# 大辞林 vs Shirabe Jisho

The clearest difference is price: Shirabe Jisho at Free against 大辞林's $18.99. Shirabe Jisho also leads on review sentiment (99% vs 71%) and ratings volume (8.9K vs 18). 大辞林's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On rating, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Shirabe Jisho is free to download; 大辞林 costs $18.99 up front. Shirabe Jisho sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 大辞林 asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for 大辞林 against 4.9 for Shirabe Jisho. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shirabe Jisho has 8.9K ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of 大辞林's written reviews are positive against 99% of Shirabe Jisho's.

大辞林 ships an update every 2 months, Shirabe Jisho monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | 大辞林 | Shirabe Jisho |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $18.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.8 (18 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id299029654/reviews) | **[4.9 (8.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shirabe-jisho/id1005203380/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 18 | **8.9K** |
| Positive reviews | 71.3% of reviews | **98.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Size | 243 MB | 185 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [物書堂](https://appshunter.io/developer/284350529) | [Blazej Stanek](https://appshunter.io/developer/1005203379) |

## What reviewers say

### 大辞林

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id299029654)

**In-app purchases:** none


### Shirabe Jisho

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shirabe-jisho/id1005203380)

This app provides a comprehensive offline Japanese-English and English-Japanese dictionary. It includes extensive entries, kanji details with stroke order, name databases, and example sentences. Features handwriting recognition and advanced search options for efficient language learning.

**Highlights:** Offline Japanese-English dictionary, Kanji with stroke order, Japanese names database, Example sentences with translation, Handwriting recognition, Advanced search (wildcard, radicals), Kanji lists by JLPT level

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shirabe Extras | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Comprehensive dictionary with many features
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface
- 💡 Ability to draw kanji for lookup
- 🚀 Offline functionality
- 👍 Detailed word information including conjugations, example sentences, and JLPT levels

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Search history can get cluttered
- 👎 Lack of pitch accent information
- 👎 Some example sentences are of poor quality
- 👎 Font size can be difficult to read on smaller screens

**Reported bugs**

- Occasional crashes or freezes
- Inconsistent font sizing in search results

**Requested features**

- Ability to sync bookmarks/lists across devices
- More customization options for flashcards
- Integration with spaced repetition apps like Anki
- Addition of pitch accent information
- Improved search history management


## Frequently asked questions

### Is 大辞林 free?

大辞林 costs $18.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Shirabe Jisho free?

Shirabe Jisho is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, 大辞林 or Shirabe Jisho?

Shirabe Jisho is rated higher. 大辞林 averages 4.8 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Shirabe Jisho averages 4.9 from 8.9K ratings.

### Do 大辞林 or Shirabe Jisho have ads?

Neither 大辞林 nor Shirabe Jisho shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, 大辞林 or Shirabe Jisho?

大辞林 ships an update every 2 months, and Shirabe Jisho monthly. Most recently, 大辞林 was updated on November 6, 2026 and Shirabe Jisho on November 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*