Read Chinese vs MandarinUp
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Read Chinese
Master Mandarin Chinese through engaging stories and phrases. This app offers voiced pronunciations, pinyin support, and detailed translations to enhance your learning journey. It's designed for users of all levels to build vocabulary and comprehension.
- Read Mandarin stories
- Learn Chinese phrases
- Phrases sorted by HSK level
- Voiced pronunciations
- Pinyin representation
- Sentence and word translation
- Free to use
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Learn Mandarin Chinese by reading and listening different phrases and stories. - Read stories in Mandarin. - Learn different Chinese phrases. - Phrases are sorted by HSK level. - All phrases are voiced and can be represented as pinyin. - Translation for each sentence is represented as a whole or each word individually. - Translate any word or phrase inside the app. - Completely free.
MandarinUp
Learn Chinese through daily typing practice, leveraging modern technology to avoid memorizing complex characters. This app offers a flexible way to study anytime, anywhere, even offline, fitting into a busy schedule.
- Learn Chinese by typing
- Avoid character memorization
- Practice anytime, anywhere
- Fully functional offline
- Modern technology approach
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Learn Chinese simply by typing every day! Embrace modern technology without the need to memorize complex Chinese characters. Practice anywhere, anytime, even with a busy schedule. Fully functional offline.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MandarinUp at none against Read Chinese's 1. MandarinUp also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Read Chinese's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 weeks) and ratings volume (7 vs 1). On price 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
Both are free to download. Read Chinese sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MandarinUp asks for nothing beyond the download.
MandarinUp holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Read Chinese has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Read Chinese ships an update every 2 days, MandarinUp every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 25, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Read Chinese | MandarinUp |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (7 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 4 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 80 MB | 0 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vladislav Alikov | Mykhailo Osekretov |
Customer experience
Read Chinese
MandarinUp
In-app purchases
Read Chinese
- Remove ads$1.99
MandarinUp
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Read Chinese free?
Is MandarinUp free?
Which has better reviews, Read Chinese or MandarinUp?
Do Read Chinese or MandarinUp have ads?
Which is updated more often, Read Chinese or MandarinUp?
Other comparisons
