Hanping Chinese
Hanping Chinese develops freemium Mandarin and Cantonese dictionary apps for Android and iOS, featuring handwriting recognition, OCR, and AI voice capabilities, serving individual language learners worldwide since 2008 under EmberMitre Limited.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersWan Chai, Hong Kong SAR China
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Hanping Chinese does
Hanping Chinese is a bootstrapped mobile application developer that has built Chinese language learning software since 2008, operating under the legal entity EmberMitre Limited (UK domicile) with reported operations in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The company's product suite centers on dictionary and OCR-based lookup apps for Android and iOS, including the flagship Hanping Chinese Dictionary (Mandarin), Hanping Cantonese Dictionary, Hanping Chinese Camera (camera-based OCR), and Hanping Chinese Popup (in-app screen capture plus OCR overlay). Underlying technology combines handwriting recognition (supporting 12,000+ Simplified and Traditional characters), device-level voice recognition for Mandarin and Cantonese, multiple integrated dictionary sources (CC-CEDICT, Wenlin ABC, Cantodict), AI-generated voice recordings, and on-device Google Translate for sentence translation, with an explicit offline-first architecture.
The company serves individual language learners studying Mandarin or Cantonese worldwide, including students preparing for HSK proficiency exams, with no disclosed enterprise or institutional customers. It monetizes via a freemium model: the core dictionary apps are free (since October 2019 on Android, with Hanping Lite retired in January 2025), while revenue is generated through one-time in-app purchases for premium content such as Wenlin's ABC Chinese-English Dictionary ($19.99), ABC English-Chinese Dictionary ($9.99), extended stroke animation packs (8,735 animations), AI voice packs (eight Mandarin, four Cantonese), and AnkiDroid flashcard export functionality. Distribution is entirely digital through Google Play, the Apple App Store, Amazon Appstore, and direct APK download from the company website.
Hanping Chinese operates as an extremely lean organization with reported headcount of 11-50 employees and what appears to be a single principal developer identified by the username 'hanping'. The company is privately held with no disclosed external funding, no M&A activity, no patents or trademarks on record, and no management team publicly listed. Its partnerships are predominantly content integration (Wenlin, CC-CEDICT, Cantodict, Words.hk, AnkiDroid) and platform distribution (Google, Apple) rather than strategic commercial alliances.
Hanping Chinese firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hanping Chinese
- Legal name
- EmberMitre Limited
- Website
- https://hanpingchinese.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hanping Chinese develops freemium Mandarin and Cantonese dictionary apps for Android and iOS, featuring handwriting recognition, OCR, and AI voice capabilities, serving individual language learners worldwide since 2008 under EmberMitre Limited.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hanping Chinese industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Language Learning Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Language Learning Apps & Self-Study Platforms (EDAFAOAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Digital Language Learning Content (Apps, Online Courses, Mobile-first) (EDAGAHAM), Online Language Learning Platforms (Self-Paced) (EDAMAFAC), Pronunciation, Speech Recognition & Accent Training Tools (EDAFAOAG), Translation, Language Accessibility & Reading Support Tools (e.g., TTS, Captions, Immersive Reader) (EDAFAOAL)
Keywords
Where Hanping Chinese is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wan Chai
- HQ country
- Hong Kong SAR China
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Hanping Chinese business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Freemium App Model: Core Hanping Chinese Dictionary app is free. Premium features unlocked via in-app purchases including ABC dictionaries, stroke animations, and AI voice recordings.
- ABC Chinese-English Dictionary Add-on: Professional dictionary add-on priced at $19.99 with over 200,000 Chinese headwords, grammar information, and example sentences. One-time purchase permanently tied to Google account.
- ABC English-Chinese Dictionary Add-on: Professional English-to-Chinese dictionary priced at $9.99 with over 62,000 English headwords and example sentences. One-time purchase permanently tied to Google account.
- Premium Voice Add-ons: AI voice add-on packs for Mandarin (Mainland and Taiwan) and Cantonese (Hong Kong) covering example sentence audio recordings.
- Extended Stroke Animation Pack: 8,735 additional stroke animations beyond the 839 free animations, available as in-app purchase.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Core App - Hanping Chinese Dictionary |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | ABC Chinese-English Dictionary Add-on |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | ABC English-Chinese Dictionary Add-on |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Stroke Animation Add-on Pack |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | AI Voice Add-on Packs |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Hanping Chinese product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hanping Chinese develops and sells Chinese language learning mobile applications for Android and iOS, including dictionary apps for Mandarin and Cantonese, camera-based OCR lookup, and screen-capture overlay lookup. The core Hanping Chinese Dictionary app is free with optional one-time in-app purchases for professional ABC dictionaries, extended stroke animations, and AI voice recordings. The suite supports over 12,000 Simplified and Traditional characters with handwriting and voice recognition, native speaker audio, Hanzi decomposition, multiple phonetic systems, and AnkiDroid flashcard export.
Product overview
Hanping Chinese offers a suite of language-learning apps for Mandarin and Cantonese. The core product is Hanping Chinese Dictionary (now free with in-app purchases), available on Android and iOS. The portfolio includes companion Android-only apps: Hanping Chinese Camera (OCR-based lookup) and Hanping Chinese Popup (screen overlay lookup). Both dictionary apps support professional ABC dictionary in-app purchases ($19.99 and $9.99), native speaker audio, stroke animations, and AnkiDroid flashcard export. The company has been building these apps since 2008 and is operated by EmberMitre Limited.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hanping Chinese Dictionary Main Mandarin Chinese dictionary app for Android and iOS featuring handwriting recognition, voice input, native speaker audio, stroke animations, Hanzi decomposition, multiple dictionary support (CC-CEDICT and ABC dictionaries), example sentences, and AnkiDroid flashcard integration.
- Hanping Cantonese Dictionary Cantonese dictionary app combining Cantodict dictionary with Hanping's technology, supporting Traditional & Simplified characters, multiple phonetic options (Jyutping and Yale), and native speaker audio for all single-syllable sounds.
- Hanping Chinese Camera Android-only OCR app that uses camera to instantly recognize Chinese text and provide English definitions. Works on any image including screenshots without requiring screen touch input.
- Hanping Chinese Popup Android-only app providing universal Chinese word lookup overlay from any app or system screen using screen capture + OCR technology. World's first app combining in-app screen capture with OCR.
- ABC Chinese-English Dictionary Professional in-app purchase dictionary add-on with over 200,000 Chinese headwords (approximately twice CC-CEDICT), over 10,000 example sentences, and grammatical information including Part of Speech and Measure Words. Priced at $19.99.
- ABC English-Chinese Dictionary Professional in-app purchase dictionary add-on with primary English index covering over 62,000 English headwords and over 7,000 example sentences. Essential for English word lookups not available in auto-generated CC-CEDICT index. Priced at $9.99.
- Native Speaker Audio Add-on In-app purchase for extended audio coverage. All single syllables included free; over 4,000 multi-syllable audio recordings available via in-app purchase.
- Stroke Animations Add-on Animated stroke order demonstrations for Chinese character writing. 839 free animations for common characters; 8,735 additional animations available via in-app purchase.
- AI Voice Recordings Add-on AI-generated voice recordings for example sentences, covering both Mandarin (with Mainland and Taiwan variants) and Cantonese (Hong Kong variant). Eight Mandarin packs and four Cantonese packs available.
Companies that use Hanping Chinese
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Hanping Chinese technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability8 records
Feature10 records
Hanping Chinese partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Google (Android)coreGoogle Play Store is the primary distribution channel for Hanping Android apps. Hanping uses Google Play for app distribution, in-app purchases via Google Play billing, license verification, and analytics tracking. Firebase Analytics is used for usage statistics and error reporting.
- Apple (iOS)coreApp Store is the distribution channel for Hanping iOS apps. Purchases are tied to Apple ID and work across all devices signed into the same account.
- Wenlin (ABC Dictionaries)coreHanping integrates Wenlin's professional ABC Chinese-English and ABC English-Chinese dictionaries as in-app purchases. ABC Chinese-English contains 200,000+ Chinese headwords; ABC English-Chinese contains 62,000+ English headwords. Both include grammar information and example sentences.
- CC-CEDICTcoreBuilt-in dictionary is CC-CEDICT, a free open-source Chinese-English dictionary. Hanping contributes back by directing users to report dictionary errors to CC-CEDICT editors.
- CantodictcoreHanping Cantonese Dictionary integrates Cantodict dictionary entries, providing comprehensive Cantonese-to-English definitions with differentiation between spoken and written language.
- AnkiDroidmajorAnkiDroid flashcard app integration allows Hanping users to export starred words and vocabulary as flashcards for spaced repetition learning. Requires in-app purchase for export functionality.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Hanping Chinese competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- HelloChinese: HelloChinese is a popular Mandarin learning app (iOS/Android) with gamified lessons, speech recognition, and structured curriculum. It competes directly with Hanping for beginner-to-intermediate Mandarin learners.
- Skritter: Skritter is a Chinese writing and stroke-order practice app. While Hanping uses Skritter as a partner integration, both serve complementary needs of Chinese character learners with a focus on writing mechanics.
- Du Chinese: Du Chinese provides graded Chinese reading practice for learners. It addresses a similar audience (Mandarin learners needing vocabulary tools and reading input) and competes in the Chinese-learning mobile ecosystem alongside Hanping.
- ChineseSkill: ChineseSkill is a Mandarin learning app with gamified lessons targeting beginners. Competes for end-of-funnel Chinese learner user share alongside Hanping's dictionary/reference offering.
- LingoDeer: LingoDeer offers structured Asian language (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) learning apps with grammar lessons and audio. A direct peer in the mobile self-paced language-learning app category.
- Wenlin: Wenlin develops the ABC Chinese dictionaries (grammar-rich professional-grade) bundled into Hanping as paid IAPs. Both publish Chinese reference content, and Wenlin's desktop dictionary product competes for the same serious-learner segment.
- Drops: Drops is a vocabulary-focused language learning app covering 40+ languages including Chinese. It targets the same casual self-study learner segment via a similar mobile-first, freemium, B2C model.
- Pleco: Pleco is the leading Chinese dictionary app for iOS and Android, offering handwriting/voice input, OCR, flashcard tools, and a long-established ecosystem. It is the most direct competitor to Hanping's flagship Dictionary product.
Emerging players
- AnkiDroid: AnkiDroid is the Android spaced-repetition flashcard platform Hanping integrates with for vocabulary export. It overlaps with Hanping's flashcard workflow via third-party Chinese decks and competes for the SRS study time of Chinese learners.
Others
- Google Translate: Google Translate is the standard OCR+translation commodity tool embedded inside Hanping for sentence translations. It is an adjacent enabling service rather than a direct dictionary competitor, but its improvements (on-device camera OCR) overlap with Hanping Popup and Hanping Camera.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hanping Chinese social profiles
Digital presenceHanping Chinese financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hanping Chinese leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Hanping Chinese funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hanping Chinese M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hanping Chinese
What does Hanping Chinese do?
Hanping Chinese develops and sells Chinese language learning mobile applications for Android and iOS, including dictionary apps for Mandarin and Cantonese, camera-based OCR lookup, and screen-capture overlay lookup. The core Hanping Chinese Dictionary app is free with optional one-time in-app purchases for professional ABC dictionaries, extended stroke animations, and AI voice recordings. The suite supports over 12,000 Simplified and Traditional characters with handwriting and voice recognition, native speaker audio, Hanzi decomposition, multiple phonetic systems, and AnkiDroid flashcard export.
Is Hanping Chinese a public or private company?
Hanping Chinese is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Hanping Chinese founded?
Hanping Chinese was founded in 2008. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hanping Chinese based?
Hanping Chinese is headquartered in Wan Chai, Hong Kong SAR China, in the Asia region.
How does Hanping Chinese make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Freemium App Model is the primary driver. The others are ABC Chinese-English Dictionary Add-on, ABC English-Chinese Dictionary Add-on, premium Voice Add-ons and extended Stroke Animation Pack.
Who are Hanping Chinese's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are HelloChinese, Skritter, Du Chinese, ChineseSkill, LingoDeer, Wenlin, Drops and Pleco. AnkiDroid is listed as an emerging player. Google Translate is listed as an others.
Does Hanping Chinese have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hanping Chinese.
What industry is Hanping Chinese in?
Hanping Chinese's product category is Language Learning Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAOAA, Language Learning Apps & Self-Study Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAGAHAM, Digital Language Learning Content (Apps, Online Courses, Mobile-first). Its NAICS code is 5132.