Is SuperChinese worth it? An honest review
SuperChinese is a well-built speaking course on your phone. The full course is paid, and its help ends where the app does.
We make Mandarin The Wild. Everything we say about SuperChinese comes from its own pages, checked on 24 October 2026.
What SuperChinese does well
SuperChinese is a course in eight levels, from complete beginner to content equivalent to HSK 1–5: more than 1,000 lessons of about ten minutes on 200 real-life topics, each with words, grammar, a dialogue, a quiz and speaking practice. Every lesson is written by native Chinese teachers; AI is used for feedback on your speaking and sentences, not to write the course.2 Free accounts get limited access, pronunciation scores included.3 It is rated 4.9 out of 5 on the App Store.4 If speaking is your goal, that is a lot done right.
Good
- Speaking practice in every lesson, with free pronunciation scores.
- A clear path in eight levels, beginner to HSK 5.
- Lessons written by native teachers.
Not so good
- The full course is paid, and the AI tutor is a second plan.
- Its help ends at the edge of the app.
The two gaps
1. The full course is paid
Free gives limited access to the main course; PLUS unlocks all eight levels for $11.99 a month, $69.99 a year or $139.99 once, and the AI tutor, role-plays and writing correction are in a separate plan, CHAO, $24.99 a month in the App Store.34.
How Mandarin The Wild closes it: looking words up, the Library with its recordings and Review are free, with no trial and no card. A free account keeps your words.
2. The help ends at the edge of the app
SuperChinese is for its own lessons, on iPhone and Android.2 The Chinese you want to understand after the course, a YouTube video, a show on Netflix, a news site, is somewhere else, with no card to tap.
How Mandarin The Wild closes it: the same card everywhere you read and watch. Point at any word on a web page, in YouTube captions or on Netflix, Disney+ and Viki, in Chrome or Edge, for the meaning it has in that sentence and its pinyin as it is said there. Keep it, and Review brings it back in that sentence.
我每天练习说中文。
to practice; exercise; drill
Also written 練習
SuperChinese or HelloChinese?
Both are beginner phone courses, built only for Chinese, at about the same price. Pick SuperChinese for speaking practice and a path to HSK 5; pick HelloChinese for handwriting practice and its native-speaker videos. Our HelloChinese review has the rest.
| Compared | SuperChinese | HelloChinese |
|---|---|---|
| Course | Eight levels, beginner to HSK 5.2 | HSK-based courses for beginners.6 |
| Speaking | Speaking practice in every lesson, scores free; AI tutor on CHAO.3 | Speech recognition.5 |
| Characters | Pinyin and Hanzi guides.2 | Handwriting practice.5 |
| Price | PLUS $11.99 a month, $69.99 a year or $139.99 once.3 | Premium $11.99 a month, $25.99 for three months or $69.99 a year.6 |
Side by side with Mandarin The Wild
| What you want to do | Mandarin The Wild | SuperChinese |
|---|---|---|
| Start Chinese from zero | A pinyin chart, tone practice and HSK 1 stories, but no step-by-step course. | Yes. Eight levels, beginner to HSK 5.2 |
| Practise speaking | Tone practice for your tones. | Yes. Speaking practice in every lesson.2 |
| Read graded stories at your level | Yes. More than 250, HSK 1 to 6, with recordings in two voices, free. | Readings from the course.2 |
| Understand Chinese on any web page or YouTube | Yes. Point at any word, in Chrome or Edge. | No. Inside the app. |
| Netflix, Disney+ and Viki | Yes. The Chinese subtitle line, every word ready to point at. | no |
| Price | Free to look up, read the Library and review. | Limited free access; PLUS $11.99 a month, $69.99 a year or $139.99 once.3 |
Everything Mandarin The Wild does
- Every page and every video. The same card on any web page and in YouTube captions, in Chrome or Edge. The video keeps playing, and Previous, Replay and Next sit in the player. On Netflix, Disney+ and Viki, the Chinese subtitle line is ours too: point at a word and the video waits while you read its card.
- Captions when a video has none. On a Chinese YouTube video with no captions, sign in and press Make captions: we make them from its sound.
- Backpack and Review. Press M and the word is kept with its sentence and the page or video moment it came from. Review brings it back by sight and by sound, on every device you sign in on.
- The Library. More than 250 graded stories and articles from HSK 1 to 6, each with a recording in two voices, free.
- Look a word up here. How to say it in Chinese for an English word and What does it mean in Chinese? for a Chinese word or its pinyin, each with toned pinyin, its characters and a real sentence, free with no sign-up.
- Immersion for your own Chinese. Links, Google Docs, EPUB, PDF and Word files, and recordings with their subtitles or a transcript made from their sound, every word ready to explain.
- Your phone, offline. Add the site to your home screen: Review, the reader, and the chapters and sources you keep work with no signal.
- Your words, in and out. Bring in a Pleco or Anki list, and download your words for Anki whenever you like.
Which to pick
Want to speak, and happy to pay for a guided course: SuperChinese. Past the first levels, or want to understand the Chinese you already watch and read: Mandarin The Wild, free. Many learners use both: a course for speaking, Mandarin The Wild for everything outside it.
Questions
Is SuperChinese worth it?
For a learner who wants a structured phone course that gets them speaking, yes: eight levels from beginner to HSK 5, written by native teachers. PLUS costs $11.99 a month, $69.99 a year or $139.99 once. For reading and watching real Chinese, Mandarin The Wild is free.
How much is SuperChinese PLUS?
On its own site: $11.99 a month, $69.99 a year or $139.99 once. The AI tutor and role-plays are in a separate plan, CHAO, $24.99 a month in the App Store.
Is SuperChinese free?
Free accounts get limited access to the course, extra lessons, HSK words and pronunciation scores. All eight levels need PLUS.
SuperChinese or HelloChinese?
Both are good beginner courses at about the same price. SuperChinese leans on speaking and goes to HSK 5; HelloChinese has handwriting practice and native-speaker videos. Add graded reading with either once you know a few hundred words.
Is Mandarin The Wild free?
Looking words up, the Library with its recordings, and Review are free. Looking up needs no account; a free account keeps your words.
Sources
Checked on 24 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.