Comparison

Japanese Dictionary + vs Duolingo

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

Head to head
About

Japanese Dictionary +

This app offers a comprehensive bilingual dictionary for English and Japanese, with translation capabilities for words and phrases. It supports offline use for over 350,000 entries, including pronunciation and text scanning from images. Gamified learning tools and vocabulary builders are included to aid language acquisition.

Highlights
  • Bilingual English-Japanese dictionary
  • Offline translation for words and phrases
  • Image text scanning
  • Pronunciation and vocabulary games
  • Flashcards and Word of the Day
  • Phrasebook for common phrases
Features
Read full description

• Bilingual English to Japanese and Japanese to English dictionary • Japanese to English word and phrase translator and translation • Over 350K words and phrase can be used in offline • Offline pronunciation and translate any sentences • Scan text in image by pointing camera to search in dictionary • Designed for student, teacher, tourist and language learners • Having thesaurus, synonyms and antonyms • Translate individual words, phrases, or whole sentences • Tap a word for cross searching • Bookmark and Recent history for instant recall • Word of the day to learn IELTS, TOEFL and SAT words • Multiple games help to improve English and Japanese vocabulary • Offline Pronunciation helps to learn words properly • Flash card and Word of the Day helps to improve vocabulary • Phrase book, Phrase of the day and Phrase Card helps to speak common phrases • Quote of the Day improves wisdom and motivation

About

Duolingo

Master new languages, chess, and math with fun, bite-sized lessons. This educational app uses a game-like approach to build vocabulary, grammar, and strategic skills. Track your progress and compete with a global community.

Highlights
  • Bite-sized language lessons
  • Chess learning and play
  • Interactive math courses
  • Music reading and playing
  • Progress tracking and achievements
  • Competitive leaderboards
Features
Read full description

Learn a new language, chess & more with the world's most downloaded education app! Duolingo is the fun, free app for learning 40+ languages through quick, bite-sized lessons. Practice speaking, reading, listening & writing to build your vocabulary & grammar skills. Designed by learning experts & loved by hundreds of millions worldwide, our lessons make learning effective & fun and help you prepare for real conversations in Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, German, English and more. And now, you can learn CHESS on Duolingo! Whether you're a total beginner or looking to level up your game, you'll love learning chess the Duolingo way. Play matches and fun chess lessons for all levels, no matter the language - chess, ajedrez, xadrez, schach, Шахматы, الشطرنج. • Chess: Learn the moves, level up your game & play matches in our Chess course. Learn the basics, solve fun chess puzzles & improve your strategy with guided lessons. Whether you're new to chess or already play, our course is designed to help you have fun and build real skills. Checkmate! • Math: Forget lectures and math worksheets! Built by learning experts, our Math course makes math feel like a game. Boost learning and fight the summer slide with standards-aligned math lessons for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. • Music: Learn how to read music & play songs in our Music course, no instrument needed! Using an on-screen keyboard, you'll learn bit-by-bit. Whether you're learning a language for travel, school, career or your brain health, you'll love learning with Duolingo. Why Duolingo? • Duolingo is fun & effective. Game-like language lessons & fun characters help you build speaking, reading, listening, & writing skills, plus enjoy fun chess & competitive online chess in one app. • Duolingo works. Designed by learning experts, Duolingo has a science-based teaching methodology proven to foster long-term knowledge retention across language lessons & chess lessons alike. • Track your progress. Work toward your learning goals with playful rewards & achievements when you make practicing language lessons or chess online part of your daily habit. • Join millions of learners. Stay motivated with competitive Leaderboards as you learn languages & play chess online alongside our global community. • Every course is free. Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Esperanto, Polish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Hebrew, Welsh, Arabic, Latin, Hawaiian, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, English, & even High Valyrian! And now, learn Math, Music & improve your Chess skills with fun, bite-sized lessons. What the world is saying about Duolingo: "Far & away the best language-learning app." - The Wall Street Journal "This free app & website is among the most effective language-learning methods I've tried… lessons come in the form of brief challenges, speaking, translating, answering multiple-choice questions, that keep me coming back for more." - The New York Times "Duolingo may hold the secret to the future of education." - TIME Magazine "Duolingo is cheerful, lighthearted & fun." - Forbes "I Can't Stop Playing Duolingo Chess." - Wired If you like Duolingo, try Super Duolingo for 14 days free! Learn a language fast with no ads & get fun perks like Unlimited Energy & Monthly Streak Repair. If you choose to purchase Super Duolingo, payment will be charged to your Apple account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the App Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy: https://www.duolingo.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://www.duolingo.com/terms

Screenshots

Japanese Dictionary +4 screens
Duolingo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Duolingo at every 5 days against Japanese Dictionary +'s every 2 months. Duolingo also leads on ratings volume (5.6M vs 223) and review sentiment (65% vs 48%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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 Dictionary + sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Duolingo sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 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 — 4.6 for Japanese Dictionary + against 4.7 for Duolingo. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duolingo has 5.6M ratings behind it against 223, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 48% of Japanese Dictionary +'s written reviews are positive against 65% of Duolingo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Japanese Dictionary + ships an update every 2 months, Duolingo every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Japanese Dictionary + versus Duolingo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJapanese Dictionary +Duolingo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (223 ratings)4.7 (5.6M ratings) — better
Positive reviews47.5% of reviews64.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2235.6M — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB499 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiThinkdiffDuolingo, Inc

Customer experience

Japanese Dictionary +

All ratings223 ratings
Positive89.2%
Neutral3.6%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive47.5%
Neutral8.2%
Negative44.3%

Duolingo

All ratings5,559,528 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews30,951 reviews
Positive64.8%
Neutral9.6%
Negative25.6%

User reviews

Japanese Dictionary +

From 223 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Helpful for learning Japanese
  • 💡 Word of the day feature
  • ✅ Good dictionary overall
  • ✈️ Handy while traveling
  • 🔊 Pronunciation audio works well

Room to improve

  • ❌ Data loss of saved words
  • 📉 Limited saving capacity
  • ⚠️ Inaccurate translations
  • 🚫 No Romanji input/dictionary
  • 😵 Camera scan feature not working

Duolingo

From 5.6M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Fun and entertaining learning experience
  • 🎉 Motivating streak and league features
  • 🎨 Cute and engaging animations
  • 📚 Effective for learning vocabulary and basics
  • 🤖 Useful AI-powered features like voice lessons

Room to improve

  • 🤖 Issues with voice recognition and pronunciation feedback
  • 🤑 Aggressive monetization tactics and paywall for key features
  • 🤯 Frustrating heart/health system that penalizes mistakes
  • 🤔 Lack of grammar explanations and focus on just memorizing phrases
  • 🤷‍♀️ Inconsistent app experience across platforms

Bugs and requests

Japanese Dictionary +

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App erases saved words without warning
  • App stops functioning after purchase
  • App frequently forgets purchase
  • Camera scan feature does not work
  • OCR is only for English
Show 4 more
  • Pronunciation in-app feature not working
  • Ads are intrusive and unclosable
  • Word of the day repeats
  • Reminder for word of the day cannot be dismissed

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add Romanji input/dictionary
  • Enable scanning Japanese characters (especially Kanji)
  • Add keyboard option
  • Make pricing for audio pronunciation clearer (one-time vs. per word)
  • Improve saving capacity for words
Show 1 more
  • Fix data loss issue with saved words

Duolingo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing or crashing during lessons
  • Incorrect translations or answers marked wrong
  • Inconsistent behavior of certain features like leagues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more languages, especially less common ones
  • Improve grammar lessons and explanations
  • Allow more flexibility in navigating the course content
  • Provide better feedback and corrections for mistakes
  • Sync progress and features consistently across app and web

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Japanese Dictionary +

One-time6
  • Pronunciation$0.99
  • Online Translator$0.99
  • Flash Card$0.99
Show 3 more
  • Phrase Book$0.99
  • Pro Upgrade$2.99
  • Unlock Full Version$9.99
10 purchases

Duolingo

Subscriptions5
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Super Duolingo14 Days trial$83.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Super Duolingo7 Days trial$95.991 Year
  • Super Duolingo1 Month trial$119.991 Year
One-time5
  • Chest of Gems$0.99
  • Barrel of Gems (1200)$4.99
  • Chest of Gems (1200)$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Cart of Gems (3000)$9.99
  • Cart of Gems (6500)$19.99

Questions

Is Japanese Dictionary + free?
Japanese Dictionary + is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Duolingo free?
Duolingo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Japanese Dictionary + or Duolingo?
Duolingo is rated higher. Japanese Dictionary + averages 4.6 out of 5 from 223 ratings, while Duolingo averages 4.7 from 5.6M ratings.
Do Japanese Dictionary + or Duolingo have ads?
Both Japanese Dictionary + and Duolingo show ads.
Which is updated more often, Japanese Dictionary + or Duolingo?
Japanese Dictionary + ships an update every 2 months, and Duolingo every 5 days. Most recently, Japanese Dictionary + was updated on November 4, 2026 and Duolingo on November 6, 2026.

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