Auto-save last page you were on • Back up and restore your library and vocabulary ================================ ENHANCE YOUR READING EXPERIENCE WITH READIBU PREMIUM • Cloud sync - Sync subscription, library, bookmarks, vocabs and reading progress between devices • Sentence Translation - Unlimited translation by Google Translate • Image Search - Display image search results for selected text • Offline Reading - Download pages for reading offline • Quiz Mode - Quiz your pinyin, tones, and definitions of words you looked up before • Smart Name Recognition - Detect names of people, orgs and places in content • Syntax Analysis - Analyze syntax of sentence Free trials included with all plans! 1-month subscription: $4.99 per month 3-month subscription: $9.99 per month 12-month subscription: $47.99 per year Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at the end of your free trial period. Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period or trial. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel subscriptions in your Itunes Account settings. Privacy Policy: https://www.readibu.com/privacy Terms & Conditions: https://www.readibu.com/terms Have questions? Feel free to contact us at support@readibu.com.

About

Pinyinize

This app uses your phone's camera to instantly convert Chinese characters into phonetic Pinyin. It helps you understand menus, addresses, and other Chinese text by displaying the Pinyin with contextual grouping for accurate pronunciation.

Highlights
  • Camera-based character to Pinyin conversion
  • Contextual grouping for accurate pronunciation
  • Instant translation of Chinese text
  • Useful for menus and addresses
  • Supports iPhone devices
Features
Read full description

Are you studying Chinese and proficient in pronouncing PinYin, but don't ever see any Chinese writing with accompanying PinYin? Have you ever been in a Chinese restaurant, looking at the menu, and wishing you knew how PinYin of the dishes' names to be able to order them from your server in Chinese? Have you ever been in the taxi in China or Taiwan and needed to tell your driver the destination, with the address in hand, but you could not pronounce it? Well guess what - the struggle is over! With the PinYinize, you can use your camera turn Chinese characters into phonetic PinYin at your fingertips! Simply point the in-app camera to the Chinese text you are interested in, take a photo, and the app will automatically convert them into PinYin for you. What about those pesky characters that change in pronunciation based on the change in context? We've got you covered! The PinYinize will display the Chinese characters in your photo by grouping them in helpful boxes that identifies the pertinent context they are in, and helps you pronounce the characters accurately!

Screenshots

Readibu4 screens
Pinyinize4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pinyinize at none against Readibu's 3. Pinyinize also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 92%). Readibu's advantage is ratings volume (159 vs 1) and update cadence (every 8 days vs monthly). On price, rating and ads 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. Readibu sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Pinyinize asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pinyinize holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Readibu has 159 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Readibu's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pinyinize's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readibu ships an update every 8 days, Pinyinize monthly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Readibu versus Pinyinize: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadibuPinyinize
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (159 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings159 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB13 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperLingyi ChenKyle Watson

Customer experience

Readibu

All ratings157 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral0.6%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive91.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.1%

Pinyinize

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Readibu

Subscriptions3
  • Readibu Monthly Premium14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Readibu 3-Month Premium14 Days trial$9.993 Months
  • Readibu Yearly Premium14 Days trial$47.991 Year
None

Pinyinize

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Readibu free?
Readibu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pinyinize free?
Pinyinize is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Readibu or Pinyinize?
Pinyinize is rated higher. Readibu averages 4.8 out of 5 from 159 ratings, while Pinyinize averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Readibu or Pinyinize have ads?
Neither Readibu nor Pinyinize shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readibu or Pinyinize?
Readibu ships an update every 8 days, and Pinyinize monthly. Most recently, Readibu was updated on November 3, 2026 and Pinyinize on November 3, 2026.

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