Tachimanga vs Madomi in 2026: Which iOS Manga Reader Should You Use?

Between Tachimanga and Madomi, Madomi is the one to install. It’s a free source-based manga reader by Pawaka Labs built on the same Mihon extension repos Tachimanga uses, it imports your Tachimanga .tmb backup as-is, it gives you double the free download cap, it runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and in your browser on one account, and it translates raw manga while you read. Tachimanga stops at Apple devices and can’t translate anything. Last checked on 12 September 2026.

This is the head-to-head, not a roundup. Both apps do source-based reading on iOS, both take Mihon-style extension repos, both connect to Komga. So the interesting question isn’t “are they similar” (they are), it’s where they actually diverge and whether those gaps matter to you.

Five rounds below. If you want the broader field instead, we’ve covered the best iOS manga reader alternatives separately.

Tachimanga vs Madomi at a glance

	Tachimanga	Madomi
Source-based reading (Mihon repos)	Yes	Yes
Free chapter downloads per day	~10	20
Full unlock	$1.99/mo, $9.99/yr or $24.99 lifetime	One-time Madomi Reader, lifetime
Imports Tachimanga .tmb backups	Yes	Yes
Imports Mihon .tachibk backups	Yes	Yes
AniList and MyAnimeList tracking	Yes	Yes
Komga and local CBZ/PDF/ZIP	Yes	Yes
Reading modes	Paged and webtoon	5, incl. vertical paged and continuous with gaps
Android app	No	Yes
Chrome and Firefox extension	No	Yes
Sync beyond Apple devices	No	Yes, one account everywhere
Translates raw manga as you read	No	Yes

Verdict: Madomi matches Tachimanga on every shared feature, doubles the free download cap, and wins the four rows Tachimanga leaves blank.

Round 1: sources and extensions

This one is close to a tie, and that’s the point. Madomi installs sources exactly the way you already do it in Tachimanga: Settings, Library and sources, Extension repos, paste the repo’s index URL (the address ending in index.pb, or index.min.json on older repos), install what you want. Same repos, same sources, same chapters.

Madomi adds two things around that flow. Global search runs across every installed source at once, and source migration moves a series to a new source when the old one dies, one at a time or in bulk.

Verdict: the same source pool either way, with Madomi ahead on the tooling around it.

Round 2: platforms

Tachimanga runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision. There is no Android app and nothing for the browser, so an Android tablet or a Windows laptop gets nothing.

Madomi is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, on Google Play for Android, and as a Chrome and Firefox extension. One Madomi account syncs your library and reading position across all of them, so you can read on your phone on the train and pick the same page back up on a tablet at home. The browser extension is the odd one out: it reads manga sites directly and translates them in place rather than running your source library.

Verdict: Madomi, and it isn’t close. This is the biggest structural gap between the two apps.

Round 3: price

Tachimanga Premium is $1.99 a month, $9.99 a year, or $24.99 lifetime, and the free tier caps you at roughly 10 chapter downloads a day.

Madomi’s reader is free, and the free tier is wider: 20 chapter downloads a day, all five reading modes, online sources, Komga, your own CBZ, PDF and ZIP files, categories, the Updates feed and global search, with nothing to unlock. The extras (AniList and MyAnimeList tracking, cross-device sync, unlimited downloads, auto scroll, read-ahead, saved filter presets, custom themes and pure black) are the one-time Madomi Reader purchase inside the app. It’s a lifetime unlock rather than a subscription, and it’s 80% off until 30 September 2026, with no code to enter.

Translation credits are billed separately from the reader. The free plan includes 100 credits a month, 1 credit per translated image, and if you never translate a page you never pay for them.

Verdict: Madomi. Twice the free download cap, and the paid tier is a one-time purchase that’s currently a fraction of Tachimanga’s lifetime price.

Round 4: the reader itself

Madomi gives you more reader to work with: five reading modes (left-to-right, right-to-left, vertical paged, webtoon, and continuous with gaps), Mihon-style tap zones, continuous chapter-to-chapter scrolling in both directions, colour filters, brightness control, a pure-black theme for OLED screens, custom accent colours, and auto scroll for long webtoons. Every series page carries a “similar manga” row pulled from AniList and MyAnimeList.

Tachimanga covers paged and webtoon reading and the standard library features, and stops there. If your reading is all right-to-left paged manga, the two apps feel similar day to day. If you read a lot of vertical webtoons, auto scroll and continuous-with-gaps are the two settings you’ll miss in Tachimanga.

Verdict: Madomi. Same basics, more reading modes, and the settings long-webtoon readers actually use.

Round 5: translation, which only one app has

Here’s the round with no contest, because Tachimanga has no entry. It can only show you chapters someone has already translated. Madomi doesn’t have that limit.

Open a raw Japanese chapter, a Korean manhwa 80 chapters ahead of its English release, or a Chinese manhua nobody has picked up, and Madomi reads the text inside every speech bubble using OCR built for manga fonts, then overlays the translation in your language as you scroll. The original art stays untouched. It’s rated 4.8 out of 5 from 270+ Chrome Web Store ratings with 10,000+ active users, the highest-rated manga translator extension there is.

If your backlog is untranslated, we have full walkthroughs for Korean manhwa and Chinese manhua.

Verdict: Madomi, by default.

So which should you install?

• Coming from Tachiyomi and want that workflow on iPhone: Madomi. Same Mihon repos, .tachibk import, and it’s on Android too. Our Tachiyomi and Mihon guide walks through the restore.
• On a tight budget: Madomi. The reader is free with 20 downloads a day, and the unlock is one payment, not a subscription.
• Reading on more than one device: Madomi. It’s the only one of the two with an Android app, a browser extension and one-account sync.
• Reading series that stall out in English: Madomi. Nothing else in this category translates raws while you read.
• Already deep in a Tachimanga library: Madomi. Your .tmb backup imports directly, so switching costs you a few minutes, not a rebuild.

How to switch from Tachimanga to Madomi

1. Get Madomi on the App Store or on Android. It’s free and there’s no sign-up wall. (The listing may still show the old name, Fakey. Same app.)
2. In Tachimanga, export a backup. You’ll get a .tmb file.
3. In Madomi, open Settings, then Library and sources, then Backup and restore, and pick that file. Madomi installs the sources it needs from your repo and rebuilds your library, categories, progress and tracker links.
4. No backup handy? Paste the same repo index URL you used in Tachimanga, install your sources, and re-add your series with global search. Our Tachimanga extensions and repositories guide covers where those URLs come from.
5. Using Komga? Point Madomi at your server and your collection is just there.
6. Optional: open a raw chapter and watch it come out in your language.

The verdict

Madomi wins this matchup. It keeps everything Tachimanga readers came for, the Mihon repos, the library, the tracking, the Komga server, then hands you double the free download cap, a one-time unlock instead of a subscription, the same library on Android and in your browser, and translation for the chapters nobody has done yet. Grab it on the App Store and import your .tmb tonight.

Switching from something else? We have guides for the Aidoku alternative and the Paperback alternative too, plus a wider look at Tachimanga alternatives on iOS.

Read more anime and tech blogs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Tachimanga or Madomi? Madomi, for most readers. It’s a free source-based manga reader by Pawaka Labs that uses the same Mihon extension repos as Tachimanga, imports Tachimanga .tmb backups directly, gives you 20 chapter downloads a day for free instead of about 10, runs on iPhone, iPad, Android and in Chrome and Firefox on one account, and translates raw manga as you read. Tachimanga is Apple-only and can’t translate raw chapters.

Does Madomi use the same extension repos as Tachimanga? Yes. Both install sources from Mihon-style extension repos by pasting a repo index URL, so any repo that works in Tachimanga works in Madomi as-is. Madomi also imports Tachimanga .tmb and Mihon .tachibk backups, so your library, categories, reading progress and tracker links come across intact.

Is Madomi cheaper than Tachimanga? Madomi is free to read with: 20 chapter downloads a day, every reading mode, online sources, Komga, local files and global search at no cost. The extras are the one-time Madomi Reader purchase, a lifetime unlock rather than a subscription, and it’s 80% off until 30 September 2026. Tachimanga Premium is $1.99 a month, $9.99 a year or $24.99 lifetime.

Can I move my Tachimanga library to Madomi? Yes, directly. Export a .tmb backup from Tachimanga, then in Madomi open Settings, Library and sources, Backup and restore and pick the file. Library, categories, reading progress and tracker links all come across. A Komga library carries over by connecting the server.

Does Tachimanga have an Android app? No. Tachimanga runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision only. Madomi has a native Android app alongside its iOS app and a Chrome and Firefox extension, and one account syncs your library and reading position across all of them.

Can Tachimanga translate raw manga? No. Tachimanga only shows chapters someone has already translated. Madomi reads the text inside every speech bubble with OCR built for manga fonts and overlays the translation in your language as you scroll, so raw Japanese, Korean and Chinese chapters are readable with no English release.