Best MyAnimeList Alternatives in 2026 (Ranked by Anime Fans)
The best MyAnimeList alternatives in 2026: AniList, Kitsu, Anime-Planet, Simkl, and Achriom compared. Find out which one fits how you actually watch anime.
MyAnimeList is the largest anime database on the internet. It has over 850 million log entries, a massive community, and nearly every title catalogued going back decades. It was also acquired by Gaudiy Inc., a Web3 and AI company, in May 2025. That adds an ownership concern to the existing frustrations: a mobile app that is slow, a desktop UI unchanged since 2013, no AI, and no cross-media tracking.
These are the five alternatives worth knowing about in 2026, each solving a different part of the problem. Note that Kitsu, previously a common recommendation, is effectively inactive as of 2026 (apps removed from stores, development stalled).
Last reviewed: June 27, 2026.
Quick verdict:
- Best modern UI and community: AniList
- Best for discovery and recommendations: Anime-Planet
- Best for tracking TV and movies alongside anime: Simkl
- Best if anime is part of a cross-media library: Achriom
Leaving MAL for more than anime? Achriom tracks your anime alongside your films, books, TV, and music in one library, with an AI librarian that connects them. Import your MyAnimeList export in one step. Free to start, no card.
Start free →Why people leave MAL
The common complaints:
Mobile app: The iOS and Android apps are widely considered slow and feature-incomplete. Many users rely on third-party apps rather than MAL’s official clients.
Dated UI: The desktop UI hasn’t had a major redesign in years. Lists are hard to scan; anime and manga feel siloed even for people who track both.
No AI: MAL’s recommendation engine is community-based (“users who watched X also watched Y”). There’s no system that reasons about your specific taste across what you’ve actually rated.
Just anime and manga: If you also track films, books, or albums, you’re running multiple apps.
None of these alternatives solves all of those problems. Each solves some.
AniList
Best for: Modern UI, active community, detailed stats
AniList is the most popular MAL alternative. It tracks anime and manga with a cleaner interface, a strong third-party app ecosystem, a public API that third-party developers love, and a social feed where you can see what people you follow are watching. The stats page shows your watch time, genre breakdowns, score distributions, and seasonal summaries in a format MAL’s stats page never managed.
What it does well:
- Significantly cleaner UI than MAL on the web
- A strong third-party app ecosystem (AniHyou and others) built on its open API, though there is no official AniList app
- Manga tracking on par with anime tracking
- Importing from MAL is straightforward: export XML from MAL, import at AniList
- Completely free, no paid tier
The limitation: AniList is still anime and manga only. There is no way to track live-action shows, books, or albums here, and no AI.
Kitsu
Status: Effectively inactive as of 2026
Kitsu was previously a reasonable recommendation as an open-source, community-maintained alternative to MAL. The situation has changed. The Android app was removed from Google Play in April 2024. iOS availability is unclear. Web development stalled in early 2025. The removal of Stripe integration from the codebase in 2026 suggests the paid Pro tier has ended.
The codebase is MIT-licensed and the web tracker still functions, but it is not being actively maintained. If you are currently on Kitsu and it is working for you, plan a migration. New users should not start here.
For what Kitsu used to offer (clean interface, open-source, data portability), AniList is the better-maintained alternative today.
Anime-Planet
Best for: Discovery, community recommendations, seasonal coverage
Anime-Planet has been around since 2001, making it one of the oldest anime tracking sites on the internet. Its strength is recommendations: a large community-curated “if you liked X, try Y” network built over more than 20 years. If you finish a show and have no idea what to watch next, Anime-Planet’s recommendation engine is stronger than MAL’s and competitive with AniList’s.
What it does well:
- Large, long-running community recommendation network built on actual viewing history
- Seasonal coverage and upcoming anime calendar
- “Similar anime” suggestions based on real community data, not just genre tags
- Free
The limitation: The UI is dated and the mobile experience is not as polished as AniList. List management is less flexible. But for discovery specifically, it earns its place.
Simkl
Best for: Anime fans who also track TV shows and movies
Simkl sits at an interesting crossroads: it started as a TV tracker but has strong anime support and automatic scrobbling from streaming services including Crunchyroll, Netflix, and Plex. If you watch anime on streaming platforms and don’t want to log episodes manually, Simkl handles that automatically.
What it does well:
- Automatic scrobbling from major streaming services (Crunchyroll, Netflix, Plex, and more)
- TV shows and movies tracked alongside anime in one library
- Simple, clean interface
- Free
The limitation: Simkl’s anime database is strong for popular titles but thinner on niche or older shows where MAL has deeper coverage. Community features are lighter. If anime is your primary format rather than one of several, AniList has more depth.
Achriom
Best for: Anime as part of a cross-media library with an AI librarian
Achriom tracks anime alongside films, books, TV shows, and albums in one private library. The AI librarian understands all of it: if you want to know what to read after finishing Attack on Titan, or what film matches the mood of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it reasons across your full library rather than just your anime list.
What it does well:
- Anime tracked as a first-class format alongside books, films, TV, and albums
- AI librarian that reasons across formats (“what should I read based on my five-star anime ratings?”)
- Cross-media connections that no anime-only tracker can make
- Private by default, no public profiles or competitive social pressure
- Web-based, accessible from any device
Want your anime understood as part of a bigger picture? Achriom tracks your anime alongside books, films, TV, and albums, with an AI librarian that sees all of it. That is the part MAL never built.
Try Achriom free →The limitation: Achriom is not a replacement for MAL or AniList as a pure anime tracker. It does not have seasonal discussion threads, the MAL database’s depth, or an anime-only community. If you want a deep anime tracker with a community, AniList is the right call. If you want your anime tracked alongside everything else you consume, with AI to find the threads between them, Achriom does what AniList cannot.
Quick comparison
| App | Scope | AI | Platform | Community | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AniList | Anime, manga | No | Web, iOS, Android | Large | Free |
| Kitsu | Anime, manga | No | Web only (inactive) | Inactive | Free |
| Anime-Planet | Anime, manga | No | Web | Large | Free |
| Simkl | Anime, TV, movies | No | Web, iOS, Android | Medium | Free |
| Achriom | Anime, books, films, TV, albums | AI librarian | Web | n/a | Free / $9.99 mo |
Which should you use?
Use AniList if: You want the best modern replacement for MAL’s core features: clean UI, strong community, a strong third-party app ecosystem, and easy import from your existing MAL list.
Kitsu: Do not start on Kitsu. Apps are gone and development has stalled. See the Kitsu section above for what happened and where to go instead.
Use Anime-Planet if: Discovery is the priority. Twenty-plus years of community recommendations behind the suggestions beats anything algorithmic at surfacing the next show you will actually love.
Use Simkl if: You watch anime on streaming services and want automatic scrobbling without manual logging, and you also track TV shows and films.
Use Achriom if: Anime is part of a bigger media diet and you want an AI that understands how your anime taste connects to your books, films, and music.
Importing from MAL
Switching is easier than it looks. From MyAnimeList:
- Go to your profile, then click “Export My List”
- Export the XML file of your anime history (and manga separately if needed)
AniList and Anime-Planet both accept MAL XML imports directly. The process takes a few minutes and preserves your status, ratings, and episode counts.
Related reading: See how the major anime trackers compare head-to-head in Best Anime Tracking Apps in 2026.
Related guides:
Common questions
What is the best MyAnimeList alternative?
AniList is the most popular modern alternative: cleaner UI, a strong third-party app ecosystem, comparable community, and easy MAL import. Anime-Planet is best for discovery. Simkl is best for automatic scrobbling alongside TV and movies. Achriom is best if anime is part of a cross-media library and you want AI that reasons across everything you have logged. Kitsu is effectively inactive as of 2026 and is not recommended for new users.
Can I import my MAL list to AniList?
Yes. Export your list from MAL (Profile, then Export My List, then XML) and import it on AniList’s import page. It handles anime and manga history separately, takes a few minutes, and preserves your ratings and status.
Is AniList better than MyAnimeList?
For most users, yes. AniList has a cleaner UI, a strong third-party app ecosystem, more responsive development, and a similar community size. MAL has a larger database for obscure titles and a longer history. If you track mainly mainstream anime, AniList is the better daily experience.
Is there a MyAnimeList alternative with AI?
Achriom is the only tracker with an AI librarian built in. It tracks anime alongside books, films, TV, and albums, and the AI reasons across your full library for recommendations, pattern analysis, and cross-media connections.
Does any anime tracker include books and movies?
Simkl tracks anime alongside TV shows and movies. Achriom tracks anime alongside books, films, TV shows, and albums, with an AI that finds connections between them.
Is Kitsu open-source?
Yes, the codebase is MIT-licensed and publicly available. However, Kitsu is effectively inactive as of 2026: the Android app was removed from Google Play in April 2024, iOS availability is unclear, and web development stalled in early 2025. New users should not start there. AniList is the better-maintained open alternative.