We love manga here at IGN, but the thriving Japanese industry puts out so many comics each year — with some series running for decades — it can be hard (and expensive) to keep up. But there are actually many fantastic and easy-to-access places to read manga for free.
From iconic classics like Battle Angel Alita to blockbuster series like Attack on Titan, all the way to the newest chapters of books like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Demon Slayer, we've got you covered, so you can keep up with your favorite manga series while saving a little bit of cash while you do it!
Make sure to also check out our guide to free comics online as well for more options.
Hoopla
We're starting this list with Hoopla as it has the most eclectic and probably largest collection of free manga anywhere on the internet. To access the app, you need to have a library card — which you can get for free at your local library — but once you've got that sorted you can read all the manga you could ever imagine. Some highlights include the entirety of Kentaru Miura's seminal Berserk and Hajime Isayama's game-changing Attack on Titan, as well as classics like Fairy Tail, Lone Wolf and Cub, and newer standouts like Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.
It's an extensive collection that features multiple volume ones, full series, and undiscovered gems that might become new faves. If you're going to commit to one app to read free manga, there's nowhere better than Hoopla. One last great thing about this app: there are no holds or waiting times, as all books are available instantly.
Libby
While Hoopla is better known as the free comics hotspot for online readers, don't sleep on Libby. This app is one of the premier destinations for free digital books, and manga is surely part of its sprawling library collection. While the range of titles available will depend on your local library system, a sampling of the Los Angeles Public Library's offerings includes One Piece, Naruto, Spy x Family, Vampire Hunter D, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and many more.
Publishers like Viz and Kodansha only offer the first volume for free on their sites, but a great deal of manga series are available in full on the Libby app. Just be aware that Libby functions more like a physical library in that the number of copies your local branch has available may be limited. But if you can't read it now for free on Libby, you can always place a hold on the manga you want and you'll be notified when your account borrows the books automatically.
Viz
Viz is the largest publisher of English-language manga — at times accounting for nearly a quarter of all graphic novels sold in North America — and the company has embraced its massive reach by making a great deal of its catalog available on its website. Most series have a generous free preview, ranging anywhere from 20 to 60 pages of each volume. This includes classics like Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2, modern hits like Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man, and cult faves like Taiyō Matsumoto's Tekkonkinkreet. While it's not free, the Viz Manga App offers an extensive selection of titles for only $2 a month with 7-day free trials for new users.
If you prefer to read in your browser, the Viz website offers a ton of first chapters from shonen titles like My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, One Punch Man, The Legend of Zelda, Assassination Classroom, Choujin X, and many more. You can also read great shoujo titles like Maison Ikkuko, Skip・Beat!, and Fushigi Yügi. Plus, it's super easy to navigate and read chapters on the site.
Shonen Jump
Another offering from Viz, the Shonen Jump App is a different way to access free chapters without committing to a paid subscription. And if you decide you like the service, it'll only run you $3 a month — one of the cheapest subscriptions of its kind.
This app offers digital access to a vast range of Weekly Shonen Jump titles like One Piece, Dragon Ball Super, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Kaiju No. 8, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and lots more. In contrast to many other free options, the free content here often includes the latest chapters of popular manga as opposed to just first chapters and volumes, so if you're already up-to-date on your favorite series, this is a great way to stay on top of them.
Kodansha
Stalwart manga publisher Kodansha has released an incredible array of legendary titles over the years, including Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon, Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan, CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura, and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira. By signing up for a free Kodansha Reader account, you gain access to free first volumes or chapters of many of the titles mentioned above, as well as more recent hits like Vinland Saga and Blue Lock. Along with those early entries, Kodansha's Limited Spotlight Series gives you rotating access to deeper volumes. At the time of this writing, the first three volumes of Kamome Shirahama's gorgeously lush Witch Hat Atelier are available free for a limited time.
The publisher also recently launched an app, K MANGA, to mixed reviews — due to the limit of one free chapter per comic per day, and a convoluted and oft-expensive point system to read more — but if you prefer to read on your phone, K MANGA is another option to consider.
MANGA Plus by Shuiesha
If you're a lover of Shonen comics (or shonen anime even) then the MANGA Plus app is a great place to start, brought to you by the largest publisher in Japan, Shuiesha. This app allows viewers to read chapters from many of the biggest and most successful Weekly Shonen Jump titles for free, including Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man, Tatsuya Endo's Spy X Family, Sui Ishida's Choujin X, and Hiroki Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. To read most full series or enjoy simulcast releases with Japan, you will have to pay, but you can get a great selection of taster chapters from its free selection. This app is a great way to discover and sample new potential favorites before you commit to a subscription.
Amazon
While you're unlikely to find any of the big hitters in the free offerings at Amazon, you can find a few interesting freebies in their Kindle versions. At the time of writing, those include The Destroyer Fell in Love with Me: Chapter 1, DON'T COUNT YOUR TANUKIS #1, Lockdown Zone: Level X: Chapter 1, and God Complex #1. There are also a number of manga publishers that put up tasters of their comics, including Kodansha and TokyoPop. Of course, if you already have a Kindle Unlimited account your free manga choices grow exponentially with far more well-known series available.
What's your favorite (legal) way to read manga? Did we miss your go-to app or site? Got a great recommendation for other readers? Let us know in the comments!
Rosie Knight is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything from anime to comic books to kaiju to kids movies to horror flicks. She has over half a decade of experience in entertainment journalism with bylines at Nerdist, Den of Geek, Polygon, and more. Rosie is a published comics author who has written titles including Godzilla Rivals vs. Battra and The Haunted High-Tops. She co-hosts the weekly Crooked Media pop-culture podcast X-Ray Vision. When she's not writing, you can find her playing Dragon Ball FighterZ or rewatching weird old horror and martial movies in her free time. She loves making comics and zines as well as collecting VHS and reading much manga as humanly possible. You can find her on social at @rosiemarx.
