Consuming manga needs to be done in the right way, otherwise, you’re missing out on the manga experience including fully taking in the amazing visuals and layout. So join me as we explore 20 of the best manga apps including free and subscription apps.
Manga by Crunchyroll (Free and Paid)
Crunchyroll, one of the great pioneers in anime streaming, also has an official app on both iOS and Google Play. There is a good offering of manga chapters for free but the app is best used via a Crunchyroll premium account.
Crunchyroll does have content deals with Japanese publishers and will have all the latest manga as well as keeping up to date with ongoing series.
To get access to the latest titles, you’ll need the subscription to Crunchyroll, but if you’re a fan of anime as well, this is a must anyway.
You’re unlikely to beat Crunchyrolls’ range and speed of new releases, although some have found the manga reader to not be quite to their liking due to its layout.
It does have a great range of features including favorites, tagging, bookmarks, and several other orientation features.
VIZ Manga aka Shonen Jump Manga (Free and Paid)
Being one of the largest international destinations for manga, VIZ Manga has all the Shonen Jump series via their Google Play app or iOS.
Like most of these apps, this one has library functionality, meaning you can organize your manga how you want, as well as having a read offline function.
One of my favorite features of the app is the ability to get a sneak peek of paid content, so you can see if you’ll like it or not. There is also a 7-day free trial to try out the paid version.
Being Shonen Jump, you can expect to find all the massive titles including My Hero Academia, DragonBall, Super, One Piece, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations!, and many others. You’ll also gain access to the entire VIZ digital catalog.
The big series’ latest chapters can be read for free, but you need to become a paid member to unlock the Shonen Jump digital vault containing over 10,000+ manga chapters. This means you get instant access to new manga for free as it comes out in Japan.
Generally, you’ll be able to read 100 chapters a day for free, but if you’re serious about manga then getting the VIZ subscription is definitely worth it.
I personally love the bookmark feature, as if you get to a page or scene you really like, you can mark it for referral later with one tap.
ComiXology (Free and Paid)
With access to over 230,000 manga and comics, ComiXology has a huge range to choose from. You can find it on both the Google store and iOS for iPhone and iPad.
ComiXology offers a free and paid version, the latter being named ComiXology Unlimited.
The subscription does offer thousands of comics to read, but keep in mind that only the first volumes of a series are available. To finish the rest of a particular series you’ll have to purchase the rest separately.
WebComics (Free and Paid)
A collection of not only manga but also comic books and webtoons, WebComics has Japanese as well as American, Korean, and Chinese content. With daily updates and a great recommendation algorithm, WebComics is worth a shot if you’ve not tried it before.
WebComics releases free content every day and also allows offline reading. They operate on both Android and iOS, and they have a membership that offers big discounts if you go with the annual. The app has ads for the free version.
Webcomics also comes with a community forum section, where you can discuss with others your favorite manga, and participate in a variety of activities to learn more about other mangas you may like.
Webcomics claims that approximately 1000 chapters are uploaded every day to their service, and you can also do an offline reading.
Manga Plus (Free)
Offered by the large publisher Shueisha, Manga Plus gives you instant access to new Japanese manga releases such as Naruto and Bleach. Once you pick a few favorites, the app will push notifications to you when new content arrives.
With no paid option, this is a free reader that has official access to almost every Shonen Jump title and even has a wide range of translations in Spanish alongside English. Get it from both the Play Store and App Store.
You can select from both Japanese and English texts for your manga reading pleasure. It contains ads and there is no premium feature to remove the ads.
Mangamo (Free and Paid)
For some people, knowing that the content that they consume is not stolen from the author is very important, and Mangamo is great because not only is it all above board, but every time you consume a title, you know the author is being given their appropriate cut.
You can read one free chapter every 24 hours without having to sign up, and the subscription gives access to over 300 titles with no ads. Try it out for free on Google Play and the Apple store.
Keep in mind that this is geo-locked, in that it is inaccessible if you’re in Japan, China, or Korea.
Manga Geek (Free)
More of an aggregator site, Manga Mew boasts over 10,000 titles with auto-updates when new titles become available.
While not all content is available in all areas, check out Manga Mew’s app in the Google Play store.
Manga RIGHT! (Free)
A manga app with an interesting point system involved, you’ll earn by reading titles that are instantly available.
Totally free and supported by non-intrusive ads, Manga RIGHT! is a great option if you’re just getting started with manga and are not sure what you like.
Find it here for Android devices.
INKR Comics (Free and Paid)
Boasting over 1000 titles, INKR Comics has a presence on both the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
INKR Comics’ reader also allows for a great range of customizable options, including putting your titles into lists like Recently Read, Read Later, Subscribed, Liked, Disliked.
INKR will sync across different devices as long as you are logged in to the same account, and revenue is shared with the creators and publishers.
INKR allows you to get a monthly subscription (called INKR Extra) or buy coins to unlock specific chapters.
MangaToon (Free and Paid)
With a free version allowing you full access to the catalog as long as you watch a certain amount of ads and participate in activities, MangaToon also offers a paid version to give you unlimited access.
One of the smoothest reading apps, MangaToon has the usual offerings in Google Play and Apple Store.
MangaToon has a wide range of genres including comedy, love, horror, romance, and action as well as the ability to publish your own stories and manga on the platform if you wish. The use of feeds inside the app allows you to discover new manga similar to the ones you read.
The user interface gets a lot of praise, and personally, I love how the scrolling and moving between screens are so intuitive.
Manga Zone (Free)
Available for both major platforms here (Apple) and here (third party download), this is a free reader that pulls together many online manga sources with a ‘Today’ page that crawls the web for the best new manga for you to try.
Manga Zone can boast over 15,000 titles in English, and the app is praised for its ease of use.
There are some limits on how many manga you can get from the same source, but once you reach that limit, just delete the old copies you’ve already read and it will reset the counter. There are also some ads but these are quite minimal.
Manga Dogs (Free and Paid)
Another aggregator with access to many thousands of titles, Manga Dogs has one of the best user interfaces out there. Combined with its uncanny ability to recommend the perfect title based on what you are reading, give this app a go if you have the chance.
Offering both horizontal and vertical reading modes, it has a listing for the app on the Apple store and you can download the app for Android from their website.
Tachiyomi (Free)
No list of manga readers would be complete without the open-source Tachiyomi. With an in-built color adjuster, this is great for late-night reading in darker settings or can be switched to a daylight-friendly reading scheme.
Grab the app straight from their website, and unlike a lot of open source projects, this app gets updated regularly.
One popular feature is the ability to see the theme of the app, allowing for high levels of personalization. Keep in mind that you’ll need to periodically check for updates as this app is not managed by any of the app stores.
Don’t worry about having to source the manga yourself, as the app takes care of it by subscribing to all the big manga feeds.
Manga Box (Free)
Focusing on the publically available and original manga, Manga Box is updated every day and is perfect for those of us trying to find that next great title.
Android users can get the app on the store here, and Apple app store at that link.
Manga Box is perfect for those looking for a no-frills, traditional manga reader.
Manga Storm CBR (Free)
This app has gone through some name changes over the years but still remains a very solid choice. Only available on iOS for now, Manga Storm CBR is a great, sturdy manga reader.
With an almost perfect integration with all the top cloud platforms, this is one of the best readers to organize your already existing manga collection and allows you to configure a connection to a manga server, so the latest chapters get pushed to your library.
All the major formats are supported, including cbr/cbz/cb7/cbt/rar/zip/7z/tar/pdf.
Ur Manga (Free and Paid)
With free comics made available seven days a week, Ur Manga gets on average 2,000 new manga a week and has over 1 million users on Android and Apple.
Within the usual genres, there is also an interactive reading model, allowing you to do a ‘choose your own adventure’ style manga.
All comics are available in HD image quality and you can download your favorite ones to read offline.
Ur Manga also has one of the best mobile interfaces out there, easily giving a top manga reading experience. There are free and premium options to choose from, the latter both removing the ads from the free version and also giving some premium content.
Manga Now (Free)
Only available on iOS for the time being, it is definitely one of the most aesthetically pleasing manga readers on Apple devices.
Promising new titles every day as well as access to all the big titles like One Piece, Naruto, Hunter X Hunter, Bleach, One Punch Man, Dragon Ball, Death Note, Doraemon, and Attack on Titan, to name a few.
Keep in mind that the ads on this app are a bit overkill but the reality is that unless you’re paying for the app or there are ads, you’re likely consuming pirated manga.
Manga Fox (Free)
Another ad-supported free manga reader, Manga Fox has a nice clean layout, including the comic mode designed specifically to read manga the way it is supposed to be, as a continuous stream.
Limited to Android, this is a great app that pulls data from a variety of sources to get many thousands of manga.
ComicRack (Free)
ComicRack has been designed with an easy-to-use interface with two main sections, Reader and Library. The former is a standard, clean manga reader, while the latter stores your collection of downloaded titles.
The library has a discovery feature called Comics Browser and Listbar. These sections allow you to select comic books from general searches and tags, helping you to find your next favorite manga to get lost in.
Download it for Android here. This app has too many ads for my liking, but it is a very good reader otherwise and is one of the smoothest manga readers I’ve used.
Izneo (Free and Paid)
With free and paid options, the latter getting access to a much larger archive and library, Izneo offers both English and Japanese manga on both Google Play and the App Store.
You can try out the paid version to see if it is the sort of thing you would like so that you don’t have to purchase it blind.
Izneo is primarily meant to be used on your phone, but they also offer a casting feature to put the images on a larger screen for ease of reading in other situations. It also offers offline reading and no ads for either version.
