Satori Reader
Immersion (video, audio, reading): Japanese stories for intermediate learners, voiced by native actors, with every sentence explained and kanji shown by what you know.
Prices checked 17 Oct 2026 · How we check
Is Satori Reader worth it?
Yes, if you have finished a beginner's course in Japanese, can read kana, and want stories to read and hear every day with each sentence explained and kanji shown by what you already know.
What it costs. A year costs $89 ($7.42 a month); month to month is $9.
What's free. Selected episodes, free for good: in the app, the first two episodes of every series and some special series in full. Pro opens the whole library of more than 1,650 episodes, offline listening and the discussion boards.
Skip it if you are just starting Japanese, want to practise speaking, or learn another language: Satori Reader is Japanese reading and listening for intermediate learners, with nothing that listens to you.
What learners rate it. 4.8 out of 5 from 218 ratings in Apple's US App Store and 4.6 from 815 on Google Play, checked 16 Oct 2026.
$89 a year $7.42 a month, billed yearly · Satori Reader Pro
In our comparison: strongest on price and offline use, weakest on speaking practice.
- Annual plan
- $89 a year ($7.42/mo)
- Monthly plan
- $9
- Lifetime plan
- —
- Free tier
- Free to keep using Library access
Selected episodes, free for good: in the app, the first two episodes of every series and some special series in full. Pro opens the whole library of more than 1,650 episodes, offline listening and the discussion boards. - Languages
- 1
- Speech recognition
- —
- Live tutoring
- No
- Offline mode
- Yes · Offline access is part of Pro (pricing page).
- Placement test
- —
- CEFR levels
- —
- Refund or trial
- The first month is free in the iPhone app (one per customer). Satori Reader publishes no refund terms: a subscription bought in the App Store follows Apple's refund rules. Cancel any time and you keep Pro to the end of the period you paid for.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
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How a Satori Reader lesson works
- What you do
- Pick an episode of a series at your level and read it while native voice actors read it aloud, one sentence at a time or straight through; tap any word for its meaning in that sentence, open a sentence's notes for the grammar and a translation, and save words as flashcards that bring back the sentence and its audio.
- What comes back
- Its flashcards check whether you remember the words you saved, and questions you post under an episode are answered by Satori Reader's team in the discussion. Nothing else is marked.
- Not included
- A live teacher or stated CEFR levels.
How a lesson works in a reading app
Plans and prices
Every consumer plan on Satori Reader's own pricing page or app-store listing, in US dollars unless marked. Per month is the plan price divided by its term. Each price is what the seller was charging on the day we checked it. When a plan was on sale, its regular price is shown under the sale price; a crossed-out figure that is only a comparison, such as a year at the monthly rate, is in the plan's note.
| Plan | Billing | Price | Per month | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satori Reader FreeFreeApple's US listing: the first two episodes of each series, plus some special series in full. | Other | $0 | $0/mo | selected episodes |
| Satori Reader Pro, yearlyProBought on satorireader.com. In the iPhone app, Apple's US store lists Satori Reader Annual at $89.99. Pro includes Human Japanese Universal at no extra cost. | Annual | $89 | $7.42/mo | the whole library |
| Satori Reader Pro, monthlyProBought on satorireader.com. In the iPhone app, Apple's US store lists Satori Reader Monthly at $8.99. Pro includes Human Japanese Universal at no extra cost. | Monthly | $9 | $9/mo | the whole library |
What will Satori Reader cost you?
Total billed over 12 months
$19.00 less on annual billingOne yearly payment of $89.00.
What each plan covers. Monthly: the whole library. Yearly: the whole library.
Before subscribing, compare trial, cancellation and refund terms, including how purchases through an app store differ.
How to cancel Satori Reader, and how refunds work
What Satori Reader says about itself
| Feature | What Satori Reader says |
|---|---|
| CEFR levels | — |
| What it is | Immersion (video, audio, reading). Stories and series written for intermediate learners of Japanese, read and heard with native voice actors: every sentence is annotated with a translation and notes, any word can be tapped for its meaning in that sentence, the text shows kanji, kana or furigana by what you know, and words become flashcards that carry the sentence and its audio. |
| Languages offered | 1: Japanese |
| Free tier | Selected episodes, free for good: in the app, the first two episodes of every series and some special series in full. Pro opens the whole library of more than 1,650 episodes, offline listening and the discussion boards. |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web |
| Offline mode | Yes · Offline access is part of Pro (pricing page). |
| Speech recognition | — |
| Live tutoring | No |
| Placement test | — |
| Refund or trial | The first month is free in the iPhone app (one per customer). Satori Reader publishes no refund terms: a subscription bought in the App Store follows Apple's refund rules. Cancel any time and you keep Pro to the end of the period you paid for. |
| Company | Brak Software, Inc., United States |
How Satori Reader compares
Satori Reader is strongest on price and offline use, weakest on speaking practice. Each criterion is scored out of 5 from what each app says about itself and from independent reviews, to compare apps that do the same job; it is not a review of the app. How we score.
| Feature | Score (of 5) | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching depth | 2 | Japanese stories for intermediate learners, voiced by native actors, with every sentence explained and kanji shown by what you know |
| Speaking practice | 1 | — |
| Language coverage | 1 | 1 language |
| Free tier | 3 | A free account with limits |
| Price per month | 4 | $89 a year $7.42 a month, billed yearly · Satori Reader Pro |
| Trial and refund | 2 | Refunds follow Apple's or Google's rules |
| Offline use | 4 | Works offline |
| Staying power and bugs | – | Not available |
Languages you can learn on Satori Reader
1 language as listed by Satori Reader.
How far its courses go
- Satori Reader: Written for intermediate learners; each series is marked with its difficulty; 1,650+ episodes in 43 series, with new episodes each week. Kanji, kana only, or kanji with furigana, set by the kanji you know.
Compare Satori Reader
- Best app to learn Japanese: every app that teaches it, compared
- Best apps to learn a language with videos, TV and reading, compared
- Satori Reader against any other app, side by side
- What Satori Reader will cost you for the months you study
- All 99 apps in one table
References
- Satori Reader: pricing (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Satori Reader: home page (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Satori Reader: features
- Satori Reader: community and support (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Apple App Store: Satori Reader listing (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Satori Reader: terms and conditions