Learning and careers decision
Brill
A competent technical user can build a working widget + sync and subscription in a few weeks, but reproducing Brill's polished multi-language content, App Store presence, and ongoing product polish is harder; consider building a narrow local-first widget if cost is the constraint.
Visit website↗$2.99/mo
$36/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off80 h to build
$10/mo6 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 7 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All Brill alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- Show a daily vocabulary word on the iOS Home Screen widget, let the user reveal/blur translation, play pronunciation audio, and optionally sync custom words and settings to a backend.
What it still won’t have
- Polished iOS product and App Store presence
- Curated content across 37 languages with editorial quality
- Multi-language audio pronunciations if not using a paid TTS provider
- Subscription management and analytics integrations (App Store console, receipts, refunds)
- Community/marketing (Discord) and ongoing product polish
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 7 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build an iOS app and Home Screen widget using SwiftUI + WidgetKit, serverless backend on Firebase (Firestore + Cloud Functions) and Firebase Auth for optional sync. Core features in scope: (1) Widget that displays a daily word, blurred/unblurred translation, pronunciation playback, and manual cycle; (2) Local storage of built-in word lists and user custom words (Core Data or local JSON + sync); (3) StoreKit in-app subscription to unlock Pro features; (4) Backend endpoints to serve curated word lists per language and store user custom words; (5) Audio playback using cached TTS or bundled audio files; (6) Basic admin script to upload/modify word lists. Out of scope: App Store submission review process, curated editorial content creation, paid community features, advanced analytics. Include error handling, unit/UI tests for widget and app flows, CI for build, and simple deployment playbook for Firebase and App Store metadata.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 5 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score67
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 5
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productBrill homepage — features & pricing
- official pricingBrill pricing section
- official productBrill features list
- open sourcemengxi-ream/read-frog
- open sourceumlx5h/LLPlayer
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
