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Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Yomitai

Your Japanese reading assistant

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Yomitai launched in 2024; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1

    I quit my job last year and worked mostly on this full SwiftUI rewrite of my Japanese reading app, Manabi Reader. The rewrite gave me the opportunity to expand to macOS (and without Catalyst so it feels extra native) and redo the data layer to be offline-first via Realm with iCloud sync. The biggest differentiators compared with other language study apps are that it tracks every word/kanji you read so that you can see how much of a given webpage/article you're already familiar with and other features/analytics built on that foundation; it automatically builds a personal corpus…

    2023 · reader.manabi.io · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Read Japanese kana in two weeks

    Aug 2026 · kanasensei.dev · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    Read & listen to native Japanese and Chinese, tap any word

    Jul 2026 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4

    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 →

  5. 5

    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 →

  6. 6

    Learn Japanese with Anime

    2025 · chromewebstore.google.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7
    KanjiLens▲120

    Kanji Lens is a Japanese manga translator and learning tool.

    Jan 2026 · kanjilens.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8
    BiRead▲302

    An easy tool for instant bilingual reading

    2024 · biread.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9IM

    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 →

  10. 10
    Kanaji▲95

    Learn Japanese Kanji

    Nov 2025 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11AF

    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 →

  12. 12

    Actually, it is yet another tool to learn a language through immersion (classic set of features, watch on youtube/netflix, read a website or book). It has a popup dictionary so you can click on a word and it will show the definition. Nothing new in that regard, except that it has been made with only Korean in mind and does not plan to extends to other languages. I was learning and still am learning Korean (now using my own tool to learn!). I initially made the tool for myself because none of the tools out there could correctly figure out what a word was in the text. And that's where the…

    2023 · kimchi-reader.app · its alternatives →

  13. 13

    Turn any webpage into a Japanese reading lesson

    Jul 2026 · its alternatives →

  14. 14
    Kanjimi▲14

    Learn Japanese by reading real content on internet

    2020 · its alternatives →

  15. 15
    Nihongo▲73

    A modern Japanese dictionary and study tool

    2016 · nihongo-app.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    Study Japanese hiragana and katakana with this simply game

    2023 · play.google.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17
    yomori▲2

    Absorb the original Japanese as your own knowledge.

    May 2026 · yomori.vercel.app · its alternatives →

  18. 18
    Yomiwa▲11

    Recognize and translate kanjis in realtime

    2016 · yomiwa.net · its alternatives →

  19. 19IB

    Hey HN! I’m Alex, and one of my favorite ways to learn languages is by reading novels. Currently I’m reading 三体 (3 body problem), but one problem I've always had is it takes ages to look up words, and add them to Anki flashcards so I can remember them. 三体 is especially brutal with so much sci-fi vocab. That’s why I built Readly. I snap a pic of the page I’m reading, it loads the text in-app and lets me lookup words, add to Anki-style flashcards, or ask AI questions about the text, all in a single tap. It's a huge time saver. My specific learning strategy, if anyone wants to replicate it: 1.…

    2025 · readly.ink · its alternatives →

  20. 20

    Learn Japanese hiragana and vocabulary with cute characters

    2023 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21
    Yomu▲78

    One place to read your favorite content from around the web

    2018 · yomu.io · its alternatives →

  22. 22
    Oyomi▲83

    Machine learning based Japanese reader & grammar analyzer

    2023 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Free furigana converter: Add hiragana, katakana, or romaji to Japanese text, PDFs, images & ebooks. No signup required. Try it instantly.

    May 2026 · ezfurigana.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    Language learning anywhere: from Apple Watch to the Mac

    2020 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

Also compare

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 →