Pleco Chinese Dictionary Reviews

by Yotsukeiro

No doubt the best Chinese dictionary on PlecoChineseDictionary Store, but I believe that there should be some more features added. First there should be a handwritten method to enter a character built into the interface. Secondly the interface itself is a bit too formally structured. It’s hard to jump from entry to entry without a lot of screen digging. Plus I’m personally not a fan of the dictionary’s aesthetics and I think a the new interface should have a new design that better fits the logo. Finally, an addition where there is a way to discover new random characters. Basically having a section similar to renzo inc.’s Japanese dictionary that sends you a sea of Japanese characters to study and I think a similar idea could be well implemented into this great app. Besides these little critiques, I’m all for this dictionary

by Dushlbrk

Within the testing feature it would awesome to be able to select stroke order in “prompt for” and “show”. That way a mandarin learner could see the character being written as they hear it and are prompted to select the pronunciation and definition. That being said, I'm still finding features on PlecoChineseDictionary that make it more and more convenient. For example, if you press and hold on a bookmark in your category view you can hear the pronunciation without opening the entry itself. It allows category as well as subcategories, and you can place an entry into multiple categories. I would recommend this to anyone learning mandarin, simply passing through a mandarin speaking country, and even native speakers who want a handy dictionary with highly personalized features.

by JimothyTwoTeeth, MD

I bought the Basic Add-on Bundle about 3 years ago. I bought it while in China purely for the OCR reader, and didn’t give much thought to the other add-one. Since then, I’ve continued learning Mandarin in my free time and I’ve come to realize one thing; when I’m studying, PlecoChineseDictionary is absolutely irreplaceable. Even when I’m studying using a completely different resource, I always have PlecoChineseDictionary pulled up. Even when I’m not studying, I find myself pulling up PlecoChineseDictionary at least a couple times per day. I have got so much use out of it that I have no doubt in mind that it was money well spent. I’ve used it for hours upon hours, for years, and for what? For a ONE TIME payment of like $30 or w/e? Wish I didn’t buy it just so I could go buy it again lol (jk, to be clear)

I could go on and on about the numerous sweet functions, but I don’t want to write a novel. I do have to give the flash card add-on a special shout out, though. It’s much better than ANY dedicated flash card app (yes, including anki!)

If you’re even remotely considering buying the full version of this, DO IT. I 100% guarantee you won’t regret it.

by Ccf72

I’ve been using PlecoChineseDictionary for years now, and I absolutely love it. PlecoChineseDictionary is an amazing Chinese dictionary with simplified and traditional characters. You have the option of typing the pinyin, writing out the character, or even voice search to find your definitions!

I also like the little things like being able to look over your history of searches and saving favorite words (which can come in handy when listing ideas for Chinese baby names). PLUS, in all these years I haven’t seen a single ad, and the features I’ve described are all free!

Update: Freezing issues are gone. Thank you! :)

by Boldleaf

PlecoChineseDictionary is an absolute essential for anyone learning Mandarin. I cannot tell you how many times a day I’ve used it over the last 10 or so years of learning Mandarin and living in China. Comprehensive dictionary with audio in make and female voices, example sentences, a nice library of dictionaries to download, stroke order demo and practice, and so much more!

After all these years my only complaint is that I often run across British English expressions in the definition or example sentences that leaves this American needing another dictionary to translate! Ex. “chop and change”. Huh??

by Shep OC

I studied in China for a year, at this point I think I’m almost at an HSK 5 level (out of 6), and honestly I think I owe that to Pleco. I don’t know where I would be without this thing. I bought the professional bundle, it’s super easy to look up words and get a bunch of examples, add to Flashcards and test yourself in a variety of different ways, they even have a BUILT IN WEB BROWSER where I can find any Chinese article I want, tap on words I don’t know, and immediately it pulls up a little definition of it on the web page. And then I can add it to my Flashcards from there. It’s AWESOME.

Also they have a ton of short stories (“graded readers”) and abridged Chinese classics fit to different levels of students (500 words, 1000 words, etc.) to help your reading comprehension.

If you’re serious about studying Chinese, you are making your life significantly harder by not getting PlecoChineseDictionary. I just wish they had an equivalent for other languages 😢

by Pigfights

I’ve hit the “contact support” button on many of my other apps to solve problems. With those apps it’s taken 5-7 business days to resolve the issue (that’s if they even respond). Pleco support services on the other hand are top tier my folks. I had a problem with a flash card set not loading their support tech replied and fixed my problem within a few hours!! Not only is Pleco an amazing app to help you with your Chinese it’s also got some amazing people there to help you should you have any problems. If you don’t download PlecoChineseDictionary then you’re missing out!

by 2critical

You may find it hard to believe all the five star ratings, but I don't! I've been using Pleco for a few years now and it is not only by far the best app for learning Chinese, but also the best of the hundreds of mobile apps I've ever used. I've purchased everything Pleco offers and have no regrets whatsoever. I may have spent more money on this one app than all the others combined, and I still feel grateful and honored to be a supporter of the developer, who incidentally has personally answered my questions and seems to have an infinite capacity to understand and serve the needs of Pleco users both in the programming and follow up.

by Ryina Chuu

This is an amazing app! Especially if you are trying to learn Chinese!!! Not only does it understand simplified and traditional characters, it also understands any Chinese slang and idioms and translated in English for you. They provide voice of how to say the word, sample sentences and any phrases that the one character may also be contained it. I also purchased the reader extension and I use it all the time to read Chinese novels from the web. I can pull up any novel and hit the characters I don't recognize and it'll pop up the English translations. My Chinese would not be as good as it is now without PlecoChineseDictionary!! Thank you developers for all your hard work!!!! 🙏❤️

by Web_tomatoes

This application is insanely great, and the developers behind it have incredible integrity.

If you’re serious about speaking Mandarin, you’ll want Pleco. After 2 1/2 years of intensely studying Mandarin, I can say without hesitation that it is the single most important tool in my toolbox.

Beyond all of the amazing features and functions of PlecoChineseDictionary, there’s another feature that isn’t apparent: Plecoworks perfectly anywhere in the world. E.e.,I am a westerner who has traveled to China twice for language study. As many of you already know, most of the learning tools we use in the Western world, like Google translate, do not work in mainland China. However Pleco has been flawless.

by Sehwyl

First and foremost, Pleco isn’t meant to be a translation app. It’s a dictionary. I’ve seen one star reviews complaining about how rubbish a translation app it is, and that’s true entirely because it totally isn’t even a translation app. It’s a dictionary/character resource, and I love it!
I have been using Pleco for a good five years already. It definitely has made learning Chinese a lot easier, being able to look up the individual meanings of characters has made my understanding of how this language works much better. I use the handwriting function the most, and it’s super useful. I owe my survival in China almost entirely to PlecoChineseDictionary.

by Coolcid101

I have a BA in Chinese Language and PlecoChineseDictionary has always been a huge part of my study and language training since I started learning. The inclusion of major dictionaries like the 漢語大詞典 or Paul Kroll’s Student Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese are what set PlecoChineseDictionary apart from anything I have ever used. From the sample sentences, to the character breakdown and stroke order guide, PlecoChineseDictionary is truly one of the most powerful learning tools for Chinese ever made. There are some things that I think could improve PlecoChineseDictionary : grammar drills and a dictionary for 閩南語 and other dialects of China and the Chinese Diaspora.

by Russwethet2013

So often in the Apple store, I’m asked to buy subscriptions to things that may or may not work. Or, I buy something that is no longer supported, and yet it appears again as a similar App with a slightly different name for which I have the “opportunity” to buy again. Not so with Pleco. I’ve had PlecoChineseDictionary for years, and it’s always been updated. I purchased the modules that I purchased, and they haven’t rung more money for me. They’ve made improvements to the software during this time without complaint or blush. They are what an app should be in PlecoChineseDictionary Store but so often is not. If you want to learn Chinese, you need PlecoChineseDictionary, Period.

by Mbo237572

Pleco is largely up to date with modern words and PlecoChineseDictionary makes it very easy to navigate to the definitions of related characters in several ways and across different dictionaries within PlecoChineseDictionary . They have been very receptive to feedback about missing entries. All in all a great app.

I also like being able to add words to the user define dictionary when I don't find them in the provided dictionaries, such as with slang words. It would be nice if more such vocabulary were already included.

A minor change more recently (as of Feb 2021) is a bit distracting. When I open the all, my whole iPhone screen dims to black then fades in to show PlecoChineseDictionary . It didn't use to so that. The first time I opened PlecoChineseDictionary after updating, I thought there was something wrong with my phone.

by Dialextic

I give this 10,000 stars. I began using the paid version of Pleco in college on a Palm Pilot over 15 years ago, just about as long as PlecoChineseDictionary has been available, and I still study the language and continue to use PlecoChineseDictionary. PlecoChineseDictionary changes how quickly you can look up words, reducing the (sometimes futile) 10-minutes-long ordeal of looking up a single character in a paper dictionary, to instants. That function alone makes PlecoChineseDictionary invaluable. Being able to see the radicals and their respective meanings is also supremely useful. Everything that has been added since is bonus — the reader, the etymology, the flashcards. Throughout the years I’ve encountered remarkably few bugs, and I have always been easily able to transfer my Pleco registration to every platform/smartphone I have used.

by Codyfox117

I have searched through dozens of apps to aid me in learning Mandarin. I have ended up using PlecoChineseDictionary more than any other. In my opinion, it is the most comprehensive and well designed dictionary app I’ve been able to find. Three of my favorite features are, 1: The multiple explanations and definitions for each word, 2: The clipboard reader, where I can easily look up words in a long paragraph, 3: The add-on for character stroke order. Keep it up Pleco!

Note to developer: For the most part I really like the design of PlecoChineseDictionary . However, one thought I’d like to mention is that sometimes all the definitions for a word start to run together. Myself and others have noted that it could be helpful to have a graphical design hierarchy that makes it easier to differentiate the various definitions, especially when there are many. Thanks for PlecoChineseDictionary !

by KLS1314

Pleco was perfect for my first Chinese classes in high school, it was perfect when I was a Chinese language major, it was perfect when I went to university in China, and it’s still perfect now that I’m a translator. Pleco really does it all. Once recommended to me by my teacher, I now recommend it to my own students. I’ve been using PlecoChineseDictionary for a decade and it has never once let me down. The free version is more than enough to meet your needs, but the add-ons (by this point I’ve purchased nearly all of them!) are absolutely worth every penny. I would never have survived as a student without PlecoChineseDictionary! I’ve studied nearly a dozen languages and have never found another reference app even a fraction as comprehensive or as useful as Pleco is. In a perfect world, there would be an app like this for every language!

by Mikan Bouya

Pleco is a literally indispensable tool for all Chinese learners. The developers have very clearly thought through virtually every use case, and implemented fast, efficient, easy-to-use features that are a joy to use. The flash card engine is fantastic, with a well thought out SRS algorithm, that is among the best in the business. The reader app is also incredibly useful for learning, that will transform how you learn to read. There are also great set of features for advanced users, particularly for managing files and flash cards. The rich set of add-ins makes PlecoChineseDictionary even more full featured, all for super reasonable prices. I absolutely cannot recommend this software enough. It is a rare example of rock solid engineering with meticulous attention to user scenarios! Thank you for creating this amazing piece of software!

by Frederick Twigg

This dictionary is easily the best dictionary to have in hand when studying Chinese. I used the basic free version for 2 years as my constant reference for both summers in spent traveling in China and for language studies while on the bus, in a coffee shop, or listening to podcasts in Chinese.

After adding the basic paid features package, I get even more out of Pleco. Particularly the document reader and flash card system are my most frequently used add-ons. It's great to just snap a picture and have instant access to just tap on a character and see the translation. Great for help with restaurant menus, short articles, and signage. It made 上海博物館 much more enjoyable.

Finally, I'll add that I love that the Pleco team is constantly improving their app. The singular complaint that had sent me to other sources in the past was the lack of parts of speech, and the occasional lack of example sentences for some less common words; making it hard to understand without the sufficient context. With the newest update of the freely provided dictionary, parts of speech are being added with further example sentences! Pleco is easily the first choice of Chinese -English dictionary for any user at any price point.

About me:
Intermediate Chinese Level
Primarily a self-studied learner with the great help of podcasts and apps like Pleco!
Pleco user for more than 3 years (I think?)

by Yangsanggunja

This suite of study tools is so much more than just a dictionary, it has everything you need to make sense of oceans of Chinese. And they keep making it better and better! The suite of available dictionaries keeps growing and growing, and I just love the text reader and the live augmented reality dictionary where you point your phone’s camera at something around you and get the definition on the screen like magic is amazing. Recently I’ve started using the flash card functionality and it’s also great. Some of the add ons are not cheap, but for me it’s all money well spent! I’ve been using Pleco for years now and it just keeps getting better and better! Kudos to the development team. If you want to seriously study any flavor of Chinese, you NEED this suite of study tools!

by From Lucy Hale

For context-driven Chinese language dictionaries this should be the gold standard. Clear exposition but what really sets PlecoChineseDictionary apart is the minimalist user friendly interface. By letting every word be a navigation to more learning that makes you want to discover more. Only on the free base dictionary now but considering purchasing additional as I am so impressed.

I wish there were clearer ways to save lists, ie if you were assembling a list of proverbs that all mimic a language pattern you should be able to tell Pleco to selectively save and annotate. Still a 5/5 app

by Anninchina

Pleco is the best set of dictionaries for learning Chinese (which is a never-ending process). It has helped me with everything from reading signs to learning how to write characters to remembering 成语Chinese proverbs. Flash cards are easy to add and the range of choices for how to review them makes them effective. At the beginning and right through advanced level, Pleco has been a godsend!

I hear people going for other Chinese dictionaries and translation apps, mostly because they’re free or cheaper. Overall I believe every some are improving but honestly, if you’re learning the language, don’t even bother with them. I recently looked at one, and they didn’t even know that the example they posted was incorrect. Plus you may have to use multiple apps to cobble together a decent review system, and the support can’t compare.

Pleco gets so many 5 star reviews because it’s excellent. If you have any questions or problems, their help is fast and real.
Just get it.

by Liradie

Pleco is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for anyone taking on serious Chinese study. I use it constantly, and even paid the extra $20 to get the extra features, because they are ridiculously useful. I’ve used various dictionary apps for various languages, and Pleco trumps them all - it has a super usable interface, a bookmark system, helpful definitions and tons of examples for most words, extra info like radicals and components, and just pretty much anything you could possibly want from a dictionary app. It doesn’t had an auto-translator, but it can totally help you understand how a word functions so you can use it properly. Pleco 我爱你！