Comparison

Ka vs Kivvs

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

Head to head
About

Ka

Master Mandarin Chinese tones with this engaging flashcard game. Practice listening and pronunciation through quick drills to distinguish between similar sounds and avoid common pronunciation errors. Become fluent in recognizing and using the correct tones.

Highlights
  • Flashcard game for tone practice
  • Listening and pronunciation drills
  • Distinguish similar sounds
  • Learn correct tone usage
  • Avoid common pronunciation mistakes
Features
Read full description

Having trouble with Chinese tones? Can you pronounce words using the correct tone? Are you able to tell apart similar sounds? Do you know when to use which tone? Many people think that Chinese is an impossibly complex tonal language to master — but that's before they've tried Ka! Ka is a fun, fast-paced flashcards game that introduces you to the range of different sounds that make up the Chinese language and gives you plenty of listening and pronunciation practice via quick, snappy drills. With Ka, you'll quickly learn to recognize and tell the difference between different syllables in Mandarin Chinese. By swiping and tapping away in this addictive card-based game, you're drilling your way to Chinese fluency with plenty of listening and speaking practice. You'll stop making embarrassing mistakes like confusing mā (mother) for mǎ (horse) and shāng hài (hurt) for shàng hǎi (Shanghai)! ------ End user license agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Kivvs

Features
Read full description

Kivvs — Master anything. Permanently. You've probably tried an app. Maybe two or three. You collected streaks, earned trophies, and after a year had a handful of phrases to show for it. Not because you lacked dedication — but because those tools were never built to take you anywhere. Maybe you tried an AI tutor instead. But a conversation that goes wherever you steer it isn't a curriculum — it's a mirror. You still had to know what to ask, what to practice, what came next. And you didn't. Because that's the whole point of having a system. Not a flashcard app. A learning system. Most learning tools track whether you've seen something. Kivvs tracks whether you actually know it — and builds every session from the ground up based on that distinction. At its core is a concept-based learning engine. Where traditional SRS tools show you a card — a word, a definition, maybe a sentence — Kivvs builds a semantic map. Every concept is encountered across dozens of natural contexts, modalities, and uses: reading it, hearing it, writing it, producing it. Not "a car is a vehicle with four wheels" — but driving it, cleaning it, crashing it, describing its color, until the word lives in your mind the way it lives in a native speaker's. And "concept" doesn't just mean vocabulary. The same system maps pronunciation: that the 'v' in "vine", and the 'f' in "of" land on the same sound — not because you studied a rule, but because you encountered them, in context, until your ear and mouth simply knew. It maps grammar the same way: you'll use the conditional, the subjunctive, complex tense constructions — correctly, automatically, in the right moment — because the system saturated you with the pattern across hundreds of natural examples until it became instinct. Without studying a single rule. Every session is assembled live, interleaving what you need to reinforce with what you're ready to acquire next. No static decks. No preset curriculum. A living system that adapts to your actual knowledge state. Built on decades of research you've never benefited from The science behind effective learning has existed for years. Frequency-based vocabulary progression. Phonological training that actually produces native-like pronunciation. Implicit grammar acquisition through massive contextual exposure — no rules to memorize, no theory to study. These methods are not experimental. They've simply never been applied together, at scale, in a consumer product. Until now. What acquisition actually looks like Conventional language courses are built around the assumption that you'll plateau at basic conversational ability. Kivvs is not. The system is designed for complete fluency — the kind where you don't translate in your head, don't hesitate before speaking, and don't sound like a tourist. One lesson a day will get you there in a few years. Serious daily commitment can compress that dramatically. Currently available: Language courses Spanish · French · Italian · Portuguese · English · German · Russian · Arabic More languages in active development. Coming soon: Music & Strategy. Kivvs is being built for any domain where deep, structured knowledge matters. Try Kivvs free for 30 days — full access, no restrictions. After that, a subscription is required to continue. Learn more about the science behind Kivvs at: https://www.kivvs.com/ Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://www.kivvs.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.kivvs.com/privacy

Screenshots

Ka4 screens
Kivvs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Ka at none against Kivvs's shown. Ka also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Ka sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Kivvs sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ka ships an update weekly, Kivvs every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ka versus Kivvs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKaKivvs
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (664 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews96.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings664 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.115.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size115 MB69 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperKai LohGuillermo Ariel Corrado

Bugs and requests

Ka

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Incorrect tone identification in certain words
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow retrying incorrect pronunciations
  • Add more advanced tone practice exercises
  • Implement spaced repetition or progress tracking
  • Include traditional Chinese characters

Kivvs

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Ka

Subscriptions2
  • Ka Unlimited$6.991 Month
  • Ka Unlimited (Yearly)$47.901 Year
One-time1
  • All Access$12.99
1 purchases

Kivvs

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly Subscription$9.991 Month

Questions

Is Ka free?
Ka is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Kivvs free?
Kivvs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ka or Kivvs have ads?
Kivvs shows ads; Ka does not.
Which is updated more often, Ka or Kivvs?
Ka ships an update weekly, and Kivvs every 2 months. Most recently, Ka was updated on November 3, 2026 and Kivvs on October 31, 2026.

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