Comparison

MangaDen vs Halftone

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MangaDen

This app allows you to build a digital library of manga and comics. Download chapters for offline reading and enjoy a customizable, seamless experience with smart library management and automatic updates.

Highlights
  • Build digital library
  • Offline reading
  • Smart library management
  • Built-in web browser
  • Smart downloads
  • Customizable reader
  • Auto-refresh for updates
Features
Read full description

Manga & Comics in Your Pocket The ultimate manga reader and comic reader app. Build your digital library and read offline with an elegantly simple, powerful design. MangaDen is the ultimate manga reader and comic reader app that brings your favorite stories to life. Discover thousands of titles from across the web and build your personal digital library. Download chapters for offline enjoyment and experience seamless reading with customizable settings perfect for both manga enthusiasts and comic book lovers. Smart Library Management Organize your manga and comics in a beautifully designed library with reading and archive sections. Search through your collection and keep track of your reading progress effortlessly. Built-in Web Browser Discover new titles using our integrated browser that automatically detects manga and comics from supported websites. The smart detection system identifies compatible content and makes adding to your library easy. Smart Downloads Queue and download multiple chapters from the title page, monitor real-time progress with detailed file sizes, and manage your downloads with pause/resume functionality. Perfect for commuting or areas with limited connectivity. Customizable Reader Enjoy reading with configurable reading directions (LTR/RTL), zoom functionality, and smooth page transitions. Bookmark your progress and navigate between chapters seamlessly. Auto-Refresh & Updates Automatically check for new chapters with customizable refresh periods. Stay up-to-date with your favorite series without manual checking. Personalization Customize your manga reader and comic reader experience with dark/light mode, accent colors, and customizable reading experience (LTR/RTL). Tailor the app to match your preferences and reading style. The perfect and completely free to use MangaDex, MangaPin, WEBTOON, Shonen Jump, MANGA Plus, Manga Reader, or Tapas alternative!

About

Halftone

This app provides a seamless reading experience for comics and manga from various sources like Komga, Kavita, and cloud storage. It features unique zoom controls for comfortable one-handed reading and supports multiple file formats.

Highlights
  • Connects to Komga, Kavita, and other OPDS catalogs
  • Hold Zoom for one-handed reading
  • Page-level progress sync
  • Supports various file formats (CBZ, CBR, PDF)
  • Webtoon mode for long-strip scrolling
  • Privacy features like Incognito reading
Read full description

The reader your comic and manga server deserves — and the comfiest way to read on a phone. Now on the Mac too: one Premium purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and your place syncs through Komga, Kavita or iCloud. Halftone connects straight to the places you already keep comics: Komga and Kavita (native, not just OPDS), Audiobookshelf, any OPDS catalog, SMB shares on your NAS, WebDAV, Dropbox, OneDrive, and the files on your device. No account with us. No middleman server. No ads. PANEL VIEW Read one panel at a time, in the right order — manga's right-to-left included. Tap or swipe to step through the page, hold to peek at the whole thing, and pick Overlay or Fade to dim everything but the panel you're on. HOLD ZOOM Press and hold anywhere to magnify, then pan with the same finger — one-handed, for dense pages and small lettering. Rest your thumb at a screen edge and the page keeps moving. YOUR SERVER, FIRST-CLASS • Komga and Kavita: native API clients — series, collections, page-by-page streaming • Audiobookshelf: your server's comics, with its covers and progress • Two-way, page-level progress sync — stop on your iPhone, and the server's web reader opens on the same page • OPDS for everything else: Codex, Ubooquity, Calibre-Web, Stump, and more • SMB and WebDAV — your NAS, found automatically • Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, and any Files-app folder • Stream page by page without importing (CBZ, PDF, ePub and most CBR/RAR), or pin chapters for offline with one tap • Synced folders: point Halftone at a folder on your NAS or cloud drive and it mirrors the whole tree • iCloud sync carries your place to your other devices through your own iCloud — for imported comics and every source with no sync of its own A READER BUILT FOR COMICS • Apple Books–style page curl that folds at the spine — or a classic slide • Double-page spreads that pair themselves, with spine shadow and paper margins • True right-to-left for manga: page order, tap zones, curl, and scrubber all follow • A proper webtoon mode: smooth long-strip scrolling, detected automatically • AI Upscale: low-resolution scans are sharpened on-device as you read • Crop Borders trims scanned margins so the art fills the screen, and can drop credit strips • Tap zones your way: Left-Right, L-Shaped, Top-Bottom, or off • Match Page backgrounds: margins take the page's own color, or a soft blur of it A LIBRARY THAT KEEPS UP • Built for thousands of files: search down to the single comic, collections, merge and move • Folders for loose comics, so one-shots and odd issues stay together • Reads ComicInfo.xml on import: real series names, correct chapter order, right-to-left detected • Wi-Fi transfer from any computer's browser • Bookmarks and a farthest-read marker — re-read an earlier chapter without losing your place • One-tap backup to a folder you pick; export as standard CBZ with ComicInfo.xml • Privacy tools: Incognito reading, Face ID app lock, hidden comics READS EVERYTHING CBZ/ZIP, CBR/RAR, CB7/7z, PDF, image-based ePub (DRM-free), and plain folders of images. FAIR PRICING, NO DARK PATTERNS Free is genuinely free: your whole local library, no series limit, full quality, spreads, right-to-left, webtoon scrolling, Hold Zoom, and the Panel View preview — and it never expires. Premium adds the connected half — servers, cloud drives, streaming, synced folders, iCloud sync, backup, privacy tools — plus the full reader: Panel View, AI Upscale, page curl, Crop Borders, spine shadow, and Match Page. Try it free for 24 hours. Lifetime unlock, or a small subscription. Nothing you imported or downloaded is ever deleted if you stop paying. SAMPLE ARTWORK IN SCREENSHOTS "Pepper&Carrot" by David Revoy (CC-BY 4.0, peppercarrot.com) · "Give My Regards to Black Jack" by Shuho Sato (author's free-use declaration) · US public-domain Golden Age comics. Privacy Policy: https://halftonereader.app/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://halftonereader.app/terms.html

Screenshots

MangaDen4 screens
Halftone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MangaDen at none against Halftone's 3. Halftone's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (8 vs 2). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Halftone sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. MangaDen asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MangaDen against 5.0 for Halftone. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 8 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MangaDen ships an update every 3 weeks, Halftone weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
MangaDen versus Halftone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMangaDenHalftone
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings28 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB60 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperBrody WellsBony Yousuf

Customer experience

MangaDen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Halftone

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

MangaDen

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Halftone

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$1.491 Month
  • Premium Yearly3 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$19.99

Questions

Is MangaDen free?
MangaDen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Halftone free?
Halftone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MangaDen or Halftone?
MangaDen and Halftone are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 8 ratings respectively.
Do MangaDen or Halftone have ads?
Neither MangaDen nor Halftone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MangaDen or Halftone?
MangaDen ships an update every 3 weeks, and Halftone weekly. Most recently, MangaDen was updated on October 30, 2026 and Halftone on November 10, 2026.

Other comparisons