MyAnimeList: The Complete Guide to Tracking, Rating, and Exploring Anime and Manga

Three notes apps, two screenshots, and one forgotten browser tab hold your watch history, and none of them agree. You lose the episode you paused on, abandon a show for a year, then restart it from zero. MyAnimeList ends that mess in one afternoon. This guide covers account setup, statuses, scoring, the app, the API, privacy settings, and the habits that keep a list accurate for years.

What Is MyAnimeList and Who Runs It?

MyAnimeList is a free anime and manga database with personal list tracking built into it. You search a title, add it to your list, mark your progress, and score it from 1 to 10. Garrett Gyssler launched the site in November 2004, and volunteer editors have kept its entries clean ever since. Sony’s 2025 announcement described it as the world’s largest anime and manga community site.

Ownership has changed hands four times, so here is the short version. CraveOnline bought the platform in 2008, DeNA in 2015, and Media Do in 2019. Gaudiy Inc. completed its acquisition in 2025, with Sony Group Corporation and Bandai Namco Holdings investing ten billion yen into Gaudiy as part of the deal. That same announcement reports the site’s scale: 19.5 million registered users, 99% of whom live outside Japan.

The name says it all. Fans who type my anime list or myanime into a search bar almost always mean this platform, and the name comes from the plainest idea in fandom: keep everything in one place.

Why Does This Anime Database Still Matter in 2026?

Because it solves the oldest problem in fandom: remembering what you watched and how you felt about it. Newer apps copy parts of that job, yet the MyAnimeList database stays the reference point fans quote in arguments, reviews, and video essays.

• One source of truth. Notes, screenshots, and half-finished spreadsheets disappear. A single list survives phone upgrades, browser changes, and long breaks from anime.
• Discovery that follows your taste. Seasonal charts show what airs now, and each title page suggests shows similar to the one you just finished.
• Metadata depth. Entries list studios, directors, staff, characters, voice actors, source material, episode counts, and broadcast dates. That detail is why researchers and journalists cite the site.
• A community with long memory. Forum threads stay open years after a series ends, so a 2006 cult classic still has people talking about it.
• Scores the whole fandom quotes. When a friend says a show sits at 8.6 on MyAnimeList, that number comes from this database.
• Portable data. The public API moves your list into dashboards, Discord bots, spreadsheets, and custom stat pages.
• Zero cost to start. Every core feature is free, and only cosmetic extras sit behind a subscription.

How Do You Set Up a MyAnimeList Account and First List?

Take thirty minutes with this list and your profile will look established by dinner.

1. Open myanimelist.net and choose Sign Up. Use an email address you check often, because the confirmation link is required before your list works.
2. Pick a username you will enjoy in five years. It appears on every review, forum post, club, and comment you leave.
3. Confirm your email, then log in. Your profile page is live the moment you finish this step.
4. Set your default status for new entries. In the app, open Settings and choose which status applies when you add a title, so quick adds land in Plan to Watch instead of Watching.
5. Add ten titles you have already finished. Real history makes your profile useful on day one and shows your taste at a glance.
6. Fill in episode counts and scores. Your statistics page uses those numbers to build your watching totals and score distribution.
7. Give plan-to-watch items a priority. Low, Medium, and High turn a queue into a schedule you actually follow.
8. Export a backup from your list settings. Repeat it monthly and no outage, device failure, or tracker switch can ever erase your history.

Anime and manga lists are separate, so repeat the same steps for whichever medium you consume. Readers who also watch shows end up with two clean records instead of one confusing one.

The Five List Statuses and What Each One Means

Every entry on your list carries one of five statuses, and each one sends a different signal to you later.

Honest statuses make the whole system work. A list full of “watching” entries tells you nothing, while an accurate “dropped” list saves hours every season. Put the episode number in the tags field whenever you pause a show, so future you can jump straight back in without guessing.

How Does the Scoring System Work?

MAL uses one whole number from 1 to 10, where 10 reads Masterpiece and 1 reads Appalling. Scores stay private if your list is private, and they disappear from the site average if you delete the entry.

Your number also feeds two figures on every title page: the mean score and the quality rank. A title needs a solid voting base before it climbs the chart, so a handful of 1s or 10s cannot reshape a long-standing average overnight. Popularity rank is a different measurement entirely, because it counts how many members added the title, not how good they think it is.

A simple scoring habit keeps your ratings consistent:

• Anchor your extremes first, with your all-time favourite as a 10 and your biggest regret as a 1.
• Rate the experience you had, not the hype around the show.
• Wait a day after the final episode before you commit a number.
• Write the reason in the tags field: “great cast, weak ending” beats a bare score a year later.
• Ignore the crowd’s average while you decide, then compare notes afterwards.
• Use the rewatch counter, because a show you have rewatched three times deserves that context.

Where Do You Find Your Next Favourite?

Five tools inside the site do most of the heavy lifting for discovery.

• Top charts. Ranked lists cover all-time best, currently airing, upcoming, TV, OVA, movies, specials, most popular, and most favourited. Rankings shift daily, so treat any list as a snapshot.
• Seasonal anime. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall pages collect every title in the current season. Browse during the first two weeks of a season to build a realistic plan-to-watch list.
• Recommendations. Every title page pairs it with similar shows, voted on by members who finished both.
• Interest Stacks. Fans publish themed collections with commentary, which is the fastest way to find a hidden gem outside the top 100.
• Genre, theme, and demographic filters. Narrow by isekai, mecha, sports, shounen, seinen, josei, shoujo, and dozens more.

At the time of writing, Sousou no Frieren holds the number one spot on the all-time chart, with Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood close behind. Check the live chart before you quote a ranking, because a single strong season reshuffles the top ten.

Can You Track Manga the Same Way?

Yes, and the manga side mirrors the anime side almost exactly. You track chapters and volumes instead of episodes, then use the same five statuses and the same 1 to 10 scoring scale.

Manga entries carry extra value for readers. Artist and writer profiles include a mangaography that shows every series a creator worked on, so you can follow a favourite author across magazines and publishers. Title pages list licensed reading options and link to the MAL Manga Store, which sells legal digital volumes.

That legal pipeline grew from real publisher relationships. Japanese publishers including Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan invested in the platform in 2021, which tied the database closer to the companies that license the manga it indexes. The result is a reading list that points you toward official releases instead of dead fan sites.

Forums, Clubs, Reviews, and Interest Stacks: The Community Layer

Tracking gets you in the door. The community is why many members stay for a decade or more.

• Forums host episode-by-episode discussion threads, seasonal prediction games, and help boards for technical questions.
• Clubs gather members around one obsession, from a single director’s filmography to obscure 1980s OVAs.
• Reviews run from two-line verdicts to full essays, and each one collects helpful votes that surface the strongest writers.
• Interest Stacks turn a fan’s taste into a curated reading or viewing path for strangers.
• User profiles show favourites, statistics, completed counts, and a short About Me section for anyone who wants the full picture.

Participation lifts your profile beyond a bare list. A thoughtful review or a well-built stack gives other members a reason to follow you and discover the titles you love.

Does the App Work Well on Mobile?

Yes, for daily tracking. The official MyAnimeList app handles the jobs most people open it for, and it syncs with your browser list within seconds.

• Update episodes or chapters in two taps while you watch or read.
• Score a title with a slider right after the credits roll.
• Browse seasonal charts and rankings on the train home.
• Receive alerts for news linked to titles already on your list.
• Check your statistics without loading the full desktop site.

Some tasks feel better on a larger screen. Profile customisation, long reviews, forum threads, and Interest Stack building all involve more typing than a phone keyboard makes comfortable, so save those for a laptop. Third-party tools built on the official API can also sync your list across apps, which is handy for anyone running two trackers at once.

Is MyAnimeList Free? Costs, Ads, and Supporter Perks

Yes. An account costs nothing, every list entry is unlimited, and no one charges you for tracking, scoring, reviews, or forum access. Display ads fund the free tier.

MAL Supporter is the paid option, and it sells convenience rather than content:

• Price: $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year, with the annual plan covering two extra months.
• Ad-free browsing across display advertising, although Crunchyroll and HIDIVE video ads still appear.
• Double the favourites in each category, from 10 up to 20.
• Double the ignored-user limit on the forums, from 30 up to 60.
• Profile design controls, including custom fonts, colours, and backgrounds for your About Me section.
• A supporter badge and a custom forum title for members who like a little flair.

Pay for it if you browse the site daily, tinker with your profile, or find banner ads genuinely annoying. Skip it if you only update episodes from the app, because free accounts get the same MyAnimeList database and the same lists.

What Can You Build With the MAL API?

The official MyAnimeList API documentation opens the entire database to developers, and thousands of projects already use it. The service is labelled beta, so read the current docs before you ship anything.

• Authentication: OAuth2 for anything involving a user’s list, or an X-MAL-CLIENT-ID header for public data that needs no login.
• Anime endpoints: search, details, ranking, seasonal titles, and suggested titles.
• Manga endpoints: search, details, and ranking.
• List endpoints: read a user’s anime or manga list, update a status, or delete an entry with permission.
• Forum endpoints: boards and topic details for community dashboards.
• Ranking types: all, airing, upcoming, TV, OVA, movie, special, by popularity, and by favourites.
• Paging limits: 100 results per page as standard, with rankings returning up to 500.

Practical projects include Discord bots that announce new episodes, personal stat dashboards, list backups, and recommendation engines. The same data powers widely used third-party projects such as Jikan, which offers read-only access for developers who want a simpler starting point. Check a tool’s privacy policy before you hand it account access.

MyAnimeList vs AniList vs Kitsu: Which Tracker Fits You?

It depends on what you value most: catalogue size, community gravity, or interface comfort.

Most people pick one home tracker and stay with it. Keep MAL if the catalogue and the cultural weight of its scores matter to you. Move to AniList if decimal scoring and custom lists matter more than catalogue depth. Run both only if you enjoy the maintenance, or bridge them with an API-based sync tool.

Privacy and Safety Settings Worth Checking Today

New accounts come with public lists, which suits most fans and surprises a few. Spend five minutes on these settings and skip the awkward moments later.

• Decide on list visibility. You can make your anime and manga lists private in your profile settings, and your scores follow that choice.
• Trim your About Me section. Keep personal details light, because anyone can read your profile.
• Use a unique password stored in a password manager, and never reuse your email password here.
• Watch the domain before you log in. Copycat pages imitate the MAL login screen to harvest passwords, so check the address bar every time.
• Export your list monthly. In 2018 the site went offline for an extended stretch, and members with backups kept every entry while others retyped hundreds of titles.
• Review API-connected tools. Grant access only to apps you trust, and revoke it when you stop using them.

Everyday Problems and Their Fixes

Most glitches have a boring cause and a fast answer.

The Complete Feature Table

Ten Habits That Keep Your List Accurate for Years

1. Update episode counts the same day you watch, because memory degrades faster than you think.
2. Score within 24 hours of finishing, while the ending still stings or sings.
3. Write one tag line per entry, covering the reason for the score.
4. Move stalled shows to On Hold instead of pretending they are still Watching.
5. Drop bad shows without guilt, then let the red bar protect you from a second attempt.
6. Rebuild your plan-to-watch priorities at the start of each season.
7. Keep a separate list for seasonal simulcasts so your queue stays readable.
8. Back up your list monthly and store the file outside your downloads folder.
9. Add titles to your favourites once a year, since your taste keeps moving.
10. Review your own statistics each December, then set one discovery goal for the year ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions About MyAnimeList

What is MyAnimeList in one sentence?
It is a free anime and manga database where you track what you watch and read, score titles from 1 to 10, and join the largest community of fans discussing them.

Is MyAnimeList free to use?
Yes. Accounts, lists, scoring, reviews, and forums cost nothing. MAL Supporter is optional at $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year and mainly removes display ads while adding profile extras.

How many anime and manga titles does it list?
The catalogue passed 23,000 anime and 62,000 manga entries in early 2023 and keeps growing with each new season, film, and manga debut.

How does scoring work?
You give one whole number from 1 to 10, where 10 means Masterpiece and 1 means Appalling. The site turns every member vote into the score and rank shown on each title page.

Who owns MyAnimeList today?
Gaudiy Inc. acquired the site in 2025, after earlier ownership by CraveOnline, DeNA, and Media Do. Sony Group Corporation and Bandai Namco Holdings invested ten billion yen in Gaudiy to support global expansion of Japanese entertainment.

Can I move my list to another tracker?
Yes. Export your list from your list settings, then import the file into AniList, Kitsu, or another service. Check statuses and episode counts after the import, because mapping between trackers is rarely perfect.

Your Next Episode Starts Here

A good list rewards you twice: once when you build it, and again years later when you scroll through it and remember exactly who you were at episode twelve. Start with the ten titles you have already finished, set the statuses honestly, and score in your own voice rather than the crowd’s.

Then go further. Publish one review, build one Interest Stack, and vote on one title you loved before anyone else did. MyAnimeList grows from members who add something, and your taste is worth recording. Open your list tonight, fix one lazy entry, and let the next season land somewhere better than a screenshot.