Yonda vs Setsumei
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Yonda
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You didn't start learning Japanese to clear flashcards. You started because there's something you want to read. Yonda's Scan & Read turns that something — the manga volume on your shelf, a novel, a menu, a street sign, a newspaper — into your curriculum. Photograph up to five pages. Yonda reads them (vertical text, furigana, real reading order), checks every word against what you already know, and builds a lesson out of only the kanji and vocabulary YOU are missing. You study it with serious spaced repetition, pass a 100% comprehension exam, and then read your own pages — furigana you can toggle, a tap-gloss on every word colored by your mastery, and translations that unlock only after you've proven you don't need them. That last part matters. Translation apps read Japanese FOR you, which is why you can point a camera at manga for years and never learn to read. Yonda refuses to do the reading until you can. HOW IT WORKS 1. Photograph real Japanese — up to 5 pages per scan. 2. Fix any misreads in a 30-second review. The OCR is good; you make it perfect. 3. Yonda diagnoses the gap: exactly which kanji and words you don't know yet, based on your own study history. 4. Study a lesson built from just that gap. Wrong answers get an explanation on the spot, not a red X. 5. Pass a clean-sweep exam. 100%, no partial credit. 6. Read your pages. They join your My Scans shelf — a growing library of real Japanese you've conquered. Words from your scans keep coming back in long-term reviews, so what you read stays read. THE ENGINE UNDERNEATH Yonda is a full Japanese course, not just a scanner. • Kana, kanji, vocabulary, and grammar on a path from zero to N1. N5 is polished today; higher levels are in active development. • FSRS spaced repetition — reviews arrive when you're about to forget, not on a corporate schedule. • Wrong-answer options drawn from real confusability data, never random, so tests actually test. • AI conversation practice for when you want to use what you've learned. WHAT YOU WON'T FIND • No streak guilt. No hearts, no lives, no mascot crying at you. • No ads, anywhere. • No selling or sharing your data. Scan photos live in a private bucket, visible only to you, and are deleted when you delete the scan. Honest limits: scanning needs an internet connection, and you should know kana before your first scan (the free N5 course starts there). Japanese is hard. Yonda doesn't pretend otherwise — it just makes every hour count. Free: the full N5 course plus one trial scan, forever. Pro is coming soon. Questions and bug reports are read by a human — support@irons.la.
Setsumei
This app breaks down Japanese sentences into understandable grammar lessons. It highlights grammar points, provides pronunciations, and offers plain-English explanations. Users can save and review grammar points in context, with an offline sentence library available.
- Grammar highlighting in sentences
- Word pronunciations and dictionary forms
- Plain-English explanations and examples
- Offline Japanese-English sentence library
- Save and review grammar points
- JLPT level estimation
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Understand the grammar inside real Japanese sentences. Setsumei turns Japanese text into a clear, approachable grammar lesson. Type or paste a sentence, choose an example, or search the included Japanese–English sentence library. Setsumei highlights the grammar it recognizes and keeps the original sentence, readings, and explanations together. SETSUMEI PREMIUM Setsumei is free to try. A one-time purchase of Setsumei Premium unlocks: • Unlimited sentence analysis • The full N1–N5 grammar library • Unlimited spaced review • Unlimited saved sentences and grammar points No subscription. LEARN IN CONTEXT • See grammar patterns highlighted directly in the sentence • Read word pronunciations and dictionary forms • Explore plain-English meanings, formations, nuances, and examples • Use estimated JLPT levels as a study guide • Search a large offline Japanese–English sentence library BUILD YOUR GRAMMAR LIBRARY • Save useful grammar points with their sentence context • Add personal notes • Browse grammar by communicative purpose • Mark grammar as Saved or Mastered • Revisit sentence history and saved sentences • Copy and share lessons REVIEW WHAT YOU SAVE • Practice grammar in the sentence context where you found it • Recall what each pattern contributes before revealing the explanation • Use Again, Hard, and Good to space difficult points sooner and remembered points farther apart • Keep review progress on device PRIVATE BY DESIGN Grammar detection, word analysis, and contextual classification run on your device using bundled resources. Setsumei requires no account and includes no ads, third-party analytics, or paid AI service. Grammar recognition and explanations are continually being improved. JLPT levels are estimates because the current JLPT does not publish official grammar lists.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Yonda at none against Setsumei's 1. Yonda also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads 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. Setsumei sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Yonda asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Yonda | Setsumei |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 164 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jeremy Irons | Igor Kulman |
In-app purchases
Yonda
No in-app purchases
Setsumei
- Setsumei Premium$14.99








