The 7 Best Apps to Learn Chinese in 2026 (Tested & Compared)

Last updated: July 2026

Learning Chinese on an app sounds simple. The App Store returns hundreds of results the moment you search.

Most are not worth your time.

This guide cuts through the noise. We tested seven apps that consistently appear in the conversation—from the world’s most popular language platform to the most focused Traditional Chinese tool—and gave each an honest assessment.

Quick Verdict

App	Rating	Best For
Zhong Chinese	★★★★★	Traditional Chinese, Taiwan, Dangdai curriculum
Pleco	★★★★★	Dictionary, reading assistance, reference
DuChinese	★★★★☆	Intermediate reading practice
Anki	★★★★☆	Advanced self-directed learners
HelloChinese	★★★☆☆	Beginners wanting gamified structure (Simplified)
LingoDeer	★★★☆☆	Grammar-focused beginners (Simplified)
Duolingo	★★☆☆☆	Testing whether you enjoy Mandarin

One important framing note: there is no single best app for all Chinese learners. The right app depends on whether you are learning Simplified (Mainland China, Singapore) or Traditional (Taiwan, Hong Kong), whether you have an existing textbook or prefer app-led structure, and how much friction you can tolerate in exchange for deeper functionality.

---

The Four Things Any Chinese App Must Do Well

Chinese is not Spanish. The problems that matter for a Spanish learning app—vocabulary coverage, grammar explanation quality, accent variety—are table stakes for Mandarin, not differentiators.

Chinese apps also need to address:

1. Character acquisition. You are learning a logographic writing system. Tapping on multiple-choice answers does not build the neural pathways required to recognise, recall, or produce characters. An app that cannot get you to write characters is teaching you to read with one eye closed.

2. Tonal accuracy. Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral tone. 媽 (mā) means “mother.” 馬 (mǎ) means “horse.” 罵 (mà) means “to scold.” If the app’s audio is insufficient or its speech recognition cannot distinguish tones, it cannot adequately teach you the phoneme system that underpins all spoken Chinese.

3. Script clarity. Traditional (繁體字) and Simplified (简体字) are different scripts. They share many characters—but hundreds differ. An app that teaches Simplified while you are learning Traditional is not “close enough.” It is teaching you to read in one script while you need the other.

4. Memory efficiency. Chinese vocabulary is vast. An adult learner targeting conversational fluency needs 2,000–3,000 characters and 5,000–8,000 vocabulary items. Without a proper spaced repetition system (SRS) that adapts to your individual memory, the review burden becomes unmanageable within months.

We judged every app on these four criteria.

---

1. Zhong Chinese — Best for Traditional Chinese, Taiwan, and Dangdai

Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free (limited velocity) · One-time license
Traditional Chinese support: Yes — exclusively

Zhong Chinese was built for a specific learner: someone studying at MTC, NTNU, or another Taiwan-based language programme using A Course in Contemporary Chinese (Dangdai 當代中文課程), targeting TOCFL certification.

That specificity is its strength.

Every vocabulary item, sentence, and audio clip in Zhong Chinese uses Traditional characters and Taipei-accented Mandarin. There is no Simplified toggle to accidentally enable. There is no Beijing accent to confuse your ear. The entire curriculum maps to Dangdai Books 1–6, aligned with TOCFL Band A through C.

Zhong uses FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler), a newer and more efficient algorithm than the one Anki uses by default. Research shows FSRS reduces review workload by approximately 20–30% while maintaining or improving retention rates.

Critically, Zhong requires handwriting practice with stroke-order validation. You cannot tap through exercises—you must produce characters by hand. Motor memory from handwriting creates the neural pathways that make characters legible and recallable. Multiple-choice exercises do not.

The pricing model is also unusual in a good way: you pay once for a period or a lifetime license. When your license expires, you do not lose your data—you simply cannot add new cards at accelerated speed. What you learned stays accessible forever.

Where it is limited: Zhong is not a general Mandarin app. If you are studying Simplified Chinese or preparing for HSK, Zhong is not the right tool. It is intentionally narrow—Dangdai curriculum only, Traditional characters only.

Verdict: The right tool for the right path. If you are on the Taiwan/Traditional Chinese track, nothing else comes close.

---

2. Pleco — Best Dictionary and Reference App

Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free (core) · Paid add-ons
Traditional Chinese support: Yes

Pleco is not a learning app in the traditional sense. It is a dictionary. But it is so good at being a dictionary—and so essential to Chinese study—that it earns a top recommendation unconditionally.

Install Pleco on Day 1 and never delete it.

Pleco’s dictionary database is comprehensive: both Traditional and Simplified characters, full stroke order animations, example sentences, and handwriting input for lookup. The document reader feature lets you paste in any text and tap characters for instant definitions.

The paid flashcard add-on transforms Pleco into a capable review tool. It is not as efficient as Zhong’s FSRS implementation, but for learners who want a single app, it is serviceable. Core features are free permanently.

Where it is limited: Pleco is a reference tool, not a teacher. It provides no structured curriculum, no guided progression, and no stroke-order practice in the context of a lesson. A beginning learner who tries to use Pleco as their primary tool will quickly be overwhelmed.

Verdict: Install immediately. Keep it forever. Use it alongside a structured learning tool, not instead of one.

---

3. DuChinese — Best for Reading Practice

Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free (limited) · Subscription
Traditional Chinese support: Yes (dedicated Traditional mode)

DuChinese is a graded reading app. It provides news articles, stories, and dialogue at difficulty levels from absolute beginner to near-native. You tap words to see definitions; sentences include audio.

Reading is one of the most neglected skills in app-based Chinese learning. Most apps teach vocabulary in isolation; DuChinese teaches vocabulary in context. This is substantially better for retention and reading speed development.

The Traditional character mode is a genuine separate mode, not a surface-level display toggle. The audio is Mainland-accented, which is a limitation for Taiwan-focused learners, but the character rendering and content are valuable.

Where it is limited: DuChinese does not teach handwriting, does not include stroke order, and does not use FSRS. It is a supplement, not a primary learning tool—excellent for intermediate learners with 500+ characters, but insufficient as a starting point.

Verdict: Add it to your toolkit at the intermediate stage. Not a standalone tool for beginners.

---

4. Anki — Best for Advanced, Self-Directed Learners

Platforms: iOS (paid), Android (free), Desktop (free)
Price: Free (with caveats) · iOS app is paid
Traditional Chinese support: Via community decks

Anki is the most powerful spaced repetition tool available to language learners. It is also, depending on your configuration, potentially the most counterproductive.

We wrote an entire piece on why Anki’s default settings harm Chinese learners. The short version: Anki’s enormous configuration flexibility is both its greatest strength and its most common failure mode. Learners who configure it incorrectly bury themselves in review debt within weeks.

With the right setup, Anki is extraordinarily effective. Community decks for Dangdai exist and are reasonable starting points. FSRS is now available as an Anki plugin.

Where it falls short: No guided setup. No stroke-order practice. No native Taiwanese audio in standard decks. No protection against the review avalanche that destroys most self-study learners.

Verdict: Powerful for learners who invest time learning to use it correctly. A liability for beginners who do not.

---

5. HelloChinese — Best Gamified Beginners’ App

Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free (limited) · Subscription
Traditional Chinese support: Partial (display toggle only; Simplified-first curriculum)

HelloChinese is the most-recommended alternative to Duolingo among serious Chinese learners, and for Simplified Chinese, the recommendation is deserved. It is better-designed, more systematic, and more rigorous than Duolingo.

The app follows a defined curriculum rather than a random word list. It includes some tone drilling. It has an optional Traditional character display mode.

Where it falls short: The Traditional character support is a display toggle, not a curriculum redesign. The vocabulary, sentence structures, and audio are built for Simplified Chinese with Mainland pronunciation. For TOCFL preparation, you are training your ear for the wrong accent. The subscription model also holds your study history hostage to continued payment.

Verdict: The best choice for complete beginners targeting Simplified Chinese who want gamified structure. Not adequate for Traditional Chinese, Taiwan, or TOCFL.

---

6. LingoDeer — Grammar-Focused Beginners’ App

Platforms: iOS, Android
Price: Free (limited) · Subscription or one-time
Traditional Chinese support: Limited

LingoDeer was designed specifically for East Asian languages: Mandarin, Japanese, Korean. Unlike Duolingo, which repurposes a European-language template, LingoDeer includes grammar explanations and lessons structured for tonal languages.

Grammar explanations are better than anything in Duolingo. The curriculum is more systematic. For learners who find Duolingo too chaotic, LingoDeer offers more scaffolding.

Where it falls short: Traditional Chinese support is minimal. The app is built Simplified-first. No handwriting practice.

Verdict: A reasonable option for Simplified Chinese beginners who want more grammar depth than Duolingo provides. Not the right choice for Traditional Chinese learners.

---

7. Duolingo — Not Recommended for Serious Study

Platforms: iOS, Android, Web
Price: Free (ads) · Subscription
Traditional Chinese support: None

Duolingo has over 500 million users. It is also, for Chinese, a poor tool for serious learners.

We explained the structural reasons in detail in Why Duolingo Fails for Chinese. The core problem: Duolingo was designed for alphabetic languages. Its mechanic—multiple choice, word banks, translation fill-in—trains passive recognition. For Chinese, where you need to produce characters from memory, this is inadequate.

Duolingo teaches Simplified characters only. There is no Traditional option at all.

It also optimises for daily active users, not learning outcomes. The streak mechanic, XP system, and league tables drive engagement—not retention six months from now.

Verdict: Useful for testing whether you enjoy the sounds of Mandarin before committing to serious study. Not a path to Chinese fluency.

---

The Big Four Compared: Duolingo vs HelloChinese vs Pleco vs Anki

This question appears constantly in search, forums, and on Reddit: what is the difference between Duolingo, HelloChinese, Pleco, and Anki for Mandarin?

The honest answer: they are different types of tools, not four versions of the same thing.

Tool	Type	What It Actually Is
Duolingo	Gamified language platform	Engagement-first app; limited depth for Chinese
HelloChinese	Structured learning app	Better Duolingo alternative for Mandarin
Pleco	Dictionary + reference	Essential reference tool, not a teacher
Anki	Spaced repetition system	Flashcard engine you configure yourself

None of these four teaches handwriting. None is built for Traditional Chinese. None includes FSRS scheduling out of the box. For a learner who is serious about Chinese—not just testing the waters—comparing these four misses the more important question: what type of tool do you need?

The combination that works:

• Pleco for lookup and reference (indispensable, free)
• Zhong Chinese for structured vocabulary acquisition with FSRS and handwriting (Traditional Chinese path)
• DuChinese for reading practice at the intermediate stage

---

Free Options Worth Using

• Pleco (free core): The dictionary is free forever. It is professional-grade. Install it.
• Zhong Chinese (free tier): Full curriculum access with limited daily velocity. The velocity limit aligns with research-backed sustainable pacing—for most learners, it is not actually a constraint.
• DuChinese (limited free): A few articles per month for free—enough to evaluate the format.
• Anki (free on Desktop/Android): Full functionality. iOS is a paid one-time purchase.
• HelloChinese (limited free): First 20+ lessons free. Enough to evaluate.
• Duolingo (free with ads): The core app is free. The limitations remain regardless of tier.

---

Which App Should You Choose?

Traditional Chinese (Taiwan, Hong Kong, TOCFL, Dangdai):
→ Zhong Chinese + Pleco. Nothing else is built for this path.

Simplified Chinese (Mainland China, HSK, general Mandarin):
→ HelloChinese or LingoDeer (beginners) + Pleco. Add Anki if willing to configure it correctly. Add DuChinese at intermediate level.

Just testing whether you enjoy Chinese:
→ Duolingo or HelloChinese for a few weeks. Then move to something serious.

Already have a textbook and want a study companion:
→ Anki (if you will configure it) or Zhong Chinese (if you are on the Dangdai curriculum).

The best app to learn Chinese is the one that gets you to write characters, review them efficiently, and keep going past the six-month mark. That is a higher bar than most apps meet.