What Pleco Software does

Pleco Software (Pleco Inc.) is a US-based, privately held software company founded in May 2000 by Michael Love that builds the Pleco Chinese Dictionary, the top-selling Chinese language reference and learning app for iOS and Android. The company is registered in Delaware with principal offices in White Plains, New York, and has operated continuously for 26 years as a bootstrapped, founder-led business without external venture capital. Pleco originated as a Palm OS electronic version of the Oxford Concise English & Chinese Dictionary and has navigated four platform transitions (Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPhone 2009, Android 2011), making it one of the longest-surviving mobile software businesses in existence.

The product is an all-in-one Chinese dictionary and learning platform built on a proprietary database engine capable of searching across a dozen licensed dictionaries in sub-second time. Core features include live OCR (camera and still-image, first launched in 2010), stroke-order-tolerant handwriting recognition, a spaced-repetition flashcard system, document readers supporting TXT/EPUB/DOC/PDF formats, an Android-only system-wide screen reader, animated stroke-order diagrams for approximately 27,000 characters, and audio recordings from two native speakers for around 34,000 Mandarin words plus Cantonese TTS. Licensed content is sourced from Oxford University Press, Brill, FLTRP (Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press), Collins, Outlier Linguistic Systems, and several graded-reader publishers. Pleco also publishes Endymion Wilkinson's Chinese History: A New Manual as an exclusive electronic edition under the Pleco brand.

Pleco operates a pure freemium, no-subscription, no-advertising model. The free basic version covers dictionary search and handwriting recognition; paid one-time-purchase add-ons include the Basic Bundle ($24.99), Professional Bundle ($49.99), individual feature add-ons ($3.99-$9.99), individual dictionaries ($6.99-$59.99, including high-value titles such as Outlier Expert at $59.99 and Hanyu Da Cidian at $49.99), graded readers, TTS voice bundles, and the $29.99 e-book. Cross-platform licensing via a single Registration ID lets a purchase work on both iOS and Android, and compatibility updates have been free since 2001. Distribution spans Apple's App Store, Google Play, the company's own web store (with cross-platform discounts to retain margin), direct Android APK download for regions without Google Play, and a discussion-forum-led community channel. Customers span at least 180 countries and include individual learners, university students, business professionals, and Chinese-language educators.

Name

Pleco Software

Legal name

Pleco Inc.

Website

https://pleco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pleco Software builds the Pleco Chinese Dictionary, an all-in-one iOS and Android learning app combining OCR, handwriting recognition, flashcards, and licensed dictionaries from Oxford, Brill, FLTRP, and others, serving individual Chinese language learners in 180+ countries via a freemium, no-subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Freemium Add-on Sales: Free basic version with paid add-ons including dictionaries, features (OCR, flashcards, stroke order), and bundles. No advertising, no pushy sales tactics.
2. Bundle Purchases: Pre-configured bundle packages (Basic Bundle, Professional Bundle) sold as one-time purchases with cross-platform licensing via Registration ID.
3. Individual Add-on Sales: Individual feature and dictionary add-ons available for separate purchase. Dictionaries include licensed titles from Oxford, Brill, FLTRP, Collins, and others.
4. Graded Readers: Chinese-language reading materials at various difficulty levels from publishers including Rainbow Bridge, Sinolingua, Mandarin Companion, and The Chairman's Bao.
5. E-book Publishing: Exclusive electronic edition publishing, such as 'Chinese History: A New Manual' by Endymion Wilkinson, sold as standalone e-books.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pleco Software develops and sells the Pleco Chinese Dictionary mobile application for iOS and Android, an all-in-one Chinese language reference and learning platform. The app combines a custom-built database engine with multiple licensed dictionaries (Oxford, Brill, FLTRP, Collins, Outlier, and others), live OCR camera lookup, handwriting recognition, audio pronunciation for ~34,000 Mandarin words, text-to-speech, an animated stroke-order module, a customizable spaced-repetition flashcard system, and an in-app document reader. Revenue is generated through a freemium model: the core app is free, and customers pay one-time fees for add-on bundles, individual feature modules, dictionary titles, graded readers, and a published exclusive e-book, with all purchases cross-platform via a single Registration ID and eligible for free compatibility updates.

Product overview

Pleco Software offers a single core product, the Pleco Chinese Dictionary app, available for iOS and Android. The app follows a freemium model with a free basic version and paid add-ons. The product ecosystem centers on the main app supplemented by add-on bundles (Basic Bundle at $24.99-$29.99, Professional Bundle at $49.99-$59.99), individual feature add-ons (OCR $9.99, Flashcard System $9.99, Document Reader $9.99, Stroke Order $3.99), over 40 dictionary titles, and over 100 graded readers. Key features include OCR for camera-based word lookup, handwriting recognition, text-to-speech audio, a flashcard system with spaced repetition, and document reader support. The company also publishes the Chinese History: A New Manual e-book. All purchases are cross-platform compatible via Registration ID and include free lifetime updates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pleco Chinese Dictionary: The all-in-one Chinese dictionary/flashcard/document reading app for iOS and Android. Features include OCR, handwriting recognition, licensed dictionary databases (Oxford, Brill, FLTRP), audio recordings from native speakers, flashcard system, document reader, and stroke order diagrams.

Products and services

• Pleco Chinese Dictionary for iOS All-in-one Chinese dictionary app for iPhone and iPad combining a custom multi-dictionary search engine, handwriting recognition, OCR camera lookup, flashcard system, audio pronunciation, text-to-speech, document reader, and stroke-order diagrams; free basic version with paid add-ons and bundles. Targeted at individual Chinese-language learners worldwide.
• Pleco Chinese Dictionary for Android All-in-one Chinese dictionary app for Android offering the same search engine, OCR, handwriting recognition, flashcard, audio, document reader, and stroke-order capabilities as the iOS version, plus an Android-only Screen Reader for system-wide lookup; free basic version with paid add-ons, cross-platform compatible with iOS via Registration ID.
• Basic Bundle One-time-purchase bundle ($24.99 on website / $29.99 on Android) including OCR, flashcards, stroke-order diagrams, document reader, Mandarin audio, Kai font, and the Oxford Chinese Dictionary; targeted at learners who want the full feature set beyond the free version.
• Professional Bundle One-time-purchase comprehensive bundle ($49.99 on website / $59.99 on Android) bundling Oxford Chinese, ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive, ABC English-Chinese, New Century English-Chinese, Tuttle Chinese-English, and Guifan Chinese-Chinese dictionaries with all Basic Bundle features plus a male TTS voice; for advanced learners needing wide bilingual and monolingual coverage.
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Add-on Standalone $9.99 one-time add-on that lets users look up unknown Chinese words live via the device camera or by tapping on words inside still images.
• Flashcard System Add-on Standalone $9.99 one-time add-on providing a customizable spaced-repetition flashcard system with self-graded, multiple-choice, fill-in-blanks, stroke-order, and tone-practice modes plus profiles and scorefiles.
• Document Reader Add-on Standalone $9.99 one-time add-on that enables tap-to-lookup of Chinese words inside TXT, EPUB, DOC, and PDF files and web pages on iOS (TXT/EPUB/PDF on Android).
• Stroke Order Diagrams Add-on Standalone $3.99 one-time add-on providing animated stroke-order diagrams for approximately 27,000 Chinese characters.
• Mandarin Audio Recordings Add-on Standalone $4.99 one-time add-on (per male or female edition) of native-speaker audio recordings for approximately 34,000 Mandarin word pronunciations.
• Text-to-Speech Voices Bundle Bundle of all seven TTS voices (Hui, Liang, Hong, Qiang Mandarin voices plus Kayan/Kaho Cantonese voices and the Yafang Taiwan Mandarin voice) for $34.99, with individual voices also sold at $9.99 each.
• Dictionary Add-ons (licensed titles) Collection of individual one-time-purchase dictionary add-ons from major publishers including ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive ($14.99), Tuttle Learner's Chinese-English ($7.99), KEY Chinese-English ($19.99), New Century English-Chinese ($29.99), ABC English-Chinese ($6.99), Oxford Chinese ($19.99), Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters Essentials/Expert ($29.99–$59.99), Hanyu Da Cidian ($49.99), and the Grand Ricci French ($59.99).
• Graded Readers Collection Chinese-language graded readers from multiple publishers spanning HSK and other proficiency levels, including 58 Rainbow Bridge titles ($2.99–$49.99 each), Sinolingua collections ($9.99–$159.99), 17 Mandarin Companion readers ($7.99–$99.99), and The Chairman's Bao HSK-level news selections ($9.99 each); available individually or in bundles.
• Chinese History: A New Manual (electronic edition) Exclusive electronic-edition e-book of Endymion Wilkinson's 'Chinese History: A New Manual' (5th edition published 2017-11, 7th edition updated 2025-08), sold by Pleco for $29.99 as a standalone e-book purchase; aimed at advanced Chinese readers and scholars of Chinese history.

Quantifiable outcome

• Free compatibility updates for 26+ years - customers from 2001 still using purchases on current devices without upgrade fees
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Endymion WilkinsoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 November 2017Published 'Chinese History: A New Manual' 5th Edition (later 7th Edition) exclusively as an electronic edition by Pleco. First paid e-book that's not a dictionary, priced at $29.99.
• WenlincoreTechnology or Integration · 25 June 2017Licensed the ABC Cantonese Dictionary edited by Robert Bauer. First Cantonese dictionary in Pleco, enabling Cantonese pronunciation lookup and learning.
• Outlier Linguistic SystemscoreTechnology or Integration · 7 February 2017Licensed the Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters (Essentials and Expert editions) with detailed character explanations based on linguistics research.
• Collins + 外研社 (FLTRP)coreTechnology or Integration · 17 November 2016Joint Sino-British venture providing the New Century English-Chinese Dictionary (240,000 entries, 130,000 example sentences) published in 2016. Included in Professional bundle.
• Oxford University PresscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2000Licensed dictionaries including the Oxford Concise English & Chinese Dictionary (original first product) and Oxford Chinese Dictionary. First major publisher partnership that enabled Pleco's launch in 2001.
• Stripe Inc.minorOthersPayment processor handling credit card transactions. Processes payments, refunds, and related queries on behalf of Pleco.
• PayPal Inc.minorOthersPayment processor handling PayPal transactions. Alternative payment option for customers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Babbel: Babbel is a subscription-based language learning platform with a Chinese course, offering structured lessons and review. Competes for the same adult self-learner Chinese persona but operates a recurring subscription model rather than one-time add-ons.
• Memrise: Memrise is a general language learning platform with a Chinese course using spaced repetition and native speaker videos. Overlaps with Pleco's flashcard/SRS approach and targets a similar learner base, though broader in language coverage.
• Duolingo: Duolingo offers a Chinese course within a broad language-learning platform with gamified, AI-enhanced UX. Competes for top-of-funnel Chinese learners and increasingly integrates dictionary and pronunciation features at scale.
• Drops: Drops is a visual, gamified language learning app with a Chinese course covering vocabulary and characters. Competes for casual Chinese learners at the top of the funnel and complements or substitutes for dictionary/flashcard use cases.
• Youdao Dictionary (NetEase): Youdao is a major Chinese-English dictionary and learning app from NetEase with OCR, audio, and translation features. Highly comparable in core dictionary functionality and serves as the dominant incumbent in mainland China where Pleco has distribution limits.

Direct peers

• trainchinese: trainchinese publishes Chinese dictionary and learning apps across iOS and Android, with comparable dictionary content, flashcards, and handwriting features. Directly comparable on product scope and freemium GTM.
• HelloChinese: HelloChinese is a gamified Chinese language learning app on iOS and Android with dictionary and pronunciation features. Targets the same beginner-to-intermediate Chinese learner persona and competes for app store mindshare.
• Du Chinese: Du Chinese provides graded Chinese reading with tap-to-lookup dictionary functionality, overlapping with Pleco's document reader and graded reader offerings. Targets the same intermediate learner use case.
• Skritter: Skritter focuses on Chinese and Japanese character writing/recall with a spaced repetition system. Overlaps with Pleco's handwriting recognition and flashcard features, serving the same individual Chinese learner segment.
• Hanping Chinese: Hanping Chinese is a direct competitor offering Chinese dictionary, OCR, and handwriting lookup apps for Android and iOS. It targets the same individual Chinese learner persona with similar freemium add-on pricing and dictionary licensing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/plecosoft
• Facebookfacebook.com/plecosoft
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pleco-software

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pleco Software