There are so many rikai extensions that I got lost when I was trying to find my choice. I want this to be the go-to article for people who seek not only the full list of rikai extensions, but also the truth behind their origin.

We’ll begin with what you’re all here for:

Now some information about some of them:

nazeka is a rikai replacement with many interesting features and options, which are listed in the readme of the repository. It also works in Firefox on Android.

10ten Japanese Reader is a port of rikaikun, which is a port of rikaichan, which is a port of rikaiXUL. It’s very fast.

rikaichan is a fork of rikaiXUL, which took over the development. Originally only for Firefox, it was eventually published for Chrome too.

rikaikun (Chrome) started as a port of rikaichan to Chrome, when rikaichan wasn’t available for Chrome yet.

RikaiRebuilt is a rewrite of Rikaisama for WebExtension API, which aims to keep the structure of the original extension.

Rikaisama is a fork of rikachan with many new features and cutomization options, but it is no longer developed and not supported by Firefox anymore.

rikaiXUL is an old Firefox add-on on which most of the rikai family members were based.

Yomichan is not a fork, but rather a whole different extension which focuses not only on dictionaries, but also the learning side of things. It has a built in integration for Anki, which makes the experience for Anki users a breeze.

How can I decide on my rikai extension?

10ten Japanese Reader is the latest fork (deepest in the fork tree) with many performance improvements and an active development community. But you should definitely check out all the other choices, explore their features and decide which one has the best feel to it for you.

Do you know something I don’t? Do you want to make this more comprehensive? Edit this page!