Head-to-head
Panels vs WebComics
Panels
75
Winner
Panels
WebComics
50
Panels is better for users who want to import and organize their own comic files with a one-time purchase, while WebComics is better for those who prefer a curated library of webtoons, despite its aggressive monetization model.
Panels is a robust comic reader for personal libraries, praised for its organization and import capabilities, though recent updates have introduced bugs and monetization concerns. WebComics offers a diverse collection of stories but is heavily criticized for its expensive and restrictive gem and subscription model, making it difficult to read without constant payment.
Head to head
Panels Panels is highly praised for its ability to import and organize personal comic and manga files, supporting various formats like PDFs and CBR R5R50R56. Users appreciate its clean UI and organizational features, including grouping issues into folders . However, some users note a lack of metadata support and issues with reading EPUBs and WEBP files R7R22. There are also complaints about the content in its integrated store being limited and not what some users expect R13.
WebComics WebComics offers a wide diversity of stories and genres, including BL, Sci-fi, and Chinese comics, which users enjoy . However, the app's content is primarily locked behind a paywall, with users needing to purchase 'gems' or subscriptions to read chapters R69R70. Many users feel tricked, as the app appears free but quickly requires payment, and some even claim the app uses fake links to lure users .
Panels Panels is generally considered easy to use for importing and reading comics, with a clean and functional design R12. However, recent updates have introduced significant bugs, including broken downloads, library issues, crashing, slow page loading, and problems with syncing and thumbnails R1R6R12. Some users also report issues with the UI, such as re-adjusting panels and unresponsive inputs R8.
WebComics WebComics has a decent layout, and users find the stories engaging . However, there are frequent complaints about the app's reliability regarding gem delivery after purchase and offers . Users also report issues with the menu not disappearing during reading on iPads and the inability to delete accounts . The free-to-play mechanics are often described as frustrating and time-consuming R63.
Panels Panels offers a one-time purchase option, which many users find worthwhile for its features, though some premium features like page-curl and EPUB support are paywalled R11R14R30. There are strong criticisms regarding the monetization of features like SMB access, which users feel should be free R40. The free version is described as basic but usable, but some users are annoyed by pop-ups and the push to review R3R46.
WebComics WebComics is widely criticized for its expensive and aggressive monetization model. Users frequently complain about having to pay for almost every chapter, even after purchasing a subscription R69R70. The 'gem' system is seen as a scam, requiring an exorbitant amount of 'coins' or real money for very few gems, making it nearly impossible to read without constant spending R61R63. Many feel the premium subscription offers insufficient benefits R115.
Panels Panels has a mixed record with updates; while some users report issues being fixed R17, many recent updates have introduced new bugs that break core functionality like library access, downloads, and performance R1R6R12. Users also mention dead support links and unaddressed issues like metadata support R22.
WebComics WebComics users report issues with customer support, including paid gems not being delivered and automated responses to feedback . There are also complaints about account deletion options being hidden and the removal of Facebook login . Users express frustration with the lack of improvements to the gem system and the inability to re-read previously purchased comics without repurchasing .
Pick Panels if
you want a dedicated comic and manga reader for your own imported files, value organizational features, and prefer a one-time purchase model over subscriptions R5R11R56.
Pick WebComics if
you are looking for a wide variety of webtoons and are willing to navigate a heavily monetized system, or if you enjoy the specific content offered .
Evidence note: The evidence for WebComics is heavily skewed towards negative feedback regarding its monetization, which impacts all other dimensions.
Frequently asked
Is Panels free to use?
Can I read my own comics on Panels?
How does WebComics' payment system work?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R5] Panels Amazing for reading: I love to get books off of Anna’s archive but files on there always seemed to be different, I finally got this app and sent files to panels and instantly got tons of books!
- [R7] Panels Awesome app but..: I like the with the seamless adding of some manga I have, my biggest gripe comes to light novels tho, I hate that I can’t even read them because they don’t really work with epub which I really love more than PDFs. Besides that the app is amazing would recommend it.
- [R13] Panels Only good for imports: No store search and it’s probably because the content. It’s all LGBT, antifa, and anti-capitalism stuff. There is nothing Japanese, it’s all westerner published things. You need to import manga if that’s what you want. I’m sure there are licensing issues but honestly, I’d rather just buy a physical manga instead. If other apps won’t let you keep it forever, it’s not worth u
- [R22] Panels No metadata support: Does not support any kind of comic metadata. When importing manga, users need to manually switch reading direction. Comic "titles" are just the filename, and there is no way to sort or filter by any other data field, because they are not read by this app. Devs say they will implement this in an upcoming major version, but it's been 3 versions already without this feature.
- [R1] Panels Garbage: This worked for a while and then suddenly the Downloads section just broke. It won’t load anymore. I have 75GB of content downloaded. Now my options are to not have access to them or try to delete the app and redownload all of it. Spectacular. I have comic apps that haven’t been update in over 5 years that don’t screw up this bad. If you read locally avoid this app. Update: I ended up cl
- [R6] Panels It got bad: Latest update broke the library, every single time I need to re-link the information
- [R8] Panels Left-hand panel bug.: The panel on the left side keeps re-adjusting itself when opening the app again. It’s very annoying unfortunately. I want it to be minimized as small as possible. Or can we completely hide it in a toggle menu completely?
- [R12] Panels new bugs needs more fixes: app was running great for months, then the new update broke parts of it. files i’ve had loaded before the big update a couple weeks ago now have broken thumbnails that can’t be restored. if i turn my ipad off, the app has to resync my whole manga library from the folder on my ipad storage, which breaks more thumbnails. if these bugs could get fixed the app would be back
- [R3] Panels Stop😭: Please stop giving me pops ups to review it (even when you actually do review it I will give you a pop up to review it every time you leave a book)
- [R11] Panels Excellent: Worth the single price, best comic reading app
- [R14] Panels Amazing: I’ve been a TestFlight member for quite some time now, and this is one of the most incredible book and manga readers I’ve ever used. I only wish that the page-curl feature was one of the free options, rather than being a paid feature.
- [R30] Panels Subscription Model is Stupid: App works very well but of course for some reason they feel the need to charge to read comic epub files. Not really sure why support for a common file format is locked behind a paywall. Very annoying and scummy practice.
- [R17] Panels App seems to be fixed: Just bought a new iPad mini and I’m bummed the app doesn’t work. Update: seems to have been fixed, changed my rating
- [R40] Panels SMB is Free: SMB is not a proprietary technology, the fact that you make us pay for SMB is a scam. I can literally use any other reader with smb flawlessly. FOR FREE. Youre not getting MY money bud. Stop scamming, your service isnt "premium" at all 😭
- [R46] Panels Free version is basic: Free version is basic but usable. Would love to see more features move to the free tier
- [R50] Panels Loads pdfs from downloads: Other comic apps needed me to put my pdfs in icloud before it would read them. This app just pulls them from my downloads folder with no hassle!
- [R56] Panels The Best Comic Book Reader.: Easy to use and to keep up with your reading. Let you transfer your own .cbr with ease.
- [R61] WebComics They want to Scam you: Loved some of the comics in here but when you get 30 chapters in and aren’t buying gems to pay for chapters they remove the watch ad to release chapter which you only get 5 a day to begin with
- [R63] WebComics Gems: The gems are too hard to come by and if I can read a chapter in like 2minutes then i shouldn’t have to take 20 trying to get gems to read the next chapter
- [R70] WebComics Expensive: You have to spend money to enjoy the app. And even when you spend money everything’s so expensive within the app that there’s a chance you can’t even read a whole book on here even while spending 20$ on it.
- [R82] WebComics Coins and gems system makes no sense: Sucks. Watch one video get 1-2 thousand coins redeem coins to turn them into gems. Get .01 gems need 5 gems for 1 chapter. So you need 100 thousand (100,000)coins to get 1 gem or 500,000 for 5 gem aka 1 chapter of a comic. I’ll just go to a different app like webtoonz watch one chapter and get to read in entire episode
- [R69] WebComics Not free: It has a lot of great books but there are a lot of ads and you do have to pay for the books
- [R100] WebComics Worst of my three: I have WEBTOON, Tapas and Webcomics. I read Wait until Free normally and pay for chapters often for a good cliffhanger. By far the Wait Until Free selection of Webcomics is the worse of the 3. Webcomics also fails by offering extremely limited ability to read chapters through ads compared to the other 2 services. They have several good options to read but I cannot read any
- [R109] WebComics Chapter price as well as comic quality: There’s usually 50 or more chapters in a single comic with about 3-5 gems needed per chapter how does this sound affordable to you and the free comics are completely garbage honestly I’ll be taking my friends and followers to a different platform if things don’t change soon
- [R115] WebComics Definitely not worth the membership: Premium subscription is like $60 or $70 for the year but that only gets you about 1 and a half manga to read and then you have to pay money to get more gems. You essentially have to pay $30-$40 to read a full manga of your choosing. They give you a selection of free comics to read but they’re all pre chosen, can’t look up by category and or search. All the free
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store