WEBTOON has reportedly scrapped its Daily Pass option, leaving many readers frustrated and confused.
Fans discovered the change over the past few days when they opened the WEBTOON app, ready to catch up on their favorite series, only to find that chapters previously unlocked with Daily Pass now required coins.
On the app, the “Daily Pass” icon still appears—but it’s now grayed out, replaced by the Ad Pass symbol. Tapping the info icon confirms the news: the Daily Pass is no longer available.
With this change, readers must now purchase coins to unlock episodes. Each episode costs three coins, meaning a reader could spend at least $9.99 a month just to follow a single series, assuming they haven’t previously unlocked any chapters. Longer series will, of course, cost more.
Previously, the Daily Pass allowed users to unlock one episode per day from eligible series, with each unlocked chapter available for 14 days. WEBTOON introduced the Daily Pass for completed series in 2020 and later extended it to some ongoing series in 2022. As of this writing, the removal appears to affect only completed series.
While not perfect—some users found it clunky for ongoing reads or frustratingly slow for bingeing—Daily Pass gave readers a chance to explore new titles before deciding to spend money.
As of now, WEBTOON still offers Ad Passes for select series, letting users watch ads to unlock chapters. However, those passes expire after only three days, compared to the Daily Pass’s 14. The platform also continues to offer Fast Pass, which lets readers access the latest chapters early. Fast Pass episodes don’t expire once unlocked.
WEBTOON has yet to issue a statement explaining the removal of the Daily Pass feature.
Source: WEBTOON
Okay WEBTOON just crossed the line. This seems like a really stupid move for them given how many anime and manga fans, most of their readers, know how to find pirated sites.