Mobile scrolling comics (webtoons) are growing in popularity every day, and because of the medium’s vertical scrolling format, it is convenient to catch up on your favorite series or read the latest chapter on your phone or tablet while you’re on the go.
Given the worldwide popularity of the format, readers are lucky that there is such a large (and growing) number of webtoon platforms. At the same time, these platforms can be overwhelming to navigate.
Note: although the term “webtoon” is synonymous with the format of vertical scrolling comics, it is often confused with WEBTOON, one of the largest platforms for these comics. To avoid confusion, we’re using the term webcomic to refer to vertical scrolling comics on these platforms in this piece.
Each scrolling comic platform has a different currency to buy chapters. When it comes to accessing titles, the process gets more confusing. Which ones are pay-per-chapter? Which ones are subscription models?
While webcomics fans can explore each platform to see which comics suit more to their tastes (because everyone is different!), here’s a non-exhaustive guide of 12 platforms where you can read vertical scrolling comics and how you can access them.
Tapas
Created in 2012 by entrepreneurs Chang Kim and Jang Young-Jun, Tapas was originally started because Kim wanted a place where he could read his webcomics in a single location. Today it is owned by the Korean media company Tapas Entertainment, and has more than 10 million subscribers for its mobile app and over 72,000 creators
In its library, Tapas has romance fantasy, romance, action fantasy, action, drama, thriller-horror, BL, GL, and LGBTQ+ with Tapas originals commonly being labeled as LGBTQ+. The platform also has a mature section which can only be accessed after logging in. Aside from the licensed and translated Korean, Japanese, and Chinese titles, Tapas also has originals where creators have the opportunity to publish their stories on the platform with a few caveats (such as having a minimum of 15,000 followers/subscribers for their series on any given platform and being able to produce 3 episodes per month at a minimum of 25 panels for each episode).
How much does Tapas cost?:
Tapas uses a currency called Ink to access their chapters. Ink can be purchased in their Ink Shop or through the Free Ink section where readers will need to complete offers to earn Ink or invite friends and receive 500 Bonus Ink for when they use their invite code. Bonus Ink has an expiration date and can only be used to unlock premium episodes. The lowest and basic tier is 1,600 ink for $2.99.
Some Tapas series are also on a “Wait until free” basis where chapters can be read for free every few hours while others will be put on “Free Access” where the entire series can be read for free.
Tapas has a couple events for readers to earn ink. A few series will also participate in “Reading Events” where readers can read a certain number of chapters of featured series to receive ink
Tapas also offers other ways for readers to access their favorite series for free. The Tapas Fortune Cookie is a weekly campaign that occurs every Monday where readers will have 24 hours to crack open a fortune cookie to see how much bonus ink they’ve received. The bonus ink expires at the end of the day.
WEBTOON
Many of WEBTOON’s works have been adapted into other mediums like anime and live-action adaptations, such as Tower of God, True Beauty, Marry My Husband, and most recently, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
On WEBTOON, fans can find a huge variety of different genres to read, including drama, fantasy, comedy, action, slice of life, romance, superhero, sci-fi, thriller, supernatural, mystery, sports, historical, horror, heartwarming, and informative. Should a series be discontinued, users can still access any chapters they’ve previously unlocked.
WEBTOON has recorded 24 million total creators, and 170 million monthly active users as of March 31, 2024.
What does WEBTOON cost?:
WEBTOON allows anyone to read some fairly new chapters for free. However, you won’t be able to read the latest chapters until you’ve created an account and paid with coins. At its lowest tier, by paying $9.99 per month, you’ll receive 100 coins and a 10 coin monthly refill. Coins purchased through the Coin Shop have no expiration dates.
WEBTOON occasionally hosts events where users can get free coins but these have expiration dates that vary. Free coins are used on series through a Fast Pass or Daily Pass before any regular coins.
WEBTOON utilizes Daily Pass and Fast Pass. A Daily Pass allows users to unlock an episode to read for free each day. These unlocked episodes are available for 14 days. Daily Pass episodes can also be unlocked through watching ads, called “Ad Passes” where they will remain for three days.
A Fast Pass allows users to read the latest episode earlier than the regular release date. Fast Pass episodes can only be unlocked through Coins or by watching ads. Fast Pass episodes unlocked through Ad Passes and will only be available for three days before it’s locked again. Unlike Daily Pass, the Fast Pass episodes will not expire regardless of if they were unlocked with regular coins or through Free Coins. Moreover, all Fast Pass episodes are free after a certain period of time.
There appears to be only one way to get free coins and that’s through referral codes. Every time a new WEBTOON user redeems the code within seven days of creating an account, both the referee and referrer will receive coins. However, any referral code can only be used up to five times.
WEBTOON sometimes will have events where users can earn coins by reading featured series…but not before using coins to unlock episodes.
If users downloaded episodes before a series is locked, these episodes remain on the device for 30 days.
Lezhin
Founded by blogger Han Heesung, Lezhin launched first in Korea in 2013 and then in the U.S. in 2015.
Though Lezhin has a large range of different genres to read from including fantasy, sci-fi, historical, horror, and thriller, the platform has more of an emphasis on romance, with a particularly large BL selection. Lezhin has both an all-ages version and a mature version with the latter accessible after registering for an account.
For those who have the App Store or Google Playstore, the mature version of Lezhin cannot be accessed through the app. Readers will need to login through the web browser, toggle the “R” which will open up the mature titles, and purchase through there. Once they purchase the first chapter of a series, they can continue purchasing the rest of the chapters through the app.
How much does Lezhin cost?:
It’s free to sign up to Lezhin, and you can read a limited number of chapters for free before you have to use coins to unlock them.
Readers can earn coins by logging in daily to either the app or browser or by completing activities in the “Free Coin Zone,” but all of these coins have expiration dates. Every now and then, the platform will promote a couple works where readers will be given a certain number of coins to use for certain titles or have “coinback” events which means readers can get a certain amount of coins back if they read from a selected list of comics. These coins also have expiration dates. Occasionally, Lezhin will put a few series on a “wait until free” basis where fans can read chapters for free every few hours (wait periods can range from every 3 hours to every 24 hours).
Recently, Lezhin added a rental option where rental passes are given to certain series and readers can read a certain number of chapters for a limited time. One Free Rental Pass will allow readers to view one episode for three days. Once all of the rental passes are used up, readers will need to use their coins to continue.
Readers who can’t wait to read the next chapter of their favorite series can also purchase coins in order to buy chapters. Fans can buy bundles of coins, bonus coins, and points. Points can’t be used directly to buy chapters, but are used in “Point-Redeem Bundles” and can be redeemed to buy coins. Lezhin also has a monthly plan known as “Jaymee’s VIP Club,” which makes coins cheaper. Lezhin occasionally also has sales where coins can be purchased at a discounted price.
Tappytoon
Founded in 2013, Tappytoon has over 8 million readers in 241 countries. 94% of the app’s readership is millennial and Gen Z. As of 2021, the platform opened Tappytoon Studio for originals production launched a webnovel service. Unlike some other services, Tappytoon focuses on offering a monthly subscription model.
In terms of genre, Tappytoon focuses mainly on romance, action, BL, fantasy, drama, and GL, and the platform features both an all-ages and mature version.
How much does Tappytoon cost?:
It’s free to sign up for Tappytoon, and you can read a limited number of chapters for free before you have to use points to unlock them.
Tappytoon uses points which can be used to purchase both webcomics and webnovels. Readers can complete different tasks or watch video ads to accumulate enough points in order to read for free. Another way to read for free is through tickets, which allow readers to unlock a locked chapter for 48 hours.
Tappytoon also has a membership offer called “Tappytoon Club” where members get 4,400 points added each month, earn 30 bonus points for checking into the app daily, and only have to wait for 12 hours for series that are on a 24-hour Time Till Free series basis. Tappytoon has both a monthly and yearly plan with the former costing around $6.49 USD and the latter costing $59.99/year which is around $4.99/month.
For those who don’t want to commit to a monthly plan, Tappytoon has point bundles where readers can purchase points. The lowest tier is $2.99 for 1,400 points on the app.
Tappytoon will also put a few series on sale where, for a period of time, it’ll be cheaper to buy older chapters.
Pocket Comics
Pocket Comics is the English-language service that’s operated by Comico which is owned by Bushiroad via Comiplay.
Genre-wise, Pocket Comics has an abundance of romance webcomics, with subcategories of fantasy romance, noble romance, modern romance, and school romance, with a separate category for BL and GL. It also has action/fantasy and drama.
What does Pocket Comics cost?:
It’s free to read the first few chapters of a series on Pocket Comics without an account. Following that, series will need to be read either through rentals or through coins. Readers can rent chapters for free through “Free Gauge,” tickets, or ads. A rental gauge, which is a purple bar at the top of the episode list, will allow readers to rent a chapter for free by “consuming the gauges.” The gauge bar will eventually fill up again after some time and readers will know how much time is needed for the bar to refill as it will be displayed at the top of the bar.
Tickets can be used for episodes that are available to rent. However, tickets can only be used after the gauge bar is empty. Tickets are not available for purchase and can only be received through events.
Some series will have a rental option which is different from the “Free Gauge” option because they can rent the chapter for a longer period of time for fewer coins than the number of coins it takes to unlock the chapter.
Another way to read Pocket Comics for free is through ads or by subscribing to a series although both of these methods are limited to one chapter each and the latter option is only for select titles. There are still other ways to read for free such as through Pocket Comics’ missions where chapters are available to read for free for featured titles. These missions are also tied to tickets where readers will receive tickets by reading the featured tiles. Pocket Comics will also host some events where there will be special sales such as some series having coin back events or a number of chapters can be read for free.
Aside from the rental and ticket options, Pocket Comics allows readers to unlock episodes through purchasing coins. The platform also has bonus coins which are available through coin bundles, through events and giveaways, or by earning coins through doing different tasks. These bonus coins have an expiration date. The lowest and basic tier is purchasing 10 coins at $0.99 USD.
Manta Comics
Owned and operated by RIDI corporation, Manta debuted in November 2020. Since its launch, Manta is the second largest paid-user comic platform in the U.S. and the number one app in the comic category on Google Play in 23 countries. Manta has also hit 11 million app downloads in the past three years.
Manta is primarily known for its romantasy (romance and fantasy) titles but it also has drama, thriller, slice-of-life, BL, GL, and historical comics. While most of their series are family friendly with more sexually suggestive scenes censored or edited, there are some series that are rated 17+. There is also an option for subscribers to download chapters and read their favorite series offline.
A large majority of Manta’s licenses are Korean, but the platform does have some Chinese titles. It also has recently started looking into adapting English language novels into webcomics such as The Bromance Book Club and Lady Alchemist.
Manta also recently launched their webnovels branch called Manta Novels where subscribers can now read the original webnovels the webcomics are based off of.
How much does Manta cost?:
You can read a limited number of chapters for free before you have to buy the subscription to unlock the full series. It is also free to sign up for an account.
Unlike nearly all of the other webcomic platforms which uses a pay-per-chapter model, Manta uses a subscription model called Manta Unlimited where readers have to pay a one-time fee to gain full access to the entire library. Manta has a monthly subscription for $4.99 and a three-month and twelve-month subscription.
In addition, Manta has an in-app currency called Gems which is separate from the subscription fee. Those who do not wish to commit to paying for the subscription but still want to read Manta works can read titles by buying Gems. Due to the recent upgrade, users will need to use Gems to access series that have a mature version and those from external partners, meaning those who exist on other platforms. Webnovels can only be purchased via Gems with the lowest purchase tier being 30 Gems for $3.99 with each volume costing at least 30 Gems.
Toomics / Lalatoon
Toomics has services for 11 different languages including Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, and English, and while the content they publish is the same, the services differ for different languages. Toomics is also the parent company of Lalatoon and while the two share a similar library of webcomics, there are some series that are exclusive only to Lalatoon and vice versa.
Toomics and Lalatoon have romance which also includes BL (Lalatoon specifically lists out GL while Toomics does not have this category), fantasy, drama, comedy, action, horror, thriller, school life, historical, and sci-fi. Its library also contains a good mix of Korean and Chinese webcomics with a smattering of English original comics.
Toomics/Lalatoon are automatically set to family safe mode and will require readers to verify their age before it can get turned off. For those using an Apple device, according to iOS policy, Family Safe mode cannot be turned off in the app and mature titles can only be read on the browser.
Lalatoon and Toomics will also allow readers to rate individual chapters.
What does Lalatoon/Toomics cost?:
It’s free to sign up for both Toomics and Lalatoon, and you can read a limited number of chapters for free before you have to buy coins to unlock the full series.
The basic payment tier for Lalatoon is $4.49 USD for 20 coins which amounts to approximately $0.22 USD per coin; with each chapter costing an average of three coins (some series will cost fewer coins per chapter), this comes to around $0.66 per chapter. The coins that readers purchase are valid for five years. Lalatoon will also give bonus coins to readers that are free or based on purchased coins through events and will be deducted before the regular coins.
Toomics also uses a subscription model. A monthly VIP subscription fee is billed at $9.99 USD and those who don’t want to commit to a subscription will need to pay for coins with $4.99 USD for 20 coins being the bottom tier. The VIP membership is only available for the English version.
Renta
Renta first began as Papyless E-Bookstore when it went live with the website in December 1996. It wasn’t until 2011 that the English-language version of the website launched.
Although Renta is more well-known for their selection of manga, it also has great options for webcomics, with their titles crossing just over 300 works. Renta’s webcomic selection, under VertiComix, includes Korean, Chinese, and Japanese titles that have been turned into a vertical format with some titles being full-color and some remaining as black and white.
Renta partially censor’s adult-themed series due to their site policy.
For those hoping to read Renta on their iOS device, it’s probably best that you don’t. The Renta app is extremely outdated with no option to search for titles. Android users will be able to access a more up-to-date app where they can read manga and VertiComix although the selection may be smaller compared to the site.
What does Renta cost?:
Renta readers can either buy or rent chapters using a points system. Renting chapters will be cheaper than buying them (half of the price) and readers can rent for 48 hours. If readers decide they want to keep the title, they can upgrade to Unlimited, which is slightly more expensive compared to the 48-hour rental option, during the rental period. Some series will only have one rental option.
It’s free to sign up for an account and some chapters are also free exclusively to members. To become a Premium Member, members will need to spend over 10,000 points over a consecutive three-month period. Premium members will receive 2% of their spending back as points. Fortunately, once they become a Premium Member, members will not lose their rank.
There are eight other ways to earn points called Renta! Missions. These methods include visiting your point history page; adding a series to your wishlist; taking a quiz; using points that you’ve purchased to read webcomics; reading series; posting a review; becoming a premium member; or renting or buying a bundle. Visiting Renta daily will also earn members a point.
Renta also has a special deal every Wednesday called Premium Wednesday where readers can get 1,000 points for $9.
You can also purchase points with the lowest tier being $5 USD for 500 points. By purchasing 3,000 points or more, members can also receive free points. However, if a member does not purchase or use any points for three years, their balance will reset to zero.
Comikey
Launched in 2021, Comikey has a wide range for webcomic fans to partake in, including fantasy, drama, BL, GL, school life, romance, comedy, action, mystery, slice of life, and isekai. Comikey also has a large selection of both Korean and Chinese webcomics and manga. The platform’s primary focus is on simulpub releases.
What does Comikey cost?:
There are two ways to access Comikey webcomics for free. A Daily Pass will allow readers to unlock one new chapter, that are not the latest ones, per series every 23 hours. The chapters will stay unlocked for 72 hours. The second method, known as Watch to Read, has readers watch a video ad which will unlock any chapter that are not the latest ones every 23 hours. The chapters will also stay unlocked for 72 hours. However, readers are limited to the number of ads they can watch per series.
Another method is to read via Free-Paid-Free which allows readers to unlock a new chapter for the first few hours of its release before it locks for 12 hours. Following the 12-hour lock period, the chapter will unlock and be available to read for free for a week. However, this is limited to a small number of series, as Comikey is currently phasing this out.
Alternatively, readers can purchase Keys to unlock chapters which will stay unlocked indefinitely. However, there are two different types of Keys: a regular Key and Xtra Keys. Xtra Keys differ from regular Keys in that they are earned and last for five days. These can be earned either through reading specific series, reading a certain number of chapters, sharing invite links, events, or campaigns. Keys are only available by paying with the lowest tier at $1.99 USD for 20 keys which comes to around $0.10 for one key.
For manga, it costs up to two keys for short or promotional chapters while it costs 3 keys for regular chapters that range from 15 to 30 pages. Longer chapters that are more than 31 pages will cost one key per 10 pages. For webcomic readers, they will need to use at least two keys for each episode. The Free-Paid-Free and Keys methods are the only available options for browser users. App users have more ways to access comics and are able to read chapters through the Daily Pass, Watch to Read, Free-Paid-Free, and Keys.
INKR
Founded by Ken Luong, Khoa Nguyen, and Hieu Tran in 2019, INKR launched its global comics reading platform a year later, and announced distribution partnership with a number of companies including Kuaikan and Kodansha USA. INKR has INKR Comics and INKR Studio which launched in 2024.
INKR Comics has manga, manhua, webcomics, and comics. Its genres range from action, romance, BL, GL, adventure, comedy, fantasy, and horror. The platform also allows for readers to interact and comment on series.
What does INKR cost?:
INKR uses a mix of coins and Ink to read chapters. The coin option allows users to unlock chapters. The ink option allows users to rent chapters and those on the browser can only rent five chapters a day, but those on the iOS and Android apps, can rent unlimited. Ink can also be acquired by checking in daily, completing different challenges, recommending a title to a friend, referring INKR to your friends, or reading chapters for featured titles.
INKR Extra members will get to read more free chapters and have 24 hour access to the latest chapters and discounted prices for buying chapters in bulk. They also have exclusive access to member-only titles. They are able to trade ink for coins and read without ads. They can also download chapters to read offline. The INKR Extra membership costs $4.99 USD per month.
Some series will only be available to unlock through coins and will be noted with a Coin icon. Some series will be rentable with Ink for readers but are free for INKR Extra members and will be noted with a Crown icon. A Crown icon with a timer means that the latest chapters are rentable with Ink and are free, but for a limited time, for INKR Extra members. Some series will be discounted for a limited time and has a Tag icon.
WebComics
WebComics launched in 2012 and has romance which includes BL and GL, fantasy, action, drama, comedy, horror, and mystery although for some reason the app calls it “Eastern fantasy” and “Eastern romance.” The app also has separate categories for LGBTQ+, slice-of-life, and sci-fi. It’s not totally clear why some webcomics are labeled LGBTQ+ and some as BL and GL other than there seems to be more Webcomics Originals under LGBTQ+.
However, out of all of the listed platforms on this article, WebComics is the only one to put their watermark in the corner every couple pages which can distract from the reading experience a bit especially when it covers the artwork or dialogue.
Similar to WEBTOON and Tapas, WebComics has a publishing platform where creators can publish their works and earn money. Works that have seen great success will become a Guaranteed work which means they’ll earn up to $2,000 a month. Oddly enough, although the website gives you an option to see how you can publish your novel, clicking on it leads you to an ad site.
What does WebComics cost?:
Webcomics uses gems to read chapters, and in order to get gems, you have to redeem tokens. However, the exchange rate is rather steep: 24,000 tokens will only get you one Reward Gem. If the WebComics app hasn’t been opened for 30 consecutive days, the Token and Reward Gem balance will be reset to 0.
There are a number of ways to earn tokens such as reading for a period of time, checking in daily, and watching video ads. You can also do various tasks to earn gems.
You can also read the entire series for free but only for two days and for select titles.
At the lowest tier, a premium membership costs $5.99 per month. The membership grants monthly gems, access to free comics (a Monthly Premium will only allow for two comics a week), early access to read series, and the ability to read comics ads-free. Users also have the option of being WebComics PLUS members where you’re able to read all the comics for free.
Netcomics
In comparison to the other platforms, Netcomics doesn’t have a wide variety of genres. Under its genre categories, it lists out romance which includes BL but no separate category for GL (even though there are some GL titles if you do some digging around the romance genre category). And although it says there is “sci-fi” as a category, oddly enough, there are no titles tagged as sci-fi. The titles for the other genres like action, comedy, fantasy, thriller, and drama aren’t as extensive as their romance and BL categories. However, there does appear to be some older titles that date back to the early to mid-2000s.
Netcomics has both Korean, Chinese, and Japanese titles with the latter turned into a webcomics format which includes a vertical scrolling and turning from black-and-white to full-colored pages. Netcomics will also allow for subscribers to comment and rate series.
Netcomics also has novels to read but the selection is not as large as its webcomics library with only five titles as of this article’s writing. There are some novel titles whose webcomic adaptations exist on other platforms.
How much does Netcomics cost?:
Most of the other webcomic platforms will allow you to read a couple of chapters without an account but not so for Netcomics. You will need to sign up for an account in order to read any of the chapters, including the free ones.
To read a title on Netcomics, members will need to either rent or buy. Readers can rent chapters for a certain number of hours. Buying a chapter is usually an average of 0.5 coins while renting would be half of that price. They also have a “wait-until-free” option for certain titles where readers have to wait every 24 hours to read a chapter.
Readers can also use points to buy chapters with 100 points equating to one coin, and this feature is automatically used when readers are low on coins to pay for chapters. However, points can only be acquired as bonuses when you buy a certain amount of coins and through different events.
Netcomics also has events where, in their promotion, featured titles will have a select number of chapters available to read for free.
Members can also buy coins with the lowest tier at $4.99 USD for 4.99 coins.
