Turn the Chinese you find into the Chinese you remember.
Save the words and sentences you find, then study them with cards made for you. A free account has room for HSK 1. Pro 专业 (zhuānyè) is for going further.
$8 a month, or $80 a year. Tax included.
7 days free on your first subscription, then you’re charged unless you cancel first. Refunds cover your current billing month or the unused part of your year.
Create a free account After creating your account, choose “Subscribe” on your account page. You’ll need your card details to subscribe.
Get Pro Choose “Subscribe” on your account page. You’ll need your card details to subscribe.
Free and Pro
A free account gives you room for the 300 words in HSK 1. Pro gives you more room and higher limits for daily study.
| Feature | Free | Pro 专业 |
|---|---|---|
| Saved words | 300 saved words | 20,000 saved words |
| Saved sentences 例句 | No limit | No limit |
| Review cards 复习 | 20 cards a day | No daily limit |
| New Exercises 练习 | 5 new Exercises a day | No daily limit |
| Lists 词单 in progress | 1 List in progress at a time | Any number of Lists in progress |
| Import by pasting | 300 rows per import | 5,000 rows per import |
| File imports | No file imports | Up to 20,000 rows and 20 MB per file |
| Lookup history | Up to 100 entries, kept for up to 30 days after each lookup | Up to 5,000 entries, kept for up to 365 days after each lookup |
| Sort saved words by lookup count, highest first | Not included | Included |
| Study summary | On the site | On the site and by email |
| Vocabulary backup by email | Not included | Weekly or monthly |
| Export to CSV or TSV | Always free | Always free |
From saving a word to studying it
Save words and sentences
Save a word or example sentence 例句 from a dictionary 词典 entry, article or sentence page. You can also save from any web page with the Chrome or Firefox extension. Filter, tag and export your saved words.
Review 复习
Spaced repetition (FSRS) brings each card back just before you would forget it. Cards are made automatically from what you save. They ask you to type a word’s pinyin, write a word from its English meaning, type a word you hear, fill a gap in an example sentence, handwrite a character or put a sentence back together. Recordings play on the cards, and you can answer from the keyboard.
Exercises 练习
Practise with writing drills, grammar exercises and exercises for Lists 词单. When you finish an exercise, its cards are added to your review 复习.
Lists 词单
Choose a ready-made List 词单 by HSK level or topic and start studying its words.
Import your words
Paste a word list to bring it into Chinese Boost. With Pro, you can also upload a file, such as a word list from another app.
Lookup history
See the words you’ve looked up. With Pro, you keep more history for longer and can sort your saved words by how often you’ve looked them up.
Study summary 回顾
Your study summary 回顾 shows what you’ve studied over a week or a month. With Pro, you can also receive it by email, along with a weekly or monthly backup of your vocabulary.
What stays free, whatever happens
All the articles, dictionary 词典, example sentences 例句, Lists 词单 and tools stay free. You can always export your saved words as CSV or TSV.
If Pro ends, nothing is deleted. You can still read, filter and export a list of more than 300 words. To add words again, subscribe again or bring your list below 300.
Questions about Pro
Can I try it first?
Yes. Your first subscription starts with 7 days free. You enter your card details when you subscribe and are charged when the trial ends unless you cancel first.
You’ll get an email reminder three days before the trial ends. Cancel during the trial and you pay nothing.
How do refunds work?
Reply to any Chinese Boost email or write to nihao@chineseboost.com.
On the monthly plan, ask during a billing month and I’ll refund that month’s charge.
On the yearly plan, I’ll refund the unused part of the year, worked out by the day. Your subscription ends when the refund is made.
On either plan, you can get a full refund within your country’s legal cancellation period. The terms have the details.
How do I cancel?
Go to your account page, choose “Manage billing” and cancel on Stripe’s billing page. You keep Pro until the end of the period you’ve already paid for.
Is tax included?
Yes. Tax is included in the $8 monthly price and the $80 yearly price.
Stripe handles payments as the merchant of record through Managed Payments. Your statement shows LINK.COM.
Will the price go up?
This is the launch price. I may raise it later. If you subscribe now, your price stays at $8 a month or $80 a year for as long as your subscription continues.
I already use Anki. Why would I pay?
You can use both. Exporting your saved words is free and always will be.
Pro saves you the work of making cards. A word you save comes with example sentences and recordings, plus reading, writing, dictation and handwriting cards built from the dictionary entry.
Is it for beginners?
Start with a free account if you’re a beginner. The free allowance of 300 saved words is enough for HSK 1. Pro is useful once you’re past HSK 1 and studying every day.
If you’re further along, the dictionary 词典 and word imports cover vocabulary far beyond HSK.
Who makes Chinese Boost, and where does the money go?
I’m Hugh Grigg (葛修远). I’ve studied Chinese every day since 2009 and written Chinese Boost since 2014.
I build and check the site myself. Your subscription keeps Chinese Boost independent and pays for running costs, recordings and new features.