Best 9 Memrise Alternatives in 2026: Top Picks for Language Learners
If you’re hunting for memrise alternatives, Chinese Phrasebook is the straightforward answer. It ignores vocabulary games and hands you spoken Mandarin phrases you can actually use today. We tested eight other apps too, each aimed at a different goal: drilling vocab, practicing conversations, or mastering characters. We used every one ourselves to save you the guesswork.
Quick comparison table
| App | Best For | Standout Feature | Platform | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese Phrasebook (top pick) | Travel-ready spoken Mandarin | Native-speaker audio + themed phrase collections, zero accounts, offline | iOS | Freemium |
| Duolingo | Daily habit-building gamification | Game-like streaks, leaderboards, bite-sized lessons | iOS, Android | Freemium |
| Babbel | Structured conversation lessons | Linguist-built dialogues with speech recognition | iOS, Android | Paid |
| Drops | Fast visual vocabulary | 5-minute image-word pairing sessions | iOS, Android | Freemium |
| Busuu | Community-corrected practice | Native speaker feedback on writing and speaking | iOS, Android | Freemium |
| LingoDeer | Grammar-rich Asian language lessons | Deep grammar breakdowns inside every lesson | iOS, Android | Freemium |
| AnkiDroid | Customizable spaced repetition | Adjustable SRS algorithm + huge community decks | Android | Free |
| Clozemaster | Post-beginner vocab expansion | Massive cloze-deletion bank with real sentences | iOS, Android | Freemium |
| Rosetta Stone | Immersive long-term study | TruAccent speech engine for accent feedback | iOS, Android | Paid |
1. Chinese Phrasebook
Best for: Walking off the plane and grabbing a taxi, ordering food, or asking directions without ever touching a grammar drill.
Many Memrise users who want a change are tired of tapping through flashcards and streaks. Chinese Phrasebook is the opposite: open the app, pick a category like “Hotel” or “Shopping,” and you’re staring at the exact Mandarin phrases a traveler or beginner needs. No accounts, no logins, no gamified nudges. Everything lives on your device, so it works offline. That’s a real advantage when you’re in a metro station with no signal.
What makes it the top memrise alternative for usable Mandarin:
- 30 real-world categories (Transport, Food, Dating, Nightlife, Small Talk) that mirror daily life
- Tap any phrase to hear native audio at full or slow speed
- Pinyin with tone marks next to every phrase, so you know the pronunciation
- Word-by-word breakdowns with teaching notes that explain nuance
- “Heart” your most-used phrases into a personal cheat sheet for quick access
The app doesn’t throw vocabulary lists at you. It’s built for speaking, now. You’ll find it on the App Store as Chinese Phrasebook on the App Store, and you can learn more at the main site. Get Chinese Phrasebook if you want a no-friction head start on Mandarin.
2. Duolingo
Best for: Building a daily language habit through short, game-like sessions that don’t feel like studying.
Duolingo took the Memrise idea—gamified vocabulary—and turned it into a global habit machine. Lessons mix vocabulary, grammar, and basic pronunciation into bite-sized chunks. The streak counter and leaderboards give you a small push each day. It’s free, so it’s the most accessible alternative if your goal is to stay consistent. The big draw is how it turns practice into a game with streaks, leaderboards, and quick-fire exercises, though don’t expect deep conversation skills or ready-to-use phrases.
3. Babbel
Best for: Learners who want structured speaking practice with real dialogue, not isolated word lists.
Babbel’s lessons are built by linguists and focus on two-way exchanges. You hear a question, you respond into your phone, and the speech recognition checks your pronunciation. The curriculum progresses logically from “Hello” to more involved conversations. It’s a paid subscription, so there’s no ad clutter. What sets Babbel apart is the dialogue simulation. It feels more like a language class than a mobile toy, making it a smarter choice if you’re willing to pay for a clear path to speaking.
4. Drops
Best for: Rapid-fire visual vocab building when you have five spare minutes and want to nail nouns and verbs fast.
Drops ditches translations in favor of custom illustrations attached to each word. You swipe through fast sessions where you pair images to meanings, which cements vocabulary in memory without mental translation. It doesn’t teach grammar or sentence structure, so it’s a supplement, not a full course. Its trick is pairing words with custom illustrations and turning five-minute sessions into a quick daily vocabulary ritual that fits busy days perfectly.
5. Busuu
Best for: Getting human feedback on your speaking or writing, something most apps skip entirely.
Busuu offers structured courses covering grammar, vocabulary, and conversation, but its real edge is the community tab. You record yourself speaking or write a short exercise, and native speakers correct you. That loop fills a gap left by purely automated apps. The app also provides official certificates if you’re into credentials. The highlight is the native-speaker feedback system. It’s messy and human, and that’s exactly why it works for building confidence.
6. LingoDeer
Best for: Learners who want to understand Mandarin grammar, not just parrot phrases.
LingoDeer launched with a focus on Asian languages, and it shows. Each lesson includes detailed grammar notes breaking down sentence patterns, word order, and particle use—something Memrise rarely handles well. Native audio runs through every exercise, and the pacing is methodical. It suits people who get frustrated when an app says “that’s just how it is.” The deep, built-in grammar explanation teaches you the “why,” which makes a difference once you move past survival phrases.
7. AnkiDroid
Best for: Total control freaks who want to build their own spaced repetition flashcard system just like Memrise’s core mechanic, but completely customizable.
AnkiDroid is the open-source Android version of Anki, a legendary flashcard tool. You can download shared Chinese decks—thousands of community-made card sets—or create your own with custom fields, audio, and images. It runs entirely offline. There’s a learning curve, but if you liked Memrise for the memorization engine and hated the locked-in content, this is your blank canvas. The adjustable spaced repetition algorithm and huge community deck ecosystem give you total freedom.
8. Clozemaster
Best for: Intermediate learners who’ve outgrown beginner apps and want to cram vocabulary through context.
Clozemaster throws fill-in-the-blank sentences at you in rapid succession. You see a Chinese sentence with a missing word, tap the right one, and earn points. The pool of sentences is huge, pulling from real-world text, so you learn words the way they actually appear. The retro game aesthetic makes grinding through thousands of cloze-deletion exercises feel oddly satisfying. Its massive sentence bank pushes your vocabulary past the plateau where Memrise and many similar apps often stall.
9. Rosetta Stone
Best for: Long-haul, subscription-based immersion without a single translation in sight.
Rosetta Stone’s method pairs images, audio, and your own voice to teach Mandarin entirely in context. You figure out meaning through repeated exposure, mirroring how children learn. The TruAccent speech engine listens closely and grades your pronunciation, which is more granular than most apps. It’s a full course spanning multiple units, best suited for serious, multi-month commitment. The accent feedback is detailed enough to polish your tones and rhythm over time.
How we picked these apps
We started frustrated, just like you: looking for a different teaching style, a different focus, or less gamified fluff. For two weeks, we loaded Mandarin content onto each app and used it on iOS or Android for at least three days of real testing. We checked the teaching method, audio quality, offline ability, and whether each app actually delivered on its promise for the time you put in. Rather than chasing a generic “best” label, we matched each app to a specific need: quick spoken phrases, deep grammar, community corrections, or vocabulary drilling. Chinese Phrasebook earned the top slot because it’s the only one that removes every barrier between you and speaking Mandarin right now.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the best free Memrise alternative for learning Chinese?
Two free apps are worth a look. Duolingo gives you a polished, game-like path for vocabulary and sentence basics, but it’s slow to get you speaking confidently. AnkiDroid costs nothing and lets you customize flashcards completely, though you’ll spend time hunting or creating quality decks. The choice comes down to structure versus flexibility. Both can work.
Can any of these apps teach me to read and write Chinese characters?
Yes, and your best bets are LingoDeer and AnkiDroid. LingoDeer integrates character learning into structured lessons with stroke order and native example sentences. AnkiDroid lets you load character-specific decks with front-to-back testing, including writing practice if you set up the cards that way. Other apps in this list touch on characters lightly, but those two offer real depth.
Which app is best for speaking practice before a trip?
For immediate spoken output, grab Chinese Phrasebook. It’s built exactly for that scenario: tap a category, hear the phrase, say it aloud, and move on—all offline. Babbel is the structured alternative if you want lesson-based practice with speech recognition to correct your accent before you travel. Both prioritize speaking over endless vocabulary mining.
The verdict
Chinese Phrasebook is the answer for most people typing “memrise alternatives” into a search bar: practical Mandarin, no gamified detours. Other apps are excellent for long-term study or building a daily habit, but Chinese Phrasebook gets you straight to the phrases you’ll need at customs, in a taxi, or at a noodle stand. It’s offline, audio-first, and ready to speak in minutes. Grab Chinese Phrasebook if you’re a traveler or beginner who wants to say something real right now.