Mandaboo vs Hanyu Wave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mandaboo
A fun, improv-style game designed to improve Mandarin speaking and listening skills. Players guess Mandarin words by following clues, avoiding specific taboo words to enhance comprehension and vocabulary. Play solo or with friends for an engaging learning experience.
- Guess Mandarin words with clues
- Avoid taboo words
- Improve listening comprehension
- Enhance speaking skills
- Play solo or with friends
- Create custom word lists
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Start playing Mandaboo today—a game of unspeakable Mandarin fun. Follow clues to guess the Mandarin word in this Mandarin game of improv, learning and laughs. Some clues are taboo to challenge your Mandarin listening comprehension and get your mind’s gears turning in Mandarin to guess the word in question. WHAT’S A MANDABOO? It’s a guessing challenge where the speaker gives you clues but they are not allowed to say certain taboo words to keep you guessing longer. You’ll hang on every clue until you make a Mandarin breakthrough…or bust! Will you be stumped? Only one way to know! ARE YOU UP FOR THE GUESSING CHALLENGE? Play on your own with the built-in Mandaboos or play with friends by creating your own Mandaboos for friends to guess, or try your guessing prowess with your friends’ Mandaboos and keep the learning going. Terms Of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Hanyu Wave
Learn and practice Chinese vocabulary and characters with daily lessons and AI-powered quizzes. Covers all HSK levels, from beginner to advanced. Master your Chinese word knowledge anywhere, anytime.
- Learn words and characters daily
- Practice with shuffle quizzes
- AI-based quiz generation
- Comprehension management
- Covers all HSK levels (1-6)
- Offline practice
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Anyone who studies Chinese has a hard time learning vocabulary. Hanyu Wave is the simplest way to learn and practice Chinese words and characters. Learn words and characters every day, and practice them with quizzes. You can learn all of the vocabulary for your target level. In 'Learn' tab, you can learn all the words and characters of the entire HSK course. Learn them and take Learn Quizzes to complete each part. Words/characters for all HSK levels are ready. -HSK1: 151 new words / 174 new characters -HSK2: 151 new words / 173 new characters -HSK3: 302 new words / 270 new characters -HSK4: 605 new words / 447 new characters -HSK5: 1,308 new words / 621 new characters -HSK6: 2,510 new words / 978 new characters In 'Practice' tab, you can practice all of the vocabulary you learned with shuffle quizzes. Based on the AI-based quiz generation and comprehension management, Hanyu Wave helps learners to clearly understand confusing words and characters. Practice at home, on the subway, anywhere. With Hanyu Wave, your Chinese vocabulary will be mastered. ––––––– If you subscribe to the Hanyu Wave Pass (Premium), you can access all features and courses. Once you subscribe, your subscription is automatically renewed. If you want to cancel your subscription, you can turn off auto-renew option in your 'Apple ID' in 'Settings' 24 hours before the end of the subscription period. Privacy https://hanyuwave.com/en/privacy Terms and Conditions https://hanyuwave.com/en/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Mandaboo at 5.0 against Hanyu Wave's 4.0. Mandaboo also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%). Hanyu Wave's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases 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. Mandaboo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Hanyu Wave sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Mandaboo holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Mandaboo's written reviews are positive against 75% of Hanyu Wave's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mandaboo | Hanyu Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | 4.0 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mandarin Monkey Ltd | Kyungil Choi |
Customer experience
Mandaboo
Hanyu Wave
In-app purchases
Mandaboo
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Six Month Subscription3 Days trial$54.996 Months
- Annual Subscription$99.991 Year
Hanyu Wave
- Monthly Pass$1.991 Month
- Quarterly Pass$4.493 Months
- Yearly Pass$14.491 Year
- HSK Vocabulary$16.99









