# MAL Tracker: 6 Tools That Keep Your MyAnimeList Up to Date **Published:** September 25, 2026 **Author:** Achriom **URL:** https://www.achriom.com/blog/mal-tracker > The best MAL trackers in 2026: MAL-Sync, Taiga, Trackma, Mihon, the official MyAnimeList app, and Achriom. What each one tracks, where it runs, and which to pick. **Tags:** anime, comparison, guide --- If you watch anime in a browser, the MAL tracker to install is **MAL-Sync**. It notices the episode you just finished and updates your MyAnimeList entry without you opening the site. If you watch local files on Windows, use **Taiga**. On Linux, **Trackma**. For manga on Android, **Mihon**. That covers most people searching for this. The rest of this guide explains what each tool does well, where each one falls short, and when you might want something other than a MAL tracker at all. ## What to look for in a MAL tracker MyAnimeList is a database and a list. It does not know what you are watching unless you tell it. A MAL tracker closes that gap, so the questions that matter are practical ones. **Where you watch.** A browser extension can't see VLC, and a desktop app can't see a streaming tab. Match the tool to the screen you actually use. **Automatic or manual.** Some tools update MAL the moment an episode ends. Others only give you a faster way to click "+1". Automatic is the whole point for most people. **Anime, manga, or both.** Episode trackers and chapter trackers are usually different tools. **Other lists.** Many trackers can also write to AniList, Kitsu, or Simkl. That helps if you keep more than one list or plan to move later. **What happens to your history.** Your MAL list might hold years of scores. Check that you can export it and take it somewhere else. ## MyAnimeList: the official site and app The simplest MAL tracker is MAL itself. The site and the official mobile app let you search a title, set a status, bump the episode count, and score it. Nothing to install beyond the app, and nothing sits between you and your list. The cost is attention. Every episode is a manual update, and most people fall behind within a season. Then they spend a Sunday reconstructing where they were in six different shows. **Best for:** people who watch a few shows at a time and like the ritual of logging. **Price:** free. An optional paid Supporter membership removes ads. ## MAL-Sync: automatic tracking in the browser MAL-Sync is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. Link your MAL account once, then watch as usual. When you finish episode 7 of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End on a supported streaming site, your MAL entry moves to 7 on its own. ![Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (2023)](/blog/assets/mal-tracker/frieren-beyond-journey-s-end-tv.jpg) It also works for a number of manga reading sites. It can write to AniList, Kitsu, and Simkl as well, which makes it a good bridge if you are thinking about switching lists. It adds a small overlay with your progress and a shortcut to the next episode. The limits come from how it works. It only sees what happens in the browser, and it depends on recognizing each site. When a streaming site changes its layout, detection can break until the extension catches up. **Best for:** anyone who streams anime in a desktop browser. **Price:** free and open source. ## Taiga: automatic tracking for local files on Windows Taiga is a Windows desktop app. It watches your media player, reads the file name of what's playing, and matches it to a MAL entry. Finish the episode and Taiga updates your list. It also has a library view with airing schedules and seasonal charts, so some people use it as their main MAL window. It supports AniList and Kitsu too. Taiga has nothing for Mac, Linux, or phones. File-name matching also needs reasonably clean names. Oddly named releases sometimes need a manual link the first time. **Best for:** Windows users who watch downloaded or local episodes. **Price:** free and open source. ## Trackma: MAL tracking on Linux Trackma fills the same role on Linux. It has a terminal interface and desktop front ends, and it can detect playback in common Linux media players. Besides MAL, it supports AniList, Kitsu, and Shikimori. It takes a little more setup than Taiga, and it looks the part. Linux users will not mind. **Best for:** Linux users who want their MAL list updated from local playback. **Price:** free and open source. ## Mihon: MAL tracking for manga on Android Mihon is an open source manga reader for Android, the successor to Tachiyomi. It has trackers built in: link your MAL account and each chapter you finish in the reader is logged to your MAL manga list. AniList, Kitsu, and several others work the same way. It tracks manga only. Your anime needs one of the tools above. **Best for:** manga readers on Android who want MAL to stay current. **Price:** free and open source. ## Achriom: when MAL is only part of what you track Every tool above serves one list on one website. That works well if anime is the only thing you log. For a lot of people, it's one tab of several: MAL for anime, something else for shows, something else for films, something else for books. Achriom is one library for all of it: anime, shows, films, books, and albums. You bring your MAL history in through the standard XML export ([here is how to get it](/blog/how-to-export-your-myanimelist-data/)), and your scores, statuses, and episode counts come with it. From then on you track anime in the same place as everything else. The AI librarian can then read across formats. Ask what the anime you rated highest have in common with your favorite novels, or what to watch after a series that left a mark, and it answers from your library. It can suggest a book, a film, or an album as readily as another show. Achriom does not write back to MAL. If you want MAL to stay your live, public list, keep MAL-Sync or Taiga. Achriom makes sense when you would rather stop running a separate tracker for every format. You can export your full library back out at any time. **Best for:** people who track anime plus other media and are tired of keeping four lists in sync. **Price:** free to start, no card.

Every tool on this list exists to keep one website current, and you probably keep three more lists just like it. Achriom holds your shows, films, books, albums, and anime in one library, and the AI librarian connects them. Bring your MAL export in once, and take your full library back out any time. Free to start, no card.

Import your MAL list →
## MAL trackers compared | Tool | Platform | Updates MAL automatically | Anime | Manga | Other lists | Price | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | MyAnimeList | Web, iOS, Android | No | Yes | Yes | None | Free, optional Supporter tier | | MAL-Sync | Chrome, Firefox | Yes, from streaming sites | Yes | Yes | AniList, Kitsu, Simkl | Free | | Taiga | Windows | Yes, from local players | Yes | No | AniList, Kitsu | Free | | Trackma | Linux | Yes, from local players | Yes | Limited | AniList, Kitsu, Shikimori | Free | | Mihon | Android | Yes, from the reader | No | Yes | AniList, Kitsu, others | Free | | Achriom | Web, ChatGPT | Imports MAL history, no write back | Yes | No | Shows, films, books, albums | Free to start | ## Which should you use? **You stream in a browser:** MAL-Sync. Install it, link your account, and forget about it. **You watch local files on Windows:** Taiga. **You're on Linux:** Trackma. **You read manga on your phone:** Mihon, alongside whichever anime tracker fits. **You mostly watch on a TV or phone app:** none of the automatic tools can see those screens well. Log by hand in the official MAL app, or batch your updates once a week. **You're rethinking MAL itself:** read our [MyAnimeList vs AniList comparison](/blog/anilist-vs-myanimelist/) and the roundup of [MyAnimeList alternatives](/blog/best-myanimelist-alternatives/). MAL-Sync writes to both, which makes a trial run easy. **Anime is one of several things you track:** Achriom, or read our [all-in-one media tracker guide](/blog/best-all-in-one-media-tracker/) first. ## The honest answer MAL is still the biggest anime database, and the tooling around it is mature and free. For almost everyone, the right MAL tracker is MAL-Sync in the browser or Taiga on the desktop. Both take five minutes to set up and remove the manual logging that makes people abandon their lists. The real question comes after that. If anime is your only list, a MAL tracker is all you need. If you also keep a film diary, a reading log, and a show tracker, you are maintaining four databases that never talk to each other. That's the problem Achriom solves. ## Common questions **What is the best MAL tracker?** MAL-Sync for browser streaming, Taiga for local files on Windows, Trackma on Linux. All three update your MyAnimeList entry automatically when an episode ends. **Can MyAnimeList track episodes automatically?** Not by itself. The site and app only change when you edit your list. Automatic tracking comes from third-party tools that detect playback and push updates through MAL's API. **Is MAL-Sync safe to use?** It's open source and signs in through MAL's own authorization page, so it never sees your password. Install it only from the official browser stores or its own site. **Can I track manga on MAL automatically?** Yes. Mihon logs chapters from its reader on Android, and MAL-Sync covers a number of manga sites in the browser. **Can I keep my MAL history if I switch apps?** Yes. MAL exports your anime and manga lists as XML, and most trackers import that file. Our [MyAnimeList export guide](/blog/how-to-export-your-myanimelist-data/) walks through it step by step. **Does Achriom sync back to MyAnimeList?** No. Achriom imports your MAL history and becomes the place you track anime alongside everything else. If you want MAL to stay your live list, pair it with MAL-Sync or Taiga.