GraphChinese vs Du Chinese for learning Chinese
These are not the same kind of product. Du Chinese is a graded reader: a large library of levelled stories with audio and tap-to-translate. GraphChinese is the course, and graded reading is one part of it.
If reading practice is the only thing missing from your study, Du Chinese has the deeper library and is worth the subscription. If you want the thing that decides what you learn next, drills the characters, schedules the reviews and makes you speak, that is the whole of GraphChinese, and 102 narrated passages come with it.
Du Chinese does one job and does it better than almost anyone: a large library of graded stories, every one narrated, with tap-to-translate and HSK-level tagging. This comparison is honest about that. It is also honest about what a reading library cannot do on its own, which is decide what you learn next, prove you have learned it, or make you say anything out loud.
| Du Chinese | GraphChinese | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Graded reading library | Full course, HSK 0 through HSK 6 |
| Reading library | 2,000+ lessons, the largest in the category | 102 graded passages, every one with native audio and comprehension checks |
| Curriculum | None. You pick what to read | Dependency graph of {TOPICS} topics; the next thing is chosen for you |
| Mastery tracking | Reading history | Every topic gated on proven mastery of its prerequisites |
| Character writing | None | Stroke-order writing, drilled and graded |
| Flashcards | Save words from a story | FSRS scheduler, 38 built-in decks, imports your .apkg decks with audio |
| Speaking | None | Comment + question method from lesson one, plus a sparring dojo |
| Dictionary | In-app lookups | Free 124,727-entry dictionary, a page per word, no signup |
| Price | $14.99/mo, $79.99–$119.99/yr, $119.99 lifetime | $9/mo, $84/yr, or $149 once for life |
Prices and features for Du Chinese checked August 2026. They change; if you spot something stale, tell us and it gets fixed.
What Du Chinese does well
- The library is genuinely large, and volume is what graded reading needs. Nothing else in the category gives you that much levelled material.
- Every lesson is narrated by a native speaker, and the audio is good enough to shadow.
- Tap-to-translate is fast and unobtrusive, which is the whole ergonomics of reading above your level.
- For an intermediate learner who already has a course and just wants more input, it is a clean, focused purchase.
What a reading library cannot do
- It does not teach; it exposes. Reading above your level is a wonderful way to consolidate what you half-know. It is a slow and unreliable way to meet something for the first time, because nothing guarantees the new word will ever appear again.
- There is no order. Levels are tags, not a sequence. Nothing says which story to read next, and nothing notices that you keep failing the same grammar pattern.
- No writing, no speaking, no scheduler. Three of the four skills are somebody else's problem, which means at least one more subscription.
- It is a subscription for input you could be getting inside a course. $14.99 a month is more than GraphChinese's monthly plan, which includes the readings.
Reading is a component, and it is already in here
GraphChinese ships 102 graded passages, written to the vocabulary a learner actually has at each level, every one narrated with per-character timing so the text highlights as it is read, and every one ending in a comprehension check rather than a "done" button. They are wired into the graph: a passage is offered when the topics it rests on are mastered, and the new words it introduces land in your review queue automatically.
Around that sits the rest of what a reading app leaves to you: 829 topics in dependency order from the four tones through HSK 6 grammar, stroke-order writing, an FSRS scheduler that also runs any Anki deck you import, a free dictionary, and speaking drilled from lesson one. The readings are free to browse at /read, so you can judge the writing before paying anyone.
Which one should you use
Use GraphChinese if you want one thing that covers the whole job. It starts at absolute zero, carries to HSK 6, and the graded reading is inside it rather than beside it. For $149 once, you are not renting input.
Add Du Chinese if you finish our library and want more volume, or if you already have a course you like and only want reading. A serious learner reading a lot is a good outcome no matter whose library it comes from.
Is Du Chinese or GraphChinese better for learning Chinese?
Du Chinese is a graded reading library with over 2,000 narrated lessons and is excellent at that one job. GraphChinese is a full course covering HSK 0 to HSK 6 on a dependency graph of 829 topics, and it includes 102 narrated graded readings alongside stroke-order writing, an FSRS flashcard scheduler, a 124,727-entry dictionary and speaking practice from lesson one. If you need a course, GraphChinese; if you already have one and only want more reading volume, Du Chinese.
Does GraphChinese include graded readers?
Yes. 102 graded passages, each written to the vocabulary available at its HSK level, each narrated by a native voice with per-character timing so the text follows along, and each ending in a comprehension check. They are readable free at /read.
How much does Du Chinese cost?
Du Chinese is $14.99 a month, $79.99 to $119.99 a year depending on plan, with a $119.99 lifetime option, checked August 2026. GraphChinese is $9 a month, $84 a year, or $149 once, and the reading library is included.
Can I learn Chinese from graded readers alone?
Not efficiently, and not to production. Reading consolidates what you have already met and builds recognition, but it does not schedule review, does not make you write characters, and does not make you speak. Extensive reading is a powerful component of a course rather than a substitute for one.
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 $9 a month, $84 a year (that is $7 a month), or $149 once for lifetime access.
Start the free first lessonCompare with: Anki · Duolingo · HelloChinese · Super Chinese · HSKStory · Hack Chinese · Skritter · Pleco · Migaku · all of them side by side