Kango vs Bamlu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kango
Practice speaking English through AI-powered roleplay conversations. Get instant feedback to improve fluency and confidence in various real-world scenarios, from interviews to daily chats. Achieve your language goals faster and more effectively.
- AI-powered speaking tutor
- Roleplay conversation practice
- Instant feedback on speaking
- Real-world scenario practice
- Boost communication skills
- Improve fluency and confidence
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Kango: Learn by reading native content in Chinese or Japanese Learn a language in real context. Kango is a reader app turns your favorite audiobooks, new articles, and videos into an engaging and effective study routine through our personalized recommendation engine. Why learners choose Kango: PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION FOR YOUR LEVEL - Get daily content tailored to your current learning journey and skill level - Kango tracks the words you know, and your saved words, and recommends the most relevant content to grow your reading skill in incremental progress - Kango's recommendation engine finds and recommends content containing words you saved so you can review and see them again in a different context, at comfortable level - If you're browsing our library, every content is rated with a difficulty level for YOUR skill level so you can determine how comfortably you can read and how much you may have to look up STORIES YOU LOVE TO READ - Import your favorite books, PDF, ePUB, article link, copy and paste text - Take a photo of a book page, study notes, research papers or any text in your target language, and start reading on Kango - Share and import content directly from X, Chrome, or Safari - Browse our massive library of web novels, classics, videos, children's stories and graded readers - Listen to news, blogs, podcasts - Read aloud in the voices you choose with adjustable speed - Quiz yourself based on words you saved, or simulate a HSK or JLPT test based on graded words in the content you just read STUDY TOOLS YOU'LL LOVE - Tap to translate word dictionary with multiple example sentences and detailed breakdown - Save words you don't know, want to learn more about, or find useful - Side by side sentence translations in your native language that can be toggled off or on - Manually select individual characters for phrase lookups - Multiple font options and customizable reader interface - Pinyin, furigana support - Offline listening - download and listen anywhere - Karaoke mode and color-coded sentence breakdown - Text highlight - perfect for dyslexia and ADHD - Easily repeat the audio playback for each sentence and pause for shadowing practice - Track your known words, total read words, and saved words with flashcards and quizzes LEARN ABOUT HISTORY AND CULTURE WHILE LEARNING LANGUAGE - Our library of content makes it fun and rewarding by providing interesting content about Chinese and Japanese history and culture - Gain insights into how locals think by immersing in native content - All content is graded so there is always content suitable for your skill level PERFECT FOR - Serious and advanced language learners who want to level up in business Chinese and Japanese, and to be able to read and converse natively in professional topics spanning technology, finance and entertainment - Beginner learners with some foundational knowledge who want to improve quickly with immersive content - Language learners who want to level up and read a novel in its native language without its translated version - Book lovers who love to read - Audio and visual learners who want to learn with immersive input - Commuters who want to build a daily habit by listening to hands-free audio If you have any ideas or questions please email us at support@kangospeak.com. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage your subscription in Apple Account Settings. DOWNLOAD KANGO TODAY Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://kangospeak.com/privacy
Bamlu
Learn Mandarin using short video clips from real Chinese media. Each line displays hanzi, pinyin, and English. Tap words to hear pronunciation, get definitions, and save them for review. Features an HSK-aligned curriculum and AI-powered pronunciation practice.
- Learn from real Chinese video clips
- Interactive word lookup and saving
- HSK 1-9+ curriculum
- Spaced repetition review system
- Pronunciation and tone practice
- AI language teacher chat
- Stroke-by-stroke character writing
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Bamlu teaches Mandarin with short clips cut from real Chinese videos. Every line has hanzi, pinyin and English on screen. Don't know a word? Tap it to hear it, see what it means, and save it. Native speakers, not a textbook recording read into a microphone. WHAT'S IN THE APP • Clips you can tap word by word, with saved words kept for review • An HSK path: over 1,000 lessons from HSK 1 to the 7–9 band • Spaced review that brings your saved words back at intervals • A tones drill for hearing the tones apart • Say it: speak a word and watch your pitch drawn over the tone it should have • Write: trace HSK 1 characters stroke by stroke • Teacher: a live voice chat with Bamlu's fox, an AI teacher. Pro includes 10 minutes a week • A dictionary, search, and a daily streak Levels follow HSK 3.0. Bamlu is a way to practice; it isn't an official HSK exam and doesn't give certificates. BAMLU PRO Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription. Eligible new subscribers get a free trial; the length and the price are shown in the app before you pay. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://zolvastudios.com/bamlu/terms Privacy Policy: https://zolvastudios.com/bamlu/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bamlu at 4.5 against Kango's 4.2. On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Kango sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and Bamlu sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bamlu holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kango | Bamlu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days | Every 2 days |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 241 MB | 208 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kublet Inc. | ALBERT STEEN FELDT |
Customer experience
Kango
Bamlu
In-app purchases
Kango
- Weekly Pro Subscription$4.997 Days
- Monthly Pro Subscription$7.991 Month
- Max Plan$7.997 Days
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- Max Weekly$9.997 Days
- Monthly Max Subscription$14.991 Month
- Max Monthly$19.991 Month
- Max Quarterly$39.993 Months
- Max Quarterly$44.993 Months
- Yearly Pro$69.991 Year
- Yearly Pro Subscription$69.991 Year
Bamlu
- BAMLU Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
- BAMLU Pro Annual$29.991 Year
- BAMLU Pro Annual$44.991 Year
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- BAMLU Pro Annual3 Days trial$59.991 Year
- BAMLU Pro Annual$59.991 Year
- 30 minutes with your teacher$4.99
- 60 minutes with your teacher$9.99
- 120 minutes with your teacher$14.99








