Migaku costs US$10 a month for its Standard plan, and the cheaper alternatives each replace one part of it. For lookups, sentence mining and flashcards on a computer, a free open-source stack does the same job: Yomitan, asbplayer and Anki, at the cost of more setup. Language Reactor’s free tier covers dual subtitles on YouTube and Netflix in desktop Chrome. On a phone, AnkiDroid is free for reviews. LingoDew (which we make) is free to start and US$4.99/month for watching leveled Japanese videos with tap lookups and built-in review. For graded reading, Satori Reader is US$9/month. None of them is a full replacement for Migaku’s courses and its extension-plus-app setup, so pick by the part of Migaku you actually use.
Prices were checked on each product’s own site or store listing on 25 October 2026 and may differ by country. We make LingoDew, so we stick to facts you can check.
Prices and what each one replaces
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Replaces this part of Migaku | Setup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Migaku (for reference) | Standard US$10/month, Early Access US$15/month, Lifetime US$499; yearly billing about 20% off | Chrome extension, iPhone, Android | Everything below, plus courses | Account, extension, app |
| Yomitan | Free, open source (GPL-3.0) | Chrome, Firefox, Edge | Pop-up dictionary on any web page, one-click Anki cards | Install dictionaries, connect Anki |
| asbplayer | Free, open source (AGPL-3.0) | Chrome extension, web app; Firefox builds | Subtitles on Netflix and YouTube, sentence mining into Anki | Extension plus AnkiConnect |
| Anki | Free on desktop and Android (AnkiDroid); AnkiMobile for iPhone US$24.99 one-time | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone | Flashcard review (FSRS available) | Decks and note types |
| Language Reactor | Free; paid Pro | Desktop Chrome | Dual subtitles and lookups on YouTube and Netflix | Extension |
| LingoDew | Free to start; Pro US$4.99/month | iPhone, Android, web | Watching Japanese videos with tap lookups and built-in review | None; no account needed |
| Satori Reader | Free selected episodes; Pro US$9/month or US$89/year | Web, iPhone, Android | Japanese reading for intermediate learners, with lookups | Account |
The free desktop stack: Yomitan, asbplayer and Anki
If what you use most is Migaku’s sentence mining on a computer, these three free tools cover it.
- Yomitan is a pop-up dictionary browser extension, the successor to Yomichan. Hover over Japanese text on a web page to see readings and meanings, then add a card to Anki in one click. It is open source under GPL-3.0, with listings for Chrome, Firefox and Edge.
- asbplayer is a subtitle player and browser extension for sentence mining from video. It picks up subtitles on streaming sites such as Netflix and YouTube and creates Anki cards with the sentence, audio and screenshot. It is open source under AGPL-3.0.
- Anki stores and reviews the cards. It is free on desktop and on Android (AnkiDroid), and it supports the FSRS scheduler. Yomitan and asbplayer both connect to it through the free AnkiConnect add-on.
The trade-off is time. You install and configure dictionaries, note types and the connection yourself, and the whole setup lives in a desktop browser. Migaku’s appeal is that it bundles these pieces with courses and a phone app.
Cheaper ways to watch with subtitles
Language Reactor is a desktop Chrome extension that adds dual subtitles, pop-up lookups and playback controls to YouTube and Netflix. Basic features are free, and Pro is a paid upgrade. It has no phone app.
LingoDew is the option if you watch on a phone and do not want to set anything up. It plays its own daily selection of Japanese (and English) YouTube videos, each labeled JLPT N5–N1. Every subtitle word is aligned to the audio, so tapping it opens a dictionary card with furigana and romaji and jumps to the moment it is spoken. Saved words keep their sentence, translation and video moment, and come back for review on an FSRS schedule. The limits: it does not play Netflix or your own YouTube links, and reviews stay inside LingoDew rather than in Anki. Every video plays free without an account. The study tools come free with today’s picks and recent videos, and Pro (US$4.99/month) unlocks them for the whole library. You can try it in the browser first on the JLPT N5 video list.
Cheaper ways to read
Satori Reader publishes Japanese stories written by native speakers for intermediate learners, with audio, word lookups and explanations. Selected episodes are free, and Pro costs US$9/month or US$89/year. If you mostly use Migaku to read Japanese web pages, the free Yomitan extension covers the lookups.
Which to choose
- You mine sentences from Netflix and YouTube on a laptop: Yomitan, asbplayer and Anki, all free.
- You want dual subtitles on desktop with almost no setup: Language Reactor’s free tier.
- You study on your phone and want videos at your level: LingoDew, free to start.
- You mostly review cards: Anki, free on desktop and Android.
- You use Migaku’s courses and its phone app together: nothing here replaces that combination exactly. Migaku’s yearly billing or Lifetime plan lowers its cost.
For a closer look at how LingoDew and Migaku differ, see LingoDew vs Migaku.