Comparison

Readibu vs Hanly

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

Hanly

Learn thousands of Chinese characters efficiently by understanding their structure and origin. This app uses visual breakdowns, engaging stories, and interactive elements to build an intuitive grasp of characters and aid memorization. It focuses on frequently used vocabulary and offers a structured learning progression.

Highlights
  • Character etymology and mnemonics
  • Interactive component exploration
  • Structured learning progression
  • Spaced repetition system
  • Extensive character dictionary
  • Stroke order animations
Features
Read full description

Chinese characters are not just random shapes - learn 1000 characters in months by understanding their structure and origin! Through visual breakdowns and engaging stories, Hanly helps you develop an intuitive grasp of Chinese characters and to efficiently remember them. Hanly starts with simple components and quickly builds up to complex characters, while focusing on the most frequently used vocabulary. CARDS THAT MAKE CHARACTERS COME ALIVE Etymology, memorable illustrations, mnemonics: we will provide the most helpful information to get a character to come alive in your imagination and stick in your memory for good. INTUITIVE INTERACTIVE UI Play with characters like they’re Lego blocks! Explore radicals, components, compound words, and character relationships - all just one click away! CAREFULLY OPTIMIZED LEARNING PROGRESSION Start with simple building blocks and naturally progress to complex characters. Our carefully designed levels introduce the most frequent characters early while maintaining coherent, meaningful themes. EXTENSIVE CHARACTER DICTIONARY & SEARCH Search by character, pinyin or meaning to find: - Character meanings and pronunciations - Usage in compound words and characters - Frequency and HSK level - Radical forms - Stroke order animations - Character evolution history SPACED REPETITION ENGINE INTEGRATED WITH THE UI Built-in spaced repetition helps you review characters at the perfect time, with review schedule optimized for how well you know a given character. Character progress is deeply integrated with the UI, so that you can spot the characters you are learning on any page. AND MANY MORE FEATURES! - Detailed learning statistics - Character etymology stories & fun facts - Explore characters & radicals sorted by their frequency - Personal note-taking system - Easily mark characters you already know Terms of use: https://www.hanlyapp.com/terms-of-use Privacy policy: https://www.hanlyapp.com/privacy-policy Contact us: We’d love to hear from your feedback about Hanly! Please send us an email with your thoughts and suggestions at tutu@hanlyapp.com

Screenshots

Readibu4 screens
Hanly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Hanly at free against Readibu's freemium. Readibu's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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 and Hanly sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Readibu against 4.9 for Hanly. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 159 and 415 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of Readibu's written reviews are positive against 99% of Hanly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Readibu ships an update every 8 days, Hanly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Readibu versus Hanly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReadibuHanly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (159 ratings)4.9 (415 ratings) — better
Positive reviews91.9% of reviews99.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings159415 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB241 MB
Age rating17+9+
DeveloperLingyi ChenArtur Gorokh

Customer experience

Readibu

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

Hanly

All ratings357 ratings
Positive99.2%
Neutral0.3%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews235 reviews
Positive99.1%
Neutral0.4%
Negative0.4%

Bugs and requests

Readibu

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Hanly

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • No known major bugs reported

Requested features

3 requests
  • Addition of writing practice for characters
  • Inclusion of example sentences for each character
  • Expansion of content to cover more advanced vocabulary

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
1 purchases

Hanly

Subscriptions1
  • Hanly Premium$5.991 Month

Questions

Is Readibu free?
Readibu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hanly free?
Hanly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Readibu or Hanly?
Hanly is rated higher. Readibu averages 4.8 out of 5 from 159 ratings, while Hanly averages 4.9 from 415 ratings.
Do Readibu or Hanly have ads?
Neither Readibu nor Hanly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Readibu or Hanly?
Readibu ships an update every 8 days, and Hanly every 2 weeks. Most recently, Readibu was updated on November 3, 2026 and Hanly on November 8, 2026.

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