Bunpo vs Bunpro (2026): two grammar apps, one letter apart

Short answer: they are unrelated products that happen to share a name. Bunpro is a grammar review tool that makes you type the answer, and it assumes you meet each grammar point somewhere else first. Bunpo is a mobile-first course that teaches you from the alphabet up, with a lighter review layer and an AI speaking feature. If you want to be taught, look at Bunpo. If you want to be drilled on grammar you already half know, look at Bunpro. Neither one reads a sentence you wrote yourself.

I build BetterLingo from Japan, and I keep getting asked whether these two are the same thing. They are not. Every price and feature below was read off the companies' own pages on 26 October 2026, and where a number is not published I say so instead of quoting a forum post from 2019.

Why people mix them up

Bunpo is the romanised form of 文法 (bunpō), the ordinary Japanese word for grammar. Bunpro is "grammar" plus "pro". The two have no connection. When the Bunpo app launched in 2019 its developer posted it on the WaniKani forum, and commenters immediately said the name was confusing next to Bunpro; the thread title was edited to read "Japanese (previously known as Bunpo - Japanese Learning)" as a result. App store listings have used different names over the years, which does not help when you search for it.

The practical consequence is that "bunpo vs bunpro" is a real shopping question, not a typo: people hear about one, search for it, and land on the other.

What Bunpro is

Bunpro is a grammar spaced-repetition system. You study a grammar point, then it shows you sentences with a blank at growing intervals and you type the missing form. Typing is the point: producing a conjugation from memory is harder, and more useful, than picking it from four options. Bunpro does not start from nothing. It expects you to have met the grammar in a textbook, class, video or novel and then hand it over to be kept.

Its pricing page lists three plans: Free ("Free Forever!", with the Grammar and Vocab pages and reading passages, but not the SRS reviews), Premium at US$5 a month, and Lifetime at US$150 one-time. New accounts get 30 days of Premium with no credit card, and the account drops to Free if you do not subscribe. It runs on the web, iOS and Android. The page has a Monthly/Yearly toggle but does not show a yearly figure to a logged-out visitor, so none is quoted here.

What Bunpo is

Bunpo is a language-learning app that also has a web version. On its own site it describes a structured path "from grammar fundamentals all the way to speaking and real-world output", starting with the alphabet, and a 30-day programme of short interactive challenges whose sample plan opens with hiragana, then katakana, then kanji, then the pattern 〜は〜です. The topics it lists are grammar, vocabulary, conversation, hiragana, kanji and keigo. Its FAQ says it helps you retain knowledge "with spaced repetition reviews", and offers a Video Call feature, an AI conversation partner that uses voice recognition so you can practise speaking, plus a tutor that answers questions.

Two caveats. First, Bunpo is a multi-language product: its site covers ten languages, and its paid plan unlocks all of them. Japanese is one course among several, where Bunpro is Japanese only. Second, Bunpo does not publish its prices on the pages I could read. The "Prices" link leads to a plan page that did not show any figures when I fetched it. Bunpo's own support notes describe a Plus tier and a Platinum tier (Platinum adds Video Call) and say the lifetime option is not available on Platinum. Because store prices vary by country and the old forum figures are years out of date, check the price in the app store before you decide. I will not quote a number I could not read.

Side by side

  • Starting point. Bunpo starts at the alphabet and walks you forward. Bunpro assumes you are already learning Japanese and want the grammar to stick.
  • How you answer. Bunpro's reviews are typed. Bunpo's exercises are short interactive challenges inside a lesson path.
  • Scope. Bunpro is Japanese only, organised by JLPT level. Bunpo is ten languages in one app.
  • Speaking. Bunpo has an AI Video Call for speaking practice. Bunpro has nothing comparable.
  • Price transparency. Bunpro publishes US$5 a month and US$150 for life on one page. Bunpo's figures are in the stores.
  • Free tier. Bunpro's free plan is a readable reference with no SRS. Bunpo lets you try starter lessons free, with no limits listed.

What Bunpro is better at

  • Making you produce the answer. Typing a form out beats recognising it, and this is the biggest real difference between the two.
  • Fitting around a textbook or class. If you are working through Genki or Tobira, it slots in. See Genki vs Bunpro for that decision.
  • A focused product. It does Japanese grammar and little else, so there is nothing to wade through.
  • A published price and a no-card trial. You know the cost before you open your wallet.

What Bunpo is better at

  • Teaching a true beginner. It begins with hiragana and sequences the early lessons for you. A complete beginner who buys Bunpro alone will be reviewing forms nobody taught them.
  • Speaking practice. The Video Call feature gives you someone to talk to at any hour. Bunpro cannot do this.
  • Being a phone app first. Short daily challenges suit a commute better than a desktop review queue.
  • One subscription for several languages, if you are learning more than Japanese.

Where each one fails

Bunpro is not a first teacher, its kanji and vocabulary are secondary features, and the free plan withholds the reviews, so "free forever" means a free reference rather than a free study tool. Bunpo splits its attention across ten languages, and its Japanese review layer is described in thin terms on its own site: one sentence about spaced repetition, no detail on how reviews work or how typing is handled. If you are preparing for the JLPT specifically, I could not find Bunpo's site mentioning JLPT levels at all, whereas Bunpro organises everything by level. Also, an AI conversation partner can sound fluent while being wrong about nuance, so treat its feedback as practice, not as an authority.

How to choose, in one line each

  • You have never studied Japanese and want to be led by the hand. Bunpo, then add a grammar SRS later.
  • You are in a class or textbook and want the grammar to stick. Bunpro.
  • You are aiming at a JLPT level. Bunpro, because it is built around the levels. Our free JLPT level test tells you which one to start from.
  • You want to practise speaking out loud. Bunpo's Video Call, with the caveat above.
  • You are on a tight budget. Bunpro free as a reference, or Bunpo's free starter lessons, and take Bunpro's 30-day trial before paying for anything.

For the wider field, the Bunpro alternatives page covers the rest, and Bunpro vs MaruMori compares Bunpro with the other big course-style app.

Where BetterLingo sits, and what it is not

Being honest about this is the only reason a page like this is worth reading. BetterLingo is not a course and it is not an SRS. It has no deck library, no card editor, no kanji curriculum, no gamified path and no speaking partner. It is small, new and run by one person. It will not replace either app on this page.

What it does is narrow: it marks sentences you write yourself and explains what is wrong in English. Bunpro checks that you can fill one form into a blank someone else built; Bunpo's challenges check the same thing inside a lesson. Neither reads a free sentence you composed. If you want to see whether you can actually write the grammar you have been reviewing, paste one sentence into the free Japanese grammar checker. No account needed.

Next steps

Pick the line above that matches your situation, use the free tier or trial first, and give it two weeks of daily use before you judge it. Then test yourself with a sentence of your own in the grammar checker.