ManabuLab vs Nihongo Diary
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ManabuLab
Master Japanese alphabets, kanji with mnemonics, and everyday vocabulary. Build grammar understanding and reading skills from the start with structured lessons and a smart review system. Designed for beginners to develop real language proficiency.
- Hiragana & Katakana mastery
- Kanji with visual mnemonics
- Everyday vocabulary building
- Clear grammar explanations
- Reading & listening practice
- Smart review system
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Start learning Japanese with a clear path from your first characters to everyday words and sentences. ManabuLab combines short lessons, visual kanji stories, and practical exercises to help complete beginners build their skills step by step. Whether you want to read Japanese, prepare for a trip, or explore the language behind your favorite interests, start with the basics and build from there. WHAT YOU CAN LEARN · Hiragana and Katakana: Learn the Japanese alphabets with stroke order and practice. · Kanji: Use image mnemonics and simple visual stories to make characters easier to remember. · Vocabulary: Learn everyday words with pictures, meanings, and pronunciation. · Grammar: Understand how sentences work through clear explanations and examples. · Reading and listening: Put your knowledge into practice with exercises that develop both skills. · Smart review: Revisit what you have learned with spaced repetition to strengthen recall. A CLEAR PATH FOR BEGINNERS Work through structured lessons that bring characters, vocabulary, and grammar together. Explanations and examples help you understand each new concept, while practice gives you opportunities to use what you have learned. Short lessons make it easier to fit Japanese into your day, whether you have time for a quick session or want to study a little longer. REMEMBER WHAT YOU LEARN Visual mnemonics connect kanji with images and simple stories, giving you something meaningful to recall. Learn useful vocabulary alongside pronunciation and meaning, then return to previous material through the smart review system. Build your understanding over time, with regular practice that helps new characters and words become more familiar. KEEP YOUR LEARNING MOVING Follow your progress, build a learning streak, and celebrate milestones with achievements. Leaderboards add friendly competition, while the community feed lets you share learning updates and follow other learners. Turn small study sessions into a routine and see your progress grow one lesson at a time. PRACTICE BEYOND YOUR LESSONS Home screen and lock screen widgets bring Japanese words into view throughout the day. Keep vocabulary close at hand and make room for small moments of learning between lessons. ► Download ManabuLab and take your first step toward reading and understanding Japanese, one lesson at a time. PRIVACY POLICY: https://manabulab.app/privacy/ TERMS OF USE: https://manabulab.app/terms/
Nihongo Diary
Practice writing Japanese daily with AI-powered corrections and explanations. Connect with a community of learners for feedback and motivation, helping you build a consistent study habit and improve fluency.
- Daily Japanese writing prompts
- AI-powered text correction with furigana
- Detailed explanations for mistakes
- Community feedback and interaction
- Streak tracking and motivation tools
- Word-tap translation
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Nihongo Diary — Write Japanese every day. Get it corrected. Keep going. Writing is the fastest way to make Japanese stick — but only if someone corrects you, and only if you keep showing up. Nihongo Diary gives you both. WRITE & GET CORRECTED - Write a short diary entry in Japanese — any level, any length - AI correction shows your corrected text in seconds, with furigana on every kanji - See a natural, native-like version of what you wrote - Understand every fix with clear explanations, key mistakes, and vocabulary - Ask the community: real learners (and their corrections) alongside AI YOU'RE NOT DOING IT ALONE - Share entries to the community feed and cheer each other on - Get corrections and comments from fellow learners around the world - Follow friends, react to entries, and reply to comments - Push notifications remind you to write and tell you when someone responds KEEP YOUR STREAK ALIVE - Daily streaks and milestones keep you motivated - Calendar view of everything you've written - Word-tap translation while reading other learners' entries - Obie, your study buddy, celebrates your progress Made by Tetsu, a native Japanese teacher in Sapporo, for learners who want to actually use their Japanese — not just study it. Free to start. Write your first entry today. Terms of Use: https://nihongodiary.app/terms
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Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: ManabuLab at 74 against Nihongo Diary's 1. Nihongo Diary's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. ManabuLab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and Nihongo Diary sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Nihongo Diary holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ManabuLab has 74 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ManabuLab ships an update weekly, Nihongo Diary every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ManabuLab | Nihongo Diary |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (74 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 74 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 10 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 223 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | CAGATAY TURKILERI | Tetta Taguchi |
In-app purchases
ManabuLab
- Monthly ManabuLab Premium$12.991 Month
- Yearly ManabuLab Premium$59.991 Year
- Lifetime ManabuLab Premium$99.99
Nihongo Diary
- Plus$9.991 Month
- Pro$19.991 Month









