We make Misu, a flashcard app with a Chrome extension of its own, so read this knowing that. Migaku’s features come from its own site and store listings, and what users say from App Store and Google Play reviews, all checked in October 2026.
What Migaku is
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A Chrome extension
Hover over or click a word on YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Viki and web pages for its meaning, audio and an AI explanation.
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One-click flashcards
Save the word with its sentence, the audio, a screenshot of the scene and its definition.
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An app for reviews
On iPhone, Android and the web: your reviews, courses, a reader, podcasts and YouTube.
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Known words
Every word you meet is tracked, and videos and pages get a difficulty rating.
It works for 11 languages: Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German and English. Only Japanese, Mandarin and Korean have courses; the rest get the mining tools.
What it does well
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Mining is quick. A flashcard with the sentence, the audio and a screenshot from the scene takes one click, with nothing to set up.
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It knows what you know. Known-word tracking and difficulty ratings help you pick shows and articles at your level.
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Courses for three big languages. Japanese, Mandarin and Korean learners get structured courses alongside the mining.
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Anki decks come with you. It imports Anki decks and can export flashcards.
Where it falls short
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No free plan. You need a subscription or a lifetime plan to use it, though Migaku refunds you within 10 days.
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Chrome only. The extension is for Chrome; on a phone, the app has YouTube, a reader and podcasts, not your other streaming services.
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Courses in three languages. The other eight have the mining tools but no course to start from.
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Bugs, in some reviews. Sign-in trouble, audio cutting out and wrong readings in Japanese come up in its App Store reviews.
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An undocumented scheduler. Migaku doesn’t say which algorithm plans its reviews.
Migaku vs Anki
Migaku began as a set of Anki add-ons for Japanese learners and became its own app. The main difference now is effort against cost.
| Migaku | Anki | |
|---|---|---|
| Making flashcards | One click from videos and pages | By hand, or with tools you set up |
| Scheduler | Its own, not named | SM-2 by default; FSRS optional |
| Courses | Japanese, Mandarin, Korean | Shared decks made by users |
| Setup | Install and go | Add-ons, note types and settings |
| Free | No | Yes, apart from the iPhone app |
Migaku vs Misu
They start from different ends. Migaku is built for mining from what you watch; Misu starts with the words you need first, then lets you save the ones you meet.
| Migaku | Misu | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Mining from shows and pages | The most common words, then your own |
| Courses | Japanese, Mandarin, Korean | Ten languages, 1,500 words each |
| Scheduler | Its own, not named | FSRS-6, fitted to you every month |
| In the browser | Chrome extension | Chrome extension |
| On your phone | iPhone, Android | iPhone, Android |
| Free to start | No | Yes, with limits |
Is Migaku worth it?
Yes, if you watch or read a lot in Japanese, Chinese or Korean on a computer and want mining to take one click. No, if you’re still learning your first thousand words: there are too many new words in every sentence to mine yet, and a course of the most common words gets you there faster. And if you’d rather not pay, free tools can do much of the same with more setup, as the Migaku alternatives show.