GraphChinese vs ChineseSkill for learning Chinese
ChineseSkill is a careful beginner app that stops at HSK 4; GraphChinese carries on to HSK 6. ChineseSkill teaches in 15-minute lessons written and reviewed by Chinese teachers, with native-speaker audio and SRS reviews. Its own home page says the curriculum runs from zero to HSK 4.
GraphChinese starts at zero, orders all {TOPICS} topics by what depends on what, holds each one until its prerequisites are proven, and ends at HSK 6. One lifetime price, no subscription.
ChineseSkill is a subscription app for Mandarin, with Taiwan Mandarin and Cantonese courses beside it. Its pitch is teacher-made content: short lessons on target vocabulary and grammar, clear class notes, native-speaker audio, tone training and SRS reviews, built by people from Chinese departments at universities it names.
That is a solid design for a beginner, and it is where ChineseSkill is strongest.
| ChineseSkill | GraphChinese | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Lesson app for Mandarin, Taiwan Mandarin and Cantonese | Chinese-only course, HSK 0 through HSK 6 |
| Level ceiling | HSK 4, by its own home page ("from zero to HSK4") | HSK 6, with every topic mapped to a level |
| What unlocks next | A main course of 15-minute lessons | A dependency graph of {TOPICS} topics; a topic stays locked until its prerequisites are proven |
| Grammar | Explained in class notes | Explained, then tested again later by the review scheduler |
| Audio | Native speakers, plus native-speaker videos | Human-recorded word audio, narrated readings, sentence audio after you answer |
| Character writing | Listed as a skill it teaches; the method is not described on its pages | Stroke-order writing, drilled and graded |
| Flashcards | SRS reviews, plus HSK word and character banks on Premium+ | FSRS scheduler, 38 built-in decks, imports your .apkg decks with audio |
| Price | Premium: US$11.99/month, US$24.99/quarter or US$59.99/year. Premium+ costs more; its price is not listed in its page. No lifetime plan listed | $49 once, yours for life |
Prices and features for ChineseSkill checked October 2026. They change; if you spot something stale, tell us and it gets fixed.
What ChineseSkill does well
- Every sentence, word and dialogue is written and reviewed by Chinese teachers, and it says so with a named chief linguist.
- Lessons are short, about 15 minutes, which suits a daily habit.
- Pinyin and tone training are part of the core plan, and the audio is recorded by native speakers.
- One subscription works across phone, tablet and computer, and the yearly Premium price is low.
- It also teaches Taiwan Mandarin and Cantonese, which few apps cover.
Where it does not help
- It stops at HSK 4. That is its own stated range. HSK 5 and HSK 6 are where the vocabulary roughly doubles each level, and you would need another product for them.
- A lesson path is not a mastery gate. You move on when you finish a lesson. In GraphChinese you move on when the topics underneath are proven, and reviews return the ones you are losing.
- The HSK drills sit in the higher tier. The HSK word and character banks are listed under Premium+, whose price the pricing page does not show.
- Subscription pricing never ends. US$59.99 a year is modest, and it is due every year for as long as you study.
A path versus a graph
Most apps give you a sequence and mark it complete. That works until you forget something from lesson 12 and nothing notices, because lesson 40 does not depend on it in the app's model.
A knowledge graph makes the dependency explicit: every one of the 829 topics lists what must be solid before it opens, and the scheduler brings back the ones that are decaying before they block what is ahead.
The result is the same destination at a different pace per learner, and the destination is further: from the four tones through HSK 6 grammar, without changing product at HSK 4.
Which one should you use
Use GraphChinese if Chinese is the goal and HSK 5 or 6 is anywhere in your plans. The first lesson assumes no Chinese at all, and the same course continues to HSK 6.
If you want Taiwan Mandarin or Cantonese, or you only need a light beginner app on your phone, ChineseSkill is a reasonable pick. For Mandarin past HSK 4, the graph, the writing and the scheduler are the parts it does not offer.
Is ChineseSkill or GraphChinese better for learning Chinese?
ChineseSkill is a teacher-written lesson app whose home page says its curriculum runs from zero to HSK 4. GraphChinese is a Chinese-only course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 built on a dependency graph of 829 topics with mastery gating, stroke-order writing, 102 narrated readings and an FSRS scheduler. For a beginner who wants a phone app, ChineseSkill is fine; for a learner aiming past HSK 4, GraphChinese covers the whole way.
How much does ChineseSkill cost?
Its pricing page, checked October 2026, lists Premium at US$11.99 a month, US$24.99 a quarter or US$59.99 a year. Premium+ adds AI Tutor, Fluency Builder and HSK word and character banks; its price is not shown on the page. No lifetime plan is listed. GraphChinese is $49 once for lifetime access.
Does ChineseSkill prepare you for the HSK?
Up to HSK 4, by its own description. Its HSK word and character banks are Premium+ features. GraphChinese maps every topic to an HSK level and runs from HSK 0 to HSK 6.
Can a beginner start Chinese with GraphChinese instead?
Yes. The first lesson, the four tones and the first characters, assumes no prior Chinese, and the same course continues through HSK 6.
See the whole path instead of reading about it. Your first lesson, the four tones and tracing 你 and 好 in correct stroke order, is free on the landing page, no signup. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Start the free first lessonCompare with: Anki · Duolingo · HelloChinese · Super Chinese · Du Chinese · HSKStory · Hack Chinese · Skritter · Pleco · Migaku · LingoDeer · ChinesePod · LingQ · Mandarin Blueprint · all of them side by side