Work · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Japanese Writing & Speaking
Japanese Writing & Speaking App
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1AF
I'm a long time lurker that recently quit my job to work on my own projects, a lot due to the inspiration from Hacker News. Now I have published my first serious project, an app for learning how to write Japanese characters. It's the app I always wanted but couldn't find when I was studying. It tries to be simple to use, you just start the quiz and go with the flow. There's no need to plan and manage your studies, and it uses spaced repetition for better retention. There's a promo page with more details up at http://www.kanjibyhand.com. It's only for Android so far. The free version includes…
2012 · kanjibyhand.com. · its alternatives →
- 2

Hey HN, it’s been 8 years since I posted on here about the launch of my Japanese dictionary app Nihongo [0] and I’m finally back with a new app: Nihongo Lessons! Think of Nihongo Lessons as the textbook to Nihongo’s dictionary. It’s an app for learning Japanese, specifically made for learners who are serious about becoming fluent, and want a guided set of content that will help them efficiently acquire vocabulary and grammar. The project came about when Adam Shapiro of Japanese Level Up (Jalup) [1] announced last April that he was shutting Jalup down. As a fan of Adam’s work I was bummed to…
2022 · lessons.nihongo-app.com · its alternatives →
- 3
Fujiyama▲192Practice natural Japanese conversation in real-time with AI
2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Practice Japanese through conversations
2024 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
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Kana Words▲76Study Japanese hiragana and katakana with this simply game
2023 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
- 11
Kann for Android▲171Learn Japanese vocabulary you care about!
2025 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
- 12IM
The idea is actually quite simple. As a Japanese learner and a coder, I've always wanted there to be an open-source, 100% free for learning Japanese, similar to Monkeytype in the typing community. Unfortunately, pretty much all language learning apps are closed-sourced and paid these days, and the ones that are free have unfortunately been abandoned. But of course, just creating yet another language learning app was not enough - there has to be a unique selling point. And then I thought to myself: why not make it crazy and do what no other language learning app ever did by adding a gazillion…
2025 · kanadojo.com · its alternatives →
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lwlnow▲167I’m thrilled to introduce lwlnow, a web app designed to assist language learners in enhancing their listening, vocabulary, and writing skills through dictation-based practice—a technique that is both versatile and impactful. Why we developed it: Most language apps focus on passive learning or game-like memorization techniques. However, true fluency emerges when you train your brain to understand native speech and respond accurately. Dictation stands out as one of the most effective yet underappreciated methods for skill-building: You listen to a native sentence. You type exactly what you…
2025 · lwlnow.com · its alternatives →
- 15

I spent ten years trying to write a novel. Every time I sat down, I'd write a sentence, decide it wasn't good enough, and rewrite it. The problem wasn't discipline — it was that I could always see what I'd written and go back to change it. I tried other approaches. Apps that delete your words when you stop typing — they fight fear with fear. That just made me panic. I wanted the opposite: not punishment, but permission. "Tomoshibi" is Japanese for a small light in the dark — just enough to see what's in front of you. You write on a dark screen. Older lines fade, but not when you hit return.…
Feb 2026 · tomoshibi.in-hakumei.com · its alternatives →
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Fun games, grammar, expressions, alphabet, food and places.
2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →
- 18

Japanese dictionary app for iPhone and iPad with kanji lookup, example sentences, flashcards, OCR photo lookup, and a Safari extension for reading Japanese.
2015 · nihongo-app.com · its alternatives →
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Learn Japanese with Illustrated Stories
2025 · shinobi-japanese.com · its alternatives →
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Phrase Log▲143Multilingual phrases app with audio & pronunciation
2024 · phraselog.com · its alternatives →
- 23SJ
2020 · play.google.com · its alternatives →
- 24

Hi HN, Just wanted to share a tool i've been working on to help with my own study routine. It’s a browser extension called Lingoku. The idea is simple: we spend hours browsing the web in English every day. This tool replaces some of the english words with Japanese vocabulary based on your japanese level (Similar to Toucan, but with a better user experience). It’s basically an attempt to make the "i+1" method actually passive, you understand the sentence because it's mostly english, but you pick up Japanese words naturally from the context. It uses an LLM in the backend to make sure the…
Dec 2025 · lingoku.ai · its alternatives →
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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →