Comparison

Sawasdee vs ThaiCards

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

Head to head
About

Sawasdee

Embark on a fun and engaging journey to learn Thai. This app offers structured courses from beginner to intermediate levels, focusing on reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Progress through lessons with a charming guide and collect stamps to track your achievements.

Highlights
  • Structured learning paths from beginner to B1
  • Covers reading, writing, listening, and speaking
  • Interactive exercises and quizzes
  • Character tracing with guided stroke order
  • Spaced repetition for vocabulary retention
  • Real-world conversation practice
  • Supports 13 learning languages
Features
Read full description

Sawasdee turns learning Thai into a journey: elegant, calm and genuinely fun. Start at the level that suits you, and let Nong Chang, your baby-elephant guide, walk every step with you. YOUR COURSE • 5 levels that build on one another, starting from zero • 100 units and 400 lessons, from your first letter (Pre-A1) to real conversations (B1) • Every unit trains reading, writing, listening and speaking in short 4-minute steps • Pick up exactly where you left off: your place is always saved COLLECT STAMPS, NOT STRESS • Earn a stamp for every unit and seal your passport page when a level is done • No hearts, no guilt, just happy and steady progress READ, WRITE, SPEAK • All 44 consonants and the vowels, each with sound, romanization and a memory picture • Trace every letter with guided stroke order • Hear and name the 5 Thai tones • Read real menus, signs and street-food boards PRACTICE THAT FEELS LIKE PLAY • Daily Review with spaced repetition keeps new words fresh • Flashcards, matching, quizzes and a tone trainer • 12 illustrated Scene Detective hunts • 20 guided everyday dialogues: order food, take a taxi, bargain at the market PRACTISE WITH KRU NOI • Guided Thai conversation practice with Kru Noi, your Thai tutor, right on your device (supported devices only) BUILT FOR REAL THAI • Polite endings (ครับ / ค่ะ) that match you • Honest CEFR levels, Pre-A1 to B1 • Learn in your own language: 13 languages supported สวัสดี, let’s begin! Terms of Use: https://kk-studio.ch/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://kk-studio.ch/privacy/

About

ThaiCards

Features
Read full description

ThaiCards is a Thai flashcard app built on spaced repetition. It shows you each word right before you would forget it, and keeps bringing it back until it sticks. Every card carries Thai script, romanization, English and audio, so you can start before you can read Thai. Most of them carry a picture of the moment you would use the word in, which is what makes them stay put. Free to start. A beginner deck, the street food phrases and the coached practice tracks are open before you pay for anything, and you do not need an account to try them. Flashcards - Spaced repetition shows each word right before you would forget it. - Tap to flip between Thai and English. Swipe right or up when you know it, left or down to keep studying it. - Thai script, romanization and English on every card, with audio and tone information. - A daily queue sized to about ten minutes. Word Explorer - Browse thousands of common Thai words by category: basics, food, drinks, travel and more. - Ordered by how often Thai people actually say them, not by dictionary order. - Mark words known to clear them, or keep them in your deck. Situations - Whole phrases for the moments you are actually in: a food stall, a taxi, a market, a family meal, the bank counter. - Fourteen cards work the other way round. They show what somebody says to YOU, with the answer to give back, because asking a question is only half of it. - Tap any word in a phrase to see what it means, hear it on its own, and add it to your own deck. - Written for people who spend real time in Thailand, including a section for Isan and family life rather than tourism. Watch - A hands-off mode for the times you do not want to answer anything. Words play one after another with the audio and an illustration. - Choose one, two, three or four seconds a card and it keeps going on its own. - Slide anywhere in the deck: back to the most common words, forward into rarer ones, or to the point your studying has reached. - Over 2,500 Thai words, each with its own illustration. Coached practice - Work through guided tracks step by step, with a teacher panel that reads each line aloud. - Practice introductions and everyday conversation, one prompt at a time. - Choose your mix of Thai and English: mostly Thai, mostly English, or both. - Speak your answer and check it, or reveal the meaning and move on. Made for beginners - No prior Thai needed. Romanization sits beside the script from the first card. - An optional free account syncs your progress across devices. ThaiCards is an independent project, built by someone who splits time between the US and Thailand and married into a Thai family. It is updated often. If something is broken or confusing, email the developer and a human will answer. An internet connection is required. Subscription ThaiCards Premium is 1.99 USD per month and renews automatically until you cancel. The free tier includes a beginner deck, the street food situations and the coached practice. Premium opens the full deck catalogue, the rest of Watch and every Situations set, keeping words from Word Explorer, and custom vocabulary. You can cancel any time in Settings on your iPhone under your Apple Account, then Subscriptions. Cancelling stops the next renewal, and your access continues through the end of the period you have paid for. Terms of Service: https://flashcards.alexsears.org/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://flashcards.alexsears.org/privacy.html

Screenshots

Sawasdee4 screens
ThaiCards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: ThaiCards at 15.0 against Sawasdee's 17.0. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Sawasdee sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and ThaiCards sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sawasdee ships an update weekly, ThaiCards every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Sawasdee versus ThaiCards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSawasdeeThaiCards
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size280 MB11 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKanchalika KongyongAlex Sears CPA LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Sawasdee

Subscriptions2
  • Sawasdee-Premium$4.991 Month
  • Sawasdee-Premium7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Sawasdee Premium - Lifetime Premium$199.00
1 purchases

ThaiCards

Subscriptions1
  • Thai Tutor Premium$1.991 Month

Questions

Is Sawasdee free?
Sawasdee is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ThaiCards free?
ThaiCards is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sawasdee or ThaiCards have ads?
Neither Sawasdee nor ThaiCards shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sawasdee or ThaiCards?
Sawasdee ships an update weekly, and ThaiCards every 5 days. Most recently, Sawasdee was updated on October 31, 2026 and ThaiCards on October 24, 2026.

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