Kanjinotes vs Bunchuu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kanjinotes
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Kanjinotes is a notepad, Japanese dictionary, and quiz program. Often when you are studying Japanese, your notes include definitions, kanjis, and readings. This app makes it easy to save this information in your notepad all in one click. The contents of your notepad can be immediately used for a multiple-choice quiz. One of the most useful functions is the translate function, which will take a block of Japanese text and segment out the words in the text that are in the dictionary and it will create a list of notes with the kanji, reading, and definition for each word. Once you create this, you can also remove duplicate items using the special button in the editing mode within the notepad. When making your own notes, you can search the dictionary by writing a kanji character and then finding words that include that character. You can also search for words using English words, hiragana, and kanji using the search bar. Once you find a word, clicking on its kanji will allow you to save it in your Notes or copy it to the search bar for further searches. By clicking on the add button on the button bar, it is possible to add empty notes to the notepad for your own comments. When you do this, the contents of the search bar are included in the new note, so that you can easily record words that are not in the dictionary. Notes can be reordered and deleted by pressing the edit button on the top button bar. You can export your notes to text files and share them with your friends. It is also possible to import notes into the program using the clipboard. If two devices are connected to your apple account, the program will sync notes across devices. For example, you might initially use your ipad to create a note during class, but you can later use your iphone to quiz yourself on the words. It is also possible to create folders and drag your notes into and out of folders. Be careful as this will change files across all of your devices. On the ipad, the split screen mode with notepad and dictionary is best. But when there is less space like on the iphone, it is better to toggle between the notepad and dictionary using the menu bar button. When you touch the note or search bar, you will get a keyboard. It is best if you use the mini keyboard by pinching your two fingers in the keyboard area. It will fit near the kanji canvas. The multiple-choice quiz will present alternatives that are semantically or phonologically related to the target. It will also select alternative answers from other test items to make it difficult to use familiarity to select the best answer. These answers are generated automatically from the target, so they are sometimes strange or match the target in some way. The quiz is created by selecting a set of words from the list with a size determined by the set size slider. If the accuracy on that set is not above the accuracy threshold, then that set will be presented again. If the accuracy is above the threshold, then a new set of the same size will be selected. There is a personal dictionary which allows you to change the entries in the builtin-dictionary. The notes in this app can be imported and exported into text files. So your notes are not locked within this app and you can bring in notes from other sources to use in this app. Supporting the app will remove the advertising. Click on the information button at the top left and you will see the support button. This app is created by a single developer in my free time. I created this program because I found it annoying to have to separately copy kanjis, reading, and definitions every time I wanted to save them in my notes. The dictionaries that are used are free open-source dictionaries that are not as good as professional versions. The kanji character recognizer uses an old character recognizer, so it might not be as accurate as newer versions. Even with its limitations, it is useful for me and I hope it is useful for others.
Bunchuu
This app enhances language learning by providing real-world context for vocabulary and kanji. It offers customizable study sessions, offline access, and seamless synchronization with an existing learning platform. Enjoy a visually appealing and private study experience.
- Vocabulary in context with furigana
- Customizable study and review sessions
- Offline access and progress syncing
- Visual progress tracking
- Private study with no tracking
- Dark mode support
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Bunchuu is a beautiful, fast, native companion app for WaniKani. Do your lessons and reviews anywhere — then go further, and meet every kanji where it lives: in real sentences. VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT Real context sentences for every vocabulary item. Furigana readings and plain-English grammar notes, one tap away. Translations stay veiled until you ask, so you can test yourself first. YOUR STUDIES, YOUR PACE Hand-pick exactly which radicals, kanji, and vocabulary to learn next. Review in batches, choose the ordering, and ask meaning and reading back to back — or far apart. Typo tolerance, your own synonyms, an automatic kana keyboard, and a leech threshold you control. WANIKANI'S SRS, SYNCED Works fully offline — lessons, reviews, and every mnemonic are cached on your device, and progress syncs when you're back online. Your progress lives in your WaniKani account, so you can switch between Bunchuu and the website at any time. Accuracy, streaks, and review history for every item. WATCH YOUR PROGRESS RISE Every level and every SRS stage, at a glance. Get notified the moment reviews are ready. A DELIGHTFUL PLACE TO STUDY A watercolor world, from the radicals to the snack breaks. Beautiful enough to make reviews feel like a treat. Full dark mode. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No Bunchuu account, no analytics, no tracking. Your study data syncs directly between your device and your WaniKani account. Bunchuu requires an active WaniKani account (wanikani.com). WaniKani's free trial covers its first three levels, so you can try both together. Bunchuu is an unofficial third-party app and is not affiliated with WaniKani or Tofugu, LLC.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bunchuu at none against Kanjinotes's 1. Bunchuu also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). Kanjinotes's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). 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
Both are free to download. Kanjinotes sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Bunchuu asks for nothing beyond the download.
Kanjinotes ships an update weekly, Bunchuu every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kanjinotes | Bunchuu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Franklin Chang | Four Skills Labs, LLC |
In-app purchases
Kanjinotes
- Support this app$5.99
Bunchuu
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Kanjinotes free?
Is Bunchuu free?
Do Kanjinotes or Bunchuu have ads?
Which is updated more often, Kanjinotes or Bunchuu?
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