Comparison

Japanese by Nemo vs Nihongo 123

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

Head to head
About

Japanese by Nemo

Learn Japanese with native speaker audio and a speech studio to perfect your accent. This app focuses on essential words and phrases for everyday conversations, allowing you to learn at your own pace without formal lessons. It tracks your progress and immerses you in the sounds of the language for natural speaking.

Highlights
  • Native speaker audio
  • Speech Studio for accent practice
  • Offline access to audio
  • Customizable learning path
  • Progress tracking
  • Focus on common words and phrases
  • Review mode for memory retention
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch into your FAVORITE teacher of Japanese. ◆ The most essential words and phrases of the language, each with native speaker audio. ◆ Master your accent with the Speech Studio. Simply record yourself saying a phrase and then hear your voice next to the teacher’s. You’ll be AMAZED how quickly your foreign accent melts away. ◆ All audio is downloaded to the device and accessible even in airplane mode or without expensive international roaming fees. ◆ Nemo is NOT BUILT AROUND LESSONS at all. It is meant to be picked up and put down throughout the day, whenever you have a few minutes to spare. ◆ Builds a foundation of Japanese empowering you to speak CONFIDENTLY in EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS. ◆ NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Japanese required. Nemo® is specially DESIGNED to tap the remarkable power of your mobile device, and your brain, to their fullest. PERSONALIZED FOR YOU Nemo is your personal trainer, tracking your PROGRESS across every single word and phrase. ◆ Practice Japanese the way you'll use it. Nemo is fully customizable. ◆ Nemo immerses you in the sounds of Japanese so you naturally speak with ease. ◆ Dive into WHAT YOU WANT to learn at any time. ◆ You control which words to practice – skip words you don’t want to learn or already know. ◆ Turn on Review Mode to study what you practiced earlier in the day to BOOST your memory retention. ◆ Hear English descriptions of all words, in a flashcard format. ◆ Quiz your mastery of the vocabulary. ◆ Nemo introduces words to you progressively to develop familiarity and reviews them at the right moment so they enter your LONG TERM MEMORY. TARGET THE MOST COMMON WORDS Maximize your time investment by targeting the most basic and high frequency words of the language. Upgrade to the complete version to: ◆ Get off the beaten path or find comfort with DIRECTIONS, TRAVEL and HOTEL phrases. ◆ Decode menus with the most common FOOD words. ◆ Shop and find bargains like an insider with must-know SHOPPING phrases. ◆ Learn words useful for your time in japan. ◆ Build your proficiency with the most important verbs and SENTENCE BUILDING BLOCKS in Japanese. ◆ Spark new friendships with COMPLIMENTS and CONVERSATION STARTERS. Use your new skills to make friends, impress old friends, bring smiles to children, get out of jams, experience new things, speak confidently, and make your travel and cultural experience more rich and fulfilling. Download this FREE app now! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Nihongo 123

This app helps users learn Japanese grammar through structured lessons. It offers video explanations, grammar notes, flashcards, listening exercises, and speaking practice. Lessons can be downloaded for offline use, excluding video and speaking features.

Highlights
  • Grammar-classified units
  • Video lessons with scripts
  • Flashcards for vocabulary
  • Listening comprehension quizzes
  • Speaking practice with voice recognition
  • Offline lesson downloads
Features
Read full description

App for learning Japanese grammar Grammar-classified Units Allow Users to Start Where They Want According to Their Learning Level
 The Learning menu is divided into Beginner’s and Intermediate grades according to the level of difficulty, with each grade divided into grammar-classified units. So users can begin learning from any desired unit according to their learning level. Lesson Procedure Touch each unit to display the corresponding Lesson menu. Each lesson is composed of [Video], [Grammar Note], [Flash Cards], [Listening] きく, and [Speaking]はなす sections. Lessons can also be downloaded for use offline. To download a lesson, touch the corresponding icon. Note that the [Video] sections and [Speaking]はなす voice recognition function are not available for use offline. Easy-to-Understand Learning with [Script-attached Dialogue Videos] * Online Only To begin a lesson, view the dialogue video first. English grammar notes appear below the play button. Touch the play button to start the video and display the script below it.  The script display area can be expanded and scrolled. Use the script to check any parts of the dialogue that were unclear, and then view the video again.  Because the lesson videos are made available through YouTube, it requires an environment with a high-speed Internet connection. Build Vocabulary with [Flash Card] * Available Offline Use [Flash Card] to learn words related to a lesson by listening to them repeatedly. Some Beginners’ level words are accompanied by easy-to-understand illustrations.  Touch “List” to display a word list. Words, Romanized spellings, English translation, and verb groups are attached to the words on the list."V1", "V2", and "V3" denote Verb Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively; "i" and "t" denote intransitive and transitive verbs, respectively. Example: 書く kaku  write  "V1t"  In the Auto mode, cards are automatically played. Choose “Show All” to play all of the cards or “Hide Memorized Cards” to play only cards not yet memorized. In the Manual mode, the cards are sorted into two piles: “Memorized” by swiping to the left, and “Unsure” by swiping to the right. The same operation can also be performed using the “Memorized” and “Unsure” buttons.  Improve Listening Ability in Quiz Format with [Listening] きく * Available Offline Use the quiz-style [Listening] きくfunction to listen to sample sounds related to a lesson, and choose the correct answer to place in the parentheses (  ). The sounds can be played repeatedly. Check Pronunciation with [Speaking] はなす * Online Only Use the [Speaking] はなす function to form sentences in accord with the displayed contents by using grammar learned in a lesson. Touch the Microphone icon to begin voice recognition, and then say the sentence out loud toward the screen. The voice recognition software will check whether the sounds spoken are correct or not.  Listen to the correct sounds by pressing play on the Answer screen. Practice by listening to the sounds repeatedly.  Touch the Next button to display the next question. A high-speed Internet connection is required to use the [Speaking] はなすfunction. ---------------------------------------- Contact mail address jp-kyoten@un.tsukuba.ac.jp University of Tsukuba

Screenshots

Japanese by Nemo4 screens
Nihongo 1234 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Japanese by Nemo at 92% against Nihongo 123's 0%. Japanese by Nemo also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 1). Nihongo 123's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads 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. Japanese by Nemo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Nihongo 123 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Japanese by Nemo holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Japanese by Nemo has 1.9K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Japanese by Nemo's written reviews are positive against 0% of Nihongo 123's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Japanese by Nemo ships an update every 2 months, Nihongo 123 every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Japanese by Nemo versus Nihongo 123: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJapanese by NemoNihongo 123
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (1.9K ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews92.5% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.68.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNemo Apps LLCUniversity of Tsukuba

Customer experience

Japanese by Nemo

All ratings1,850 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews279 reviews
Positive92.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.9%

Nihongo 123

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

Bugs and requests

Japanese by Nemo

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Download errors for full version
  • Issues with microphone and voice recording

Requested features

4 requests
  • More vocabulary and phrases
  • Ability to customize learning content
  • Integration with other language learning resources
  • Improved user interface and navigation

Nihongo 123

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Japanese by Nemo

One-time1
  • Nemo Japanese Foundation pack$14.99
None

Nihongo 123

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Japanese by Nemo free?
Japanese by Nemo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Nihongo 123 free?
Nihongo 123 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Japanese by Nemo or Nihongo 123?
Japanese by Nemo is rated higher. Japanese by Nemo averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Nihongo 123 averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Japanese by Nemo or Nihongo 123 have ads?
Neither Japanese by Nemo nor Nihongo 123 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Japanese by Nemo or Nihongo 123?
Japanese by Nemo ships an update every 2 months, and Nihongo 123 every 2 weeks. Most recently, Japanese by Nemo was updated on October 24, 2026 and Nihongo 123 on September 26, 2026.

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