Comparison

Mina vs Ziji

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

Head to head
About

Mina

Learn new languages through engaging games and interactive challenges. Track your progress with visual activity maps and compete with friends to improve your vocabulary and performance. Unlock unlimited custom courses and illustrated content with a premium subscription.

Highlights
  • Gamified learning experience
  • Progress tracking with heatmap
  • Social competition with friends
  • Unlimited custom courses (subscription)
  • Illustrated course creation (subscription)
  • Access to all courses (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Learn languages by playing. Mina is an indie vocab app: tiny games, illustrated words, and progress you’ll actually want to open. A few minutes is a real session. LEARN BY PLAYING • Quiz, Swipe, Bubbles, Spell, and Scroll — short rounds that fit a commute • Picture, sound, and the word together so it sticks • Perfect for Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, and 6 more languages YOUR LISTS, YOUR PACE • Official Mina courses • Unlimited custom courses (Premium) • Import Anki decks and play them as games • Community courses to explore and publish PROGRESS YOU’LL OPEN • Activity heatmap and streaks • XP, levels, and weekly rankings • Compete with friends • Review words you’ve learned or only seen Mina is built by one developer, with players in the loop. Free to start on iPhone and iPad. ———— MINA PREMIUM Unlocks: • Unlimited custom course creation • Illustrated course creation • Access to all Mina courses • Review of learned and seen words • Premium access across Mina products Plans (prices shown in the app, may vary by region): • Premium Monthly • Premium Yearly • Lifetime Premium Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the period. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. No cancellation of the current period. Terms of Use: https://minatori.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://minatori.app/privacy

About

Ziji

This word game helps users think in Chinese by combining characters to form valid two-character words. It offers pronunciation, definitions, and a timer to enhance vocabulary and fluency for learners and native speakers.

Highlights
  • Two-character word formation
  • Spinning wheel interface
  • Pinyin pronunciation and meaning
  • Over 10,000 word combinations
  • Character definitions
  • Timer and turn count
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Ziji – a unique Chinese word game for learners and native speakers alike. Ziji helps you think in Chinese, not translate from your native language. Designed around two-character word formation, Ziji encourages deeper understanding of Chinese vocabulary through play. Why Ziji? Whether you're a beginner learning Mandarin or a native speaker looking to challenge your fluency, Ziji makes exploring character combinations fun and meaningful. Spin the wheels to discover how Chinese characters combine to create real words. Sometimes intuitive, sometimes surprising—always engaging. How it works: Combine characters using a two-wheel interface Every combination is a real, valid Chinese word Instantly see the pronunciation and meaning in Pinyin Sharpen your instincts for how Chinese words are built Built for language fluency: To truly speak a language, you must think in it. Ziji guides learners away from over-reliance on translation and into more natural Chinese thinking. Features: Over 10,000 valid word combinations Simplified character set with Pinyin pronunciation Definitions for individual characters A timer and turn count to help you improve Support Need help? Contact us anytime at support@zijigame.com. We aim to respond within 24–48 hours. Credits Data and definitions from CC-CEDICT and MTSU Chinese Tools

Screenshots

Mina4 screens
Ziji4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Ziji at 5.0 against Mina's 4.0. Ziji also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 weeks). Mina's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume 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. Mina sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Ziji asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ziji holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mina ships an update every 6 weeks, Ziji every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Mina versus Ziji: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinaZiji
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.413.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB41 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperLUNATORIElizabeth Baran

Customer experience

Mina

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Ziji

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Mina

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Premium Yealry1 Month trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$114.99
None

Ziji

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Mina free?
Mina is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ziji free?
Ziji is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Mina or Ziji?
Ziji is rated higher. Mina averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Ziji averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Mina or Ziji have ads?
Ziji shows ads; Mina does not.
Which is updated more often, Mina or Ziji?
Mina ships an update every 6 weeks, and Ziji every 3 days. Most recently, Mina was updated on November 4, 2026 and Ziji on November 5, 2026.

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