Comparison

Karacter vs Hanzi Widget

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

Head to head
About

Karacter

Learn Mandarin Chinese with an offline dictionary, handwriting recognition, and AI-powered explanations. Track your progress with HSK 3.0 integration and visualize stroke order animations.

Highlights
  • 100% offline dictionary
  • Handwriting and character search
  • AI-powered word explanations
  • Animated stroke order guides
  • HSK 3.0 proficiency tags
  • Daily revision widgets
Features
Read full description

Practice Chinese without opening the app! (for free) With lock-screen widgets, read a new Chinese word every time you open your phone. HSK 1 to 9, 190,000+ words, strokes drawing, pronunciations, and Pleco definitions. The app also has home-screen widgets and daily notifications to review even more words. No accounts, no signups, no adds, no tracking. Primary features: 1. An offline official dictionary: no internet nor VPN, study without distractions. 2. Homescreen and lockscren daily widgets to learn words when unlocking your phone. 2. Characters handwriting and search: find words by drawing them, or searching via Pinyin, English, or Chinese. 3. AI-powered explanations that deconstructs complex phrases and explains usage, history and meanings of words. Key Highlights: Animated Stroke Order: Visualize exactly how to write every character with step-by-step animations. HSK 3.0 Integration: Clear proficiency tags to help you track your progress for the latest HSK standards. Minimalist Design: A clean, modern interface focused on clarity and ease of use.

About

Hanzi Widget

Features
Read full description

Hanzi Widget shows a Chinese word on your Home Screen and Lock Screen. It changes every two minutes. There is no account, no streak and nothing to keep up with. THE WORD LIST All of HSK 2.0 (levels 1 to 6) and HSK 3.0 (levels 1 to 6 and the combined band 7 to 9). You can switch between the two standards. 13,039 entries. Every one has pinyin, an English meaning and an example sentence written for this app. 12,086 of them also carry a Chinese definition from the Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary of the Ministry of Education in Taiwan. You choose which levels are active, and you can switch off individual words you already know. SIMPLIFIED AND TRADITIONAL Both scripts are supported and can be switched at any time. The other form is shown next to the main character. Four fonts are included: a Song, a Kai and two handwriting faces. WIDGETS Home Screen widgets in every size, including the extra large size on iPad. Lock Screen widgets. Zen shows the character on its own. A tap reveals the pinyin and the meaning. Max shows the character in both scripts together with an example sentence. In StandBy, a charging iPhone becomes a character display. Tapping a widget opens that word in the app. 源, THE ORIGIN WIDGET A fourth widget, about where characters come from. It shows one of 169 characters in its oldest attested form, in most cases oracle bone script from the Shang dynasty. A tap moves on to the seal script, and then to the character as it is written today. Each character has one line on what the early form depicts. These 169 were chosen because a documented early form exists for each one. The wording is ours. The substance follows the Multi-function Chinese Character Database of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. SPOKEN SENTENCES Example sentences in the word list can be read aloud, using the Chinese voices already installed on your device. ALSO INCLUDED Four optional sets outside HSK: financial numerals, provincial capitals, province abbreviations and Chinese dynasties. The full word list can be searched and browsed, with meanings and example sentences. The app is free. It has no ads, no subscriptions and no in-app purchases. It works without a network connection, keeps no account, collects nothing and sends nothing. 屏上学字. Characters on your screen.

Screenshots

Karacter4 screens
Hanzi Widget4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hanzi Widget at none against Karacter's 4. On price, update cadence, ads 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. Karacter sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Hanzi Widget asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Karacter versus Hanzi Widget: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKaracterHanzi Widget
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (19 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings19 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size127 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEloan TourtelierMoritz Benjamin Goecke

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Karacter

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Karacter$3.991 Month
  • Yearly Karacter$24.991 Year
One-time2
  • AI features refill$0.99
  • Karacter lifetime$130.99
None

Hanzi Widget

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Karacter free?
Karacter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hanzi Widget free?
Hanzi Widget is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Karacter or Hanzi Widget have ads?
Neither Karacter nor Hanzi Widget shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Karacter or Hanzi Widget?
Karacter ships an update weekly, and Hanzi Widget weekly. Most recently, Karacter was updated on October 12, 2026 and Hanzi Widget on October 8, 2026.

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