Comparison

Cantonese by Nemo vs Lingora

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

Head to head
About

Cantonese by Nemo

Learn Cantonese with this app that focuses on essential words and phrases, featuring native speaker audio and speech recognition for accent improvement. It's designed for flexible learning, allowing you to practice anytime, anywhere, even offline.

Highlights
  • Native speaker audio
  • Speech Studio for accent practice
  • Offline access to all audio
  • Customizable learning path
  • Progress tracking
  • Vocabulary quizzes
  • Review mode for memory retention
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch into your FAVORITE teacher of Cantonese. ◆ 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 Cantonese empowering you to speak CONFIDENTLY in EVERYDAY CONVERSATIONS. ◆ NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE of Cantonese 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 Cantonese the way you'll use it. Nemo is fully customizable. ◆ Nemo immerses you in the sounds of Cantonese 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 hong kong. ◆ Build your proficiency with the most important verbs and SENTENCE BUILDING BLOCKS in Cantonese. ◆ 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

Lingora

Learn new languages through interactive lessons, vocabulary games, and detailed grammar explanations. Progress from beginner to A1 level with sentence-centric learning and practice tools. Supports a wide range of languages with more being added.

Highlights
  • 500 lessons in 50 units
  • Sentence-centric learning approach
  • Vocabulary games and trainer
  • Grammar quizzes and breakdowns
  • Script and tone trainers
  • Progress tracking
  • Comprehensive dictionary
Features
Read full description

The most thorough language course you'll find in an app. 30+ languages, 500 lessons each, every single word of every sentence explained as thoroughly as you care to follow. One sentence might keep you busy for twenty minutes. WHAT'S IN A COURSE Each sentence gets a full lesson wrapped around it. 500 English sentences in all, hand-picked to cover every grammar structure and the full A1 vocabulary. Each word comes with its own full dictionary entry: definition with examples, any conjugation or declension it takes, the grammar topics behind it, and stroke-by-stroke guidance for new scripts. If you want to know why a word looks the way it does, the app can tell you. HOW A LESSON WORKS Each lesson opens with the intro. You hear the sentence before you see what it means. Slow it down, replay as often as you want. Then the Word Breakdown. Tap any word to see what it means and the grammar behind it. Then the literal, word-for-word translation. Then the grammar topics sitting inside the sentence. After the intros, the main session starts. Words and sentences from the current lesson get mixed with whatever's due for review, chosen by the spaced-repetition algorithm so you're practicing what you're closest to forgetting. Your own chosen exercise mix prioritizing reading, writing, or listening. Premium users can even further fine-tune exactly which exercises appear. 25+ WAYS TO PRACTICE Six word games and six sentence games. Flashcards you design yourself, picking what goes on each side. Quick-review tables. Multiple-Choice. Context-clue fill-ins where the wrong answers are similar on purpose. Character stroke practice with real-time validation. Typing exercises with a virtual keyboard. A speech trainer with per-word, color-coded feedback. An AI chat that stays on the lesson's topic and corrects you as you go. And so much more.. REFERENCE A dictionary that searches in native script, in transliteration, or in English. It finds base forms and inflected forms alike. A grammar guide covering every topic that appears in the course. Each has a thorough write-up and example sentences, plus the words and lesson sentences that show it in use. A pronunciation guide covering every consonant and vowel in the language. Tone guides for tonal languages. Script courses for writing systems you haven't learned yet. Conjugation tables for every verb and noun. Character breakdowns for CJK languages. WAYS TO FINE-TUNE Three sliders to weight reading, writing, and listening in each session. Silent mode for studying in public. Transliteration style where more than one exists (Jyutping or Yale, and so on). Diacritics on or off. Full control over what the app does. PROGRESS You'll see progress word by word and lesson by lesson. There's a streak counter, stars on completed lessons, and a weekly leaderboard if you want one. None of it is forced on you. Lifetime users can also export anything they've learned as an Anki deck. LANGUAGES Arabic · Cantonese · Catalan · Czech · Dutch · Filipino · Finnish · French · German · Hakka (Hailu & Sixian) · Hindi · Hokkien (Taiwanese) · Indonesian · Italian · Japanese · Khmer · Korean · Lithuanian · Malay · Mandarin · Persian · Polish · Portuguese (Brazilian) · Spanish (European & Mexican) · Thai · Turkish · Vietnamese (Northern & Southern) No hearts. No energy. No cartoons. Just a proper course.

Screenshots

Cantonese by Nemo4 screens
Lingora4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lingora at weekly against Cantonese by Nemo's every 2 months. Cantonese by Nemo's advantage is ratings volume (1.7K vs 55) and review sentiment (89% vs 78%). 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. Cantonese by Nemo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Lingora sells 40 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 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 — 4.7 for Cantonese by Nemo against 4.6 for Lingora. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cantonese by Nemo has 1.7K ratings behind it against 55, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Cantonese by Nemo's written reviews are positive against 78% of Lingora's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cantonese by Nemo ships an update every 2 months, Lingora weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Cantonese by Nemo versus Lingora: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCantonese by NemoLingora
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better4.6 (55 ratings)
Positive reviews89.3% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings1.7K — better55
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB156 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNemo Apps LLCAlexander Stebner

Customer experience

Cantonese by Nemo

All ratings1,706 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews178 reviews
Positive89.3%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.2%

Lingora

All ratings54 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral8.7%
Negative13.0%

Bugs and requests

Cantonese by Nemo

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Upgrade button not working
  • Incompatibility issues between devices
  • Inconsistent tone/pronunciation in some words

Requested features

5 requests
  • More advanced lessons and sentence building
  • Ability to sync progress across devices
  • Addition of more vocabulary and phrases
  • Inclusion of traditional Chinese characters
  • Improved user interface and customization options

Lingora

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cantonese by Nemo

One-time1
  • Nemo Cantonese Foundation pack$14.99
40 purchases

Lingora

Subscriptions27
  • Cantonese A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Malay A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Mandarin A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
Show 24 more
  • German A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Korean A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Vietnamese A1 Premium (M)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Korean A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Catalan A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Indonesian A1 Premium (M)$3.991 Month
  • French A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Bra. Portuguese A1 Premium (M)$3.991 Month
  • Turkish A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Dutch A1 Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Sth.Vietnamese A1 Premium (1m)$3.991 Month
  • Cantonese A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • French A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Polish A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Mex. Spanish A1 Premium (M)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Sth. Vietnamese A1 Premium (M)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Malay A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Thai A1 Premium (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • All Courses Pro (Monthly)$6.991 Month
  • Polish A1 Pro (Yearly)$11.991 Year
  • Malay A1 Pro (Yearly)$11.991 Year
  • All Courses Premium (Monthly)$12.991 Month
  • Cantonese A1 Pro (Yearly)$14.991 Year
  • Sth. Vietnamese A1 Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time13
  • French A1 Lifetime Access$3.99
  • Mandarin A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Eur. Spanish A1 Lifetime$49.99
Show 10 more
  • Malay A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Catalan A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Korean A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Mex.Spanish A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Thai A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Vietnamese A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Polish A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Sth. Vietnamese A1 Lifetime$49.99
  • Cantonese A1 Lifetime Access$49.99
  • Lingora Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Cantonese by Nemo free?
Cantonese by Nemo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lingora free?
Lingora is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cantonese by Nemo or Lingora?
Cantonese by Nemo is rated higher. Cantonese by Nemo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.7K ratings, while Lingora averages 4.6 from 55 ratings.
Do Cantonese by Nemo or Lingora have ads?
Neither Cantonese by Nemo nor Lingora shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cantonese by Nemo or Lingora?
Cantonese by Nemo ships an update every 2 months, and Lingora weekly. Most recently, Cantonese by Nemo was updated on October 23, 2026 and Lingora on October 25, 2026.

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