Comparison

MidMando vs Daily Hanzi

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

Head to head
About

MidMando

This comprehensive Mandarin course guides users from beginner to advanced levels, covering HSK 1-9 with a daily learning plan and spaced repetition for vocabulary retention. It offers practice papers, speaking tests, and tools to translate text and identify characters.

Highlights
  • Daily learning plan
  • HSK 3.0 exam syllabus coverage
  • Spaced repetition for vocabulary
  • Full practice papers and speaking tests
  • Character and text translation
  • Radical and component breakdown
  • Idioms, poems, and songs
Features
Read full description

MidMando is a free Mandarin course for iPhone and iPad. It takes you from your first character to HSK 9, following the new HSK 3.0 exam, with a daily plan that fits your day and a memory that never lets a word slip away. There are no ads, no subscription, no account and nothing to unlock. It is free because the best Mandarin app should not cost anything. What we ask instead is that you tell us how to make it better. YOUR DAILY PLAN Open the app and today is ready: the word of the day, the next class in your course, the words you bookmarked, the words you met outside the course, a review of what is slipping, and the pairs you keep mixing up. Choose a plan of five words or fifty. Miss a day and it is still there tomorrow. THE WHOLE COURSE, FOLLOWING HSK 3.0 11,000 words across HSK 1 to 9, the vocabulary of the HSK 3.0 exam syllabus, in short classes of about fifteen. Each class has nine parts: learn, quiz, type, sentences, listening, tones, translation, write, and a test that unlocks the next class. PRACTICE PAPERS Full practice papers for every level, HSK 1 to 7–9, with their listening recordings, and a speaking test for HSK 3 to 6. Sit one as an exam or practise with each answer checked as you go, read the explanations in English, switch pinyin on or off, and ask for feedback on your written and spoken answers. FOUR SKILLS FOR EVERY WORD Every word records how well you read it, hear it, write it by hand and type it, on one ladder: not met, started, warming, solid, mastered. The HSK page shows your whole course by any one skill, so you can see what you can read and what you can write. Spaced repetition schedules every word from your answers: words you get right drift out to months, words you miss come straight back. FLASHCARDS A swipe deck of the words you can read. Right if you know it, left to open its page. EVERY WORD HAS A PAGE Tap any word anywhere: the character in large serif, the reading with audio, every meaning, example sentences, other ways to say it, words it is not the same as, tone traps, the pieces it is built from and your own history with it. TRANSLATE ANYTHING Paste a message, or point the camera at a menu, a sign or a page. You get the Chinese, the pinyin, the English, and every word listed, with the ones you have not met ready to add to your plan. Everything you translate is kept so you can read it again. THE LIBRARY Radicals and components: 514 pieces and 201 radicals from the national standards. Every character in the app can be taken apart. Idioms and sayings: 5,242 of them, with the literal reading, the meaning, the story and an example. Poems: 127 classical poems with pinyin and a plain English line beside every Chinese line. Provinces & Cities: all 34 provinces and 961 districts, with bookmarks and notes for places. Slang and texting: the words people actually type, with the register explained. Songs: 69 Chinese songs ordered by how many of the words you already know. Pairs: match hanzi to their readings, using only words you have met. 布布: a chat partner who speaks only the words you can read, in guided chats or everyday small talk. WRITE IT BY HAND Write any chengyu or phrase with a brush and keep it as your wallpaper. On iPad, the Writing tab takes whole sentences with Apple Pencil, marks every character, and has a writing course. WIDGETS The word of the day, and Quick fire, a new word on a timer. Tap either to open the word. SEARCH EVERYTHING One search box for words, idioms, poems, songs, places and your own history, in English, pinyin or Chinese. YOURS, EVERYWHERE Everything except translating, marking and chat works offline. Your progress syncs through your own iCloud to your iPhone, iPad and Mac; we never see it. Works in mainland China without a VPN. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU There is a report-a-bug button on almost every screen and a feedback page on our site. I read and respond to every email.

About

Daily Hanzi

Learn Chinese characters, pronunciation, and meaning passively throughout your day by viewing them on your phone's lock screen. This app integrates learning into your existing habits, making it effortless and sustainable for busy individuals. It offers a pressure-free approach to building familiarity with Chinese.

Highlights
  • Lock screen Chinese character display
  • Passive learning integration
  • Pronunciation and meaning on lock screen
  • In-app flashcards (subscription)
  • Background learning
Features
Read full description

Learn Chinese from Your Lock Screen* REQUIRES A PAID SUBSCRIPTION You check your phone 100+ times a day. Daily Hanzi just gives those seconds something to do. Unlock your phone and there's a character waiting, with pinyin, the meaning, and a sentence showing how it's actually used. Join 190K+ Chinese learners on the #1 Chinese lock screen learning app. Pick from 18 categories like Everyday Conversation, Chengyu, Food & Drink, and Business so you're always learning things you'll actually use. Sentences match your level, and notifications keep it going without any pressure. *LOCK SCREEN WIDGET AND IN APP FLASHCARDS REQUIRE A SUBSCRIPTION TERMS: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

MidMando4 screens
Daily Hanzi4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MidMando at 67% against Daily Hanzi's 17%. MidMando also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). Daily Hanzi's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (1.7K vs 1). On price 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. Daily Hanzi sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. MidMando asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Daily Hanzi holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Daily Hanzi has 1.7K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of MidMando's written reviews are positive against 17% of Daily Hanzi's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MidMando ships an update fortnightly, Daily Hanzi every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
MidMando versus Daily Hanzi: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMidMandoDaily Hanzi
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings)4.6 (1.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews — better16.5% of reviews
Number of ratings11.7K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size520 MB184 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlistair Kenyon BrodieALEX XINWEI LIU

Customer experience

MidMando

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Daily Hanzi

All ratings1,664 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive16.5%
Neutral7.9%
Negative75.6%

In-app purchases

None

MidMando

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Daily Hanzi

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Plan$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan (Special Offer)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Yearly Plan3 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Yearly Plan7 Days trial2 variants$29.991 Year
  • Yearly Plan7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is MidMando free?
MidMando is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Daily Hanzi free?
Daily Hanzi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MidMando or Daily Hanzi?
Daily Hanzi is rated higher. MidMando averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Daily Hanzi averages 4.6 from 1.7K ratings.
Do MidMando or Daily Hanzi have ads?
Daily Hanzi shows ads; MidMando does not.
Which is updated more often, MidMando or Daily Hanzi?
MidMando ships an update fortnightly, and Daily Hanzi every 4 days. Most recently, MidMando was updated on November 12, 2026 and Daily Hanzi on November 13, 2026.

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