TOPIK Note vs Norae
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TOPIK Note
Master Korean vocabulary for the TOPIK exam with intelligent spaced repetition and diverse learning methods. Practice with real exam questions and track your progress with detailed statistics. Tailored to all TOPIK levels, this app ensures efficient study by focusing on words that matter most.
- Spaced repetition system (SM-2)
- 4 learning methods per word
- Audio pronunciation for words and sentences
- Native Korean definitions and examples
- Practice with real TOPIK exam questions
- Progress tracking and statistics
- Multi-language interface
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You already know you want to pass TOPIK. The real question is how — without burning study time on words that won't move your score, or losing a week to reviews you didn't need. TOPIK Note sorts 9,000+ Korean words by exact TOPIK level and schedules your reviews for you, so every minute goes to the words that count. Study what matters, when it matters. The app remembers what you know and what you don't. SM-2 spaced repetition (8-stage intervals) tracks every answer and adjusts your schedule automatically. Hard words come back sooner. Words you've nailed space out further — so you're never drilling something you already own. FOUR WAYS TO LEARN EACH WORD • See the Korean word, pick the meaning • See the meaning, pick the Korean word • Fill in the missing word in a sentence • Read a Korean sentence and choose what it means Same word, four angles. By the time it sticks, you can use it in context — not just spot it on a flashcard. With 36,000+ quizzes, you won't run out. HEAR EVERY WORD Tap the speaker on any word or example sentence to hear how it's pronounced. Reading Korean is half the work — knowing how it sounds is the other half. MADE BY KOREANS, REVIEWED BY KOREANS Every definition and example is written and checked by native Koreans — no clumsy machine translations to unlearn later. EVERY TOPIK LEVEL, ONE APP • Beginner (Level 1–2) — foundational words • Intermediate (Level 3–4) — everyday and compound words • Advanced (Level 5–6) — academic and nuanced vocabulary Pick your level. Switch anytime. The app adapts to your pace. GRAMMAR BUILT ON WORDS YOU ALREADY KNOW 210 TOPIK grammar points — from beginner particles to advanced connectives (79 beginner, 94 intermediate, 37 advanced). Every example sentence is built from vocabulary you've already studied, so a grammar point arrives as a sentence you can actually say, not a rule to memorize. • Fill-in-the-blank, conjugation, and meaning quizzes for every point • Spot a grammar pattern inside any word's example sentence and tap straight through to its explanation • Reviews are scheduled the same way as vocabulary — the grammar you keep missing comes back sooner PRACTICE REAL TOPIK EXAMS Vocabulary gets you ready. Past exams tell you if you're ready. • 1,700+ real TOPIK I & II questions pulled from 21 past exam papers — 878 reading and 850 listening • Listening questions play the original exam audio. Answer first, then read the full transcript to see exactly what you missed • Submit your answer, then read an explanation that walks you through the correct choice — available in English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) • "My answered questions" keeps everything you've tried, sorted by wrong and right, so you can drill your weak spots • Exam stats: overall accuracy, separate TOPIK I and II progress, a 30-day trend, and a breakdown by question type TRACK YOUR PROGRESS A stats dashboard that earns its space: • Daily study streak • Accuracy across each quiz type and TOPIK level • Wrong Notes — every word you miss, collected automatically so you can target your weak spots No vanity metrics. Just signals for where to focus next. STUDY ON YOUR TERMS Bookmark words you want to revisit. Set a daily reminder — even five minutes a day compounds over weeks. YOUR LANGUAGE, YOUR INTERFACE App interface in English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). Word definitions in all of those plus Korean. The Korean stays Korean — only the explanations change. You've decided to learn Korean. TOPIK Note makes sure your time goes to the right words, in the right order. Terms of Use (EULA): https://topik-note.com/en/terms-of-service.html Privacy Policy: https://topik-note.com/en/privacy-policy.html
Norae
Learn Korean through real-world short videos with interactive captions. Tap any word to understand its meaning in context, save it for review with its original clip, and track your progress with spaced repetition.
- Interactive video captions
- Contextual word definitions
- Spaced repetition review
- Vocabulary grouped by roots
- Adjustable playback speed
- Personalized video feed
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Norae is a feed of real Korean short videos: the vlogs, street interviews, food runs and drama recaps people actually watch, with captions that light up word by word as they're spoken. Tap any word you don't know. You get what it means in that sentence, not a dictionary dump. Save it, and it comes back later, attached to the clip you first heard it in. HOW IT WORKS • Korean and English captions running together, with each word lit the moment it is said • Tap a word for what it means in that line, its dictionary form, and how it is actually used • Words you keep come back as review cards that replay the clip you found them in • Roots: the words you save, grouped by the Chinese character they share, so 학교 brings 학생 and 과학 with it • 0.75x and 0.5x on any clip, for the lines that get away from you • A feed built from the level you pick, from your first day of Hangul onward MADE FOR PEOPLE WHO ALREADY WATCH If you're already spending an hour a day scrolling, Norae puts that hour to work. Ten minutes gets you a handful of words that stick, because you met them somewhere real. No streak guilt. No sentences about a bear drinking milk. Videos play in the official YouTube player and belong to the creators who made them. Every clip links back to its channel. SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED Norae is available through an annual subscription with a free trial, and a monthly subscription without a trial. Apple charges nothing until the trial ends. After that the plan renews at the same price until you cancel it, which you can do any time in your Apple ID settings. Cancel at least 24 hours before a period ends and Apple will not bill you for the next one. Prices are shown in app and vary by region. Privacy policy: https://noraeapp.com/norae/privacy.html Terms of use: https://noraeapp.com/norae/terms.html Contact the founder: trent@noraeapp.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Norae at none against TOPIK Note's shown. Norae also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days). TOPIK Note's advantage is ratings volume (49 vs 3). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. TOPIK Note sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $10.99 per month and Norae sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Norae holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TOPIK Note has 49 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of TOPIK Note's written reviews are positive against 57% of Norae's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
TOPIK Note ships an update every 4 days, Norae every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TOPIK Note | Norae |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (49 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.3% of reviews — better | 57.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 49 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 152 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Jihoon LEE | TC Fusion LLC |
Customer experience
TOPIK Note
Norae
In-app purchases
TOPIK Note
- Premium (Monthly)$10.991 Month
- Premium (Annual)$64.991 Year
- Premium Lifetime - 60% OFF$31.99
- Premium Lifetime - 50% OFF$39.99
- Premium Lifetime - 30% OFF$55.99
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- Premium (Lifetime)$79.99
Norae
- Norae Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
- Norae Pro Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year








