Comparison
| Feature | Vocably | Readlang | Migaku | Language Reactor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome extension users | ~2,000 | ~100,000 | ~50,000 | ~2,000,000 |
| Website lookup & save | Excellent (any site) | Excellent (any site) | Excellent (any site) | Limited (mainly text import) |
| Video / YouTube support | Good (YouTube subtitles on desktop) | Basic / improving | Excellent (YouTube, Netflix, Disney+…) | Excellent (YouTube + Netflix core) |
| Selective save only | Yes – you choose every card | Yes – lookups become cards, you can delete | Yes – one-click per word/sentence | Yes – save words, export selectively |
| Built-in flashcards / SRS | Yes (mobile app) | Yes (web + export) | Yes (own SRS + Anki export) | Limited (Phrase Pump) + Anki export |
| iOS Safari extension | Yes | Bookmarklet / limited | No (Chrome-focused) | No |
| Web extension | Chrome + Safari | Chrome + Firefox | Chrome | Chrome / Edge |
| iOS app | Yes (strong) | Limited / web-focused | Yes (good) | No official app |
| Best for | Clean cross-device selective vocab | Cheap web reading + flashcards | Serious immersion + rich cards | Free dual-subtitle video learning |
| Pricing (approx. 2026) | Free (limited) → Premium ~$5–6/mo or lifetime | Free (limits) → 48/yr | Trial → ~$9–15/mo or lifetime | Free core → Pro ~28–40/yr |
| Main Downsides | • Small user base • Fewer advanced features (limited AI depth, synonyms) • Free tier has save limits • Video support good but not as deep as others | • Weaker video support • Lighter review controls than dedicated SRS • Occasional site/browser quirks (e.g. Kindle) • Free tier limits phrases • Not ideal for pure video immersion | • Bugs & temporary breakage after site updates • High price • Steep learning curve • Support is Discord-heavy / sometimes slow • Mobile less polished • No Safari support | • Frequent reliability issues (especially Netflix subtitles) • Recent drop in review scores • Chrome-only • Limited native flashcards • Pro features sometimes unreliable during outages |
User counts are Chrome Web Store order-of-magnitude figures, not precise, and pricing is a 2026 snapshot that these products change often.
The Four Tools
See Language Learning Tools - The Four Tools.
Choosing
Three axes decide it:
- Input source. Mostly reading web pages → Vocably or Readlang. Mostly watching video → Migaku or Language Reactor.
- Devices. If lookups need to happen on iPhone/iPad Safari, only Vocably qualifies. The other three are desktop-Chrome workflows.
- Who owns review. Migaku and Vocably want to be the whole system. Readlang and Language Reactor are happy to hand cards to Anki, which keeps the review history portable if the tool is later dropped.
The cost of switching is lowest for the tools that export cleanly, so exporting to Anki is the conservative default even when a built-in SRS is available.
Quick Summary of the Downsides
See Language Learning Tools - Downsides.
Open Questions
- Whether Vocably’s small user base is a real continuity risk given the vault’s preference for tools that outlive a single vendor.
- Whether a free Language Reactor plus Anki setup removes the need to pay for anything at all.
- Which tools support Chinese and Japanese well specifically, since the table above is language-agnostic.