The best app to learn Chinese depends on what you are trying to do, because no single app does everything well. This guide breaks down what each app is genuinely good and bad at, so you can build the right stack instead of hunting for one that does not exist.
Last updated: 9/3/2026
Quick Verdict: Which App for Which Goal
The fastest way to choose is to name your goal and pick the app built for it, rather than asking which app is "best" in the abstract. Below is the short version; the detailed reviews follow.
The pattern to notice is that the strongest apps are specialists. A learner who pairs a course, a dictionary, and a vocabulary tool will outrun someone bouncing between three apps that all try to be a full course.
| App | Best for | Cost | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|
| HelloChinese | All-round beginner course | Free tier + paid | Thins out past intermediate |
| Duolingo | Building a daily habit | Free + Super | Weak on characters and grammar |
| Pleco | Dictionary and lookups | Free + add-ons | Not a course |
| Du Chinese | Reading practice | Free + paid | Reading only |
| Anki | Vocabulary retention | Free (paid on iOS) | Ugly, do-it-yourself setup |
| Chinese Challenger | Character recognition | Free + Pass | Recognition only, no audio |
HelloChinese: The Best All-Round Beginner App
For most beginners, HelloChinese is the best single starting point because it was built specifically for Mandarin rather than adapted from a general language app. It covers speaking, listening, reading, characters, and grammar in a structured path, with speech recognition and grammar notes that Duolingo lacks. The free tier is genuinely usable, which is rare.
Its limit is depth. HelloChinese is excellent from zero through lower-intermediate, roughly HSK 1 to 3, but it thins out as you climb, and serious learners tend to graduate to other tools around the intermediate wall. As a first app, though, it does more things well than anything else on this list.
Duolingo: Good for a Habit, Thin on Substance
Duolingo is the app most people try first, and its real strength is behavioral: the streaks and reminders get you practicing daily, which matters more than any single feature. For building the habit of showing up, it works.
The honest weakness is depth, especially for Chinese. The Mandarin course leans on translation and recognition without teaching characters or grammar systematically, so learners often finish a section unable to explain why a sentence works. Use it to stay consistent, but do not expect it to carry you to real proficiency on its own. Pair it with a tool that actually drills characters.
Pleco: The Dictionary You Will Actually Live In
Pleco is not a course, but it is the one app essentially every Mandarin learner ends up installing, because it is the best Chinese-English dictionary available and the free version is enough for most people. You tap or search any character and get definitions, example sentences, stroke order, and audio, which makes it the tool you reach for constantly while using everything else.
Paid add-ons add optical character recognition (point your camera at a sign), document reading, and flashcards, but the free dictionary alone earns its place in your stack. Think of Pleco as infrastructure rather than a learning method: it supports whatever else you are doing.
Du Chinese: The Best Reading Practice
Du Chinese is the standout for graded reading, the practice of reading level-appropriate stories to build vocabulary in context. Each lesson is tagged by HSK level, and you can tap any word for an instant translation and audio, which removes the friction that usually makes reading practice collapse.
The free tier rotates a limited set of lessons, and the full library sits behind a subscription. It does one thing, reading, and does it better than any general app, so it belongs in the stack of anyone past the absolute beginner stage who wants comprehension to grow faster.
Anki and Chinese Challenger: Two Ways to Retain Vocabulary
Vocabulary retention is where most learners quietly fail, forgetting old words as fast as they add new ones, and both Anki and Chinese Challenger exist to fix that with spaced repetition. Anki is a free, endlessly customizable flashcard system with a steep setup curve and a plain interface, favored by hardcore learners who want total control and do not mind building their own decks.
Chinese Challenger takes the opposite approach: it drills HSK 1 to 6 word banks as quick-fire recognition rounds with spaced repetition built in, so there is nothing to configure. It is worth being clear about its scope, since this is our app and honesty matters more than a sales pitch. It trains character recognition and reading, not listening or speaking, because it has no audio component, and it does not teach handwriting. That makes it a focused tool for the recognition half of learning, best paired with a course like HelloChinese for grammar and a speaking practice for the spoken side. If your bottleneck is recognizing characters fast, it is built for exactly that; if you need a full course, it is not one.
How to Build Your App Stack
The right setup is usually two or three specialists, not one all-in-one, and it changes as you progress. A practical starting stack looks like this: HelloChinese as your main course, Pleco as your dictionary, and either Anki or Chinese Challenger for vocabulary. Add Du Chinese once you are past the beginner stage and want reading to accelerate.
Beginners should resist the urge to install six apps at once. Start with one course and one vocabulary tool, build the daily habit, and add specialists only when you hit a specific wall, such as reading speed or vocabulary retention. The learners who make fastest progress are not the ones with the most apps; they are the ones who use two consistently.
FAQ
1. What is the best free app to learn Chinese?
HelloChinese has the most generous and genuinely useful free tier for a full beginner course. Pleco's free dictionary and Anki's free flashcards (on Android and desktop) are also essentials that cost nothing. Duolingo is free with ads. A capable free stack is realistic.
2. Is Duolingo actually good for learning Chinese?
Duolingo is good for building a daily habit and basic vocabulary, but weak at teaching characters and grammar systematically. It works as a supplement or a gateway, not as your only tool. Most learners who rely on it alone stall at a shallow level and cannot read or form sentences confidently.
3. Is HelloChinese better than Duolingo for Mandarin?
For Mandarin specifically, yes. HelloChinese is purpose-built for Chinese, with structured grammar, character instruction, and speech practice that Duolingo's adapted course lacks. Duolingo has the stronger habit mechanics, so some learners use Duolingo for consistency and HelloChinese for actual learning.
4. Can you learn Mandarin by yourself with apps?
Yes. Many learners reach conversational and HSK-certified levels through self-study, using a course app, a dictionary, a vocabulary tool, and reading and listening practice. The main things apps cannot fully replace are speaking practice with real people and, if you need it, handwriting.