GraphChinese vs Drops for learning Chinese
Drops teaches Chinese vocabulary as a game, in topics, with no HSK or CEFR level structure stated. 'Learn 2,000+ Chinese words with Drops'; vocabulary topics, no HSK or CEFR level structure stated (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese is $49 once for lifetime access and runs from HSK 0 to HSK 6 on 829 topics, each mapped to an HSK level. Drops works best as a few minutes of extra words beside a course.
Which should you choose?
- Choose GraphChinese if you want a full course and not only words: 829 topics from the four tones to HSK 6, each mapped to an HSK level and served after what it rests on, with grammar, stroke-order writing, reviews that bring back what you are losing, and 102 narrated graded readings.
- Choose Drops if you want a few minutes of quick, visual word practice on your phone, on top of whatever else you study.
- Switching is not worth it if Drops is a five-minute habit beside a course you already trust. It is doing the job it was built for, and there is nothing to switch.
Drops is a vocabulary game app. It teaches words by topic in short sessions, with character recognition and radicals, and leaves writing to a separate app. GraphChinese teaches only Mandarin, as one course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 that orders every topic by what it depends on, grammar and writing included.
Drops and GraphChinese side by side
| Drops | GraphChinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US App Store IAPs: Premium $9.99, $11.99, $14.99 (monthly variants), $69.99/$79.99/$89.99/$99.99 (annual/lifetime variants not labelled) (source, checked Oct 2026, archived); Holiday offer page has shown Lifetime Premium at $59.99 (45% off, plus a gift membership); promotional (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | $49 once, yours for life |
| Free tier | Free version is 5 minutes of a language per day plus review tools (vendor press material) (per languagedrops.com, checked Oct 2026) | A free 28-question HSK placement test, no signup (source, checked Oct 2026); Free without an account: a demo with real lessons, the dictionary, the grammar reference, HSK word lists, free tests and tools (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Trial and refund | Vendor trial page offers Drops Premium free for 14 days; a support article describes a 7-day trial converting to yearly; inconsistent (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | Not for you? Email and we refund it (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Levels | 'Learn 2,000+ Chinese words with Drops'; vocabulary topics, no HSK or CEFR level structure stated (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | One course from HSK 0 (tones, pinyin, stroke order, radicals) through HSK 6 (source, checked Oct 2026); Most HSK 6 vocabulary topics are cut alphabetically, not by theme or dependency (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Characters and writing | Teaches character recognition with radicals; a separate 'Scripts' app covers writing (source, checked Oct 2026) | Stroke-order writing practice, on by default for learners who start from zero and switchable for everyone else (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Platforms | iOS and Android (source, checked Oct 2026) | Runs in the browser on phone and desktop; there is no app to install (source, checked Oct 2026) |
Same learner, 12 and 24 months
| 12 months | 24 months | |
|---|---|---|
| Drops | Not computable: no documented price with both an amount and a billing period | Not computable: no documented price with both an amount and a billing period |
| GraphChinese | $49: $49 one-time, US list price, before tax | $49: $49 one-time, US list price, before tax |
US list prices before tax, cheapest published path to that much access.
What Drops does well
- It is quick and easy to open every day. Free version is 5 minutes of a language per day plus review tools (vendor press material) (per languagedrops.com, checked Oct 2026).
- A fair number of words. 'Learn 2,000+ Chinese words with Drops'; vocabulary topics, no HSK or CEFR level structure stated (source, checked Oct 2026).
- Characters are not ignored. Teaches character recognition with radicals; a separate 'Scripts' app covers writing (source, checked Oct 2026).
- It is on both phone platforms. iOS and Android (source, checked Oct 2026).
Where Drops does not help
- Words are not a course. Words by topic do not teach you how sentences are built, and there is no stated level to aim for.
- Writing is a different app. Teaches character recognition with radicals; a separate 'Scripts' app covers writing (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese has stroke-order writing practice inside the course.
- The price is hard to pin down. US App Store IAPs: Premium $9.99, $11.99, $14.99 (monthly variants), $69.99/$79.99/$89.99/$99.99 (annual/lifetime variants not labelled) (source, checked Oct 2026). With the variants unlabelled, we cannot say what a year costs you, so the cost table above leaves it blank rather than guess.
- The deals and trials are not settled. Holiday offer page has shown Lifetime Premium at $59.99 (45% off, plus a gift membership); promotional (source, checked Oct 2026). That is a promotion, not a standing price. Vendor trial page offers Drops Premium free for 14 days; a support article describes a 7-day trial converting to yearly; inconsistent (source, checked Oct 2026). Check the terms in the app before you start one.
A word game versus a graph
Learning words is real progress, and a game makes it easy to show up. What a list of word topics does not give you is order: grammar, and the words a sentence needs, in the sequence they build on each other.
A knowledge graph makes the dependency explicit: every one of the 829 topics lists what it rests on, the course serves it after those, and reviews bring back the topics that are fading before they get in the way of what is ahead.
You can jump ahead or claim a topic you already know, and reviews then check the claim. One caveat: most HSK 6 vocabulary topics are alphabetical slices of the word list rather than a dependency order. GraphChinese is not a game, and it asks for more than five minutes a day.
If you are switching from Drops
- Take the free placement test and start at your level.
- Keep Drops for a few minutes a day if you enjoy it. It sits well beside a course.
- Take the free placement test first. It starts you at your frontier, so words you already learned do not have to be repeated.
- Bring Anki decks if you have them: GraphChinese imports
.apkgfiles with their audio and images. Review history does not come across, so those cards start fresh.
Frequently asked questions
Is Drops or GraphChinese better for learning Chinese?
They do different jobs. Drops is a vocabulary game, organised by topic rather than by HSK level. GraphChinese is a course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 built on a dependency graph of 829 topics, with grammar, stroke-order writing, 102 narrated readings, course reviews on a mastery-review schedule and FSRS for flashcard decks. For quick word practice, Drops is a good extra. If you want a route to an HSK level, the course is the better fit.
How much does Drops cost?
Its US App Store listing shows several Premium prices without saying which is which. US App Store IAPs: Premium $9.99, $11.99, $14.99 (monthly variants), $69.99/$79.99/$89.99/$99.99 (annual/lifetime variants not labelled) (source, checked Oct 2026). Holiday offer page has shown Lifetime Premium at $59.99 (45% off, plus a gift membership); promotional (source, checked Oct 2026). Free version is 5 minutes of a language per day plus review tools (vendor press material) (per languagedrops.com, checked Oct 2026). Its trial terms do not agree with each other. Vendor trial page offers Drops Premium free for 14 days; a support article describes a 7-day trial converting to yearly; inconsistent (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese is $49 once for lifetime access.
Can you learn Chinese with Drops alone?
You can learn a lot of words with it. Words alone do not teach grammar or how to build a sentence, and Drops states no HSK level to aim for, so most learners use it beside a course.
Can a beginner start Chinese with GraphChinese instead?
Yes. The course assumes no Chinese, starts at HSK 0 with the tones and pinyin, and continues through HSK 6. Before paying you can try the interactive demo on the home page, take the free placement test, and use the dictionary, the grammar reference and the HSK word lists without an account.
How this comparison was made
Written by Carson, who makes GraphChinese, the product being compared. 7 facts about Drops, checked 15 October 2026: 6 from Drops’s own pages and store listings, 1 from third parties and labelled as such. Archived copies of price pages are linked where we have them. The sheet behind this page is public at /data/compare/drops.json; tell us if anything is out of date at /contact.
See the whole path instead of reading about it. The demo on the front page runs real lessons from the course, and the placement test, dictionary and grammar reference are free, no signup. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Try the free demo