How much does it cost to learn Chinese? Apps vs a tutor, per year
A year of learning Chinese costs $0 with Pleco's free version and Anki, $54.98 to $293.98 for the app stacks priced below, and $676 for one hour a week with a Preply tutor at its stated $13 hourly average. The HSK 4 exam itself is $55 at one US test centre. GraphChinese, which wrote this page, is $49 once for lifetime access. Every rival price below comes from a dated, linked record, and the arithmetic is printed next to it.
12 months, same learner
One learner studying for twelve months, paying the cheapest published way to cover that year. A one-time or lifetime price is counted once. Sorted from cheapest.
| Option | What you get | 12-month cost | How it was computed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free core: Pleco + Anki | Dictionary + flashcards | $0 | free + free + free = $0 | pleco.com, apps.ankiweb.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| GraphChinese | One course, HSK 0 to HSK 6, on one prerequisite graph | $49 | $49 one-time | graphchinese.com/graphchinese-pricing |
| Paid core: Pleco Basic Bundle + AnkiMobile | Dictionary + flashcards | $54.98 | $29.99 one-time + $24.99 one-time = $54.98 | pleco.com, apps.apple.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| ChineseSkill | Beginner course app, Premium tier | $59.99 | $59.99 per 12 months. Also sold for life. US App Store in-app purchases list 'Lifetime membership' at both $159.99 and $399.00 (source, checked Oct 2026) | apps.apple.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| HelloChinese | Gamified beginner course app | $69.99 | $69.99 per 12 months | apps.apple.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| SuperChinese | Lesson app, PLUS tier (its AI tutor is a separate tier) | $69.99 | $69.99 per 12 months. Also sold for life. PLUS Lifetime: USD 149.99 one-time, on the vendor pricing page (source, checked Oct 2026) | superchinese.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| HSKStory | Graded stories by HSK level | $84 | $84 per 12 months. Also sold for life. Lifetime: $199 once, or $149 while founding spots last; 32 were left on 15 Oct 2026 (source, checked Oct 2026) | hskstory.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| LingoDeer | Multi-language course app with grammar notes | $95.99 | $95.99 per 12 months. Also sold for life. US App Store in-app purchases list 'Multilingual Pass - Lifetime' at $119.99 and at $159.99, and a 'lifetime membership for new' at $299.99; the Multilingual Pass covers every language in the app, Chinese included (source, checked Oct 2026) | apps.apple.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| Immersion stack | Immersion toolkit + dictionary + flashcards | $96 | $96 per 12 months + free + free = $96 | migaku.com, pleco.com, apps.ankiweb.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| Migaku | Immersion toolkit for sentence mining | $96 | $96 per 12 months. Also sold for life. $499 one-time (source, checked Oct 2026) | migaku.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| Skritter | Handwriting and character drills | $99.99 | $99.99 per 12 months | skritter.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| News reading stack | News reading + dictionary + flashcards | $117.99 | $88 per 12 months + $29.99 one-time + free = $117.99 | thechairmansbao.com, pleco.com, apps.ankiweb.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| Du Chinese | Graded reading library with audio | $119.99 | $119.99 per 12 months | duchinese.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| Hack Chinese | Vocabulary spaced repetition, web only | $144 | $144 per 12 months | hackchinese.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| Pleco + Anki + Du Chinese | Dictionary + flashcards + graded reading | $174.97 | $29.99 one-time + $24.99 one-time + $119.99 per 12 months = $174.97 | pleco.com, apps.apple.com, duchinese.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| Pleco + Skritter + Du Chinese (part of a Hacking Chinese list) | Dictionary + handwriting + graded reading | $249.97 | $29.99 one-time + $99.99 per 12 months + $119.99 per 12 months = $249.97 | pleco.com, skritter.com, duchinese.net, checked Oct 2026 |
| Vocabulary SRS + reading | Vocabulary SRS + graded reading + dictionary | $293.98 | $144 per 12 months + $119.99 per 12 months + $29.99 one-time = $293.98 | hackchinese.com, duchinese.net, pleco.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| Chinese Zero to Hero, Ultimate Bundle | Every video course, HSK 1 to 6 plus 7-9, for life | $295 | $295 one-time | chinesezerotohero.com, checked Oct 2026 |
| Yoyo Chinese, Lifetime Learner | Everything in its Learn plan, for life | $299 | $299 one-time | yoyochinese.com, checked Oct 2026 |
Year two is where the shapes part. Every one-time row above costs nothing more in year two; every subscription row costs the same again.
What a tutor costs over a year
Tutor rates are set by each tutor, so these are the figures the marketplaces publish, or a third party reports, multiplied out over 52 weeks. They are averages and ranges, not quotes.
| Rate | 1 hour a week | 2 hours a week |
|---|---|---|
| Preply, stated average per hour | $13 × 1 × 52 = $676 | $13 × 2 × 52 = $1,352 |
| italki community tutors, estimate by hsklord.com, which sells a competing HSK app | $8–$15 × 1 × 52 = $416–$780 | $8–$15 × 2 × 52 = $832–$1,560 |
| italki professional teachers, estimate by hsklord.com | $15–$40 × 1 × 52 = $780–$2,080 | $15–$40 × 2 × 52 = $1,560–$4,160 |
- Chinese tutors page: lessons "from $3", "average of $13" per hour (page blocks automated fetching; figure read from the search-index copy of the page) (source, checked Oct 2026).
- Third-party estimate: community tutors about $8-15/hour, professional teachers about $15-40/hour (written by a vendor that sells an HSK app) (per hsklord.com, checked Oct 2026).
- First page of Chinese teacher listings: 20 trial-lesson prices from USD 5.00 to USD 120.00, median USD 10.00 (trial prices only; regular lesson rates are set per teacher) (source, checked Oct 2026). Trial prices are a first lesson, not the going rate.
The exam itself
The HSK fee is set locally by each test centre and rises with the level. Example exam fees at one US centre (MTSU): HSK 1 $25, HSK 2 $35, HSK 3 $45, HSK 4 $55, HSK 5 $65, HSK 6 $75; fees differ by centre (per asianstudies.mtsu.edu, checked Oct 2026). Your centre may charge more or less, and the HSKK speaking exam is charged separately. How to register for the HSK walks through finding a centre and its fee.
What the money does not buy
- Hours. Nothing on this page replaces study time, and time is the larger cost whichever row you pick: how long it takes.
- A curriculum, on the cheap stacks. Pleco and Anki are excellent tools with no course inside them. At $0 you are also the course designer: which words, which grammar, in what order, and when you are ready to move on.
- A conversation partner, from any app. A tutor is the only option here with a person on the other end. GraphChinese has speaking practice, built on asking and answering questions, and it is still not a person.
How many months will you be paying for? Work out your own timeline with the HSK study calculator.
Method
- US list prices before tax, as published by each vendor, checked 15 October 2026. Third-party figures are labelled as such and never used in the 12-month table.
- Each row is the cheapest published way to cover twelve months: a yearly plan where one exists, otherwise renewals of a shorter one, or a one-time price counted once.
- Stacks are combinations learners recommend to each other, and sum the cheapest price of each part. Migaku's price is its USD base offer; it varies by country.
- The records behind every number are public as one JSON file per product under /data/compare/ (for example pleco.json), each claim with its source and date.
- Written by GraphChinese, the product being compared. Weigh the GraphChinese row with that in mind; every other row links to the vendor's own page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to learn Chinese?
Pleco's free version plus Anki on desktop or Android, with free AnkiWeb sync, costs $0. What you give up is the curriculum: neither tool decides what to learn next, so you choose the words, the grammar and the order yourself. Of the paid options priced on this page, the cheapest twelve months is GraphChinese at $49 once for lifetime access; the cheapest subscription app in the table is ChineseSkill at $59.99 for the year.
How much does a Chinese tutor cost per year?
At Preply's stated average of $13 an hour, one lesson a week for a year is $676 and two a week is $1,352. Those are averages the marketplace publishes, not a quote: rates are set by each tutor.
Is a Chinese app cheaper than a tutor?
In money, yes. Every app, stack and course in the table on this page costs $299 or less for twelve months, against $676 for one hour a week with an average Preply tutor. A tutor buys something no app sells, a person to talk to, which is why many learners pair a course with a tutor rather than choosing one.
How much does the HSK exam cost?
The fee is set by each test centre and rises with the level. Example exam fees at one US centre (MTSU): HSK 1 $25, HSK 2 $35, HSK 3 $45, HSK 4 $55, HSK 5 $65, HSK 6 $75; fees differ by centre (per asianstudies.mtsu.edu, checked Oct 2026). Check the centre you will sit at before you register.
Start from zero or at your real level, with every topic in the order its prerequisites need. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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