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Should I use Perapera?

Language Hacking That Works - perapera.org

Depends. Workable as a free popup dictionary for casual Chinese/Japanese reading on Chrome, and the blog is a decent app-review resource. Avoid if you're on Firefox or need maintained, supported software — evidence points to an abandoned project.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources. Caution: several unrelated products (perapera.ai, a crypto token, a Steam game, other apps) share the 'Perapera' name.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depthNo feature evidence found
  • Support quality
  • Security postureNo security evidence found

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Casual Chinese/Japanese web readers
  • Chrome users wanting free hover lookup
  • Learners comparing language apps via blog reviews

Not for

  • Firefox users — official support is gone
  • Anyone needing maintained, supported software
  • Teams or businesses — it's a consumer study aid
  • Buyers wanting SLAs or vendor accountability

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Firefox support ended; extension no longer updated there

medium

Chrome availability has been intermittent; verify it still installs before relying on it

medium

Multiple unrelated products share the name

medium

No support channel or update cadence; assume zero future fixes

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free hover popup dictionary for Chinese and Japanese
  • Long track record; learners used it since ~2010
  • Praised as best-in-class by Chinese learners on Reddit
  • Publishes independent reviews of language apps

Cons

  • Firefox extension officially discontinued
  • Users report the Chinese extension is dead
  • Chrome version became inaccessible for users
  • Community threads describe its demise as a loss

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/30/2026 - 12 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x7news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free, nothing to pay
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Users call hover lookup simple and good
  • Feature depth. No feature evidence found
  • Support quality: 1/5. Firefox dropped; project abandoned per users
  • Security posture. No security evidence found
  • $0 Price Free extension and blog
  • Yes Free tier No paid plans found in sources
  • Since ~2010 Age Discussed in learner forums by 2010

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Popup dictionary browser extension
  • Language learning blog and app reviews

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

Alternatives

Compare Perapera with each alternative.

  • Yomitan

    Actively maintained Japanese popup dictionary for Chrome and Firefox.

  • Zhongwen

    Free Chinese popup dictionary, still updated.

    Perapera vs Zhongwen

  • AlternativeTo roundup

    Crowd-ranked list of maintained popup dictionary replacements.

Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources. Caution: several unrelated products (perapera.ai, a crypto token, a Steam game, other apps) share the 'Perapera' name.

Free, once-beloved popup dictionary left to die on Firefox; fine for casual Chrome use, wrong for anything serious.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources. Caution: several unrelated products (perapera.ai, a crypto token, a Steam game, other apps) share the 'Perapera' name.

Sources

  1. Perapera Firefox is no moreperapera.org
    official
  2. About Perapera.orgperapera.org
    official
  3. Perapera Popup Dictionary Pluginsperapera.org
    official
  4. Perapera Chinese is dead - are there any replacementsreddit.com
    review
  5. What happened to Perapera on Chrome?reddit.com
    review
  6. Pera Pera is the best extension for learner of Chinesereddit.com
    review
  7. Demise of Perapera in Firefoxchinese-forums.com
    review
  8. Perapera Chinese Popup Dictionary reviewsaddons.mozilla.org
    review
  9. Perapera Popup Dictionary Alternativesalternativeto.net
    review
  10. Perapera-kun - Learning Chinese (2010 forum thread)tw.forumosa.com
    review
  11. Extension Download (Softonic)perapera-chinese-popup-dictionary.en.softonic.com
    official
  12. perapera.ai Crunchbase profile (name-collision note)crunchbase.com
    news

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