The best Chinese dictionary apps (2026)
The best dictionary on your phone, in your browser, and on the page you are reading, and what each costs.
We make Mandarin The Wild. Everything we say about the other dictionaries comes from their own pages, with each source listed below.
The list at a glance
| Dictionary | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pleco | The standard phone dictionary, with a reader and flashcards as add-ons | Free dictionary; add-ons are paid4 |
| 2. Mandarin The Wild | A free online dictionary, and the meaning a word has in its sentence on any web page and YouTube | Free to look up, read the Library and review5 |
| 3. Hanping Chinese | An offline phone dictionary with handwriting, voice and photo lookup | Free app; extras are one-off purchases6 |
| 4. MDBG | A free dictionary website that looks up every word in a pasted text | Free7 |
| 5. Dong Chinese | A dictionary with stroke order and example sentences, beside lessons | Dictionary on the web; lessons from $9.99 a month after the free plan’s limit9 |
| 6. Zhongwen | A pop-up dictionary for Chinese web pages in Chrome | Free and open source10 |
1. Pleco
The dictionary most learners start with, for iPhone, iPad and Android, with no browser extension.1 The dictionary is free; more dictionaries, its file reader, graded readers and flashcards are paid add-ons.2, 3 You look a word up and choose from its entries. See how Pleco and Mandarin The Wild compare, or the best Pleco alternatives.
2. Mandarin The Wild
We make it, so judge this one hardest. The online dictionary looks words up as you type: English, pinyin with or without tones, or Chinese, and a pad for drawing a character you can’t type. Paste a whole sentence and it reads it in words, each with the pinyin and meaning it has there and its HSK level. Every word opens its card with its sound, and a free account keeps it for Review.
这个词语我在词典里查不到。
words and phrases; expression
Also written 詞語
With the extension in Chrome or Edge you don’t look words up at all: point at one on a web page or in a YouTube caption, and its card shows the one meaning it has in that sentence, its pinyin as it is read there, including tone changes, its parts and its sound. Bring in your Pleco list and keep reviewing it.
- 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 9, 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.
3. Hanping Chinese
A dictionary app for Android and iPhone. One search box takes characters, pinyin or English; you can also write a character by hand, say it in Mandarin or Cantonese, or point the camera at a menu or sign. It works offline with no ads. The app is free; more dictionaries, audio and stroke animations are one-off purchases, not a subscription.6
4. MDBG
A free Chinese–English dictionary website. Search by characters, pinyin or English, write a character by hand, or paste a passage and look up all the Chinese words in it. It also has flashcards and word lists.7 It works in any browser, with no app to install.
5. Dong Chinese
A dictionary with definitions, stroke order, example sentences and frequency data, and the etymologies of the 1,000 most frequent characters, beside its own lessons, on the web and Android.8 Its lessons have a free plan with a limit; paid plans start at $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year, each with a 7-day free trial.9
6. Zhongwen
A free, open-source Chrome extension: hover over Chinese on a web page and a pop-up shows the dictionary entries for the characters under the mouse.10, 11 It lists every entry rather than the one the sentence means. See how the two compare.
How to choose
- On your phone: Pleco, or Hanping Chinese for one-off purchases offline. Both are free to start.
- On a computer: Mandarin The Wild’s dictionary or MDBG, in any browser, free.
- While you read or watch: a dictionary lists what a word can mean and leaves the choice to you. Mandarin The Wild’s extension picks the meaning the sentence uses, on web pages and YouTube, so you never leave what you are reading.
Questions
What is the best Chinese dictionary app?
Pleco on iPhone and Android: a free dictionary with paid add-ons. In a browser, Mandarin The Wild’s free online dictionary takes English, pinyin, Chinese or a drawn character, and its extension shows the meaning a word has in its sentence on any web page and YouTube. Hanping Chinese is an offline phone dictionary with one-off purchases.
What is the best free Chinese dictionary?
Mandarin The Wild and MDBG online, both free with handwriting input; Pleco’s and Hanping’s phone dictionaries are free with paid extras; Zhongwen is a free pop-up dictionary for Chrome.
What is the best Chinese dictionary for a computer?
Pleco has no computer version. In a browser, Mandarin The Wild’s online dictionary and MDBG are free; for reading web pages, Mandarin The Wild’s extension or Zhongwen work on the page itself.
Can I look up a Chinese character I can’t type?
Yes. Draw it: Mandarin The Wild’s online dictionary, MDBG and Hanping Chinese all take a character written by hand.
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 28 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.