Did you get so used to MangaPanda that you didn’t bother looking for alternatives until the site was unfortunately forced to shut down?
You might come across doppelgangers now and again while looking for it on Google, but the original website has been taken down.
We don’t have a mega list of alternative manga apps or sites like MangaPanda for you. That’s because this is a rather short list since most sites similar to MangaPanda fall in that gray area of existing as sources of user-uploaded content.
There are always advantages to knowing more than one source from where you can enjoy free manga online. First off, you will never run out of options.
Secondly, you won’t have to panic if you can’t find a certain manga on the platform you currently use. So let’s dip into the best free and paid legal alternatives to MangaPanda right away.
Best MangaPanda Alternatives (Legal):
1. Manga Rock (INKR Comics)
- Some ad-supported, free content
- Regular updates
With regular updates, you will never miss out on following an old manga or finding a new one to enjoy after binging the anime based off it.
You will find yourself spoiled for choice with all the manga comics available on INKR Comics.
The makers of INKR started off with Manga Rock, a scanlation aggregator site. In 2019, it closed down Manga Rock and rebranded in a big way to reflect the fact that INKR would only carry legal manga, manhua, webtoons, comics and so on.
It offers a subscription system called INKR Extra as well as coins. But you can also view some content for free, as long as you don’t mind ads.
Apart from some atypical offerings, it hosts a bunch of popular ones including Attack on Titan, Tokyo Revengers and Vinland Saga.
2. Manga Club
- Some free content with ads
- Manga options that are not mainstream
One of the first things that you will notice upon joining Manga Club is that it hosts many titles that aren’t so popular, but have amazing stories.
Actually, that may be the second thing you’ll notice. The site contains a lot of NSFW content.
But if you’re willing to dig in (and are over the age of 18, preferably) to find what you like, there’s loads to choose from an array of officially licensed content. Do note that all the free content does come with a serving of ads.
You can break the routine of what you usually like to read, and find new manga series that will keep you entertained, and maybe even lead you to discover interesting anime genres.
3. Viz Manga and Viz Media
- Paid
- Official manga updates and other perks
Viz Media is one of the leading manga comics publishers in the world. Based in the US, Viz is also the country’s largest graphic novel platform.
Now there is some confusion as to whether there is a difference between the Viz Manga and Shonen Jump apps. We’ll talk about the latter in the next point.
There’s the Viz Manga app and Viz Media. Downloading the app gives you access to more than 4,000 paid volumes of titles such as My Hero Academia, Boruto, Call of the Night, Tokyo Ghoul and Vampire Knight.
If you want access to mature manga titles, then you will have to go to viz.com and purchase the volumes through the website. This is owing to the content restrictions on the app.
Besides being heaven for reading manga, the company’s Viz Anime platform is a popular anime streaming site. You can binge on their fantastic titles for hours of viewing pleasure.
4. Shonen Jump
- Paid, with free trial
- Massive collection of well known manga
Viz Media now has a separate app you have to subscribe to in order to access Shonen Jump manga. It costs $2.99 per month and offers access to over 15,000 chapters from Weekly Shonen Jump.
You can read up to 100 chapters per day from popular titles like One Piece, My Hero Academia, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Dragon Ball Super.
What’s really great about the app is that newest chapters of many Shonen Jump series are launched on the same day as Japan and available to everyone for free.
The latest 3 chapters of ongoing series (such as Chainsaw Man, at the time of writing this post) can be read for free on both the app as well as Viz’s website.
5. Manga Plus by Shueisha
- Completely free to read
- Has a special section and cash prize for contributors
If you’ve just discovered this option in our list of sites similar to MangaPanda, then you’re probably scratching your head trying to spot the difference Manga Plus and Shonen Jump and Viz Media.
Manga Plus posts all the Shonen Jump Plus, Jump Square, Weekly Young Jump, Tonari no Young Jump and V Jump manga for free!
You don’t have to download any app (though you have the option to do so) or pay a penny to access it.
So what’s the deal here? Japan’s Shueisha, Shogakukan and ShoPro jointly own Viz Media. All of the Weekly Shonen Jump titles on Viz’s Shonen Jump app also gets published on Manga Plus for free, in seven languages.
But Manga Plus only features the first and latest three simulpubs (manga chapter series released at the same time as Japan).
It serves as way to bring new as well as popular manga offerings to the masses.
Basically, if you’re not up to date on the story you’ve been reading, Viz Media offers you the best legal way to read manga online. So don’t cancel that subscription as yet.
Shueisha is the owner of the 50-year-old Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Naturally, you might be excited to find out that Manga Plus even has a section for creators to submit their content.
If you love discovering new mangakas, this is the place to be. Every month, the top ten submissions are reviewed and the authors stand a chance to win a cash prize and get published officially.
6. ComiXology
- Pay per issue or for a monthly subscription
- Popular comics and manga on one platform
The name gives it away—this website is more focused on comics than anything else. Archie, DC, Dark Horse and Marvel comics are part of its roster.
And you will also be able to find amazing manga from Viz Media, Kodansha and Yen Press here.
It’s great if you don’t want to restrict yourself to manga only, and would like to explore comics and graphic novels too. ComiXology is currently owned by Amazon.
It can be accessed with a monthly subscription fee of $5.99 (with a free month-long trial), or you can pay per issue.
The service also lets you download DRM-free versions of select titles in PDF and CBZ formats.
7. Mangamo
- No reading limits
- Paid monthly subscription
If you have a manga on your mind that you can’t find on any of the legal MangaPanda alternatives mentioned above, you could try Mangamo.
You can access its catalog of over 400 offerings by downloading the Mangamo iPhone/iPad or Android app. Unfortunately there’s no free trial here; you have to pay $4.99 to access the service.
New chapters are added every single day and there’s no reading limit. The app hosts manga of different genres and includes titles like Loving Yamada at Lv999!, Devil-Chi, Immortal Undertaker, A Man with A Thousand Skills, Reset Game, Tokyo Death Game and Memento Memori, among others.
8. Manga Planet
- Short subscription plan period
- Unlimited access to available titles
Manga Planet is yet another online manga subscription service for officially licensed Japanese manga.
In the first half of 2022, the company announced that it would be combining its library of content along with that of futekiya.
Come summer 2023, both the services will merge their offerings under the Manga Planet brand. For a flat fee of $1.99 per week, subscribers will be able to enjoy unlimited access to over 600 titles on the platform.
Along with this, Manga Planet will even be introducing the choice to purchase and rent chapters or volumes.
A monthly subscription of $6.99 is also an option for those who’d prefer not to keep renewing their plans on a weekly basis.
9. BookWalker
- Reward programs and special offers
- Exclusive manga and bonus items
Another option for those who want to read manga and support the hardworking artists behind their favorite series is BookWalker.
It’s owned by Kadokawa and includes titles from popular sources such as Viz, Kodansha and Yen Press.
It’s accessible on the web or through iOS and Android apps. The service features some free manga. You’ll have to pay per issue for a lot of them though.
But Kadokawa sweetens the deal by offering coins for every purchase as well as regularly featuring special offers (such as the current 50% coin back to first-time customers).
10. ComicWalker
- Totally free
- Bookmark your favorites
Best for those who enjoy both popular and lesser known manga titles, ComicWalker, which is also run by Kadokawa, might be a tempting find. It’s completely free of cost and can be accessed via your browser only.
You definitely won’t find all the content you’re looking for here. But some awesome titles like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Accel World and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin are available here.
11. Crunchyroll
- Paid, but offers a free trial
- Keep track of your reads with timely updates and a release schedule
With the promise of minimum delay, Crunchyroll makes sure that once a manga chapter is released, you have access to it as soon as possible.
The service not only provides you with prompt updates, but it also contains a list on which you can see all the manga titles scheduled for release in the following week, letting you plan your reading time.
It lets you read some of the best titles from the biggest names in the whole world of manga. For instance, you can enjoy One Piece by Eiichiro Oda and The Heroic Legend of Arslan by Hiromu Arakawa.
Other popular manga available here include Tokyo Ghoul, Hunter H Hunter, Berserk, My Hero Academia, Boruto and World Trigger.
At a minimum monthly subscription of $7.99 (with a 14-day free trial initially), you can access manga as well as stream anime through the Crunchyroll websites or its official Android and iOS apps.
What was MangaPanda? Why was it loved?
MangaPanda was a massive scanlation (or scanslation) website which was known for being super quick to translate, scan and upload new content weekly so that manga lovers did not have to wait long to read manga comics upon release.
This speed set it apart from alternatives like MangaOwl. It had a vast library of mangas that was so comprehensive, you could endlessly browse it and never get bored.
MangaPanda was loved because of its variety and its connection with manga fans and anime lovers.
While getting lost in the multiple manga options, one could also discover new anime series to love and binge on.
However, MangaPanda was an illegal manga reading website and its contributors are rumored to have gotten into trouble with the law.
Many users allegedly experienced the site pushing viruses and ads into their browsers and devices too.
FAQs
What happened to Manga Panda?
Manga Panda earned a bad reputation for viruses and ads being pushed into users’ computers. So the website was pulled. That’s the story, at least.
What is Manga Panda?
Manga Panda was a service that allowed you to access free manga comics and anime series.
It was technically packaged as a site for users to upload their own material, and not display copyrighted content.
Are there any legal manga sites?
Yes, there are many legal manga sites such as ComiXology, Shonen Jump, Mangamo, Manga Plus and more.
Check out our list above that breaks down legitimate MangaPanda alternatives as well as their pros and cons.
Disclaimer: We have done our best to check whether the alternatives mentioned above are official sources of manga based on the information provided by the websites or apps in question. However, we cannot verify or guarantee the legality of accessing all of the websites or apps appearing on this list. It is for informational purposes only. We do not support or promote piracy in any way, and discourage unlawful access to or distribution of copyright-protected content.
