Add to your home screen — no app download needed.Show me how

Chinese characters,
finally making sense

Zigo breaks every character into the pieces it's built from — so you learn why it means what it means, instead of memorizing strokes.

Start for free Search a character

日sun月moon

míng · brightThe sun and the moon together make the most light there is.

Built for HSK takers and serious learners

121,845

dictionary entries

HSK 1–6

full level coverage

9,574

characters with stroke order

1,823

components mapped

Learn hanzi by how they're built

Search anything. Zigo shows you the visual building blocks, what each one contributes, and the story of that character.

⌕明

Try another:

日sun月moon

日sunThe daytime source of light.

月moonThe nighttime one.

Memory hookThe sun and the moon together make the most light there is.

Three steps, and it sticks.

⌕

氵+舌→

活

1 of 121,845 entrieswater + tongue = alivenext review in 6 days

01Search a characterType any character, word, pinyin or English meaning — searching is free, no account needed.

02See what it's built fromEvery character breaks into components that mean things, with a plain-English reason it means what it means — and a hook that makes it stick.

03Review it so it sticksSave the characters you meet and built-in spaced repetition brings each one back right before you'd forget it.

All six HSK levels, broken down.

Browsable lists for every level.

Start for free

一HSK 1178 characters 二HSK 2168 characters 三HSK 3272 characters 四HSK 4453 characters 五HSK 5639 characters 六HSK 6922 characters 一HSK 1178 characters 二HSK 2168 characters 三HSK 3272 characters 四HSK 4453 characters 五HSK 5639 characters 六HSK 6922 characters

Zigo Reader

Snap to study from your own materials

Stop retyping words out of your textbook to look them up. One snap, and Zigo turns it into readable, tappable text, with its own component breakdown and flashcard review.

今天的天气很好

好hǎo · good — 女 woman + 子 child. 12 characters detected.

camera capturereader viewbreakdown sheetreview queue

01Snap the pageTextbook, story, chat thread.

02Read itEvery character tappable, pinyin when you want it.

03Understand itOne tap opens the breakdown: the pieces, the why, the hook.

04Keep itSave characters into spaced-repetition review, so the reading sticks.

Due now5-day streak

明

bright — 日 sun + 月 moon

Due nowseen twice

活

alive — 氵 water + 舌 tongue

In 2 daysnew

休

to rest — 亻 person + 木 tree

In 6 dayslearned

好

good — 女 woman + 子 child

Reviewed before you forget.

Save a character and it enters spaced repetition. Each card shows the breakdown alongside the prompt, so the reasoning gets rehearsed too — not just the shape.

Understand once, remember for good

A few minutes spent seeing how a character is built pays you back every time you meet it again. Search, browse and read breakdowns free.

Free

✓Full dictionary search✓Every component breakdown✓HSK 1–6 lists✓Reader with OCR — 8 scans a month

Start for free

Pro

$8/month

or $60 a year

✓Everything in Free✓Unlimited saved characters✓Reader with OCR — 500 scans a month✓Spaced-repetition review✓Progress across HSK levels

Go Pro

Frequently asked questions

Zigo is a Chinese learning app that teaches characters through their components. You search any character or word, see the pieces it is made of, and get a plain-English explanation of why it means what it means.

Every character page shows its decomposition — 活 "to live" is 氵 (water) plus 舌 (tongue) — what each component contributes, and a short memory hook. Meaning built from parts is easier to recall than memorized strokes, and built-in spaced-repetition review keeps what you have learned from fading.

Yes. Zigo has browsable character lists for all six HSK levels, and every list links to a full breakdown of each character.

Searching the dictionary, browsing HSK lists and reading character breakdowns are free. A paid plan ($8/month or $60/year) unlocks unlimited saved characters and spaced-repetition review.

Yes. Snap a page — a textbook, a story, a message — and the built-in Zigo Reader extracts the characters, adds pinyin, and links each one to its component breakdown, so you can read and study your own materials.

日月明

Look up your first character

See your first full breakdown in under a minute.

Start learning

Add to your home screen — no app download needed.Show me how

Zigo

Chinese characters,
finally making sense

Zigo breaks every character into the pieces it's built from — so you learn why it means what it means, instead of memorizing strokes.

Start for free Search a character

日sun月moon

míng · brightThe sun and the moon together make the most light there is.

Built for HSK takers and serious learners

121,845

dictionary entries

HSK 1–6

full level coverage

9,574

characters with stroke order

1,823

components mapped

Learn hanzi by how they're built

Search anything. Zigo shows you the visual building blocks, what each one contributes, and the story of that character.

⌕明

Try another:

日sun月moon

日sunThe daytime source of light.

月moonThe nighttime one.

Memory hookThe sun and the moon together make the most light there is.

Three steps, and it sticks.

⌕

氵+舌→

活

1 of 121,845 entrieswater + tongue = alivenext review in 6 days

01Search a characterType any character, word, pinyin or English meaning — searching is free, no account needed.

02See what it's built fromEvery character breaks into components that mean things, with a plain-English reason it means what it means — and a hook that makes it stick.

03Review it so it sticksSave the characters you meet and built-in spaced repetition brings each one back right before you'd forget it.

All six HSK levels, broken down.

Browsable lists for every level.

Start for free

Zigo Reader

Snap to study from your own materials

Stop retyping words out of your textbook to look them up. One snap, and Zigo turns it into readable, tappable text, with its own component breakdown and flashcard review.

今天的天气很好

好hǎo · good — 女 woman + 子 child. 12 characters detected.

camera capturereader viewbreakdown sheetreview queue

01Snap the pageTextbook, story, chat thread.

02Read itEvery character tappable, pinyin when you want it.

03Understand itOne tap opens the breakdown: the pieces, the why, the hook.

04Keep itSave characters into spaced-repetition review, so the reading sticks.

Due now5-day streak

明

bright — 日 sun + 月 moon

Due nowseen twice

活

alive — 氵 water + 舌 tongue

In 2 daysnew

休

to rest — 亻 person + 木 tree

In 6 dayslearned

好

good — 女 woman + 子 child

Reviewed before you forget.

Save a character and it enters spaced repetition. Each card shows the breakdown alongside the prompt, so the reasoning gets rehearsed too — not just the shape.

Understand once, remember for good

A few minutes spent seeing how a character is built pays you back every time you meet it again. Search, browse and read breakdowns free.

Free

✓Full dictionary search✓Every component breakdown✓HSK 1–6 lists✓Reader with OCR — 8 scans a month

Start for free

Pro

$8/month

or $60 a year

✓Everything in Free✓Unlimited saved characters✓Reader with OCR — 500 scans a month✓Spaced-repetition review✓Progress across HSK levels

Go Pro

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Zigo has browsable character lists for all six HSK levels, and every list links to a full breakdown of each character.

Searching the dictionary, browsing HSK lists and reading character breakdowns are free. A paid plan ($8/month or $60/year) unlocks unlimited saved characters and spaced-repetition review.

日月明

Look up your first character

See your first full breakdown in under a minute.

Start learning

Chinese characters,finally making sense

Learn hanzi by how they're built

Three steps, and it sticks.

All six HSK levels, broken down.

Snap to study from your own materials

Reviewed before you forget.

Understand once, remember for good

Frequently asked questions

Look up your first character

Chinese characters,finally making sense

Learn hanzi by how they're built

Three steps, and it sticks.

All six HSK levels, broken down.

Snap to study from your own materials

Reviewed before you forget.

Understand once, remember for good

Frequently asked questions

Look up your first character

Chinese characters,
finally making sense

Chinese characters,
finally making sense