The best Migaku alternatives for Chinese (2026)

Migaku is paid from the first day and built for 11 languages. These five are free to start, and one is built for Chinese only.

By Mandarin The WildUpdated 28 October 20265 min read

We make Mandarin The Wild. Everything we say about the other tools comes from their own pages and listings, with each source listed below.

Why look past Migaku

Migaku is a Chrome extension with phone apps for 11 languages: click a word on Netflix, YouTube or a web page and make a flashcard with its sentence, a screenshot and the audio.^{2, 3} It has no free plan: it costs from $10 a month, with a 10-day money-back guarantee.⁴ If you learn only Chinese, you pay for ten languages you don’t use. Is Migaku worth it for Chinese?

The list at a glance

Tool	Best for	Price
1. Mandarin The Wild	The meaning and pinyin of any word on web pages and in Chinese subtitles, as used there, then review	Free to look up, read the Library and review¹
2. Language Reactor	An English line under the Chinese on Netflix and YouTube	Free; saving words is Pro⁶
3. LingQ	Importing pages and captions into one reader, in many languages	20 saved words free; Premium from $14.99 a month⁸
4. asbplayer	Free Anki cards with the line’s audio and picture, on most streaming sites	Free and open source⁹
5. Zhongwen	A classic pop-up dictionary that lists every entry	Free and open source¹⁰

1. Mandarin The Wild

We make it, so judge this one hardest. It does the part of Migaku most Chinese learners use, built for Chinese alone. Point at a word on any page or in a video’s Chinese subtitles and its card shows the meaning it has in that sentence, not a list of every meaning and not a paragraph to read, with its pinyin as it is read there, including tone changes, its parts and its sound. Press M to keep it with its sentence and the moment it came from; Review brings it back by sight and by sound, with no daily limit.

我每天晚上看一集电视剧。

“I watch an episode of a TV drama every evening.”

电diàn视shì剧jù

Noun

TV series; TV drama

Also written 電視劇

Where Migaku asks you to bring your own content, the Library has more than 250 graded stories and articles from HSK 1 to 9 with recordings, so there is always something at your level. Your kept words download for Anki whenever you like. Get the extension.

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.

2. Language Reactor

Puts an English line under the Chinese on YouTube and Netflix. Saving words outside its practice mode needs its paid Pro plan.^{5, 6} It is best for following the story; for Chinese the English line pulls your eyes off the characters. See how the two compare, or the best Language Reactor alternatives.

3. LingQ

A reading app for many languages. Its LingQ Importer extension brings web pages and video captions into LingQ’s own reader, where you tap words to look them up and save them.⁷ The free plan saves 20 words and phrases and imports 5 lessons; Premium is $14.99 a month or $119.99 a year.⁸ See how the two compare, or the best LingQ alternatives.

4. asbplayer

A free, open-source video player and Chrome extension for learning from subtitled video. It finds the subtitles on Netflix, YouTube and most other streaming sites, or plays your own video with your own subtitle file, and makes Anki cards with the line, its audio and a picture through AnkiConnect.⁹ It is the closest free match to Migaku’s card making, but it has no Chinese dictionary of its own: you add a pop-up dictionary beside it.

5. Zhongwen

The free, open-source pop-up dictionary for Chinese: point at a word on a web page and it lists the dictionary’s entries for it, with pinyin.^{10, 11} It shows every entry, not the one meant in that sentence, and it has no review. See how the two compare.

How to choose

You learn only Chinese: a tool built for it gives the meaning each word has in its sentence and its real pinyin. Mandarin The Wild, free.
You live in Anki: asbplayer for cards with the audio clip, with a pop-up dictionary beside it; or keep words in Mandarin The Wild and download them for Anki.
You learn several languages at once: Migaku or LingQ, which cover many languages in one place, at a monthly price.

Questions

What is the best alternative to Migaku for Chinese?

Mandarin The Wild, free and built for Chinese only: point at any word on a web page or in the Chinese subtitles on YouTube, Netflix, Disney+ or Viki for the meaning it has in that sentence and its pinyin, then review it. asbplayer makes free Anki cards with the audio clip.

Is there a free alternative to Migaku?

Yes. Mandarin The Wild is free to look up, read its Library and review; asbplayer and Zhongwen are free and open source; Language Reactor is free with a paid Pro plan. Migaku has no free plan: it costs from $10 a month.

Does Migaku have a free trial?

It has a 10-day money-back guarantee instead of a free plan, and costs from $10 a month.

Is Migaku good for Mandarin?

Its flashcards from shows, with the audio and a screenshot, are good, and it has a beginner Chinese course. For Chinese alone, its price covers 11 languages, and a tool built for Chinese shows the one meaning a word has in its sentence.

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.