JEDict vs DaKanji
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JEDict
This app helps users learn Japanese kanji and words through various search methods, including readings, English translations, and graphemes. It features handwritten recognition, OCR, stroke order animations, and JLPT lists for comprehensive study.
- Kanji and word search
- Handwritten kanji recognition
- Kanji search by graphemes
- Japanese OCR
- Kanji stroke order animation
- JLPT lists
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JEDict is Japanese kanji and word searching application. It uses the dictionaries from Monash University FTP Archive. The following features are supported: • Kanji and word search by Japanese reading or English translation • Handwritten kanji recognition of all 6355 kanji • Kanji search by graphemes • Japanese optical character recognition • Word by word translation • Japanese kanji stroke order with kanji vector graphics • JLPT lists
DaKanji
Learn Japanese with this comprehensive tool. Look up words in a multi-language dictionary, identify Kanji by drawing them, and add pronunciation guides to text. Organize your studies with custom word lists and practice with audio and mnemonics.
- Kanji recognition by drawing
- Multi-language dictionary
- Furigana addition to text
- Customizable word lists
- Kana table with mnemonics
- Anki integration
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Are you learning Japanese? Then you need to try DaKanji! Use the built-in dictionary to look up words in many languages, search Kanjis by simply drawing them, add furigana to texts, and much more! Feature overview: * Recognize 6500+ Kanji and all Kana offline by just drawing them * Use the inbuilt dictionary to look up words offline * Multi-language support: en, es, de, fr, ... * Detailed information about words: pitch accent, related words, ... * Detailed information about Kanji: radicals, JLPT, ... * Example sentences * Drawing or radical-based kanji lookup * 6000+ audios * Create word lists to organize your studies * Kana table with audios and mnemonics * Anki integration to send dictionary entries to Anki * Read any text with ease by adding furigana, spaces, and more to texts * Use it on all your devices: Phone, Tablet or Laptop it doesn't matter!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DaKanji at 4.7 against JEDict's 3.0. DaKanji also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, review sentiment, ads 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
Both are free to download. JEDict sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. DaKanji asks for nothing beyond the download.
DaKanji holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DaKanji has 12 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of JEDict's written reviews are positive against 77% of DaKanji's.
JEDict ships an update every 3 months, DaKanji every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | JEDict | DaKanji |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 4.7 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.6% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 139 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sergey Kurkin | Dario Klepoch |
Customer experience
JEDict
DaKanji
In-app purchases
JEDict
- JEDict Pro$19.99
- OSX Basic$23.99
DaKanji
No in-app purchases









