Moji vs Duolingo: Which Should You Use for Kanji?

Moji is our app, and comparing it with Duolingo is a little unfair to both. Duolingo teaches the whole Japanese language. Moji teaches kanji. Most people are not choosing one or the other so much as deciding whether Duolingo's kanji coverage is enough on its own.

How each app teaches kanji

Duolingo starts its Japanese course with hiragana, weaves in katakana early in the first section, and introduces kanji later in that section once you know the kana. According to Duolingo's own blog, kanji are spread out on purpose to avoid overload, and they are taught inside whole words. Once a kanji appears in a course word, it shows up in a kanji tab where you can see the words you have learned that use it, practice its shape, and learn its readings and meanings in those words. That is a sensible approach for a general course. It also means the kanji you meet are decided by the course vocabulary, not by a kanji list.

Moji works the other way round. It starts from the characters themselves, 2,140 kanji organized from JLPT N5 to N1, and shows each one with its readings, meanings, components, example words and a translated sentence. Radical Builder teaches the parts that make up kanji, the Confusables Drill separates look-alikes, and Reading in Context has you pick the right reading inside a Japanese sentence. You set the pace, from 1 to 20 new kanji a day.

Building a daily habit

Duolingo's lessons are short and game-like, which makes it easy to open the app every day. That is a real strength, especially in the first months of learning a language.

Moji builds its habit around spaced repetition and widgets. Due reviews come back when you are about to forget them. Lock Screen widgets on iPhone and Home Screen widgets keep a kanji in view all day, and the medium Quick Quiz widget lets you rate a review without opening the app. Moji also tracks streaks, retention and progress toward each JLPT level.

Writing practice

Duolingo's character lessons include tracing, and its kanji tab adds freehand writing and puzzles focused on the components of each character. Moji goes further on writing specifically. Guided writing checks stroke order, start point, direction, shape and length as you draw. Outline practice fades the guide, and recall writing asks you to draw the whole character from memory. If handwriting matters to you, Moji gives you more of it. See our kanji stroke order tool for the basic rules.

Price and platforms

Duolingo states that every course is free. It sells an optional Super subscription, with a free trial, that adds extra features, and prices vary by plan and region. Duolingo runs on iPhone, iPad and Android and on the web at duolingo.com.

Moji is a free download on iPhone, iPad and Android, and learning requires Moji Pro: $7.99 per month or $69.99 per year on the US App Store as of October 2026, with a lifetime purchase also listed and a free trial for eligible new users. There is no web version of Moji. If budget is the deciding factor, Duolingo is the obvious pick.

Using Moji and Duolingo together

This is the combination we would actually recommend for many beginners. Duolingo handles grammar, listening and everyday sentences, and Moji handles kanji in depth. Learn kana first, either in Duolingo or with our hiragana chart, then add Moji at a gentle pace of a few new kanji a day. When you meet a kanji in a Duolingo lesson, you will often recognize it from Moji, and the reading will make more sense. If you are preparing for the JLPT, Moji's level tracking shows how much of each level's kanji you have covered, starting with N5 kanji.