Comparison

trainchinese vs Chinese Learner Plus

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

Head to head
About

trainchinese

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
Read full description

Learn Chinese with an amazing dictionary (plus OCR) and flash card system. trainchinese will teach you Chinese, with a free and complete dictionary, thousands of vocab lists, example sentences, audio recordings, measure words, character animations and Optical Character Recognition — not to mention a powerful flash card training system that even includes handwriting training! • Our dictionary prioritises commonly-used words and phrases above the obscure and obsolete, while example sentences and measure words (classifiers) provide crucial context to help you decide which Chinese word is the most appropriate translation. Other dictionaries just leave you guessing! • We've got Optical Character Recognition (OCR) too. Spotted some Chinese you can't read? Capture a photo of some Chinese text from a menu, book or sign, and the app identifies and translates the characters for you. • Search for words by part of speech • Mistyped a word? Helpful spelling suggestions get you to the right results fast. • Words feature both example sentences and measure words for nouns. It's time to move beyond "个"! And best of all it's all connected: tap examples and measure words to open them as full dictionary entries. • trainchinese is great for students: it includes more than a thousand vocabulary lists covering topics from International Relations to American Football Teams and more. Feel like something's missing? Users often get in touch to ask for lists on the topics they're studying, and we're happy to oblige! You'll also find lists containing HSK-level words (both old and new standards), plus TOCFL lists for students in Taiwan! • Highlight words with your finger for super-fast access to character animations, related searches and more! • Whether you're studying the Simplified (mainland China and Singapore) or Traditional (Hong Kong and Taiwan) variants, we've got you covered! Easily switch between them or choose to display both in dictionary results and on flash cards. Even better, you can use the phonetics you're comfortable with - choose from Pinyin with tone marks, Pinyin with tone numbers or even Zhuyin characters (from the BoPoMoFo system used in Taiwan). • Create flash cards with audio and animation from dictionary entries. Organise them into lists, and share them with friends (or students). • Our Spaced Repetition system ensures you'll memorize words for good. • Train your way: each card is available in four different modes to test different aspects of Chinese study. See Chinese, Pinyin or English and get tested on translation, and even compare your handwriting to a stroke-order animation side-by-side, synchronized! Or if you prefer, there's multiple choice training too (for a real challenge, try it in "Dictation" mode!). • Flash cards are saved on your device and synchronized with trainchinese.com, where you can also train with them and find more great content. • Add study notes to your flash cards - they're saved and backed up at trainchinese.com. Don't forget to check out our other apps (tap our company name in the App Store for more info): - Chinese Writer - Chinese Audio Trainer - Pinyin Trainer - Number Trainer - Chinese Challenges

About

Chinese Learner Plus

Master Mandarin with this comprehensive language learning app. It offers vocabulary aligned with CEFR levels, theme-based learning, and five quiz modes to enhance skills. Regular proficiency tests help track progress and identify areas for improvement.

Highlights
  • CEFR aligned vocabulary (A1-C2)
  • Theme-based vocabulary learning
  • Five vocabulary quiz modes
  • Listening and pronunciation practice
  • Mandarin proficiency tests
  • Instant feedback
Features
Read full description

Chinese Learner Plus is a comprehensive Chinese language learning application designed to help students master Chinese characters, vocabulary, and language skills more easily. This application provides Chinese vocabulary related to CEFR language levels from A1 to C2, assisting students in systematic learning based on their language proficiency. Students can also engage in theme-based learning according to language topics to enrich their Chinese vocabulary. Our service offers five different vocabulary quiz modes, including spelling tests, English-to-Chinese meaning tests, listening tests, pronunciation tests, and more, comprehensively enhancing students' language skills. It allows students to practice in multiple aspects and receive instant feedback. Furthermore, our service provides Mandarin language proficiency tests for students to assess their learning progress regularly and identify areas for improvement systematically. We offer various tools and resources to help learners achieve their language learning goals. Chinese Learner Plus is your ideal choice for learning Mandarin, providing a personalized learning experience anytime, anywhere, making it easy for you to master this beautiful language.

Screenshots

trainchinese4 screens
Chinese Learner Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: trainchinese at 76% against Chinese Learner Plus's 0%. trainchinese also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months). Chinese Learner Plus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 13) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. trainchinese sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Chinese Learner Plus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

trainchinese holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: trainchinese has 2.3K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of trainchinese's written reviews are positive against 0% of Chinese Learner Plus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

trainchinese ships an update fortnightly, Chinese Learner Plus every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
trainchinese versus Chinese Learner Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametertrainchineseChinese Learner Plus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.3K ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews75.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2.3K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size328 MB54 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developertrainchinese B.V.Foreknowledge CO., LTD.

Customer experience

trainchinese

All ratings2,269 ratings
Positive92.6%
Neutral3.7%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive75.8%
Neutral7.8%
Negative16.4%

Chinese Learner Plus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

trainchinese

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

4 requests
  • 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

Chinese Learner Plus

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

trainchinese

One-time13
  • OCR Feature$4.99
  • 10 lists$8.99
  • 3 months$11.99
Show 10 more
  • 3 months + 10 lists$15.99
  • 6 months$19.99
  • 30 lists$19.99
  • 6 months + 10 lists$23.99
  • 3 months + 30 lists$25.99
  • 12 months$34.99
  • 6 months + 30 lists$34.99
  • 12 months + 10 lists$37.99
  • 12 months + 30 lists$45.99
  • 12 months + 60 lists$54.99
None

Chinese Learner Plus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is trainchinese free?
trainchinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chinese Learner Plus free?
Chinese Learner Plus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, trainchinese or Chinese Learner Plus?
trainchinese is rated higher. trainchinese averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.3K ratings, while Chinese Learner Plus averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do trainchinese or Chinese Learner Plus have ads?
trainchinese shows ads; Chinese Learner Plus does not.
Which is updated more often, trainchinese or Chinese Learner Plus?
trainchinese ships an update fortnightly, and Chinese Learner Plus every 6 months. Most recently, trainchinese was updated on September 23, 2026 and Chinese Learner Plus on June 11, 2026.

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