Moji vs WaniKani: Which Kanji App Should You Use?

Moji is our app, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to describe WaniKani as its own team does, using the official WaniKani site and help center, and we link every source at the bottom of the page. Both apps use spaced repetition and both take kanji seriously. They differ in structure, platform and how much they ask you to write.

How each app teaches kanji

WaniKani builds everything from parts. You first learn radicals, which WaniKani uses as building blocks, then the kanji made from them, then vocabulary that uses those kanji. Every radical, kanji and vocabulary word comes with a mnemonic. The curriculum is split into 60 levels. You move up by getting most of the current level's kanji to the Guru stage, and radicals must reach Guru before the related kanji unlock. WaniKani says its course covers about 2,000 kanji and 6,000 vocabulary words, in an order the team chose by hand.

Moji organizes the built-in library of 2,140 kanji by JLPT level, from N5 to N1. You choose an exam goal or a casual path, pick a starting point, and set how many new kanji to meet each day, from 1 to 20. If you already know some characters, Known Kanji management lets you skip them. Each kanji has a detail page with on'yomi and kun'yomi, meanings, components, example words, a translated sentence and pronunciation audio. Radical Builder asks you to complete a kanji from three components and explains why the right radical belongs there, and the Confusables Drill compares look-alike characters.

The trade-off is simple. WaniKani decides the order for you, which many learners find calming. Moji gives you more control, which suits learners with some prior study or a specific JLPT date.

Building a daily habit

WaniKani is a web app. Its help center says there is no official iOS or Android app, though it notes that users have built third-party apps that work with it. Reviews appear when they are due, so the habit is to check in and clear them.

Moji is built around the phone. Lock Screen widgets on iPhone and Home Screen widgets show a kanji with its reading and meaning, and the medium Quick Quiz widget lets you reveal an answer and rate it Again, Hard, Good or Easy without opening the app. Kira's Review Pile widget shows what is due and your streak. The idea is that short glances during the day add up to extra exposure between proper review sessions. If you rarely sit at a computer, this is the biggest practical difference.

Writing practice

WaniKani's help center states plainly that it does not teach stroke order or handwriting. Its reasoning is that typing is far more common than handwriting today and that stroke order follows general rules you can learn once.

Moji includes writing as part of the core loop. 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. Hints, undo and retry keep you moving when you get stuck. If you want to handwrite kanji, or you find that writing helps you remember them, Moji covers this and WaniKani does not. For the rules themselves, see our kanji stroke order tool.

Price and platforms

As of October 2026, WaniKani is free until you reach Level 4. After that it costs $9 per month, $89 per year, or $299 once for lifetime access, in US dollars with tax added where it applies. It runs in a web browser.

Moji is a free download on iPhone, iPad and Android, and learning requires Moji Pro. On the US App Store, Moji Pro is $7.99 per month or $69.99 per year, with a lifetime purchase also listed, and eligible new users get a free trial. There is no web version of Moji.

Using Moji and WaniKani together

Plenty of learners combine tools. A reasonable split is WaniKani for its mnemonic curriculum on a computer and Moji on the phone for writing practice and widget-based glances. The risk is doubling your review load, so if you try both, set Moji's daily new-kanji pace low and use Known Kanji management to skip characters WaniKani has already taught you. If you want only one app, pick based on two questions: do you want to write kanji, and do you study mostly on a phone? A yes to either points to Moji. A no to both, plus a love of fixed structure, points to WaniKani.

New to radicals? Our guide to kanji radicals explains the building blocks both apps rely on, and our spaced repetition guide explains why both schedule reviews the way they do.