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Inku
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A new kind of Japanese app · iPhone only

Learn Japanese the way you'd want to. Calmly.

Inku is a flashcard app built like a notebook, not a game. Hiragana, katakana, N5 vocabulary, and four phrase packs, all voiced by a real actor. No streaks. No pressure. Just ten minutes a day that actually stick.

Download on iPhoneOr read the hiragana guide first →

7-day free trial. $29.99 a year or $4.99 a month. Cancel anytime in Settings.

600+cards in your pocket
100%spoken by a real actor
82%stayed past month one
0servers storing your progress

How it works

One quiet screen a day.

Open Inku and it already knows what you need to see. A handful of kana, a few vocabulary cards, one or two phrases. The review ends when today's review ends. There is no infinite feed.

Under the hood, Inku uses a modern spaced-repetition scheduler (FSRS) to decide what to surface. You see it as a short, finite session. The machinery stays out of your way.

Every word, spoken aloud

A real actor recorded every card.

Inku ships with native voice acting for every character, word, and phrase. Not a text-to-speech engine. A real voice actor recorded in a studio, and the audio lives on your device.

That means your pronunciation has something faithful to copy, and the app never has to phone home to speak. It sounds the same on the subway as it does on your couch.

Built like a notebook, not a game

No streaks. No notifications. No guilt.

Most language apps punish you for missing a day. Inku does not. You can pick it up after a week away and the cards you need will still be the cards you need.

The home screen shows your progress as ink drops collected, not a streak flame you're afraid to lose. You'll look forward to opening it. That is the whole idea.

What's inside

Six decks, all on day one.

No paywalled chapters you have to grind toward. Every deck is unlocked as soon as you subscribe.

From a learner

“I tried three apps before Inku. Everyone else wanted me to build a streak. Inku just wanted me to learn.”
Priya N., learning since February 2026

From the learners

Quiet app. Loud reactions.

Real people, real posts. Tap any card to see where it came from.

“Finally an app that doesn't treat me like a six-year-old. I opened it, learned 20 kana, closed it, kept my day.”

Priya N.

@priyalearns

instagram

“The voice acting is a real human. I stopped second-guessing my pronunciation on day three.”

Marcos D.

@marcosreads

tiktok

“I was an Anki person. I switched because Inku already had the cards I would have made, and the pronunciation I couldn't.”

Jen W.

@jwlanguage

twitter

“No streaks, no pressure. I do 10 minutes before bed and I actually remember what I learned.”

Tomás R.

@tomaswords

instagram

“The handwriting practice is the first tool that has actually made katakana stick for me.”

Ana K.

u/anak_

reddit

“It looks like a piece of stationery. I keep opening it because it feels good to hold.”

Dev P.

@dev.reads

instagram

Inku Pro

One subscription. Everything unlocked.

No chapters to grind, no ads, no upsells. Start with a 7-day free trial. Cancel from Settings with two taps if it is not for you.

Best value

Save 50%

Yearly

$29.99/ year

That is $2.50 a month, billed once a year.

7-day free trial. No charge until day 8.

Start free trial

Flexible

Monthly

$4.99/ month

Cancel any billing cycle. No long commitment.

No trial on monthly plans (Apple rule).

Get the monthly plan

Both plans include

  • All six decks: hiragana, katakana, N5 vocab, casual, polite, travel
  • Native voice acting on every card
  • Handwriting practice for every kana
  • Spaced repetition tuned for adult learners
  • Four themes: Matcha, Sakura, Sun, Moon
  • Works offline; your progress lives on your phone
  • One-tap flag for any card that looks wrong
  • New N4 vocabulary landing every month

Common questions

Answers, up front.

Is Inku a Duolingo alternative?+

Yes. If you bounced off Duolingo because the gamification felt patronizing, Inku is built for you. It gives you real vocabulary, real voice, and a finite session so you can close the app and go about your day.

Do I need an account?+

No. Inku does not ask for your email, your Apple ID, or anything else. Your progress lives on your iPhone.

Is there a free tier?+

Inku is subscription-first with a 7-day free trial on the yearly plan. We do not show ads or sell data, so the subscription is how the app keeps existing.

What level of Japanese does Inku cover?+

At launch, Inku covers hiragana and katakana, 200 core N5 words, 65 N4 words, and four phrase packs. We add more N4 content every month, and N3 is planned.

Does Inku work offline?+

Yes. The voice audio is bundled into the app at build time and every review session runs on-device.

What about Android?+

Inku is iPhone-only for now. An Android version is not on the roadmap yet. If you want to be notified, email app@inkujapanese.com.

Can I use Inku with Anki?+

You can use them side by side, but most learners switch because Inku already has the cards you would have built and the pronunciation you could not record yourself.

Is the content accurate?+

We source everything from standard JLPT vocabulary lists and check every card against Japanese-native references before release. If something looks wrong, flag it in the app and we review within a week.

Ten minutes a day

Let Japanese happen slowly, on paper-coloured glass.

Download Inku, spend a week with it, and see if it fits your life. If it does not, cancel the trial and no harm done.

Download on theApp StoreRead the hiragana guide first →