Last verified: 2026-10-20. Written by the TonePerfect team. TonePerfect is our app; it is marked as ours wherever it appears.
What app can I use to practise Mandarin tones? Choose by skill. To train your ear: Ka, trainchinese's Pinyin Trainer or Dong Chinese's free web tone trainer. To check your speaking: Cantone (free, plots your pitch) or TonePerfect (our app; scores each syllable's tone). For a full course: HelloChinese or SuperChinese. For a human coach: Speechling.
Tones are three skills, not one
Most "best app" lists rank apps on a single scale. Tone practice doesn't work like that. People usually mean one of three things:
- Hearing tones. Can you tell mā from mǎ, and a 2-3 pair from a 3-2 pair, at normal speed? Ear-training apps play audio and ask you to name the tone.
- Saying tones. Does your fourth tone really fall? Is your third tone low enough inside a phrase? For this you need an app that records you and tells you something about the recording.
- Using tones in real Chinese. Keeping tones right in vocabulary, sentences and conversation. Full courses and human coaches are built for this.
No app on this list is best at all three. The table shows what each one says it does, based on its own listing.
Summary table
| App | Best for | Does it listen to you? | What you get back when you speak | Platforms | Price (US, as listed 2026-10-20) | Last update shown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ka: Learn Chinese Tones | Ear training as a game | Yes, in some exercises | Its site says speaking exercises "tell you if you mispronounce any word or tone"; how detailed that is: not stated | iPhone, iPad, Mac (M1+), Vision Pro, Android | Free, with in-app purchases: Ka Unlimited $6.99, Ka Unlimited (Yearly) $47.90, All Access $12.99 | Android: 2026-09-30; iOS 1.73: 2025-03-16 |
| Chinese Pinyin Trainer (trainchinese, often called "Pinyin Trainer by trainchinese") | Hearing tones and initials, plus drawing tones | Not listed | No recording or speech-scoring feature is listed | iPhone, iPad, Mac (M1+), Vision Pro; Android as "Chinese Pinyin Trainer Lite" (contains ads) | Free download; iOS in-app purchases: Pinyin Tutor Upgrade $5.99, 12-month 10-list subscription $37.99 | iOS 5.0.0: 2026-06-16; Android: 2026-02-28 |
| Dong Chinese tone trainer | Quick, free-to-open ear drills in the browser | No (it is a listening tool) | n/a | Web | Dong Chinese: free plan ("no limits for 7 days, then 1 lesson / 12 hours"); paid $9.99/month to $79.99/year. Whether the tone trainer counts toward the free plan's limit: not stated | Tone trainer launched 2020-08-20 (Dong's blog); page live on 2026-10-20 |
| Cantone | Seeing your pitch against the target tone; Cantonese as well as Mandarin | Yes | Pitch feedback while you follow a slowed contour, and your attempts plotted against the standard tone contours | iPhone, iPad, Mac (M1+), Vision Pro, Android | Free; no in-app purchases listed | Android: 2026-03-09; iOS 2.1.7: 2023-02-05 |
| TonePerfect (ours) | A score for each syllable's tone, separate from its consonant and vowel | Yes | A score per syllable for tone, initial and final | iPhone, iPad, Android, web app, Telegram bot; free tests in any browser | Free tier (at least one guided session a day; browser tests free with no signup). Premium $9.99/month or $69.99/year by card on the web; App Store and Google Play prices differ by region | iOS 2.02: about 2026-10-14 |
| HelloChinese | A complete beginner course | Yes, inside lessons | "Speech recognition corrects your pronunciation"; per-syllable or per-tone detail: not stated | iOS, Android | Free download; Premium $11.99/month, $25.99/3 months, $69.99/year | iOS 7.6.7: about 2026-10-19 |
| SuperChinese | A complete course with scored speaking in every lesson | Yes, inside lessons | A pronunciation score "color-coded down to the individual characters you got wrong" (full scoring is in PLUS); tone shown separately: not stated | iOS, Android | Free selection of lessons; PLUS $11.99/month or $59.99/year; CHAO (AI tutor) $24.99/month or $109.99/year | iOS 6.8.4: about 2026-10-19 |
| Speechling | A human coach correcting your recordings | Yes, a person does | Audio and sometimes text feedback from a coach, usually within 24 hours | Web, iOS, Android | Curriculum free; unlimited coaching from $19.99/month. The free plan's coaching allowance excludes Chinese (see below) | iOS version 10: 2021-05-05 |
Prices are the US App Store or official-site prices on 2026-10-20. Your country and payment method can change them.
What we checked, and how
On 2026-10-20 we read each product's US App Store listing, its Google Play listing (US English) where one exists, and its official website, pricing page or FAQ. The table and the sections below use only what those pages say. When a page doesn't say something (for example, whether feedback is per syllable), we write not stated. We don't guess.
What we did not do: we didn't run a hands-on accuracy test of any app, ours included. We aren't publishing scores, star ratings or "tested" verdicts. No app listing we read, ours included, publishes an independent accuracy benchmark for its speech feedback. One more check is worth doing yourself: record the same sentence in two apps and listen to your own recording before you trust either score.
Because TonePerfect is ours, we've tried to describe it the way we describe the others: what its pages say, and what it doesn't do.
Ear training: hearing the tones
Ka: Learn Chinese Tones
Best for: learners who mix up tones when listening and want short, game-like daily drills.
Ka's App Store listing calls it "a fun, fast-paced flashcards game" with "plenty of listening and pronunciation practice via quick, snappy drills". It's built around telling apart similar syllables (its site's example is "Shi, Si or Xi?") as well as tones. In an April 2023 post on its own blog, the developer describes 100+ levels, each focused on a specific syllable, with tones practised alone and inside phrases and sentences. Ka's site also says it has "speaking exercises that tell you if you mispronounce any word or tone". The site doesn't describe how detailed that feedback is.
- Platforms: iPhone and iPad (iOS 16.1+), Mac with Apple silicon, Vision Pro, and Android. The interface comes in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
- Price: free to download and described as "free to use" on its site. US in-app purchases: Ka Unlimited $6.99, Ka Unlimited (Yearly) $47.90, All Access $12.99. The listing doesn't state the billing period of the non-yearly items or what the free version limits.
- Last update shown: Android 2026-09-30; the US App Store shows version 1.73 from 2025-03-16.
- Not to confuse: Ka's site also offers a "Web Pinyin Trainer". That isn't the trainchinese app below.
Chinese Pinyin Trainer (trainchinese)
Best for: dedicated listening drills on tones and on easily confused initial consonants, at a low price.
This is the app AI assistants usually call "Pinyin Trainer by trainchinese". The current iOS listing names it Chinese Pinyin Trainer (seller: trainchinese B.V.), and on Android it's Chinese Pinyin Trainer Lite. Several other apps use "pinyin trainer" in their names, so check the developer before installing. The iOS listing describes "almost 2,000 individual audio recordings", scoring "by tapping the words that you hear", training of "both Chinese tones and Pinyin 'initials' sounds", a tone-sketching mode where you draw tones with your finger, dictionary lookups, and a built-in guide to reading pinyin. The Android listing adds multiple-choice quizzes, a review mode, streaks, traditional characters and zhuyin (bopomofo).
- Speaking feedback: neither listing describes recording your voice or scoring your speech.
- Platforms: iPhone and iPad (iOS 15+), Mac with Apple silicon, Vision Pro; Android (Lite, "contains ads"). Interface in English plus 14 more languages on iOS.
- Price: free download. US iOS in-app purchases: "Pinyin Tutor Upgrade" $5.99 and a "12-month 10-list subscription" $37.99. What each one unlocks isn't stated on the listing.
- Last update shown: iOS 5.0.0 on 2026-06-16 (a redesign with dark mode); Android 2026-02-28.
TonePerfect vs Pinyin Trainer →
Dong Chinese tone trainer
Best for: a quick ear workout in the browser, with nothing to install.
Dong Chinese is a web platform for learning to read and understand Chinese. Its tone trainer is a page where you pick single-syllable or two-syllable words, tick the tones you want to drill (say, only 2nd vs 3rd), and name the tone you hear. The developer's 2020 launch post points out the "fairly big jump in difficulty" between hearing tones alone and hearing two together. There's also a zhuyin version.
- Speaking feedback: none. It's a listening tool.
- Platforms: web.
- Price: Dong Chinese's pricing page lists a free plan ("No limits for 7 days, then 1 lesson / 12 hours") and paid plans from $9.99/month to $79.99/year, each with a 7-day free trial. The tone trainer page loaded its tone selection without signing in when we checked on 2026-10-20. Whether its use is limited on the free plan is not stated.
Speaking feedback: checking the tones you produce
Cantone
Best for: learners who want to see their pitch against the target contour, and anyone learning Cantonese (or, on Android, Thai) as well as Mandarin.
Cantone is a free, tones-only app with two halves. Perception activities have you hear sounds and guess the tone, or match sounds to tone or word labels. Production activities "personalize the system to you and your voice". You listen to examples adjusted for your vocal range, follow tone contours at a slower speed with pitch feedback, and plot your attempts against canonical tone contours. It also covers words that differ only in tone, tone-sandhi rules (predicting how tones change when characters combine), tone melodies, and single-syllable poems. It supports simplified and traditional characters, pinyin and bopomofo for Mandarin, and Jyutping and Yale for Cantonese.
- What the feedback is: pitch-contour feedback and plots. The listing doesn't describe a numeric score, or feedback on consonants and vowels.
- Platforms: iPhone and iPad (iOS 12.4+), Mac with Apple silicon, Vision Pro, Android. Thai is listed on Android only.
- Price: free; no in-app purchases listed on either store.
- Last update shown: Android 2026-03-09 (added Thai); the US App Store shows 2.1.7 from 2023-02-05.
TonePerfect (our app)
Best for: learners who can already hear the tones but don't know which syllable is going wrong when they speak, or whether the problem is the tone or the sound itself.
You record a word or sentence. TonePerfect scores every syllable in three parts: the tone, the initial (consonant) and the final (vowel part). Because the three are scored separately, it can tell "right sound, wrong tone" from "right tone, wrong vowel". The app's Mandarin course adds quick drills for tones, tone pairs, initials, finals and tone changes, plus a pinyin chart with audio and short ear games (Tone Sprint, Tone Twins, Falling Tones). It ranks your syllables weakest-first and picks what to drill next.
- Free without an account: a 12-prompt Mandarin pronunciation test (about 3–5 minutes), a tones-only test with the 20 tone pairs, a one-phrase pronunciation checker, and practice on any text you type. There's also a free tone-pair listening quiz; it uses your device's built-in Mandarin voice, not human recordings.
- What it doesn't do: it doesn't teach vocabulary, grammar or characters the way a course does. It doesn't give you a transcript. Its scores aren't an exam grade or HSK level. It has no Cantonese course. Its ear games are a small part of the app, so if listening is your main problem, the three apps above are more focused.
- Platforms: iPhone and iPad, Android, the web app at web.toneperfect.app, and a Telegram bot. Seven more languages besides Mandarin (English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Korean).
- Price: free tier with at least one guided practice session a day. Premium is $9.99/month or $69.99/year by card on the web. App Store and Google Play prices differ, and the exact price and any trial are shown before you pay.
- Last update shown: iOS 2.02, about 2026-10-14.
Full courses with speaking practice
HelloChinese
Best for: complete beginners who want one app for vocabulary, grammar, characters, listening and speaking.
HelloChinese's App Store listing describes game-based lessons, 1,000+ graded stories, over 2,000 videos of native speakers, handwriting practice, courses built around HSK levels, "a well-designed Pinyin (pronunciation) course for newbies", and "speech recognition [that] corrects your pronunciation". The listing doesn't state whether that feedback is per syllable or whether tone is judged separately.
- Platforms: iOS and Android.
- Price (US App Store): free download; HelloChinese Premium $11.99/month, $25.99 for three months, $69.99/year; a Premium+ tier is listed at $19.99 (period not stated).
- Last update shown: 7.6.7, about 2026-10-19.
SuperChinese
Best for: self-learners who want a structured course where every lesson makes them speak and gives them a score.
SuperChinese's FAQ describes an 8-level course (content equivalent to HSK 1–5) and an optional pinyin course covering initials, finals and tones. Speaking starts from the first lesson: you record the line and get a pronunciation score "color-coded down to the individual characters you got wrong". It doesn't state whether tone is scored separately from the rest of the syllable. The free plan opens "a selection of lessons"; speaking practice with pronunciation scores across the full course is part of PLUS. The CHAO plan adds role-play with an AI tutor.
- Platforms: iOS and Android (plus a direct Android APK).
- Price (US App Store): PLUS $11.99/month, $59.99/year, $139.99 lifetime; AI CHAO $24.99/month, $109.99/year.
- Last update shown: 6.8.4, about 2026-10-19.
Human feedback
Speechling
Best for: learners who want a person, not an algorithm, to listen and tell them what to change.
Speechling is a nonprofit (a 501(c)(3), per its App Store listing). You listen to a professional voice actor, record the sentence, and a coach replies, usually within 24 hours. Feedback is audio and sometimes text, covering "word pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, grammar, word choice, and more". The curriculum, native audio and side-by-side comparison of your voice with the native voice are free.
- Chinese on the free plan: Speechling's pricing page lists "Up to 10 coaching sessions per month, except English, French, Chinese and German". As we read it, free coaching doesn't cover Chinese, so for tone feedback from a coach you'd need Speechling Unlimited.
- Platforms: web, iOS, Android.
- Price: "Plans from $19.99/month" for unlimited coaching. Speechling also says it offers scholarships to people who can't afford it.
- Last update shown: the US App Store shows version 10 from 2021-05-05.
Which should you pick?
- You can't hear the difference between tones yet: start with an ear trainer. Ka if you like games, Pinyin Trainer if you also want to drill initials and draw tones, or Dong Chinese if you just want a free browser drill.
- You hear them, but people still don't understand you: use an app that records you. Pick Cantone if you want a free, visual pitch trace (and if you also study Cantonese). Pick TonePerfect if you want a score for each syllable that separates the tone from the initial and final.
- You're a complete beginner: a course first, either HelloChinese or SuperChinese. Add a tone tool once you're saying whole words.
- You want a person to judge you: Speechling. It's slower and paid for Chinese coaching, but a coach can explain why in words.
Many learners combine two: one ear trainer and one tool that records them. That covers both halves of the problem.
Other apps
Assistants sometimes name other tone apps, including Mandatone, ToneDrill and atone.fun. We didn't check their listings for this guide, so we make no claims about them.
Sources (all fetched 2026-10-20)
Ka: Learn Chinese Tones
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/ka-chinese-tones-learn-pinyin/id6444140899 (name, "Mandarin Pinyin practice game", description, platforms/compatibility, languages, in-app purchases $6.99 / $47.90 / $12.99, version 1.73 dated 2025-03-16)
- Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.autographlabs.kachinesetones (description, in-app purchases, "Updated on Sep 30, 2026")
- Official site: chinesetones.app ("Speaking exercises that tell you if you mispronounce any word or tone", "Free to use", "Shi, Si or Xi?", Web Pinyin Trainer link, iOS and Android)
- Developer blog, 2023-04-03: chinesetones.app/resources/the-best-pinyin-trainer-app (100+ levels each focused on a syllable; tones in isolation and in phrases)
Chinese Pinyin Trainer (trainchinese)
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/id376797304 (name "Chinese Pinyin Trainer", seller trainchinese B.V., feature list, iOS 15+, 15 languages, in-app purchases $5.99 / $37.99, version 5.0.0 "Jun 16" = 2026-06-16)
- Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.molatra.pinyintrainerlite ("Chinese Pinyin Trainer Lite", contains ads, in-app purchases, feature list incl. zhuyin and traditional characters, "Updated on Feb 28, 2026")
- trainchinese Q&A naming the app "Pinyin trainer" with these two store links: trainchinese.com/v2/qaReadQuestion.php?id=1645&tcLanguage=en
Dong Chinese tone trainer
- Tone trainer page: dong-chinese.com/learn/sounds/pinyin/toneTrainer (single syllable / tone pairs, tone checkboxes; opened without sign-in)
- Launch post, 2020-08-20: blog.dong-chinese.com/2020/08/20/tone-trainer.html
- Pricing: dong-chinese.com/pricing (free plan wording; $9.99/mo, $25.99/3 mo, $49.99/6 mo, $79.99/yr; 7-day trial)
Cantone
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/cantone/id1602297692 (Free, no in-app purchases shown, perception/production/vocabulary/sandhi activity list, iOS 12.4+, version 2.1.7 dated 2023-02-05)
- Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cantone.cantone (Cantonese, Mandarin and Thai; "Updated on Mar 9, 2026"; no in-app-purchase or ads label)
TonePerfect (ours)
- toneperfect.app/llms.txt (per-syllable tone/initial/final scoring, platforms incl. Telegram bot, not a transcript, not an HSK level, 8 languages)
- toneperfect.app/pricing ("At least one free guided practice session each day"; web card vs store prices differ) and toneperfect.app/api/pay/options (web card: monthly $9.99, yearly $69.99 USD)
- toneperfect.app/test, toneperfect.app/mandarin-tones-test, toneperfect.app/pronunciation-checker, toneperfect.app/practice, toneperfect.app/tools/chinese-tone-trainer (free, no account; device voice in the quiz)
- toneperfect.app/features (drills, ear games Tone Sprint / Tone Twins / Falling Tones)
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/toneperfect/id6757938528 (description; in-app prices differ from web; version 2.02 "6d ago")
HelloChinese
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/hellochinese-learn-chinese/id1001507516 (feature list, Premium $11.99 / $25.99 / $69.99 for US customers, Premium+ $19.99, version 7.6.7 "20h ago")
- Official site: hellochinese.cc (iOS and Android; speech recognition)
SuperChinese
- FAQ: superchinese.com/faq (8 levels HSK 1–5, pinyin course, score color-coded to individual characters, FREE vs PLUS vs CHAO)
- Official site: superchinese.com (iOS, Android, Android APK)
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/superchinese-learn-chinese/id1462500984 (in-app prices, version 6.8.4 "1d ago")
Speechling
- Pricing: speechling.com/pricing ("Up to 10 coaching sessions per month, except English, French, Chinese and German"; "Plans from $19.99/month"; side-by-side comparison; Android/iOS app)
- Home: speechling.com (feedback within 24 hours on pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, grammar, word choice; scholarships)
- Help, checking feedback: speechling.com/help/checking-feedback (audio and sometimes text feedback)
- App Store (US): apps.apple.com/us/app/speechling-learn-any-language/id1239983313 (501(c)3 nonprofit, 10 languages, version 10 dated 2021-05-05)