By now you’re probably well aware that MangaStream is dead. It’s been almost a year since this popular website that provided free manga with impeccable English translations, high res images and up to date releases was shut down; something that caused a lot of turbulence among manga fans. There is for instance a huge thread on reddit about MangaStream being down.
While the site undoubtedly was great, to say the least, many MangaStream replacements do in fact exist. Some are even named MangaStream (such as mangastream.xyz and mangastream.cc). Don’t mistake these manga sites for the real one that is gone though because as far as we know it’s not the same people behind them that were behind MangaStream.
Nevertheless, as a fan of free manga or even free yaoi manga you can choose among a ton of different manga websites – some that are better than others. In this article we have done our outmost to please you by listing what we believe are the 5 best alternatives to MangaStream.
Quick List of Top 5 MangaStream Alternatives
Check out our quick list of free manga sites that you can use now that MangaStream is dead. Just click on the website name to read more!
- Managfox.com – One of the best MangaStream replacements with a fantastic mobile app and a nice filtering system to find new mangas.
- Mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp – Support the creators by reading free manga on this official site hosted by Shueisha.inc. The selection is very limited, but the site is top quality and offers new chapters the same moment they’re released in Japan.
- Manganelo.com – Over 25,000 titles and no account required. Scroll to read as opposed to clicking. A simple site that does the trick.
- MangaStream.xyz – Not the real deal, but has a huge selection of manga and is especially great if you’re looking to read yaoi manga online.
- Mangadex.org – Ad free site with a very active forum of manga lovers and a huge amount of titles – more than 40,000.
Best Manga Websites to Read Free Manga on Fully Reviewed
Below you will find what we believe are the best manga websites and best replacements to MangaStream listed with useful information. These sites have all been chosen based on what made the beloved MangaStream so great, which included the following:
- MangaStream offered One Piece, Onepunch Man, Naruto, Astro Boy, Dragon Ball Z and many other popular mangas the same day that they were released.
- Translations were made in several different languages and were of top quality.
- All mangas were free and no form of registration or account was required.
While all of our chosen platforms won’t be able to live up to this, we’ve done our best to please you. Now without further ado, let’s check out our list of the best manga websites!
1. Mangafox.com
This is undoubtedly one of the best alternatives to MangaStream. The site is super simple to navigate and offers a nice filtering system if you want to find new comics to read. More than 30 different categories can be browsed including action, adult, adventure, lolicon, romance, sci-fi and many more. Mangafox is also a decent place if you’re looking to read free yaoi manga online.
With 14,000+ titles the library isn’t as thorough as some other manga websites, but it’s fantastic nevertheless. Images are of very high quality and all popular comics that could be read on MangaStream such as Naruto, One Piece and Onepunch-Man are up to date and available in English.
No account or registration is required and if you appreciate reading manga from your mobile device you will love their Manga Zone mobile app which is just fantastic. If you’re allergic to ads you should know that these are present on the website of Mangafox. However, they are few and do not appear as disturbing. There are no pop ups, thank god.
2. Mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp
Mangaplus may not be an entirely worthy replacement to MangaStream. However, if you’re looking to read the latest chapters of Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, Yu-Gi-Oh or any other comic released by Shueisha.inc it is undoubtedly one of the best manga websites out there. It oozes of high quality and it’s no wonder – it’s an official website that supports the creators when you’re reading on it.
While mangas are limited to about a hundred, they’re perfectly translated into Spanish and English. No account is required and there are no ads in sight anywhere. Another great thing is that you can choose yourself if you want to read by scrolling vertically or horizontally. Image quality can also be adjusted between low, medium and high.
The best thing is that the comics are available the very same moment that they’re released in Japan. You should know though that many mangas aren’t available in full. You may only be able to read the first three chapters released and the latest three. If you’re regularly following a manga this is not a problem of course, but if you’re new to one or in the middle, chapters may be missing.
As a very popular manga site, Mangaplus has its own discord channel with more than 10,000 members and thousands of active ones at all times. You can also find a facebook page that has over 200k followers should you like to join it. Last but not least, the site has a mobile app available for iOS as well as Android.
3. Manganelo.com
Manganelo is a simple site that does a solid job of satisfying the need of reading manga online. While it makes its money from advertisements, these aren’t very bothersome. You can certainly live with them. There’s no account required to read and you can browse among 25,000+ titles. All popular ones are supported in English and seem to be up to date.
While we wouldn’t call it the best MangaStream replacement, it’s certainly worth a visit. What you may or may not like though is that manga is read only by scrolling and not clicking.
4. MangaStream.xyz
We know what you’re thinking – listing MangaStream in an article that is all about alternatives to the MangaStream that is gone. Well, as far as we know this isn’t the real deal, but a site that is riding on the reputation of the original MangaStream. You could call it fake, but it doesn’t matter as it’s a really good replacement.
You’ll find more than 40,000 titles to enjoy which are sorted in a hundred different categories. Just like the real deal, this MangaStream got Naruto, One Piece, Onepunch Man, Dragon Ball Z and many other popular mangas up to date and translated well into English. No account is required either but everything is free and straight-forward.
Unlike many other manga sites, it should be mentioned that this one is like visiting heaven if you’re looking for free yaoi manga as more than 5,000 titles are supported. Images are also of very high quality. Not only for the yaoi manga, but the quality tends to be great for all types of comics.
The big downside with this MangaStream site is its many ads that include pop-ups. However, if you can live with this it’s definitely one of the best manga websites available right now.
5. Mangadex.org
While it isn’t perfect, Mangadex is an overall great platform to use now that MangaStream is dead. The site runs on contributions from its users and is therefore completely free from advertisements, which is really nice. Although registration is required to find and read manga to its fullest extent, it’s a very simple account creation process that costs you nothing.
Nearly 40,000 titles are available and images tend to be of very high quality. Many popular mangas such as One Piece are translated into English and are up to date. However, there is no guarantee that this will always be the case or is the case for other comics. For instance, at the time that we’re writing this Onepunch-man is not available in English.
A bonus feature of the site is a huge and active forum with a nice manga loving community – perfect if you’re looking to socialize with like-minded people.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to MangaStream?
The site was permanently shut down around Christmas 2019. There are currently sites that offer free manga and yaoi manga online that go by the same name, but these are not – as far as we know – created by the same people that were behind the real MangaStream.
Why is MangaStream down?
It’s likely due to copyright infringements. Scanned copies of One Piece and Naruto could be found at MangaStream among many other popular manga series. They had no right to publish these from the owners, but did so illegally. Just like providing movies and music through torrents this is pirating.
One may, however, ask how other manga sites that are doing the exact same thing can operate. It may be due to the fact that MangaStream was incredibly popular. But it may also be that there’s another story behind what happened to MangaStream since there’s no official proof of it.
In a mega thread on reddit about MangaStream being down there has been some speculations about the owners shutting down the website themselves to have users support the actual manga creators. It sounds weird, but who knows. Another claim is that the owner of Mangaplus busted them by joining the MangaStream group under fake information to gather evidence.
How much money did MangaStream make?
It’s difficult to give any exact numbers to this, but looking at analysis tools online it was estimated that the site made yearly revenue of $40,000. However, this number is only based on ad revenue.
Do I need to sign up to use free manga sites?
With some you do, but with most you don’t. Check out our top list of sites and you will find that all but one allows you to instantly read manga for free without any account. It’s super simple.
What’s the easiest way to find manga that is free?
We would say bookmarking any of the top MangaStream alternatives that we have listed in this article. However, should you find that a chapter hasn’t been released yet or a site is lacking in any other way, an alternative is to simply Google the following phrase: “name of manga” + “chapter ##”.
Can I read free Yaoi manga online?
Sure you can! While this type of manga may not be highly represented in a lot of sites, there are those that cover it really well. One is MangaStream.xyz.
