Comparison

Migaku vs Chengyu Calendar

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

Head to head
About

Migaku

This app helps you learn languages by making content interactive. Click words in subtitles or text to get definitions, create flashcards, and personalize study sessions. It focuses on high-frequency words for efficient learning.

Highlights
  • Interactive subtitles for YouTube
  • One-click media-rich flashcard creation
  • Personalized study sessions
  • Data-driven courses for beginners
  • Word frequency-based vocabulary learning
  • AI sentence breakdown and explanations
Features
Read full description

Learning languages is actually pretty simple: if you consume content you enjoy, and you understand that content, you will make progress. Period. Migaku (and its Chrome browser extension) enables you to do that: 1. Our courses take you from zero to 80% comprehension in ~6 months (10 cards/day) 2. We make text interactive: click words in your phone's YouTube subtitles to see what they mean 3. We let you make media-rich flashcards out of those words with one click 4. We make personalized study sessions out of the flashcards you create 5. Repeat! Whether you're learning Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Italian, German, Cantonese, Portuguese, English, French or Vietnamese, Migaku equips you with the tools you need to make real progress. Migaku requires a paid subscription to access its courses, features, and AI tools. Migaku – AI Language Learning Tool ■ How languages are really learned: If you want to watch movies in other languages, then you need to learn languages with movies. If you want to read books in other languages, then you need to learn languages by reading. As you spend more time doing the things you enjoy doing in the language you're learning, you'll build the unique skills you need to more easily do those things. Unfortunately, it's difficult to read books and watch movies in another language as a beginner. And that's where Migaku comes in ■ Data-driven courses for beginners The problem with most apps and textbooks is that they teach you what someone else thinks language learners need to know, and those things may not reflect what you actually need to learn to do the things that are important to you. This matters because not all words are used equally often: while a college-educated native speaker knows ~30,000 words, you only need to know ~1,500 words to recognize 80% of the words in modern media. Our flashcard-based courses teach you these ~1,500 words—the ones that are useful to everyone, no matter their goals—plus a few hundred basic grammar points. What makes our courses special is that every "next" flashcard contains only one new word, making Migaku's learning curve super smooth. You're always learning something new, but never overwhelmed. It's a fluent language learning approach. Migaku courses are currently available for Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean. ■ Turn subtitles and text into interactive language learning opportunities Migaku makes texts interactive: just click on words to see what they mean. You can also hear audio recordings from native speakers, reference images of the term, check example sentences, get an AI explanation of what the word means in context, have AI break sentences down for you word-by-word, or see a translation of the sentence that your word appears in. Basically, Migaku lets you consume content in another language as if you knew as many words as a native speaker. Our mobile app supports YouTube, manually pasted content, and physical content like books or street signs. Our Chrome extension supports web pages and several popular streaming websites. ■ Create custom study cards or import language flashcards Find a useful looking word while consuming content? Turn it into a high-quality flashcard with one button, and Migaku's spaced repetition language practice algorithm will create personalized study sessions for you. You'll be nudged to review these flashcards periodically, ensuring you remember them. Decks designed for the Anki flashcard app can be converted for use with Migaku, too. ■ Study anywhere, even offline Migaku's courses and any flashcards you make are available offline and automatically sync between all of your devices. ■ Learn multiple languages at once A single Migaku subscription gives you access to all of Migaku's languages and lets you use all of Migaku's features and AI language learning tools as much as you want. - - - Immerse → enjoy → improve

About

Chengyu Calendar

Learn a new Chinese idiom daily with a widget that mimics a traditional tear-off calendar. Explore idiom history, meanings, and usage examples. Supports both Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters and works offline without ads.

Highlights
  • Daily idiom widget
  • Idiom breakdown (character, pinyin, meaning)
  • Example sentences
  • Idiom history and origin
  • Simplified/Traditional character support
  • Offline functionality
  • Ad-free and private
Read full description

Build your Chinese, one idiom at a time. Chengyu Calendar puts a new Chinese idiom on your Home Screen every day, on a page designed after the traditional Chinese tear-off calendar. Glance at your phone, learn something new, and come back tomorrow for the next one. Chengyu (成语) are the short, vivid sayings Chinese speakers use every day. Each one carries a story, often centuries old, and knowing them makes your Chinese sound natural. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN The widget shows today's page, just like a real tear-off calendar: • The date, with the day of the week • The idiom, broken down character by character, with pinyin and an English meaning for each • What the whole idiom means • An example sentence, with pinyin and an English translation A new page arrives every morning. IN THE APP Tap the widget to open the full page and go deeper: • Its history: where the idiom came from, and how it came to mean what it does now • More examples: three more sentences showing how it's used, each with pinyin and an English translation TRADITIONAL OR SIMPLIFIED, 都可以! Switch between Simplified and Traditional characters at any time, and every page changes instantly. EVERY DETAIL, CONSIDERED Inspired by the Chinese daily tear-off calendar, Chengyu Calendar was designed to feel more like a physical object than a piece of software. Pages are printed in green on working days and in red on weekends and holidays, just like the real thing. SIMPLE AND PRIVATE • No account needed • Works offline • No ads and no tracking A page a day, made with care by a team of one. SUBSCRIPTION Chengyu Calendar requires a subscription, with weekly, monthly and yearly plans. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm your purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before it ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple ID settings at any time. Terms of Use: https://chengyucalendar.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://chengyucalendar.com/privacy

Screenshots

Migaku4 screens
Chengyu Calendar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Migaku at free with in-app purchases against Chengyu Calendar's subscription. Migaku also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (377 vs 8). Chengyu Calendar's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 73%) and update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Migaku sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $14.00 per month and Chengyu Calendar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Migaku holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Migaku has 377 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 73% of Migaku's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chengyu Calendar's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Migaku ships an update weekly, Chengyu Calendar every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Migaku versus Chengyu Calendar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMigakuChengyu Calendar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (377 ratings) — better3.9 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings377 — better8
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.9 GB119 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMigaku Inc.Fiachra MacFadden

Customer experience

Migaku

All ratings375 ratings
Positive84.3%
Neutral1.6%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative24.1%

Chengyu Calendar

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Migaku

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Unable to create new accounts in the app
  • Broken kanji course with empty cards
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps

Requested features

4 requests
  • Offline mode for learning on the go
  • Expanded support for more languages
  • Better integration with Anki and other SRS apps
  • More customization options for flashcards and reviews

Chengyu Calendar

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Migaku

Subscriptions8
  • Migaku Standard2 variants$14.001 Month
  • Migaku Standard7 Days trial$14.001 Month
  • Early Access2 variants$21.001 Month
Show 5 more
  • Early Access7 Days trial$21.001 Month
  • Migaku Standard$136.991 Year
  • Migaku Standard7 Days trial$136.991 Year
  • Early Access$179.991 Year
  • Early Access7 Days trial$179.991 Year
One-time5
  • Lifetime$214.99
  • Lifetime$289.00
  • Lifetime$344.99
Show 2 more
  • Lifetime$359.00
  • Lifetime$719.00
3 purchases

Chengyu Calendar

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly3 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is Migaku free?
Migaku is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chengyu Calendar free?
Chengyu Calendar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Migaku or Chengyu Calendar?
Migaku is rated higher. Migaku averages 4.4 out of 5 from 377 ratings, while Chengyu Calendar averages 3.9 from 8 ratings.
Do Migaku or Chengyu Calendar have ads?
Neither Migaku nor Chengyu Calendar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Migaku or Chengyu Calendar?
Migaku ships an update weekly, and Chengyu Calendar every 2 days. Most recently, Migaku was updated on October 24, 2026 and Chengyu Calendar on October 26, 2026.

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