Setsumei vs Kana Speed Drill
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Kana Speed Drill
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Kana Speed Drill is a timed drill for hiragana and katakana. You practice until you can read a kana without stopping to work it out. A kana appears with four romaji under it. You tap one, and the app times how long it took. That time is what the app grades you on. Working out that か is ka after two seconds isn't reading, so only quick correct answers count toward knowing a character. Your progress here means the kana you can read at speed. WHAT YOU GET • All 142 characters: the full gojūon in both scripts, plus 50 dakuten and handakuten • Six Japanese typefaces built in: Print, Modern, Rounded, Textbook, Brush and Handwritten, or Shuffle for a different one every question • Wrong answers pulled from the kana people really do mix up, like シ and ツ or ね and わ • A chart of every character, colored by how well you know it • A ranking that puts your weakest kana first and names what you confuse them with • Session stats: median time, fastest answer, best streak, accuracy • Light and dark themes, with layouts built for phone, tablet and landscape SIX TYPEFACES, BECAUSE THE SHAPE CHANGES さ and き join their strokes in print and break them by hand. り is one stroke in brush and two in a textbook. Drill one typeface and that's the only one you'll be able to read, so Shuffle deals a different face every question. All six ship inside the app, so they work offline and nothing falls back to a font that draws the character some other way. OFFLINE AND PRIVATE No account, no ads, no analytics. The app makes no network calls at all. Your progress stays on your device, and you can export it to a file whenever you want to move it. FREE All of it. Nothing locked, no subscription. Made by ConvoCopilot. Terms of Service: https://kana.convocopilot.app/terms Apple Standard EULA (App Store): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://kana.convocopilot.app/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Kana Speed Drill at none against Setsumei's 1. Kana Speed Drill also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 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. Kana Speed Drill asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Setsumei | Kana Speed Drill |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 164 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Igor Kulman | Lambda 7 Tech LLC |
In-app purchases
Setsumei
- Setsumei Premium$14.99
Kana Speed Drill
No in-app purchases









