Kotobai

What Kotobai does

Kotobai is a niche online dictionary and Kanji research platform founded in 1994 and based in Mondragón, Spain, that provides multilingual lookup tools focused on the Castellano-Japonés-Euskera (Spanish-Japanese-Basque) language combination. It serves individual language learners and Kanji researchers, particularly Spanish- and Basque-speaking students of Japanese, who need bilingual dictionary access and structured Kanji lookup. The platform is delivered as a free, self-serve web service at dic.kotobai.com with no registration required, and the interface is localized into five languages: Spanish, Basque, English, French, and Japanese.

The product consists of four interconnected tools: (1) a multilingual Dictionary supporting Spanish, Japanese, and Basque with prefix, suffix, partial, and exact match search modes; (2) a Radical-Kanji browser that organizes Kanji characters by radical components and stroke count (1 to 17+); (3) a Kanji Search supporting lookup by Japanese, Chinese, and Korean pronunciations, Euskera, English, Spanish, DeRoo code, decimal code, and Unicode; and (4) a DeRoo code navigation system spanning 80 positions for Kanji component identification. The underlying Kanji and dictionary data is sourced from the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group (EDRDG) at Monash University, with Spanish translations performed by the Spanish firm GOIHATA SL.

The company operates without any disclosed monetization — no pricing tiers, subscriptions, advertising, licensing, or paywall are referenced in the source material. It runs as an independent private entity with 1-10 employees, no venture capital or private equity affiliations, no parent company, and no documented funding rounds. Distribution is purely direct web access, with no marketing channels, sales motion, or app presence identified. The two operational partnerships (Monash EDRDG for data, GOIHATA SL for translations) are both core to the product itself rather than commercial alliances.

Name

Kotobai

Website

https://kotobai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kotobai is a free, web-based multilingual dictionary and Kanji research platform providing Castellano-Japonés-Euskera lookup tools for individual Spanish- and Basque-speaking learners of Japanese, built on EDRDG data from Monash University with Spanish translations by GOIHATA SL.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Dictionary and Language Reference

NAICS

Translation and Interpretation Services (541930), Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Multilingual/Translation Communication Apps (BPAMACAJ)

Keywords

• Bilingual dictionary
• Japanese language learning
• Kanji lookup tool
• Spanish Japanese translator
• Multilingual reference platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Mondragón

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Kotobai provides a free, self-serve web-based multilingual dictionary platform covering Spanish (Castellano), Japanese, and Basque (Euskera). The platform bundles a multilingual word dictionary, a radical-Kanji browser, a multi-criteria Kanji search (pronunciations, DeRoo code, Unicode), and a DeRoo-coded Kanji navigation tool. Underlying data is sourced from the EDRDG dictionary files maintained by Monash University, with Spanish translations contributed by GOIHATA SL.

Product overview

Kotobai is a multilingual online dictionary platform providing Spanish-Japanese-Euskera language learning tools. The product suite consists of four interconnected tools: the main Dictionary for multilingual word lookup, the Radical-Kanji tool for finding kanji by radicals, the Kanji Search for advanced kanji lookup by pronunciation and translation, and the DeRoo browser for kanji navigation via DeRoo coding system. The platform leverages EDRDG data from Monash University with Spanish translations by GOIHATA SL.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Diccionario (Dictionary) A multilingual dictionary tool supporting Spanish (Castellano), Japanese, and Basque (Euskera) languages with multiple search modes including prefix match, suffix match, partial match, and exact match search options, for individual language learners and translators.
• Radical-Kanji A Kanji lookup tool organized by radicals (bushu) and stroke count (1 to 17+), allowing users to find Kanji characters by selecting component radicals to narrow down the search; backed by EDRDG data from Monash University with Spanish translations by GOIHATA SL, for individual Japanese learners.
• Kanji Search (Búsqueda de Kanjis) A comprehensive Kanji search tool supporting multiple lookup criteria including Japanese pronunciation, Chinese pronunciation, Korean pronunciation, Euskera, English, Spanish translations, DeRoo code, DeRoo decimal code, and Unicode, for individual Japanese language learners and translators.
• DeRoo A Kanji navigation and lookup tool organized by the DeRoo coding system with sections for top/upper-left (DeRoo_0 to DeRoo_39) and bottom/lower-right (DeRoo_40 to DeRoo_79) positions, enabling users to find Kanji characters based on their visual structure coding, for individual Japanese learners.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Monash University (EDRDG)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group (EDRDG) at Monash University provides the underlying Kanji and dictionary data (EDRDG files) used to populate the Kotobai Kanji dictionary database.
• GOIHATA SLcoreOthersGOIHATA SL has performed the Spanish translations for the Kanji dictionary content, enabling the Spanish (Castellano) language interface and dictionary entries.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Emerging players

• JapanesePod101: Japanese language learning platform with audio lessons and reference materials; adjacent peer serving the same language-learner customer segment with broader curriculum.

Direct peers

• Takoboto: Japanese dictionary and Kanji lookup service offering free online access, comparable to Kotobai's dictionary + Kanji product suite though more English-leaning.
• WordReference: Multilingual online dictionary with strong Spanish-language interfaces and multiple language pairs; overlaps directly with Kotobai's multilingual dictionary positioning.
• Reverso: Translation and dictionary platform with multilingual support including Spanish-Japanese pairs and contextual examples; competes in the same multilingual reference space.
• Linguee: Bilingual/multilingual translation dictionary providing example sentences and context across many language pairs; comparable as a reference translation resource.
• Jisho.org: Free online Japanese dictionary with English lookup and Kanji search; directly comparable consumer-facing multilingual/kanji reference tool, though optimized for English rather than Spanish/Basque.

Broad incumbents

• Google Translate: Dominant free multilingual translation platform covering Spanish-Japanese and many other pairs; the largest free alternative for Kotobai's core lookup use case.
• DeepL: AI-based translation service offering high-quality multilingual translation including Japanese-Spanish; competes in Kotobai's translation lookup space with AI-native capabilities.
• SpanishDict: Leading Spanish-language learning dictionary and translation resource (now part of Chegg); comparable to Kotobai's Spanish-facing dictionary interface, though primarily English-Spanish.

Others

• Tatoeba: Open multilingual sentence/phrase corpus with translation pairs across many languages including Spanish-Japanese; thematically related reference resource ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Kotobai