Learn Japan vs Nihongo Lessons
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Learn Japan
Master Japanese vocabulary and phrases with this free offline app designed for learners and travelers. It features over 9000 common words and phrases with high-quality audio, organized into scientific categories for effective learning. Includes a quiz game to reinforce knowledge and a search function for favorites.
- 9000+ common Japanese words and phrases
- Excellent audio quality
- Offline functionality
- Categorized lessons
- Quiz game for practice
- Search and favorites system
- Supports 32 languages for translation
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The best app free Learn Japanese for the world, contains over 9000 common Japanese words and phrases with excellent audio quality. It serve the purpose for learning and travelers visiting Japan...Lessons are divided into category and subcategory in a scientific way, try and feel. It brings a new learning methods FEATURES - Support multiple languages (Translate from 32 languages to Japanese ) - Quiz game (choose correct answer and rearrange these words to make meaningful sentences) will improve word and phrases - Perfect search and manage your favourite items system - No internet connection required
Nihongo Lessons
This app helps learners of all levels achieve Japanese fluency. It uses a flashcard format to teach vocabulary, grammar, and writing systems, with advanced spaced repetition for effective retention. Content is sourced from real manga for advanced learners.
- Learn Hiragana and Katakana
- 7000+ handcrafted sentences
- Professional voice actor audio
- Advanced Spaced Repetition System (SRS)
- Vocabulary and grammar from manga
- Flashcard learning format
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A new app for people serious about becoming fluent in Japanese, from the maker of Nihongo: a modern Japanese dictionary. Nihongo Lessons is based off the excellent Japanese Level Up (Jalup) series, and is made to help all levels of learners. * If you're a complete beginner, the app starts you off by teaching you to write the Japanese alphabets hiragana and katakana, and then quickly starts building your vocabulary and grammar fundamentals. * If you're at an intermediate level, you can jump into content that will help you grow your Japanese grammar, vocabulary, and listening skills more efficiently than ever before. * If you're an advanced learner diving into the world of native content or studying for JLPT N1, Nihongo Lessons can help fill in the gaps in your knowledge with vocabulary and grammar pulled directly from real manga. Instead of a traditional textbook, everything in Nihongo Lessons is in a flashcard format. Flashcards are easier to take in, easier to know how much to learn and how often to review, and simplify the mountain of information you need to absorb. Each flashcard introduces one new sentence for you to understand, and every new sentence introduces exactly one new word, grammar point, or concept. This keeps you constantly moving forward in your learning journey - never bored, never overwhelmed. * Learn to write hiragana and katakana, the main alphabets of the Japanese language. * Progress from beginner to fluent across 7000 handcrafted sentences, each introducing a single new word or concept. * Listen to sentences spoken out loud by a professional voice actor. * Advanced Spaced Repetition (SRS) to help you retain everything you've learned for the long-term. * Nihongo Lessons doesn’t just plop a fun game on top of the language. It engages the brain’s natural urge to solve problems by making learning the language itself the game.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Nihongo Lessons at every 3 weeks against Learn Japan's every 8 months. Nihongo Lessons also leads on ratings volume (126 vs 2). Learn Japan's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 85%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Learn Japan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Nihongo Lessons sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Learn Japan holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nihongo Lessons has 126 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Learn Japan's written reviews are positive against 85% of Nihongo Lessons's.
Learn Japan ships an update every 8 months, Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Learn Japan | Nihongo Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.8 (126 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 84.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 126 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 17 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 141 MB | 258 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Van Duong Nguyen | Serpenti Sei Japan |
Customer experience
Learn Japan
Nihongo Lessons
Bugs and requests
Learn Japan
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Nihongo Lessons
Reported bugs
2 issues- Explanation modal flashed and cannot be brought back
- Unclear how to interact with cards (swiping direction)
Requested features
11 requests- Add notifications
- Add a way to add own notecards for review
- Add meaning and context for some words in dictionary
- Add monthly subscriptions or lower prices
- Add Kanji section
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- Add Kanji decks
- Add dark mode
- Automatically play audio when flipping card
- Teach word in context, then quiz for understanding using only the Japanese word
- Surface Japanese definition and make user remember the word
- Optimize for iPad
In-app purchases
Learn Japan
- Learn all category without ads$2.99
Nihongo Lessons
- All Access Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- All Access Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Beginner Deck (Discounted)$59.99
- Champion Deck (Discounted)$59.99
- Expert Deck (Discounted)$59.99
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Master Deck (Discounted)$59.99
- Intermediate Deck (Discounted)$83.99
- Beginner Deck (Discounted)$101.99
- Beginner Deck$119.99
- All Decks (Discounted)$149.99
- All Decks (Discounted)$254.99
- All Decks$299.99
- All Decks (Discounted)$299.99
Questions
Is Learn Japan free?
Is Nihongo Lessons free?
Which has better reviews, Learn Japan or Nihongo Lessons?
Do Learn Japan or Nihongo Lessons have ads?
Which is updated more often, Learn Japan or Nihongo Lessons?
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