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Pleco Chinese Dictionary

Chinese Learning · Free download
S Tier
Best in class · #5 of 9
91
4.7★1.9K ratings
Free downloadprice
2mosince update

What is Pleco Chinese Dictionary?

Pleco is a Chinese dictionary and learning app in the Reference genre. It includes two free built-in dictionaries, CC-CEDICT and the PLC dictionary, along with a document reader, flashcards, stroke order diagrams and handwriting input. Several dictionaries and features are available as paid ($) add-ons.

Pricing. Pleco Chinese Dictionary is free to download on the App Store.

Good for

  • Looking up Chinese words by characters, Pinyin or English
  • Reading text from the clipboard or imported documents
  • Making flashcards and practicing character stroke order

Screenshots

1 / 5

Why this app is in S tier

Pleco Chinese Dictionary scores 91 out of 100: rating 94, rating count 75, App Store search rank 96, update recency 99. The four parts are averaged with no weights, and S tier follows from that score within this list. The full explanation, as data.

Description

Pleco is the ultimate Chinese learning companion: an integrated dictionary / document reader / flashcard system with fullscreen handwriting input and live OCR, from a company that's been making the world's best mobile Chinese learning apps since 2001. Major features: ($ = paid add-on) • Amazing dictionaries. We offer two free built-in dictionaries: the popular open-source CC-CEDICT, with over 110,000 frequently-updated entries, and our own PLC dictionary, with 125,000 entries, parts of speech, and over 25,000 example sentences (with Pinyin). More than two dozen other dictionaries are available as free and paid ($) add-ons, including licensed titles from well-known publishers like Oxford, Longman, FLTRP, Tuttle, SLPH, and Commercial Press. • Powerful merged search: look up words by Chinese characters, Pinyin (spaces / tones optional), or English, with support for wildcards and full-text search. And no need to tediously flip between all of those dictionaries to find a word - just type in your search term and instantly get a combined, frequency-sorted result list. • Links and cross-references: easily look up character components, break down words into individual characters, look u

Compare in Chinese Learning

MeasurePleco Chinese DictionaryDu ChineseSuperChinese
TierSSS
Score91 / 10092 / 10089 / 100
Rating4.7 ★4.9 ★4.9 ★
Ratings1.9K4.6K3.8K
Last update70d ago38d ago3d ago
PriceFree downloadFree downloadFree download

Alternatives

See all 8 ›
  1. HelloChineseFree + IAP · ★ 4.9S
  2. ChineasyFree download · ★ 4.8S
  3. ChineseSkillFree + IAP · ★ 4.8S

Where else it ranks

Questions about Pleco Chinese Dictionary

Is Pleco free to use?

The app is free to download. The description marks several dictionaries, fonts, audio, OCR, flashcards and document features as paid ($) add-ons. The in-app purchases field is not stated on the App Store.

Does it support traditional and simplified characters?

Yes. The description says every part of Pleco supports both traditional and simplified characters, and headword readings can be shown in Pinyin and Zhuyin. Stroke order diagrams use PRC order.

Can it look up words in my own files?

The document reader supports tap lookups for text pasted from the clipboard. The paid Upgrade ($) adds tap lookups in text, HTML, DOC, DOCX, PDF, and EPUB files.

Is Pleco Chinese Dictionary free?

Pleco Chinese Dictionary is free to download.

What is Pleco Chinese Dictionary good for?

Pleco Chinese Dictionary is built for looking up chinese words by characters, pinyin or english, reading text from the clipboard or imported documents, making flashcards and practicing character stroke order. It sits in the chinese learning list on AppTierList.

Is Pleco Chinese Dictionary worth it?

Pleco Chinese Dictionary is S tier, ranked #5 of 9 chinese learning apps with a score of 91 out of 100, from a 4.7 App Store rating across 1,926 ratings. It is in the list's top tiers; 4 apps rank above it.

How does Pleco Chinese Dictionary compare to Du Chinese?

Pleco Chinese Dictionary is S tier at 91; Du Chinese is S tier at 92. Du Chinese ranks higher. Pleco Chinese Dictionary is free to download, Du Chinese is free to download.

How often is Pleco Chinese Dictionary updated?

Pleco Chinese Dictionary was last updated on 2026-08-12, 70 days ago.

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All the facts

List
Chinese Learning
Tier
S (Best in class)
Score
91 / 100
Rank in list
#5 of 9
Ranking certainty
settled
Price
Free download
App Store rating
4.7 out of 5
Number of ratings
1,926
Current version
(70 days ago)
App Store data read
App Store category
Reference
Good for
Looking up Chinese words by characters, Pinyin or English, Reading text from the clipboard or imported documents, Making flashcards and practicing character stroke order
Requires
iOS 15.6 or later
Size
114 MB
Age rating
9+
Languages
1
Maker
unclaimed
As data
JSON · why it ranks here

App Store data read · ranking · how it is computed