Literate Chinese vs Hack Chinese: an honest comparison

Hack Chinese is a dedicated vocabulary trainer, a spaced-repetition system built only for Chinese words and characters. Literate Chinese is a graded-reading app with SRS flashcards built in. They solve different problems, so the real question is which problem you have, or whether you want both.

By Ray Banks·Facts checked October 2026·Sources

The short answer

Choose Hack Chinese if…

You want a dedicated, deeply configurable SRS for Chinese, with recognition and English-to-Chinese production quizzes, cram modes, learning order and tone-mark styles.
You follow a textbook or exam. Hack Chinese has lists for 58 textbooks plus HSK 2.0 and 3.0, YCT, IGCSE, TOCFL and BCT, and it syncs saved words from Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao and Maayot.
You want character-component depth: Outlier Linguistics functional components, ancient forms and a 15-module Foundations course.
You mostly study at a computer. It's a web app that also works in a phone browser.

Choose Literate Chinese if…

You want reading built in: 1,000+ graded stories matched to the words in your flashcard deck.
You want native iPhone and Android apps. Hack Chinese says native apps are "not yet" available.
You're learning Taiwan Mandarin: zhuyin, Taiwan-accent audio and region-aware vocabulary.
You want a free tier beyond a trial, a lower price ($99.99/year vs $144/year) or handwriting practice, which Hack Chinese deliberately doesn't teach.

Or both: They work well together. Hack Chinese is upfront that it isn't meant to be used on its own, and pairing a vocabulary trainer with a reader is the setup it's designed for.

Hack Chinese vs Literate Chinese at a glance

Checked against each company's own website and app-store listings in October 2026. Prices are US list prices; app-store prices vary by country.

Feature	Hack Chinese	Literate Chinese
What it is	Web-based spaced-repetition trainer for Chinese words and characters	Mobile app: graded stories plus SRS flashcards
Reading content	None of its own. Built to pair with readers, with sync from Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao and Maayot	1,000+ graded stories, each showing the % of characters you already know
Word lists	HSK 2.0 and 3.0 (2026), YCT, IGCSE, TOCFL, BCT, Cambridge Pre-U; 58 textbooks; frequency lists including Taiwanese Mandarin; community lists	HSK 2.0 and 3.0, TOCFL, AP Chinese and dozens of themed lists, plus your own lists
SRS	Highly configurable: recognition and English→Chinese production, cram modes, learning order, "assumed known" placement with later checks	SRS on your personal vocab bank. Words you look up and read feed the same deck
Dictionary	151,000+ words with audio, with Outlier functional components, etymology and stroke order	Tap any word in a story for pinyin or zhuyin, meaning and audio; AI word helper
Characters	Simplified, Traditional or both	Simplified and Traditional
Pinyin / zhuyin	Pinyin, with a choice of tone-mark styles and tone colors. We found no zhuyin option documented	Pinyin or zhuyin (book-style, beside each character)
Audio	Synthesized; adjustable voice gender and speed	Synthesized Mainland and Taiwan voices
Mainland / Taiwan	Traditional characters and TOCFL and Taiwanese frequency lists; no Taiwan audio advertised	Both, with Taiwan-accent audio and stories that swap regional vocabulary
Handwriting	Not taught, by design (their FAQ explains why)	Stroke-by-stroke writing practice
Platforms	Web; works in a mobile browser. No native iOS or Android apps yet, per their FAQ	Native iPhone, iPad and Android apps
Import / export	Import by pasting a word list; list export; printable worksheets; developer API	Word lists export as CSV
Free tier	21-day free trial, no credit card; 30-day refund policy	230+ stories free in the app, plus core flashcards and word lists; 280 stories free in your browser with no account
Price (US)	$18/month, or $12/month billed annually ($144/year)	$12.99/month (7-day free trial) · $99.99/year (14-day free trial) · $199 lifetime
For schools	Lists that follow partner schools' curricula (e.g. LTL, GoEast, That's Mandarin). We couldn't confirm current teacher tools from public pages	Free class codes covering a whole class through the school year. No teacher dashboard yet

They solve different problems

Hack Chinese answers "how do I memorize thousands of words efficiently?" It has spent years refining that one job. Its own FAQ says you can't become fluent with Hack Chinese alone and that it is "meant to be used as part of a holistic study program" (with an exception for heritage speakers). That candor is a good reason to trust it.

Literate Chinese answers "how do I turn the words I've studied into actual reading?" Its flashcards are good, but the point is the 1,000+ graded stories they feed. Every story shows how much of it you can already read, so you pick something just above your level.

Where Hack Chinese is stronger

Depth of the flashcard engine. Six cram modes, multi-list review, learning order (by frequency, random or first-in-first-out), "assumed known" placement that re-checks words later, and English-to-Chinese production quizzes. If you enjoy tuning your SRS, Hack Chinese gives you far more controls than Literate Chinese does.

Lists for what you're already studying. Lists for 58 textbooks and the major exams mean you can follow a course chapter by chapter. Sync from Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao and Maayot pulls in words you saved while reading there.

Understanding characters. Integration with Outlier Linguistics' functional-component data, plus a short Foundations course, teaches why a character looks the way it does. That's something Literate Chinese doesn't attempt.

Where Literate Chinese is different

A Literate Chinese flashcard for 河 (hé, river) with an example sentence, pinyin, translation and Know It / Don't Know buttons — A Literate Chinese flashcard. Words you study here are the same words its stories are matched against.

Reading is the main event. Words you study are the words stories are matched against, and words you meet in stories flow back into your deck. With Hack Chinese you bring your own reading material.

Native apps. Literate Chinese is an iPhone, iPad and Android app. Hack Chinese runs in any browser, including on a phone, but has no native apps yet.

Taiwan Mandarin. Both handle Traditional characters and TOCFL vocabulary. Literate adds zhuyin, Taiwan-accent audio and Mainland/Taiwan vocabulary switching.

Writing and price. Literate includes stroke-by-stroke handwriting practice, has a free tier rather than a trial, and costs $99.99 a year against Hack Chinese's $144 (US prices).

Using them together

If you already love Hack Chinese, keep it for vocabulary and add a reader. Hack Chinese syncs directly with Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao and Maayot. Literate Chinese doesn't sync with Hack Chinese, but you can export any Literate word list as CSV and paste the words into a Hack Chinese list.

If you're choosing one tool to start with and your goal is reading, start with stories. Free graded reading practice will show you quickly whether vocabulary or reading stamina is what's holding you back.

Who each app is for

Hack Chinese suits

Learners following a textbook, school course or exam list
People who want maximum control over their SRS
Learners curious about character components and etymology
Readers of Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao or Maayot who want synced review

Literate Chinese suits

Learners who want flashcards and reading in one app
Taiwan Mandarin and zhuyin learners
Phone-first learners who want native apps
Heritage speakers moving from speaking to reading

Frequently asked questions

Is Hack Chinese only on the web?

Yes, for now. Hack Chinese's pricing FAQ says there are no iOS or Android apps "yet" and that you can use it in a mobile web browser. Literate Chinese is a native iPhone, iPad and Android app.

Does Hack Chinese have reading practice?

Not built in. Hack Chinese is a vocabulary trainer and syncs with reading apps (Du Chinese, The Chairman's Bao, Maayot) instead. Literate Chinese combines both: SRS flashcards and 1,000+ graded stories matched to your vocabulary.

How much does Hack Chinese cost compared with Literate Chinese?

Hack Chinese costs $18 a month, or $12 a month billed annually ($144 a year), after a 21-day free trial with no card required. Literate Chinese costs $12.99 a month or $99.99 a year in the US, has a free tier, and offers 7- and 14-day trials of Premium. Both companies' prices were checked in October 2026.

Does Hack Chinese support Traditional characters?

Yes. You can study Simplified, Traditional or both, and there are TOCFL and Taiwanese Mandarin frequency lists. We didn't find zhuyin or Taiwan-accent audio documented. Literate Chinese supports both.

Can I use Hack Chinese and Literate Chinese together?

Yes. Use Hack Chinese for vocabulary and Literate for reading. There's no direct sync between them, but Literate word lists export as CSV, and Hack Chinese imports a pasted list of words.

Is there a free alternative to Hack Chinese?

Literate Chinese's flashcards and word lists are free to use, with 230+ free stories in the app. You can also practice with free online flashcard decks and HSK word lists on this site, and read 280 stories in your browser.

Try reading before you decide

You can test Literate Chinese's stories without installing anything. These are free on this site:

Free reading practice280 graded stories in your browser with pinyin, translations and tap-to-look-up. No sign-up.Reading by levelA 4-week beginner path, then HSK 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5–6 hubs, every story sorted easiest first.How many characters do I know?A free 3-minute adaptive test that estimates your character count and HSK level.HSK word listsEvery HSK 3.0 level with pinyin, zhuyin, Traditional forms and free CSV downloads.Traditional reading practiceFree stories in Traditional characters for Taiwan Mandarin and TOCFL learners.How to read zhuyinAll 37 bopomofo symbols with pinyin equivalents and practice flashcards.

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 1,000+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →

Sources and method

Hack Chinese facts come only from the pages below, checked on October 2026. Where we couldn't confirm something (for example, a feature that isn't mentioned anywhere public), the table says so rather than guessing. Literate Chinese facts come from the app itself and its App Store and Google Play listings.