# trainchinese vs Marukun

The clearest difference is ads: Marukun at none against trainchinese's shown. Marukun also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). trainchinese's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks) and review sentiment (76% vs 67%). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. trainchinese sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and Marukun sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

trainchinese ships an update fortnightly, Marukun every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | trainchinese | Marukun |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (2.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainchinese/id333830076/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **2.4K** | — |
| Positive reviews | **76.0% of reviews** | 66.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Fortnightly** | Every 5 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 328 MB | 147 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [trainchinese B.V.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1443075140) | [Dimitriy Grigoriev](https://appshunter.io/developer/1448870635) |

## What reviewers say

### trainchinese

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/trainchinese/id333830076)

Learn Chinese with a comprehensive dictionary, flashcards, and OCR. Access example sentences, audio, and character animations. Supports both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, with customizable phonetic input.

**Highlights:** Comprehensive Chinese dictionary, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Spaced Repetition flashcard system, Character animations and handwriting training, Support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Multiple phonetic input options (Pinyin, Zhuyin)

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

**In-app purchases (13)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| OCR Feature | $4.99 | one-time |
| 10 lists | $8.99 | one-time |
| 3 months | $11.99 | one-time |
| 3 months + 10 lists | $15.99 | one-time |
| 6 months | $19.99 | one-time |
| 30 lists | $19.99 | one-time |
| 6 months + 10 lists | $23.99 | one-time |
| 3 months + 30 lists | $25.99 | one-time |
| 12 months | $34.99 | one-time |
| 6 months + 30 lists | $34.99 | one-time |
| 12 months + 10 lists | $37.99 | one-time |
| 12 months + 30 lists | $45.99 | one-time |
| 12 months + 60 lists | $54.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app for learning Chinese
- 👍 Helpful for improving vocabulary, pronunciation, and writing
- 🚀 Comprehensive dictionary and flashcard features
- 👍 Customizable word lists and training modes
- 🚀 Detailed stroke order animations for characters

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs after updates
- 💰 Subscription model is expensive for long-term use
- 🔍 Confusing and unintuitive user interface
- 🔍 Limited functionality in free version
- 🐛 Syncing and login issues

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes when trying to move or add words to lists
- Audio playback not working for some words
- Writing recognition feature is unreliable
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between app and website

**Requested features**

- Add option to learn on multiple languages (e.g. English and Russian)
- Improve organization and navigation of word lists
- Implement more engaging learning games and activities
- Allow users to easily add their own custom words and phrases


### Marukun

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/marukun/id1540562535)

This Russian-Japanese dictionary app offers over 90,000 Japanese words with example sentences for daily use. It includes a favorites feature to create custom word lists and works offline without ads.

**Highlights:** 90,000+ Japanese words, Example sentences, Favorites list, Offline functionality, Ad-free experience

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full version | $0.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is trainchinese free?

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

### Is Marukun free?

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

### Do trainchinese or Marukun have ads?

trainchinese shows ads; Marukun does not.

### Which is updated more often, trainchinese or Marukun?

trainchinese ships an update fortnightly, and Marukun every 5 weeks. Most recently, trainchinese was updated on October 27, 2026 and Marukun on October 13, 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.*