JLPT Ronin vs NihonGO Dominos
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JLPT Ronin
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Ready to ace the JLPT? JLPT Ronin is your complete study companion for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Whether you're starting with N5 or pushing through N2, our spaced repetition system and mock exams keep you on track — so you remember what you learn, not just cram and forget. ◆ WHY JLPT RONIN? → 700+ N5 vocabulary, grammar, and kanji items → Spaced repetition flashcards that adapt to your pace → Custom quiz builder — focus on what you need most → Full mock exams in official JLPT format → Progress tracking, streaks, and achievements → No account required. No data collected. Ever. ◆ START FREE All N5 content is completely free — no time limit, no strings attached. Build your foundation, then upgrade when you're ready for more. ◆ FLEXIBLE PLANS Unlock all JLPT levels (N5–N2) with the plan that works for you: • Monthly: $4.99/mo • Annual: $29.99/yr (save 50%) • Lifetime: $49.99 — one payment, everything forever ◆ BUILT FOR SERIOUS TEST TAKERS Built by Japanese learners who wanted a focused, distraction-free JLPT prep tool. Every feature exists to get you test-ready. Download JLPT Ronin and start your path to JLPT success today.
NihonGO Dominos
This app aids intermediate Japanese learners by providing rapid, repeated exposure to vocabulary, grammar, and kanji through a unique tile-flipping mechanic. It focuses on recognition and spaced repetition for challenging items, offering an integrated learning environment without accounts or ads.
- Vocabulary tiles with example sentences
- Grammar patterns with JLPT levels
- Kanji with stroke order animations
- Integrated reading environment
- Spaced repetition for challenging items
- Offline functionality
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NihonGO Dominos is built for the intermediate phase of Japanese — the long climb from finishing a beginner course to reading everyday text on your own. A stretch where progress feels slow, and what helps most is rapid, repeated exposure to the building blocks of the language. —— ONE MECHANIC —— The whole loop is a domino tile. Tap to peek the back. Hold or double-tap to retire it. One thumb, on the train, every day. Tiles glow bone → amber → orange → vermilion as you cycle through them, and items you actually struggle with land in a Challenge Box for spaced repetition — only where it pays off. —— THREE PILLARS —— 語彙 Goi (Vocabulary) — 6,363 tiles across eight frequency tiers. Verbs, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, conjunctions, number paradigms. Every entry validated against JMdict. ~98% coverage of everyday text at the top of the pool. 6,926 example sentences, individually composed — every sentence built from words already in the corpus, and every one of them read aloud in a natural Japanese voice. A further 1,373 vocabulary entries ship as lookup cards, each with its own spoken example, so a tapped word in any sentence lands on a real card instead of nothing. 文法 Bunpou (Grammar) — 611 grammar patterns spanning JLPT N5 through N1, hand-curated under sensei supervision. One specific surface form per tile. Cross-checked against established grammar references. ~94–96% coverage in general texts. 漢字 Kanji (Characters) — 2,228 kanji from the JLPT pool unioned with the Kyōiku elementary set, ranked by a blended newspaper-and-encyclopedia frequency score. Each card has the glyph with colored radicals, kun and on readings, English gloss, a hand-written mnemonic, KanjiVG stroke-order animation, and compound examples that link back into Goi. ~95% coverage of everyday reading. —— TWO REFERENCE SETS —— 部首 Bushu (Radicals) — All 214 Kangxi radicals. Tap any radical to see the kanji that contain it. 仮名 Kana — 232 hiragana, katakana, and extended foreign-sound katakana, organized by row, vowel, and modifier. —— TILES THAT LINK —— Over 46,000 tap-to-jump links run through the corpus. In example sentences, follow any tappable word straight to its own card. In Kanji cards, the compound examples link back into Goi. The app is an integrated reading environment, not a stack of separate flashcards. —— WHAT WE DON'T DO —— No invented "Lesson 1, Lesson 2" curriculum — order is frequency. Tier 1 is what you'll meet first in real Japanese; Tier 8 is what you'll meet last. (If you'd rather browse by JLPT level, there's a toggle in Settings — same pool, re-bucketed: kanji from N5 all the way to N1 plus a beyond-JLPT set, grammar N5 to N2 with the N1 patterns in the frequency tiers.) No drowning in SRS queues. The main loop is rapid, repeated exposure by flipping tiles. The Challenge Box is a Leitner-style safety net for items you've genuinely struggled with — not the front door. No production drills. Recognition is the skill; production follows from input. No accounts. No tracking. No analytics. No ads. No data collected. No internet required after install. —— iCLOUD SYNC —— Your Challenge Box and study progress sync between your iPhone and iPad through your own iCloud account, so you can switch devices and pick up where you left off. The sync runs through Apple. We never see your data. —— FOR WHOM —— Built for serious intermediate learners. You can read hiragana and katakana, you've worked through a beginner course, and you want to push from "I can read simple sentences" to "I can read newspapers, novels, blogs, manga." If you're a true beginner, finish a beginner course first and come back. If you're already comfortable with monolingual Japanese dictionaries, you're past us. Everyone else — this is the tool we built because we couldn't find it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: NihonGO Dominos at every 3 weeks against JLPT Ronin's every 3 months. JLPT Ronin's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
JLPT Ronin ships an update every 3 months, NihonGO Dominos every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | JLPT Ronin | NihonGO Dominos |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 36 MB | 751 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alejandro Garcia del Rio | JUERGEN WOLFGANG HAMMER |
In-app purchases
JLPT Ronin
No in-app purchases
NihonGO Dominos
No in-app purchases









