Comparison · checked August 2026
Best AI apps to learn Chinese, compared honestly
Five apps, five different bets on how you learn to speak Mandarin. Here is what each one publishes about its AI speaking practice, HSK coverage, free tier and price — including the three things SayMei does worse than the others.
Try a free lessonSayMei, HelloChinese, SuperChinese, Duolingo and Pimsleur
Every cell below describes something the product publishes about itself. We do not rate quality here, and we do not claim to win rows we lose.
| Compared on | SayMei | HelloChinese | SuperChinese | Duolingo | Pimsleur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time spoken conversation with an AI | Yes — live voice lessons with an AI teacher, in the browser, no download. You answer out loud in your own words instead of tapping a supplied answer. | Not listed among its advertised features; the app centres on speech-recognition drills, dialogues and native-speaker video. | Yes — its CHAO AI tutor corrects your sentences and gives instant feedback on your speaking. | Yes — AI Video Call, in the paid Max tier. Duolingo lists Chinese among the supported courses. | No — you answer recorded prompts aloud, with an AI coach for pronunciation feedback. |
| HSK structure | Lesson library organised HSK 1–6. The 1,183 HSK 1–4 lesson prompts were rewritten in 2026. | “Systematic courses based on HSK levels”; its store listing cites 430+ grammar points and 2,500+ words. | Advertises a path “from zero to HSK5”, across 8 levels and 900+ short lessons. | Not organised by HSK — the Chinese course runs on its own section and unit ladder. | Not organised by HSK — five Mandarin levels of 30-minute audio lessons. |
| Free tier | Yes — a free first live lesson, 13 free tools and printable packs, none of which need an account. | Yes — free to install with free lessons; Premium unlocks the rest of the course. | Yes — free to install with limited free access, plus a free trial. | Yes — the largest free tier here; the course is usable free, with ads. | A 7-day free trial rather than an ongoing free tier. |
| Published price, checked August 2026 | Premium is $5.99/month for 200 live minutes after a 7-day trial. The tools and printables stay free. | App Store listing starts around $11.99/month or $69.99/year; Premium+ tiers cost more. | Not published on superchinese.com. Its plans — PLUS and AI CHAO, sold separately — appear only in the app and on its store listing, and vary by store and region. | Free tier; Super starts around $12.99/month or roughly $96/year, and Max costs more. | Subscriptions start around $20/month. |
Prices and features were checked in August 2026 against each product’s own site and app-store listing. Subscription pricing changes often and varies by country, platform and promotion — verify on the vendor’s own page before relying on it. Sources checked August 2026: HelloChinese’s own site (https://www.hellochinese.cc/); HelloChinese on the App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hellochinese-learn-chinese/id1001507516); SuperChinese’s own site (https://www.superchinese.com/); SuperChinese on the App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/superchinese-learn-chinese/id1462500984); Duolingo on the App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-language-lessons/id570060128); Duolingo’s Video Call announcement (https://blog.duolingo.com/video-call/); Pimsleur’s Mandarin course page (https://www.pimsleur.com/learn-chinese-mandarin).
Where SayMei loses
Three things the apps above do better than we do. If one of them is what you actually need, use that app — you can always run it alongside a speaking practice habit.
Habit-building and gamification
Duolingo’s streaks, leagues and reminder machinery are far more developed than ours. If the thing that stops you is showing up daily, that game loop is genuinely worth having.
Offline, structured audio
Pimsleur’s 30-minute audio lessons download and run with no connection. SayMei’s lessons are live voice sessions, so they need one — our offline answer is printable worksheets, not audio.
A full character-writing curriculum
HelloChinese and SuperChinese have spent years building graded handwriting and character-recognition courses. SayMei has printable stroke-order worksheets and flashcards, not a multi-year in-app writing course.
What SayMei does differently
- You speak out loud to an AI teacher in real time, instead of tapping words into a sentence.
- 1,183 HSK 1–4 lesson prompts were rewritten in 2026 so each lesson drives one grammar point.
- A printable resource library — workbooks with answer keys — behind no account and no email form.
- 13 free tools, including a pinyin chart, a tone-pair trainer and a worksheet generator.
See what that costs on the pricing page, browse the conversation lesson library, or start with the free Chinese learning tools and printable practice packs.
Frequently asked questions
Which of these apps actually lets you talk out loud?
SayMei, SuperChinese and Duolingo all offer AI speaking practice. SayMei runs live voice lessons in the browser, where you reply out loud in your own words rather than tapping the right option, SuperChinese’s CHAO AI gives feedback on what you say, and Duolingo’s Video Call sits inside its paid Max tier. Pimsleur has you answer recorded prompts aloud, and HelloChinese scores your pronunciation with speech recognition.
Can I try these Chinese apps without paying?
Yes, in different ways. SayMei, HelloChinese, SuperChinese and Duolingo each have a free tier you can use without a card, though how much is unlocked varies a lot between them. Pimsleur runs a 7-day free trial instead. SayMei’s free first live lesson, printable packs and free tools need no account at all.
What is each of these apps built around?
Unlike the table above, this answer is our opinion rather than anything the products publish. HelloChinese and SuperChinese both build outward from a graded course — characters, grammar and HSK progression. Duolingo builds around the daily habit, with streaks, leagues and reminders at enormous scale. Pimsleur is audio-first, made for a commute or a walk. SayMei builds around the part that usually comes last: saying something out loud and being answered.
Should I use SayMei instead of Duolingo or HelloChinese?
Often the honest answer is alongside, not instead. SayMei is built for the part most apps skip — producing spoken Mandarin under real-time pressure. If you also want a gamified daily habit or a graded character-writing course, Duolingo and HelloChinese do those better than we do, and nothing stops you running both.
Where is SayMei weaker than these other apps?
Three places, plainly. Duolingo’s streaks and leagues build a daily habit better than ours do. Pimsleur’s downloadable audio works offline and hands-free, while SayMei’s live lessons need a connection. HelloChinese and SuperChinese both have far deeper character-writing curricula than our printable worksheets and flashcards.
How current are the prices listed on this page?
They were checked in August 2026 against each product’s own site and app-store listing, and we quote approximate starting points rather than exact figures. SuperChinese publishes no price on its site at all, so its cell says that instead of guessing a number. Subscription prices change often and vary by country, platform and promotion, so check the vendor’s own listing — every source we used is listed under the table — before you decide.