Comparison

iKanji vs Learn Japanese

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

Head to head
About

iKanji

Master Japanese kanji with this comprehensive study tool. It covers over 2,000 JLPT and Jōyō kanji, offering practice tests, vocabulary browsing, and spaced repetition. Learn readings, meanings, and stroke order for effective memorization.

Highlights
  • JLPT & Jōyō Kanji coverage
  • Spaced repetition (Leitner System)
  • Reading, Meaning, and Compound tests
  • Vocabulary browser
  • Kanji search by reading, stroke count, meaning, radical
  • Stroke order practice
Features
Read full description

iKanji touch is a powerful kanji study and training tool covering over 2,000 JLPT and school grade jouyou kanji. - Kanji are grouped by grade and JLPT and subdivided into sets of 20 for easy practice. - Includes 2010 jouyou kanji. - Reference ‘cards’ for each kanji with readings, stroke count, radical etc. - Vocabulary browser with JLPT based sets - Hear vocabulary pronounced using the Japanese text-to-speech facility - List of example compounds for each kanji. - Leitner System based spaced repetition Teach Me mode. - Reading test to quiz you on kanji readings (onyomi and kunyomi). - Meaning test to practice your ability to recognise the English meaning of a given kanji. - Compound test to complete words by filling in the missing kanji. - Stroke order test to practice writing kanji (not available for all kanji yet). - Search for kanji by readings, stroke count, meaning or radical. - Ability to create multiple practice sets and track wrongly answered kanji. - Extras store where you can purchase additional features to tailor iKanji touch to your needs Please note all kanji readings (onyomi and kunyomi) are in hiragana and katakana only. Romaji is not used in this application. *JLPT sets are based on kanji usually taught at these levels and are not based on official listings for current tests.

About

Learn Japanese

Learn Japanese vocabulary through engaging, visually-driven mini-games. Daily five-minute lessons make learning addictive and effective, focusing on practical words and essential scripts like Kanji and Kana. Build a consistent learning habit with this fun, illustrated approach.

Highlights
  • Illustrated vocabulary learning
  • Daily 5-minute lessons
  • Quick swipe and tap games
  • Focus on practical words
  • Teaches Kanji and Kana
  • Habit-building approach
Read full description

Play with your words! Drops makes language learning effortlessly fun. Essential vocabulary is bound to your memories through beautiful illustrations and quick mini-games. Take the daily 5 minute lessons and ease yourself into the beautiful world of Japanese language! 
 Ingredients of the secret sauce? 100% illustrated: Pictures directly carry the meaning - you don’t have to use your native language at all! No intermediary. Faster, more effective and of course more fun for the Japanese learning process! :) 5 min sessions: limiting practice time sounds crazy but it makes it incredibly addictive - which is a cool thing for learning. The barrier of entry is close to zero so you can’t have any excuses: you’ll have 5 minutes even on the busiest day! Effortless play: We know why games are fun and addictive and distilled the essence into Drops. The result is a truly immersive experience but it’s not a waste of your time while you play because you build valuable knowledge. Quick: Keyboard typing is painfully slow. Welcome rapid swipes and taps! Trust us, you’ll need those extra seconds during the quick learning session ;) Vocabulary only: Zero grammar, just handpicked practical words. That’s our focus and we do it extremely well. The app teaches the Japanese “alphabets” Kanji and Kana (hiragana and katakana) too! Forge a habit: Drops wants to make you language learning addict. Effectiveness is nothing without a well established habit. We can help you build one! We are extremely proud of our lovely word pronunciations by seasoned voice talents! Drops is free for casual learners: more than 3300+ words in 150+ topics are all available for everyone. Hardcore language learners can subscribe for premium to progress faster with unlimited Japanese language learning time. Our goal is to empower people of the world via language knowledge by providing a special tool that utilizes the universal language we all speak: pictures. ----------------- Keep tuned as even more languages are in the works! Payment information: Length of subscriptions: - 1 Month - 12 Months Price of subscriptions: - 1 Month – $12.99 per month - 12 Months – $89.99 per year - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Have questions? Feel free to contact us at sup@languagedrops.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/language_drops Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnwithDrops Blog: https://medium.com/languagedrops Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/language_drops/ Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html

Screenshots

iKanji4 screens
Learn Japanese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Learn Japanese at Free against iKanji's $4.99. Learn Japanese also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (91% vs 76%). iKanji's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 11.0). On rating, 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

Learn Japanese is free to download; iKanji costs $4.99 up front. iKanji sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Learn Japanese sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for iKanji against 4.8 for Learn Japanese. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Japanese has 2K ratings behind it against 142, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of iKanji's written reviews are positive against 91% of Learn Japanese's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iKanji ships an update every 3 months, Learn Japanese every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
iKanji versus Learn Japanese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriKanjiLearn Japanese
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (142 ratings)4.8 (2K ratings)
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews90.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1422K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better11.0
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB207 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThinkMac SoftwarePLANB LABS OU

Customer experience

iKanji

All ratings142 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral0.7%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews150 reviews
Positive76.0%
Neutral15.3%
Negative8.7%

Learn Japanese

All ratings2,009 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews484 reviews
Positive90.9%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.0%

Bugs and requests

iKanji

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Stroke order animation speeds up progressively
  • Stroke recognition too strict (rejects correct strokes)
  • Voice/pronunciation feature no longer works
  • Kanji to study section doesn't show all kanji until later in day
  • App crashes during practice mode
Show 7 more
  • Memory leaks causing instability
  • Inconsistent kanji test results (passes then fails same kanji)
  • Some kanji missing stroke order diagrams
  • Incorrect stroke order in higher levels (N1)
  • Voice mispronounces readings with periods
  • Writing test too sensitive to pixel-perfect accuracy
  • Search results include partial word matches incorrectly

Requested features

18 requests
  • Free-form kanji drawing from memory (not just tracing)
  • Vocabulary quiz/test mode
  • Mixed test combining all kanji aspects
  • Progress bar/counter for study sets
  • Multiple custom practice lists
Show 13 more
  • Kanji grouping by radical
  • Text entry option for readings (not just multiple choice)
  • Show correct stroke order after mistakes
  • Better example sentences and word compounds
  • Example sentences accessible during teach mode
  • Grammar app companion
  • Native speaker audio pronunciation
  • Export data to standard iOS share sheet
  • Ability to mark kanji as passed/needs review manually
  • Faster stroke order animations with speed control
  • Japanese keyboard search support
  • Darker background for better contrast
  • Tap-through navigation in example compounds

Learn Japanese

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

iKanji

One-time3
  • Kanji Drawing Practice$0.99
  • Kana Chart$0.99
  • Dark Mode$0.99
12 purchases

Learn Japanese

Subscriptions12
  • Unlimited time!$7.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Unlimited time for all Languages!$12.991 Month
  • Premium$12.991 Month
  • Daily 10 minutes bonus$22.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Premium$39.991 Year
  • Premium$47.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial2 variants$89.991 Year

Questions

Is iKanji free?
iKanji costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Learn Japanese free?
Learn Japanese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, iKanji or Learn Japanese?
iKanji and Learn Japanese are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 142 and 2K ratings respectively.
Do iKanji or Learn Japanese have ads?
Neither iKanji nor Learn Japanese shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iKanji or Learn Japanese?
iKanji ships an update every 3 months, and Learn Japanese every 9 days. Most recently, iKanji was updated on September 17, 2026 and Learn Japanese on September 23, 2026.

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