Comparison

Drops vs Learn Japanese

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

Head to head
About

Drops

Learn new languages through engaging games and visual aids. Practice vocabulary and common phrases in over 55 languages, from beginner to expert levels. Track progress, unlock achievements, and enjoy professionally curated lessons with native speaker pronunciations.

Highlights
  • Gamified vocabulary learning
  • Visual learning aids
  • 55+ language options
  • Progress tracking and rewards
  • Native speaker pronunciations
  • Customizable learning goals
Read full description

Join over 50 million people who use Drops for free language lessons. It’s fast, fun, and easy! Practice vocabulary in Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, Chinese, German, English. Discover 55+ different new languages with Drops! Learn new languages while playing games. You can become fluent, learn vocabulary and common phrases in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi. Set goals, unlock achievements, and get rewards! • Become fluent in a foreign language with this language learning app • Learn to read characters and scripts from different alphabets like Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, and Hindi • Custom illustrations for each vocabulary word makes it easy to remember • From beginner to expert levels, grow your foreign language vocabulary • A professionally curated vocabulary list with more than 3,000 words and phrases • Game-like language lessons that make language learning fun and effective • Level up! Track your progress and get rewards • Professional voice artists and sound design with correct dialect pronunciations • Learn to speak languages like Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), English (British), English (American), French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish (Mexican), Spanish (European), Tagalog, Ainu, Arabic (Egyptian), American Sign Language (ASL), Basque, Bosnian, Cantonese, Catalan, Chti, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Estonian, Finnish, Galician, Greek, Greenlandic, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Irish, Maori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Romanian, Samoan, Sanskrit, Serbian, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and even Yoruba! "By focusing on visually appealing games and vocab, Drops aims to lower the barrier preventing users from exploring a new language and, ultimately, accessing the social and economic benefits knowing that language may provide." - TechCrunch We are featured by CNET, Forbes, VentureBeat and many other places too! Try Drops Premium with a 7 day free trial. Download the app to learn about different membership options, and register to learn all about exclusive discounts. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of Drops premium. Afterwards your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes Store after purchase. You can cancel your subscription anytime, and you won't be charged in the next billing cycle. Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html

About

Learn Japanese

Learn Japanese vocabulary through engaging, visually-driven mini-games. Daily five-minute lessons make learning addictive and effective, focusing on practical words and essential scripts like Kanji and Kana. Build a consistent learning habit with this fun, illustrated approach.

Highlights
  • Illustrated vocabulary learning
  • Daily 5-minute lessons
  • Quick swipe and tap games
  • Focus on practical words
  • Teaches Kanji and Kana
  • Habit-building approach
Read full description

Play with your words! Drops makes language learning effortlessly fun. Essential vocabulary is bound to your memories through beautiful illustrations and quick mini-games. Take the daily 5 minute lessons and ease yourself into the beautiful world of Japanese language! 
 Ingredients of the secret sauce? 100% illustrated: Pictures directly carry the meaning - you don’t have to use your native language at all! No intermediary. Faster, more effective and of course more fun for the Japanese learning process! :) 5 min sessions: limiting practice time sounds crazy but it makes it incredibly addictive - which is a cool thing for learning. The barrier of entry is close to zero so you can’t have any excuses: you’ll have 5 minutes even on the busiest day! Effortless play: We know why games are fun and addictive and distilled the essence into Drops. The result is a truly immersive experience but it’s not a waste of your time while you play because you build valuable knowledge. Quick: Keyboard typing is painfully slow. Welcome rapid swipes and taps! Trust us, you’ll need those extra seconds during the quick learning session ;) Vocabulary only: Zero grammar, just handpicked practical words. That’s our focus and we do it extremely well. The app teaches the Japanese “alphabets” Kanji and Kana (hiragana and katakana) too! Forge a habit: Drops wants to make you language learning addict. Effectiveness is nothing without a well established habit. We can help you build one! We are extremely proud of our lovely word pronunciations by seasoned voice talents! Drops is free for casual learners: more than 3300+ words in 150+ topics are all available for everyone. Hardcore language learners can subscribe for premium to progress faster with unlimited Japanese language learning time. Our goal is to empower people of the world via language knowledge by providing a special tool that utilizes the universal language we all speak: pictures. ----------------- Keep tuned as even more languages are in the works! Payment information: Length of subscriptions: - 1 Month - 12 Months Price of subscriptions: - 1 Month – $12.99 per month - 12 Months – $89.99 per year - Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period Have questions? Feel free to contact us at sup@languagedrops.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/language_drops Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnwithDrops Blog: https://medium.com/languagedrops Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/language_drops/ Privacy Policy and Terms of Use: http://languagedrops.com/privacypolicy.html

Screenshots

Drops4 screens
Learn Japanese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Learn Japanese at none against Drops's shown. Learn Japanese also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 75%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.6). Drops's advantage is ratings volume (72K vs 2K) and chart position (#160 vs unranked). 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. Drops sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Learn Japanese sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 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 — 4.7 for Drops against 4.8 for Learn Japanese. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drops has 72K ratings behind it against 2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Drops's written reviews are positive against 91% of Learn Japanese's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drops ships an update weekly, Learn Japanese every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Drops versus Learn Japanese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDropsLearn Japanese
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (72K ratings)4.8 (2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.6% of reviews90.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings72K — better2K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
Best chart rank#160 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB207 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPLANB LABS OUPLANB LABS OU

Customer experience

Drops

All ratings71,502 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews2,192 reviews
Positive74.6%
Neutral9.6%
Negative15.8%

Learn Japanese

All ratings2,009 ratings
Positive96.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews484 reviews
Positive90.9%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.0%

Bugs and requests

Drops

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login issues and lost progress
  • Crashes and performance problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more grammar and sentence-level learning
  • Improve accuracy of translations and pronunciations
  • Provide more flexibility in time limits and review sessions
  • Integrate more conversational practice
  • Improve user interface and navigation

Learn Japanese

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Drops

Subscriptions12
  • Genius for a month$7.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Premium$14.991 Month
  • Curious for a month$22.991 Month
  • Holiday premium!$39.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$62.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • All Language Learning Plans7 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlimited time for all Languages!$59.99
12 purchases

Learn Japanese

Subscriptions12
  • Unlimited time!$7.991 Month
  • Premium$9.991 Month
  • Premium$11.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Unlimited time for all Languages!$12.991 Month
  • Premium$12.991 Month
  • Daily 10 minutes bonus$22.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Premium$39.991 Year
  • Premium$47.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial2 variants$69.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Premium7 Days trial2 variants$89.991 Year

Questions

Is Drops free?
Drops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Learn Japanese free?
Learn Japanese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drops or Learn Japanese?
Learn Japanese is rated higher. Drops averages 4.7 out of 5 from 72K ratings, while Learn Japanese averages 4.8 from 2K ratings.
Do Drops or Learn Japanese have ads?
Drops shows ads; Learn Japanese does not.
Which is updated more often, Drops or Learn Japanese?
Drops ships an update weekly, and Learn Japanese every 9 days. Most recently, Drops was updated on September 24, 2026 and Learn Japanese on September 23, 2026.

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