Comparison

aDict vs Nihongo Lessons

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

Head to head
About

aDict

This app provides offline Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionary lookups with a simple, beautiful interface. It also supports Youdao API for expanded search capabilities and includes several specialized dictionaries.

Highlights
  • Offline Chinese-English dictionary
  • Offline English-Chinese dictionary
  • Youdao API integration
  • Simple and beautiful design
  • Multiple dictionary lists
Features
Read full description

*Simple Simple and beautiful design. Perfect for your iDevice. *Chinese to English or English to Chinese Built-in offline dictionaries. Support Chinese to English or English to Chinese. *Youdao Dictionary Search Support Youdao API. Explore more. *詞典列表 - 新世紀 New Century Chinese-English Dictionary - 有道詞典 Youdao Dictionary - 漢典 Chinese Dictionary - 粵語詞典 Cantonese to Mandarin Dictionary

About

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.

Highlights
  • Learn Hiragana and Katakana
  • 7000+ handcrafted sentences
  • Professional voice actor audio
  • Advanced Spaced Repetition System (SRS)
  • Vocabulary and grammar from manga
  • Flashcard learning format
Features
Read full description

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

aDict4 screens
Nihongo Lessons4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Nihongo Lessons at 4.8 against aDict's 3.0. Nihongo Lessons also leads on review sentiment (85% vs 50%) and ratings volume (126 vs 2). aDict's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks) and device support (3 vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. aDict sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nihongo Lessons holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. 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: 50% of aDict's written reviews are positive against 85% of Nihongo Lessons's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

aDict ships an update every 6 days, Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
aDict versus Nihongo Lessons: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteraDictNihongo Lessons
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings)4.8 (126 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2126 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS14.1 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB258 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer伟才 黄Serpenti Sei Japan

Customer experience

aDict

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Nihongo Lessons

All ratings126 ratings
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews33 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral6.1%
Negative9.1%

Bugs and requests

aDict

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
Show 6 more
  • 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

3 purchases

aDict

Subscriptions2
  • Pro(Month)$1.991 Month
  • Pro(Year)$10.491 Year
One-time1
  • Pro Member$4.99
13 purchases

Nihongo Lessons

Subscriptions2
  • All Access Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • All Access Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time11
  • Beginner Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Champion Deck (Discounted)$59.99
  • Expert Deck (Discounted)$59.99
Show 8 more
  • 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 aDict free?
aDict is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nihongo Lessons free?
Nihongo Lessons is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, aDict or Nihongo Lessons?
Nihongo Lessons is rated higher. aDict averages 3.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Nihongo Lessons averages 4.8 from 126 ratings.
Do aDict or Nihongo Lessons have ads?
Neither aDict nor Nihongo Lessons shows ads.
Which is updated more often, aDict or Nihongo Lessons?
aDict ships an update every 6 days, and Nihongo Lessons every 3 weeks. Most recently, aDict was updated on October 3, 2026 and Nihongo Lessons on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons