Webtoonvs
Wattpad
Wattpad: If you want text-based serialised fiction rather than visual comics, from the same corporate parent
Webtoon
Naver-owned vertical-scroll digital comics platform with a paid-early-access coin system
As of 1 September 2026, Webtoon is free to use. A digital comics app for vertically scrolling, mobile-first comics originating from South Korea, free to read on a delay with an option to pay Webtoon Coins for early access to upcoming chapters. Softwr lists it under Publishing. Webtoon is made by Webtoon Entertainment (a Naver company), available on iOS, Android, Web.
Overview
What Webtoon does
Webtoon is a platform for vertical-scroll digital comics, formatted specifically for scrolling on a phone screen rather than paginated like a traditional print comic. It carries two tiers of content: Originals, a curated slate of series that Webtoon commissions or licenses and pays creators for, and Canvas, an open self-publishing tier where anyone can upload a series with no editorial gatekeeping and, historically, limited direct payment. The monetisation mechanic is what a reader needs to understand. Most Originals series release new chapters free after a delay, while readers who want to read ahead can spend Webtoon Coins, an in-app virtual currency purchased with real money, to unlock upcoming chapters early through the Fast Pass system. This is a pay-to-read-ahead model rather than a subscription, and it means the free version of a popular series is genuinely complete, just slower to arrive than the version paying readers see first. Naver, the South Korean internet company, owns Webtoon Entertainment, which also owns Wattpad, positioning them as a combined text-and-visual storytelling business. Buyers are comics readers who either wait for free chapters or pay to read ahead, and creators considering where to publish; the trade-off is that Originals creators get a real payment structure and editorial support, while Canvas creators publish into a much larger, more crowded, largely unpaid tier where building a paying audience without an existing platform boost is difficult.
What people use it for
- A comics reader happy to wait for chapters to become free rather than pay to read ahead
- A fan of a specific ongoing series wanting to pay for early access to the next few chapters through Fast Pass
- An aspiring comics creator weighing whether to submit to the paid, editorially supported Originals programme or self-publish on the open Canvas tier
- A reader browsing genre categories such as romance, action or fantasy across a large catalogue of vertical-format series
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Webtoon.
- The Canvas open-publishing tier is largely unpaid or very low-paid for the vast majority of creators, and building a paying audience without an existing platform boost or promotion is difficult, so most work on the platform earns its creator little to nothing.
- Fast Pass early access is a real-money coin purchase per chapter, and following several ongoing popular series can add up in cost for a reader who consistently wants to read ahead rather than wait.
- Coin pack pricing is structured so that unlocking a handful of chapters regularly across multiple series costs meaningfully more than a flat subscription would, and the per-chapter cost is not always transparent before purchase.
- Only a limited number of creators are accepted into the paid Originals programme, so the promise of making a living from Webtoon publishing applies to a small fraction of contributors rather than the broader creator base.
- As with Wattpad under the same Naver ownership, product direction is set within a larger conglomerate strategy, and Canvas creators in particular have limited leverage or support compared with the curated Originals slate.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Webtoon
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
Pricing
What Webtoon costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free reading
Free
- Full access to released chapters once their free delay period passes
- No subscription required
- Ads shown in some free chapter views
Webtoon Coins
$1.99 /per pack
- Coin packs purchased in varying sizes to unlock Fast Pass early chapters
- Coins spent per chapter unlocked, not a flat subscription
- Prices scale with pack size, typically from a few dollars upward
Capabilities
Features
Vertical-scroll format
Comics laid out for continuous phone-screen scrolling rather than paginated pages
Fast Pass early access
Webtoon Coins spent to unlock upcoming chapters of an Originals series before their free release
Originals programme
Curated, creator-paid series with editorial support and marketing
Canvas open publishing
Unmoderated self-publishing tier for any creator to upload a series
Webtoon Coins
In-app virtual currency purchased with real money to unlock early chapters
Creator dashboard and analytics
View counts, subscriber metrics and, for eligible creators, earnings reporting
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Do I have to pay to read Webtoon comics?
No, chapters become free after a delay; paying with Webtoon Coins through Fast Pass only lets you read upcoming chapters early.
Can Canvas creators get paid?
Direct payment on Canvas is limited; most paid creator opportunities come through being accepted into the curated Originals programme.
Who owns Webtoon?
Webtoon Entertainment, owned by Naver, the South Korean internet company that also owns Wattpad.
Keep looking
Where to go from Webtoon
- Webtoon alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Webtoon pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Webtoon badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Publishing softwareThe full category
- Best Publishing softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Publishing software for
Compare Webtoon with
- Wattpad
- Scrivener
- GIMP
- Marq
- Scribus
- Calibre
- Libro.fm
- QuarkXPress
- Goodreads
- Kotobee
- Pressbooks
- Sigil
- Kobo Writing Life
- Affinity Publisher
- Atticus
- Calibre
- Libro.fm
- Kobo
Other Publishing software
User-generated fiction publishing and reading app, owned by Naver alongside Webtoon
Free plan9 researched notesLong-form writing and manuscript organisation software sold as a one-time purchase per platform, with no subscription at any tier
11 researched notesAudiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notesInteractive EPUB authoring that also exports native mobile apps and hosted libraries
Free plan10 researched notesOpen source book production built on WordPress, and the default tool for open textbooks
Open source10 researched notesOpen source EPUB editor for working directly on the file, not generating it
Open source10 researched notesRakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free plan11 researched notesDesktop page layout application, free since the Affinity range was relaunched by Canva
Free plan11 researched notesOne-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
From $147/one-time11 researched notesAudiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notesRakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free plan11 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Webtoon, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Webtoon
Webtoon alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Webtoon pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Webtoon
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Webtoon badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Publishing software alternatives
Amazon self-publishing platform that is free to use, earning Amazon a royalty cut instead of a fee, with a hard price band and per-megabyte delivery cost governing the 70% rate
Free to publish; Amazon earns a royalty share rather than a feeRakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free store and app; hardware sold separately; optional subscriptionAudiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
Per credit per month, credits never expire
Unlimited ebook, audiobook, magazine and sheet music subscription, the consumer reading service formerly called Scribd
Per user per month, unlimitedAmazon-owned book cataloguing, review and recommendation app
Free, no subscription or in-app purchases; funded by Amazon as a commerce and data feeder
Pay-per-book self-publishing service for ebook conversion, print on demand and distribution
One-time purchase per project
Amazon's consumer e-book reading app, distinct from Kindle Direct Publishing, the author-facing service
Free app, revenue from book purchases and optional subscriptionRakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free to publish; Kobo earns a royalty share rather than a fee