Panels vs Manta

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.

1. [R11] Panels 5/5 · US Excellent: Worth the single price, best comic reading app
2. [R44] Panels 5/5 · US The Best comic reader on the app store: Everything works flawlessly and as advertised, theres no popup ads no subscriptions just a clean ui for reading comic book formatted files in any orientation that suits you. Love it
3. [R72] Manta 3/5 · US Love the stories, hate HAVING to buy subscription!: I love Manta! Don’t get me wrong, the mangas and comics on here are some of the best and my favorites to read! However, I absolutely HATE that you literally HAVE to buy the subscription or else you have to wait 24+ hours for the next episode to unlock. Now it’s not that it’s overtly expensive or anything. It’s not that much a month. But there are
4. [R80] Manta 4/5 · US Amazing but…: I’ve used Manta since the first year the app launched and I’ve loved it ever since! The monthly subscription for the Unlimited series titles is great and extensive, and they’re always adding more stories to them. I just recently upgraded from standard to their premium tier subscription so I could get gems monthly to use on premium titles that require gems but that’s mainly for the F
5. [R12] Panels 3/5 · US 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
6. [R20] Panels 4/5 · US Best App For Reading Comics By Far: I’ve been reading the whole entire invincible comics, demon slayer manga, spider man comics, moon knight comics, etc. And surprisingly I haven’t got any ads and it’s also very easy to use, however my only flaw with it is that only takes a bit to load for the next page for me 🫩
7. [R119] Manta 4/5 · US Love this app!: I genuinely love using Manta. The stories are addictive, well written, and there’s such a huge variety of genres that it’s easy to find something you get completely hooked on. The artwork, storytelling, and overall app design make the experience really enjoyable, and I appreciate that there are free stories and opportunities to discover new series without immediately having to spen
8. [R1] Panels 1/5 · US 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
9. [R19] Panels 1/5 · US Broken: They seem to have broken the basic functionality of their app trying to find a way to monetize it. I redownloaded after a few months, now on a new phone, I can’t get anything to actually import, and now it makes my phone hotter than it does when running a 3D game. It’s clunkier in every way. But hey, at least there’s a store now. I get they need to make a living but their priorities are wa
10. [R67] Manta 1/5 · US Uses AI Translation: Used to be one of my favorite manhwa apps but when I started to notice errors did some digging and saw they have partnered with an AI translation tool called Rivetta. Why would I pay for AI translations, especially when I can do that myself and pay less for the original? This is going to cause piracy of these titles to rise because no one will want to pay for AI translated slo
11. [R79] Manta 1/5 · US Not what it used to be: I’ve had this app for a long time. I paid for the subscription to unlock the full version and have been paying it for years. Now with this new gem system and the original subscription basically meaningless, honestly I’m over it at this point. Plus, they barely release anything on the “Unlimited” category (that’s what the original subscription is called now) and releasing co
12. [R30] Panels 3/5 · US 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.
13. [R70] Manta 1/5 · US Predatory Monetization: Predatory monetization: a business model deliberately designed to extract as much money from customers as possible, often through hidden costs, misleading pricing structures, and systems that ensure you never truly "own" what you paid for. That is exactly what MANTA is doing. I've been a subscriber for a while and I genuinely enjoy the stories and artwork on this platform
14. [R90] Manta 3/5 · US Good but….: I pay for the monthly subscription, it’s not expensive at all. But the fact that they added in the gem system is so freaking annoying. I feel like they’re trying to get every little penny from me. Granted the gems aren’t as expensive as I’ve seen some apps. But almost all the stuff I read is now on the gem system. What’s the point of the subscription if you’re just gonna make me pay mo
15. [R91] Manta 2/5 · US Used to be great: Honestly manta was my favorite app for a long time but they got greedy now even with the membership most stories you have to pay extra to read. So the membership feels worthless at this point. There shouldn’t be a never ending paywall I’d rather they upped the membership cost but actually include everything.
16. [R57] Panels 1/5 · US OPDS No Longer Syncing: OPDS stopped syncing read status back to Komga. Messaged support with no replies.
17. [R84] Manta 3/5 · US Time consuming to resolve issue, but eventually it was: Originally, I had a 1 star experience but now it’s 2 or 3 stars for customer service experience ***first review*** I paid using Apple wallet, and directly on their website. I was allowed to access the subscription for that same night but then it didn’t work the following day- they closed me off. I didn’t even receive record of my credit car
18. [R102] Manta 3/5 · US Used to be good now it’s greedy: I loved manta when it first came out. It felt safe and reliable. I was surprised by how much content they now keep and are only available if you buy gems. There is literally no point in subscribing anymore. It is very greedy and feels unethical. I would have paid more monthly for more content. Don’t nickle and dime me. I’ll find them for free anyway.
19. [R112] Manta 1/5 · US why did chptrs go from 6 to 50 gems: i think the title is pretty clear. I read manta almost daily and WITHIN THIS WEEK single chapters went from 6 gems to 60 and 50. that’s absolutely ridiculous. why am I paying $10 a month (for the subscription With gems) to have to buy more gems on the side to be able to read the majority of the apps collection. and why weren’t we notified about the change?