Comparison

Hourly Hanzi vs Bamlu

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

Head to head
About

Hourly Hanzi

Learn Mandarin vocabulary throughout your day with lock screen and home screen widgets. Practice words with interactive exercises, pronunciation audio, and personalized flashcards. Supports HSK and TOCFL levels, with offline access and iCloud sync.

Highlights
  • Lock screen and home screen widgets
  • Scheduled word reminders
  • Pinyin, meaning, and pronunciation audio
  • HSK and TOCFL vocabulary levels
  • Personalized flashcards and smart review
  • Handwriting practice
  • Offline access and iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Learn Chinese from your Lock Screen. Hourly Hanzi brings Mandarin vocabulary into the moments you already spend on your phone, then helps you practice what you see. A NEW WORD, THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY Add a Lock Screen or Home Screen widget and choose scheduled word reminders. Set your own pace and quiet hours, then open any word to explore its pinyin, meaning, example sentences and pronunciation audio. FROM FIRST TONES TO HSK & TOCFL Start with pinyin and the four tones in Foundations. Practice listening, build pinyin and use the tone trainer to see your voice's pitch. Take a placement test or choose vocabulary from HSK 1–9 or TOCFL Novice 1–Level 5. TURN FAMILIAR WORDS INTO WORDS YOU KNOW • Save difficult words to your personal flashcards. • Build recall with smart review and short quizzes. • Practice handwriting and explore character breakdowns. • Study grammar through sentences and answer explanations. • Follow your collection, learning history and progress. Keep learning with offline access and private iCloud sync. No ads. Add a widget and make Chinese part of your daily routine. AVAILABLE IN 10 LANGUAGES The app, word meanings and lessons are in: English, Español, Português (Brasil), Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Filipino, हिन्दी, العربية, 한국어, 日本語 Try Hourly Hanzi free for 7 days. Paid access is required after the trial. Choose your interface language in Settings. End User License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://hourlylearning.com/language/terms Privacy Policy: https://hourlylearning.com/language/privacy Questions or suggestions? Email support@radish.software.

About

Bamlu

Learn Mandarin using short video clips from real Chinese media. Each line displays hanzi, pinyin, and English. Tap words to hear pronunciation, get definitions, and save them for review. Features an HSK-aligned curriculum and AI-powered pronunciation practice.

Highlights
  • Learn from real Chinese video clips
  • Interactive word lookup and saving
  • HSK 1-9+ curriculum
  • Spaced repetition review system
  • Pronunciation and tone practice
  • AI language teacher chat
  • Stroke-by-stroke character writing
Features
Read full description

Bamlu teaches Mandarin with short clips cut from real Chinese videos. Every line has hanzi, pinyin and English on screen. Don't know a word? Tap it to hear it, see what it means, and save it. Native speakers, not a textbook recording read into a microphone. WHAT'S IN THE APP • Clips you can tap word by word, with saved words kept for review • An HSK path: over 1,000 lessons from HSK 1 to the 7–9 band • Spaced review that brings your saved words back at intervals • A tones drill for hearing the tones apart • Say it: speak a word and watch your pitch drawn over the tone it should have • Write: trace HSK 1 characters stroke by stroke • Teacher: a live voice chat with Bamlu's fox, an AI teacher. Pro includes 10 minutes a week • A dictionary, search, and a daily streak Levels follow HSK 3.0. Bamlu is a way to practice; it isn't an official HSK exam and doesn't give certificates. BAMLU PRO Pro is a monthly or yearly subscription. Eligible new subscribers get a free trial; the length and the price are shown in the app before you pay. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://zolvastudios.com/bamlu/terms Privacy Policy: https://zolvastudios.com/bamlu/privacy

Screenshots

Hourly Hanzi4 screens
Bamlu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Hourly Hanzi at none against Bamlu's shown. Hourly Hanzi also leads on ratings volume (68 vs 3). Bamlu's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On price, rating, update cadence 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. Hourly Hanzi sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days and Bamlu sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Hourly Hanzi against 4.7 for Bamlu. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hourly Hanzi has 68 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Hourly Hanzi's written reviews are positive against 100% of Bamlu's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hourly Hanzi ships an update every 2 days, Bamlu every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Hourly Hanzi versus Bamlu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHourly HanziBamlu
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (68 ratings) — better4.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews73.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings68 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 3 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size554 MB209 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperRadish Retail, LLCALBERT STEEN FELDT

Customer experience

Hourly Hanzi

All ratings68 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative26.7%

Bamlu

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Hourly Hanzi

Subscriptions5
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro$6.997 Days
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro - 30 Days$7.991 Month
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro7 Days trial$7.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro2 variants$34.991 Year
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time2
  • Hourly Hanzi Pro - 30 Days$4.99
  • Lifetime$99.00
8 purchases

Bamlu

Subscriptions5
  • BAMLU Pro Monthly$9.991 Month
  • BAMLU Pro Annual$29.991 Year
  • BAMLU Pro Annual$44.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • BAMLU Pro Annual3 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • BAMLU Pro Annual$59.991 Year
One-time3
  • 30 minutes with your teacher$4.99
  • 60 minutes with your teacher$9.99
  • 120 minutes with your teacher$14.99

Questions

Is Hourly Hanzi free?
Hourly Hanzi is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bamlu free?
Bamlu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hourly Hanzi or Bamlu?
Hourly Hanzi is rated higher. Hourly Hanzi averages 4.8 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while Bamlu averages 4.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Hourly Hanzi or Bamlu have ads?
Bamlu shows ads; Hourly Hanzi does not.
Which is updated more often, Hourly Hanzi or Bamlu?
Hourly Hanzi ships an update every 2 days, and Bamlu every 3 days. Most recently, Hourly Hanzi was updated on November 5, 2026 and Bamlu on November 10, 2026.

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