GraphChinese vs Readibu for learning Chinese
Readibu is a reader for native Chinese novels and your own books, and reading in it is free. Reading is free; Premium adds cloud sync, unlimited sentence translation, offline reading, quiz mode, name recognition, image search (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese is $49 once for lifetime access and is a course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 on 829 topics, with 102 narrated graded readings inside it. They do different jobs, and many learners will want both.
Which should you choose?
- Choose GraphChinese if you need the course that gets you to the point where novels are readable: 829 topics from the four tones to HSK 6, served in the order they depend on each other, with stroke-order writing, reviews that bring back what you are losing, and 102 narrated graded readings.
- Choose Readibu if you are upper-intermediate, you want to read real Chinese novels or books you already own, and you want look-ups and saved words while you read. Reading in it costs nothing.
- Switching is not worth it if you are already past HSK 5 and reading native books every day. At that point more reading is the work, and a reader built for native text fits that better than a course.
Readibu is a reading app for native Chinese text: web novels, and since a recent update, books you import yourself. It shows how hard a text is by HSK level and keeps the words you save. It is a reader, not a course.
GraphChinese is a course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 that orders every topic by what it depends on, with 102 graded readings written for each level along the way.
Readibu and GraphChinese side by side
| Readibu | GraphChinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 per month; $9.99 per 3 months; $47.99 per year (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | $49 once, yours for life |
| Free tier | Reading is free; Premium adds cloud sync, unlimited sentence translation, offline reading, quiz mode, name recognition, image search (source, 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 | 'Free trials included with all plans!' (source, checked Oct 2026) | Not for you? Email and we refund it (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Levels | HSK-level difficulty breakdown of any text (source, checked Oct 2026) | 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) |
| Import and export | Import EPUB, PDF, TXT; export saved vocabulary; full library backup (source, checked Oct 2026) | Imports Anki .apkg decks with their audio and images, scheduled by the same FSRS engine; review history is not carried over (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| Audio | Text-to-speech only (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | — |
| 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) |
| Recent change | v2.3.2 (Jul 2026) added book import, tablet layout, paged reading and full library backup; site warns app versions 1.9.0 or older need an update after third-party services were discontinued (source, checked Oct 2026, archived) | — |
— means our research sheet has no sourced fact for that row, not that the product lacks it.
Same learner, 12 and 24 months
| 12 months | 24 months | |
|---|---|---|
| Readibu | $39.96: 4 × $9.99 per 3 months = $39.96, US list price, before tax (source, checked Oct 2026) | $79.92: 8 × $9.99 per 3 months = $79.92, US list price, before tax (source, checked Oct 2026) |
| 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 Readibu does well
- Reading is free. Reading is free; Premium adds cloud sync, unlimited sentence translation, offline reading, quiz mode, name recognition, image search (source, checked Oct 2026).
- It tells you how hard a text is before you start. HSK-level difficulty breakdown of any text (source, checked Oct 2026).
- Your own books work in it too. Import EPUB, PDF, TXT; export saved vocabulary; full library backup (source, checked Oct 2026).
- If you want the extras, Premium has a yearly plan. $47.99 per year (source, checked Oct 2026).
- It is still being worked on. v2.3.2 (Jul 2026) added book import, tablet layout, paged reading and full library backup; site warns app versions 1.9.0 or older need an update after third-party services were discontinued (source, checked Oct 2026).
Where Readibu does not help
- It does not teach you from zero. Native novels assume you already know a few thousand words and the grammar that holds them together. Readibu helps you read them; it does not give you a route to the level where that is possible.
- The audio is a machine voice. Text-to-speech only (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese readings are narrated, with the text highlighted as it is read.
- Phone apps only. iOS and Android (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese runs in any browser on phone and desktop, with nothing to install.
A reader for native text versus a course with readings in it
Reading native text is one of the best things you can do once you can manage it, and Readibu is built for exactly that. Before that point, a native novel is mostly look-ups.
A knowledge graph gets you there in order: 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.
GraphChinese has 102 graded readings, from Foundations to HSK 6, each written to the vocabulary a learner holds at that level. They are part of the paid course, and they are far fewer than the books you can open in Readibu.
One caveat: most HSK 6 vocabulary topics are alphabetical slices of the word list rather than a dependency order. When our readings run out at your level, a native-text reader is a good next step.
If you are switching from Readibu
- Take the free placement test and start at your level.
- You do not have to switch. Reading in Readibu is free, so it can sit beside the course at no cost.
- Take the free placement test first. It starts you at your frontier, so what you already know does not have to be repeated.
- If you keep vocabulary in Anki, GraphChinese imports
.apkgfiles with their audio and images. Review history does not come across, so those cards start fresh.
Frequently asked questions
Is Readibu or GraphChinese better for learning Chinese?
They do different jobs. Readibu is a reader for native Chinese novels and your own books, built for learners who can already read a fair amount. GraphChinese is a course from HSK 0 to HSK 6 built on a dependency graph of 829 topics, with stroke-order writing, 102 narrated readings, course reviews on a mastery-review schedule and FSRS for flashcard decks. If you need to get to the level where novels work, start with the course. If you are already there, Readibu is the better tool for reading.
Is Readibu free?
Reading is. Reading is free; Premium adds cloud sync, unlimited sentence translation, offline reading, quiz mode, name recognition, image search (source, checked Oct 2026). 'Free trials included with all plans!' (source, checked Oct 2026). Its App Store listing shows these Premium plans. $4.99 per month (source, checked Oct 2026). $9.99 per 3 months (source, checked Oct 2026). $47.99 per year (source, checked Oct 2026). GraphChinese is $49 once for lifetime access.
Can I use Readibu and GraphChinese together?
Yes. GraphChinese decides what you learn and checks it; Readibu gives you native text to read once you are ready for it. Since reading in Readibu is free, adding it costs nothing.
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. 10 facts about Readibu, checked 15 October 2026: all 10 from Readibu’s own pages and store listings. Archived copies of price pages are linked where we have them. The sheet behind this page is public at /data/compare/readibu.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