Best app to learn Chinese (Mandarin): every app that teaches it, compared
你好nee-HOW“hello” in Chinese
Start with Pimsleur ($149.95 a year) to hear and say the tones before you read, or Duolingo's free course for simplified characters with pinyin. Busuu ($72.99 a year) has a course labelled A1 to B2 and a separate one for characters, Glossika teaches Taiwan's Mandarin in traditional characters, and a tutor on italki or Preply will correct your tones.
Prices checked 6 Sept to 12 Oct 2026 · How we check
Our picks
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Best to hear and say the tones first
Pimsleur
Audio course
$149.95 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly · Premium
Why it's here. Half-hour audio lessons get you answering aloud, which suits a commute or a walk. Download lessons before you leave and you can practise without a connection.
Free: No free tier; 7-day free trial on subscriptions.
Skip it if you want to read and write, or want something free: it is audio first, with a 7-day trial.
Five levels of 30 daily lessons, about 15 hours each, with pinyin reading lessons in Levels 1 to 4.
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Best structured course
Busuu
Course app
$72.99 a year$6.08 a month, billed yearly · Premium
Why it's here. A structured course gives you a path through lessons, with corrections from native speakers. You can start with a free account before deciding whether the paid extras are useful.
Free: Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking.
Skip it if you want live conversation with a person; Busuu has no live lessons.
Complete Chinese, 210+ lessons labelled A1 to B2, and a separate course for reading and writing characters.
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Best free start
Duolingo
Course app
FreeEvery course, with ads and daily limits.
Why it's here. Short, game-like lessons make it easy to practise a little every day. You can follow the whole course free, with ads and limits.
Paid upgrade: Super removes the ads and limits: $9.99 to $119.99 in Apple's US App Store, depending on the plan, after a 1-week free trial.
Skip it if you want a person to talk to: Duolingo has no tutors, and Max's Video Call is an AI character.
Simplified characters with pinyin; Duolingo says its Chinese course goes up to B2.
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Best for a Chinese speaker to correct your tones
italki
Tutor marketplace
$10 to $40 an hourChinese teachers' rates; each teacher sets one
Why it's here. Choose a teacher for the language and conversation you need, then pay lesson by lesson. You get a real person to practise with without committing to an app subscription.
Free: No free tier; discounted trial lesson with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
Skip it if you want one fixed price or an app to study alone: each teacher sets their own rate.
104 languages
27 of the 34 apps we cover list Chinese; 22 of them have a free tier.
Mandarin asks two things of you from the first week: hearing and saying its four tones, and reading characters. Most apps here that say which teach simplified characters, the ones used in mainland China and Singapore; for Taiwan's traditional characters, look at Glossika, LingQ and FluentU. Cantonese is a different spoken language, with courses of its own.
What a year of Chinese costs
Every app that teaches Chinese and sells a yearly plan, cheapest first, from the plans on each app's own pages. Not on it, because they sell no yearly plan in dollars: italki, Praktika, Preply and Rocket Languages.
The yearly planPaying month to month for 12 monthsA price range; the app doesn't say which plan costs what
- Duolingoevery course free; Super's plan lengths not given $0 · Super $9.99 to $119.99 in the App Store
- uTalkone language about $30 · $59.88 if you pay monthly
- Tandemall its languages · free tier $39.99
- Mondlyone language · free tier $47.99 · $119.88 if you pay monthly
- Memriseall its languages · free tier $61.99 · $299.88 if you pay monthly
- Dropsall its languages · free tier $69.99 · $132 if you pay monthly
- MosaLinguaall its languages $71.88 · $119.88 if you pay monthly
- Busuuall its languages · free tier $72.99
- Clozemasterall its languages · free tier $79.99 · $155.88 if you pay monthly
- HelloTalkall its languages · free tier $79.99 · $155.88 if you pay monthly
- Lingopieall its languages $83.88
- Promovaall its languages · free tier $83.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Speakone language $83.99 · $215.88 if you pay monthly
- LingoDeerall its languages · free tier $95.99 · $179.88 if you pay monthly
- LingQall its languages · free tier $119.99 · $179.88 if you pay monthly
- Talkpalall its languages · free tier $119.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Mango Languagesall its languages about $120 · $167.88 if you pay monthly
- Pimsleurone language $149.95 · $239.40 if you pay monthly
- Languaall its languages · free tier $149.99 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Lingall its languages · free tier $149.99 · $203.88 if you pay monthly
- Rosetta Stoneall its languages $159 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- Glossikaone language about $199 · $239.88 if you pay monthly
- FluentUall its languages $239.99 · $359.88 if you pay monthly
Tones, pinyin and characters
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1Pinyin and tones
mā má mǎ màma, in each of the four tones
Pinyin spells Mandarin's sounds in Latin letters, and the mark over the vowel is the tone: the same syllable in another tone is another word. Learn them together, by ear. Pimsleur drills the tones by ear, with pinyin reading lessons in Levels 1 to 4; Rosetta Stone teaches pinyin and tones too, and Ling has tone practice.
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2Characters
你 好nǐ · hǎo: “hello”
Each character is one syllable with a meaning. Mainland China and Singapore write simplified characters; Taiwan and Hong Kong write traditional ones. Busuu sells a separate Chinese Characters course; Duolingo's free course teaches simplified characters with pinyin.
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3Words
中 文zhōng · wén: “Chinese”
Most everyday words are two characters long, so each character you learn turns up in many words. FluentU shows simplified and traditional forms with pinyin and tags its videos by HSK level; Glossika has a separate Taiwan course in traditional characters.
How far each Chinese course goes
Each app's Chinese course as its maker describes it: the level it says the course reaches, and how big it is. 7 of the 20 courses state a CEFR level; the rest use their own levels or state none. A course's level is what its lessons cover, not proof that you will reach it. Sizes are each maker's own measure (words, hours, lessons or units), so they cannot be compared directly. Read from each maker's pages on 12 Oct 2026. What the CEFR levels mean.
| App and course | How far it goes | How big it is | Writing system |
|---|---|---|---|
| GlossikaMandarin Chinese (China) · Glossika: Mandarin Chinese (China) course | A1 to C1 | 5,000+ words and sentences | Simplified characters, with pinyin |
| GlossikaMandarin Chinese (Taiwan) · Glossika: Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) course | A1 to C1 | 5,000+ words and sentences | Traditional characters, with pinyin |
| BusuuComplete Chinese · Busuu: Chinese course | A1 to B2 | 210+ lessons | A separate Chinese Characters course for reading and writing |
| DuolingoChinese · Duolingo blog: courses now teach to B2 | Up to B2 | Not stated | Simplified characters, with pinyinDuolingo blog: Chinese languages |
| LingoDeerChinese · LingoDeer: Chinese course | A1 to B1 | Not stated | Not stated |
| SpeakChinese (Simplified) · Speak blog: Chinese now on Speak | Up to B1 | Not stated | Simplified characters, with pinyin |
| uTalkMandarin (Simplified Chinese) · uTalk: Mandarin course | A1 to A2 | Not stated | Simplified characters |
The other 13 Chinese courses: their own levels, or none stated
| App and course | How far it goes | How big it is | Writing system |
|---|---|---|---|
| ClozemasterMandarin Chinese from English · Clozemaster: Mandarin Chinese | HSK 1 to 6 sentence collections | Not stated | Not stated |
| FluentUMandarin Chinese · FluentU: Chinese | Videos tagged by HSK level, 1 to 6 | Not stated | Simplified and traditional characters, with pinyin |
| LingopieMandarin Chinese · Lingopie: learn Chinese | Beginner to advanced | Not stated | Not stated |
| MondlyChinese · Mondly: Chinese lessons | Beginner, intermediate and advanced courses | Not stated | Not stated |
| PimsleurChinese (Mandarin) · Pimsleur: Chinese (Mandarin) Levels 1-5 | Levels 1 to 5 | 5 levels of 30 daily lessons, about 15 hours each | Pinyin reading lessons in Levels 1 to 4 |
| Rocket LanguagesRocket Chinese · Rocket Languages: Rocket Chinese levels and hours | Levels 1 to 3, beginner to advanced | 451 hours of lessons in Levels 1 to 3 | Lessons on how the writing system works and on writing charactersRocket Languages: Rocket Chinese |
| DropsMandarin Chinese · Drops: Mandarin Chinese | Not stated | 2,000+ words | Not stated |
| LanguaMandarin Chinese · support.languatalk.com: see the latest updates on langua | Not stated | Not stated | Pinyin shown as a reading aid |
| LingChinese Simplified · Ling: Chinese course | Not stated | Not stated | Simplified characters; tone practice |
| LingQChinese library · LingQ: learn Chinese | Not stated | Thousands of hours of audio lessons with transcripts | Simplified and traditional, as separate libraries |
| MemriseChinese · Memrise: Chinese course | Not stated | Not stated | Pinyin and characters |
| PraktikaSimplified Chinese · Praktika help: which languages you can study | Not stated | Not stated | Simplified characters |
| Rosetta StoneChinese (Mandarin) · Rosetta Stone: learn Chinese | Not stated | Not stated | Pinyin and tones |
Every app that teaches Chinese
Recommended first within each type of app. Sort any column or filter by what matters to you.
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| Best for | Free tier | Speech | Tutor | Offline | CEFR | Refund or trial | Where to buy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course apps | |||||||||||
| DuolingoCourse appSuper in the US App Store: $9.99 to $119.99, depending on the plan. | A free daily habit | Freepaid tier priced in-app | — | — | Free to keep using Full free tier with ads and limits; Super removes the ads and limits, and Max adds AI practice (Video Call and Roleplay). | Yes | No | Yes · Limited lessons available offline; progress syncs when connected | A1 to B2 | 1 week free trial on Super | |
| BusuuCourse app | Corrections from native speakers | $72.99 a year$6.08 a month, billed yearly | — | — | Free to keep using Free account with the complete course in each language, community feedback and basic progress tracking; Premium adds review tools, offline mode and no ads. | Yes | No · Live Lessons are exclusive to Busuu for Business, outside the consumer subscription | Yes | A1 to C1by course | 14-day money-back guarantee on the initial Premium payment; no renewal refunds. Apple and mobile-operator purchases require a refund from that provider. | |
| PromovaCourse app | Short lessons with AI speaking practice | $83.99 a year$7 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using Courses are free if you watch an ad before each lesson; AI role-play is limited. | Yes | No | — | A1 to C1by course | A free trial for new subscribers. Refunds for website and Google Play purchases are asked for by email; App Store purchases go through Apple. | |
| Mango LanguagesCourse app | Free through many public libraries | About $120 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $13.99 | — | Free sample Free trial on both personal plans; the first lesson of any language is free; 10 endangered and indigenous language courses are free; free full access through participating public libraries | No | No | Yes | A1 to B1by course | Free trial on Individual and Family plans; cancel before it ends and you are not charged | |
| LingCourse app | Asian and less-taught languages | $149.99 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $16.99 | — | Free to keep using Free tier with limited lessons and limited dialogue practice, with ads | Yes | Live online tutors, booked separately through Ling Live. | — | — | 7-day free trial on the 12-month plan; 30-day money-back refund for yearly and lifetime subscriptions bought via Ling web (app-store purchases follow Apple's or Google's refund policy) | |
| LingoDeerCourse app | Grammar-led lessons, with alphabet units for Japanese and Korean | $95.99 a year$8 a month, billed yearly | $14.99 | — | Free to keep using A free version with limited lessons; a membership unlocks every course and feature. | — | — | Yes | A1 to B1by course | A 7-day money-back guarantee on yearly and longer plans bought on LingoDeer's website, one request per person; no refund for part of a period or a renewal you forgot. | |
| Rocket LanguagesCourse app | Paying once per level, not a subscription | $149.95Rocket Chinese Level 1 | — | $449.85 | Free trial A free trial; the page does not say what it includes or for how long. | Yes | No | Yes · audio lessons download in the app; voice recognition needs a connection | A1 to B2by course | A free trial; 60-day money-back guarantee on purchases. | |
| Rosetta StoneCourse app | Immersion without translation | $159 a year$13.25 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free sample Free sample lessons on its site; no lasting free plan. | Yes | Coaching sessions with a Rosetta Stone certified tutor. | Yes | — | 14-day money-back guarantee | |
| MondlyCourse app | A cheap yearly plan across many languages | $47.99 a year$4 a month, billed yearly | $9.99one language | — | Free to keep using Free version with Daily Lessons, the Hello category and a chatbot lesson. | — | — | — | A1 to B2by course | 7-day free trial | |
| Audio courses | |||||||||||
| PimsleurAudio course | Audio lessons for a commute | $149.95 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $19.95one language | $798 | No | Yes | — | Yes | — | 7-day free trial on subscriptions; 30 Day money back guarantee on purchases | |
| GlossikaAudio course | Sentence drills by ear | About $199 a year$16.58 a month, billed yearly | $19.99one language | — | Free trial 7-day full access with no credit card, plus a permanent Freemium tier covering nine minoritized languages | No | No | Yes | A1 to C1by course | 7-day free trial with no credit card; monthly payments are non-refundable, annual plans refundable pro rata within 60 days of purchase | |
| Vocabulary and flashcard apps | |||||||||||
| ClozemasterVocabulary and flashcards | Free vocabulary practice in context | $79.99 a year$6.67 a month, billed yearly | $12.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account with up to 30 sentences a day; Pro adds unlimited play and advanced features | — | — | Yes · on Pro, in the mobile app | — | 30-day money back guarantee on the Yearly plan; no refunds on Monthly plans | |
| uTalkVocabulary and flashcards | Phrases in 160 languages | About $30 a year$2.50 a month, billed yearly | $4.99 | — | Free sample Starter Words, a free 26-word pack in every language, plus an online demo at demo.utalk.com | No | No | Yes | A1 to A2by course | 28-day money-back guarantee | |
| MemriseVocabulary and flashcards | Native-speaker clips and review | $61.99 a year$5.17 a month, billed yearly | $24.99 | $329.99 | Free to keep using Limited free version of the app; the paid plan unlocks the rest. | Yes | — | No · The current experience needs cloud-based tools | — | 30-day money-back guarantee; monthly plans have a 14-day refund window. Apple purchases require a refund from Apple. | |
| DropsVocabulary and flashcards | Five-minute vocabulary sessions | $69.99 a year$5.83 a month, billed yearly | $11 | $150 | Free to keep using Free access capped at 5 minutes of play every 10 hours, with topics unlocked one at a time through gameplay | — | — | Yes | — | 7-day free trial on the Yearly plan; affiliate terms reference a 14-day refund period | |
| MosaLinguaVocabulary and flashcards | The most useful words first, on a review schedule | $71.88 a year$5.99 a month, billed yearly | $9.99 | — | Free trial Free download and a free trial; the full set of features needs a Premium subscription. | — | — | Yes | — | A free trial first, then a 30-day money-back guarantee on website and Android purchases; not on App Store purchases. | |
| Learning from real video, text and audio | |||||||||||
| LingopieImmersion (video, reading) | TV and film with interactive subtitles | $83.88 a year$6.99 a month, billed yearly | — | $229 | No | Yes · Say It pronunciation practice | Live group lessons on their own monthly or quarterly plan, for subscribers who pay by card; the first lesson is free. | Yes · iOS only; up to 10 downloadable videos | — | 7-day free trial; yearly subscription is charged after the trial and cannot be refunded | |
| LingQImmersion (video, reading) | Reading and listening to real content | $119.99 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $14.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account capped at 20 saved words and phrases, 5 lessons created from imported content, and 1 audio playlist | — | — | Yes | — | Full refund during the first 30 days of an initial Premium subscription; no partial-month or unused-month refunds afterward. | |
| FluentUImmersion (video, reading) | Learning from real videos | $239.99 a year$20 a month, billed yearly | $29.99 | — | No | Yes | Group classes in some languages, offered free with the subscription for a limited time; no one-to-one lessons. | Yes · audio, quizzes and transcripts download; the videos stream only | — | 14-day free trial with no payment up front, plus a 20-day money-back guarantee | |
| AI conversation practice | |||||||||||
| SpeakAI conversation practice | Speaking practice with AI | $83.99 a year$7 a month, billed yearly | $17.99 | — | Free trial 7-day free trial; no permanently free tier is published | Yes | No | — | — | 7-day free trial; refunds for App Store and Google Play purchases go through Apple or Google, and website purchases through Speak support | |
| TalkpalAI conversation practice | AI conversation practice in many languages | $119.99 a year$10 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using The Basic plan: 10 minutes of chat a day, with progress tracking and pronunciation checks. | Yes | No | No | — | A 14-day free trial for new users. Bought from Talkpal directly: a full refund if you ask within 30 days of a charge; not for app store purchases. | |
| LanguaAI conversation practice | Natural-sounding AI conversation practice | $149.99 a year$12.50 a month, billed yearly | $19.99 | — | Free to keep using A free version with low limits: 3 minutes of calls a day and about 20 chat messages a week. | Yes | Human tutors on LanguaTalk, booked separately from Langua; each tutor sets a price per lesson. | — | — | A Pro trial (5 days on a monthly plan, 7 on a yearly one; card needed), and a 30-day money-back guarantee on web and Google Play subscriptions; App Store ones follow Apple's rules. | |
| PraktikaAI conversation practice | Talking with an AI avatar tutor | $9.99 a monthPraktika Premium, 1 month | $9.99 | — | Free to keep using Free to download and use: 3 AI avatars, limited speaking practice, basic feedback. | Yes | No | — | — | A refund if you ask within 48 hours of a charge, Praktika's help centre says; its terms otherwise make fees non-refundable. | |
| Tutors and live classes | |||||||||||
| italkiTutor marketplace | Tutors priced per lesson | $10 to $40 an hourChinese teachers' rates; each teacher sets one | — | — | No | — | Every lesson is live and one to one; italki also sells group classes. | — | — | Discounted trial lesson with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee: up to two credit refunds on trial lessons if the teacher did not show up or did not meet expectations, requested within 48 hours | |
| PreplyTutor marketplace | Weekly lessons with one tutor | $13 a lesson on averageChinese, 50 minutes, from $3; each tutor sets a rate | — | — | No | — | Every lesson is live and one to one. | — | — | Paid trial lesson; up to 2 free trial replacements per account (a new trial with a different tutor at no charge) if the trial did not meet expectations; a tutor who did not join is handled separately, with no limit | |
| Language exchange | |||||||||||
| TandemLanguage exchange | Language exchange with native speakers | $39.99 a year$3.33 a month, billed yearly | — | — | Free to keep using Free account with many features; Tandem Pro unlocks the rest | No | No | — | — | Google Play purchases refundable within 14 days of a 1-month subscription or 30 days of a 3-month or 12-month subscription; iOS refunds requested from iTunes within 14 days | |
| HelloTalkLanguage exchange | Chatting with native speakers | $79.99 a year$6.67 a month, billed yearly | $12.99 | — | Free to keep using Free account with ads and daily limits (for example ten translations a day); occasional randomly offered 3-day VIP trials | — | No | Yes | — | Occasional randomly offered 3-day free VIP trial; refunds handled by Apple or Google for in-app purchases | |
Which to choose
You want to hear and say the tones first
Pimsleur
Pimsleur's Mandarin course is five levels of 30 daily audio lessons, about 15 hours a level, in which you answer aloud and copy the tones you hear. Reading lessons in Levels 1 to 4 teach pinyin. Premium is $149.95 a year for one language, after a 7-day free trial.
You want a course that teaches you to read
Busuu, or Duolingo for free
Busuu's Complete Chinese has 210+ lessons labelled A1 to B2, and a separate Chinese Characters course teaches you to read and write them; Premium is $72.99 a year. Duolingo's Chinese course is free, in simplified characters with pinyin, and Duolingo says it now goes up to B2. Rocket Chinese adds lessons on how the writing system works and how to write characters yourself.
You want traditional characters, for Taiwan or Hong Kong
Glossika, LingQ or FluentU
Glossika sells Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) as its own course, in traditional characters with pinyin, from A1 to C1. LingQ keeps separate simplified and traditional libraries, and FluentU shows both forms with pinyin on every video.
You want a Chinese speaker to correct your tones
italki or Preply, or HelloTalk for free
Preply's Chinese tutors average $13 a 50-minute lesson, and italki says its Chinese teachers charge $10 to $40 an hour, on average. HelloTalk and Tandem pair you with Chinese speakers learning your language, free with limits.
Questions people ask
What is the best app to learn Chinese?
To start by ear with the tones, Pimsleur; for a structured course that teaches reading, Busuu, or Duolingo for free; for traditional characters, Glossika's Taiwan course or LingQ; for a person to correct your tones, italki or Preply. The table lists every app that teaches Chinese, with its price.
Should I learn simplified or traditional characters?
Simplified for mainland China and Singapore, traditional for Taiwan and Hong Kong; the spoken Mandarin is the same. Most apps here teach simplified. Glossika's Taiwan course teaches traditional, and LingQ and FluentU offer both.
Which apps teach pinyin and the tones?
Pimsleur drills the tones by ear and teaches pinyin in reading lessons in Levels 1 to 4. Rosetta Stone says its lessons introduce pinyin and tones, Ling has tone practice, Speak has a pronunciation lesson in every unit, and Duolingo, Memrise and FluentU show pinyin with the characters.
Is Mandarin the same as Cantonese?
No. They are different spoken languages, though both can be written in Chinese characters. This page is about Mandarin; Cantonese is taught by courses of its own, on some of the same apps.