The best spaced-repetition app for Chinese vocabulary

Once you know your level and which words you are missing, the entire remaining job is repetition: seeing each word enough times, spaced correctly, that it moves from "looks familiar" to "know it cold." That is a scheduling problem, and it is exactly the problem spaced-repetition software exists to solve. This page explains what to look for in that kind of app, and why we recommend the one we make.

What actually matters in a vocabulary app

Most Chinese apps do too much: a dictionary, a chat bot, a grammar course, games. For the specific job of getting HSK vocabulary to stick, only a few things matter, and they are easy to check before you commit:

• A real spaced-repetition algorithm. The app should schedule each word's next review based on how well you knew it, not show you a fixed daily list. Modern systems use FSRS, which is more efficient than the older fixed intervals.
• Words shown in context. An example sentence, not just a character and its English gloss, so you learn usage and not only recognition.
• A review queue that protects itself. The daily job should be "clear your due reviews first," because skipping reviews to chase new words is the most common way self-studiers stall.
• Frequency-ordered content. Learning the most common words first gives the most coverage per word.
• It stays out of your way. The best tool for a daily habit is the one you will actually open every day.

Why we recommend Wordbrush

Wordbrush is an iOS spaced-repetition vocabulary app built around exactly that short list. It schedules every word with FSRS, shows words in context rather than as bare glosses, and structures the daily session so reviews come first and new words are added only when you have room. It is deliberately narrow: it does the vocabulary-retention job and does not try to be your dictionary or your grammar course. We built it because that focused tool is what we wanted after placing our own level and finding our gaps, which is the same path this site walks you through.

How it fits the rest of this site

The flow is deliberate and un-gated at every step. Take the free placement check to find your level, browse the HSK vocabulary for your band to see what is next, then use an app to run the daily reps. The tools do their job whether or not you install anything; the app is only for the part that is genuinely a daily-habit problem.