Yoyo Chinese
Course app: Mandarin taught in short video lessons explained in English, with flashcards, review and a quiz after each.
Prices checked 17 Oct 2026 · How we check
Is Yoyo Chinese worth it?
Yes, if you are starting Mandarin and want a teacher to explain tones, pinyin and grammar in English, one short video at a time, in an order laid out for you from beginner to upper intermediate.
What it costs. Learn, the full course, is about $144 a year ($11.99 a month) or $19.99 month to month; Watch, the videos alone, is about $108 a year ($8.99 a month) or $14.99 month to month. Lifetime Learner is $299 once, with no renewals.
What's free. A free account for good: 75+ video lessons with their quizzes, the interactive pinyin chart and study downloads.
Skip it if you want to study offline or speak with a person: Yoyo's videos only stream, nothing scores your pronunciation, and it sells no live lessons.
What learners rate it. 4.9 out of 5 from 19 ratings in Apple's US App Store and 4.8 from 16 on Google Play, checked 16 Oct 2026.
About $108 a year $8.99 a month, billed yearly · Watch
In our comparison: strongest on teaching depth and trial and refund terms, weakest on speaking practice.
- Annual plan
- $8.99/mo, billed yearly (no yearly total stated)
- Monthly plan
- $14.99
- Lifetime plan
- $299 once, everything in Learn, for as long as Yoyo Chinese runs
- Free tier
- Free to keep using
A free account for good: 75+ video lessons with their quizzes, the interactive pinyin chart and study downloads; its plans page says that is full access to roughly the first 30 lessons. - Languages
- 1
- Speech recognition
- No · You record yourself and play it back to compare; nothing is said to score it.
- Live tutoring
- No
- Offline mode
- No · The lesson videos stream only; its Download Center files can be saved.
- Placement test
- —
- CEFR levels
- —
- Refund or trial
- A 7-day money-back guarantee on a first purchase made on yoyochinese.com: email [email protected] within 7 days of paying. No refunds on renewals; App Store purchases are refunded by Apple.
- Platforms
- iOS, Android, Web
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Links to the app makers' own sites earn us nothing. Commissions never affect which apps we recommend. Affiliate disclosure and how the data is collected.
How a Yoyo Chinese lesson works
- What you do
- Watch a lesson of about five minutes in which a teacher explains a point in English, with real unscripted dialogue; then practise it with flashcards, the dialogue and audio review, record yourself and play it back, and finish with a ten-question quiz.
- What comes back
- Automatic: each lesson's ten-question quiz is marked. You record yourself and play it back to compare; nothing scores your pronunciation. No person checks your work.
- Not included
- A live teacher, feedback on your pronunciation, offline lessons or stated CEFR levels.
How a lesson works in a course app
Plans and prices
Every consumer plan on Yoyo Chinese'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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreeIts plans page answers: a free account gives full Learn access to roughly the first 30 lessons. | Other | $0 | $0/mo | the free lessons |
| Watch, yearlyWatchIts plans page gives $8.99 a month on the annual plan, not the yearly total; Apple's US store lists the Watch Plan's year at $107.99. | Annual | — | $8.99/mo | the video lessons and their notes |
| Learn, yearlyLearnIts plans page gives $11.99 a month on the annual plan, not the yearly total; Apple's US store lists the Learn Plan's year at $143.99. | Annual | — | $11.99/mo | everything: the six courses with their practice, quizzes and flashcards |
| Watch, monthlyWatchThe videos and downloadable notes, without the practice, quizzes and flashcards. Apple's US store lists the Watch Plan at $14.99. | Monthly | $14.99 | $14.99/mo | the video lessons and their notes |
| Learn, monthlyLearnApple's US store lists the Learn Plan at $19.99. | Monthly | $19.99 | $19.99/mo | everything: the six courses with their practice, quizzes and flashcards |
| Lifetime LearnerLifetimeOne payment, no renewals. Its help page says lifetime means the lifetime of Yoyo Chinese as a business, and includes courses released later. Apple's US store lists it at $299.00. | Lifetime | $299 | one-time | everything in Learn, for as long as Yoyo Chinese runs |
Before subscribing, compare trial, cancellation and refund terms, including how purchases through an app store differ.
How to cancel Yoyo Chinese, and how refunds work
What Yoyo Chinese says about itself
| Feature | What Yoyo Chinese says |
|---|---|
| CEFR levels | — |
| What it is | Course app. Short video lessons with Yangyang and other teachers, explained in English, in six courses from beginner conversation to reading characters; each lesson is followed by flashcards, dialogue and audio review, lecture notes and a ten-question quiz, and you can record yourself and play it back. |
| Languages offered | 1: Chinese |
| Free tier | A free account for good: 75+ video lessons with their quizzes, the interactive pinyin chart and study downloads; its plans page says that is full access to roughly the first 30 lessons. |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, Web · The courses run in the browser at yoyochinese.com, and in its iPhone and Android apps. |
| Offline mode | No · The lesson videos stream only; its Download Center files can be saved. |
| Speech recognition | No · You record yourself and play it back to compare; nothing is said to score it. |
| Live tutoring | No |
| Placement test | — |
| Refund or trial | A 7-day money-back guarantee on a first purchase made on yoyochinese.com: email [email protected] within 7 days of paying. No refunds on renewals; App Store purchases are refunded by Apple. |
| Company | Yoyo Chinese Inc. |
How Yoyo Chinese compares
Yoyo Chinese is strongest on teaching depth and trial and refund terms, 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 | 4 | Mandarin taught in short video lessons explained in English, with flashcards, review and a quiz after each |
| Speaking practice | 1 | You record yourself and compare with a native speaker; nothing scores or answers you |
| Language coverage | 1 | 1 language |
| Free tier | 3 | A free account with limits |
| Price per month | 3 | About $108 a year $8.99 a month, billed yearly · Watch |
| Trial and refund | 4 | A 7-day money-back guarantee |
| Offline use | 1 | No offline mode |
| Staying power and bugs | – | Not available |
Languages you can learn on Yoyo Chinese
1 language as listed by Yoyo Chinese.
How far its courses go
- Yoyo Chinese: Six courses: Beginner, Intermediate and Upper Intermediate Conversational Chinese, Chinese Characters I and II, and a Chinese Character Reader; 1,000+ video lessons, 10,000+ quiz questions, 15,000+ flashcards. Pinyin first, then characters in their own two courses and a reader.
Compare Yoyo Chinese
- Best app to learn Chinese (Mandarin): every app that teaches it, compared
- Language apps you pay for once, compared
- Best language learning apps for beginners, compared
- Best language learning apps for seniors, compared
- Yoyo Chinese against any other app, side by side
- All 99 apps in one table
References
- Yoyo Chinese: plans and questions (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Yoyo Chinese help: lifetime access (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Apple App Store: Yoyo Chinese listing (checked 16 Oct 2026)
- Yoyo Chinese: terms and conditions (checked 16 Oct 2026)