Suwayomi: the ecosystem play

Suwayomi is the only one of the three that runs extensions — the same repositories the apps use — and interoperates with Mihon backups and clients. If your reading life is extension-based and you want it on a PC or home server, this is the one (full intro: Mihon on PC via Suwayomi).

Kavita and Komga: the library plays

Kavita and Komga serve files you already have. Kavita aims wider (manga alongside novels and comics, with user accounts — good for a household). Komga stays tightly focused on comics/manga libraries and is a favorite front-end companion: many readers serve with Komga/Kavita and read through OPDS in an app. Both pair naturally with the local CBZ workflow, and either way your files need a real backup routine (cloud backup guide).

Verdict

• Reading from online sources on a big screen or server → Suwayomi.
• One server for the family’s mixed library → Kavita.
• A tidy, comics-only local archive with OPDS → Komga.
• You can also run two: Suwayomi for sources, Komga/Kavita for the archive — they do not overlap.

Related: all comparisons · forks & successors

Where official apps win

• Same-day legal chapters: MANGA Plus publishes new chapters simultaneously with Japan, with the first and latest chapters free — no reader app can match that legitimacy or speed.
• Ownership: BookWalker purchases are yours in a real store library; subscription catalogs like VIZ/Shonen Jump are vastly cheaper per series than buying.
• Zero setup: install from the Play Store and read. No repositories, no extensions, no sideloading.

Where Mihon wins

• One library across everything: local CBZ files, your server, and multiple sources in a single categorized, tracked library (local reading, organizing).
• Reader quality and control: reading modes per format, downloads, and tracker sync (AniList/MAL and seven more) that official apps do not offer.
• Series the official apps do not carry in your region or at all — the gap every reader eventually hits.

Our legal apps guide goes app by app (with plain links — none of those services pays us). The honest 2026 setup is both kinds of app on the same phone.

Related: all comparisons · Mihon vs Tachiyomi

The picks

• Mihon (v0.21.2) — the default. Reference implementation, fastest fixes, the backup/extension standard. Download with hashes.
• TachiyomiSY (v1.13.2) — the feature maximalist: recommendations, entry merging, auto webtoon detection. Guide.
• TachiyomiJ2K (v1.8.1) — the design pick: independent fork, Material 3 Expressive rebuild, current extension format. Guide.
• TachiyomiAZ (v8.9.1) — the veteran feature fork, now Mihon-based. Guide.
• Aniyomi (v0.18.2.1) — manga + anime in one app. Guide.
• Komikku (v1.14.1) & Yokai (v1.10.2) — smaller community forks in the Mihon family, worth a look for specific fixes and flavors. Guide.
• Doki — the Kotatsu successor: independent ecosystem, own source system. Explainer.

What they all share (except Doki)

The Mihon-family apps read the same extension repositories and the same .tachibk backups, and all current versions need Android 8.0+. That means this list is not a lock-in decision: install Mihon today, try SY next month, and your library follows you (how backups work).

Do not forget the official apps

For licensed, same-day chapters, the official apps beat every reader on legality and reliability — MANGA Plus even free. Our legal manga apps guide compares them, and Mihon vs official apps explains why most readers end up using both kinds side by side.

Avoid

Anything calling itself Tachiyomi v1.0, Tachiyomi Plus/Pro, or “Mihon Premium”: the real projects are free, versioned as above, and distributed from GitHub. Paid or renamed clones are unofficial and of unknown origin (see the same trap on iOS).

Related: all comparisons · forks & successors hub

For Kotatsu users, specifically

Your app is archived software now — still runnable, no longer maintained. Doki is the intended continuation (background in our Kotatsu → Doki explainer). If instead you are considering a jump to Mihon, know what does not transfer: source lists and in-app data are not backup-compatible across the families. A tracker account (AniList/MyAnimeList) is the bridge — sync your list, then rebuild in the new app with the tracker as the map.

For new readers

Start where the documentation and community are: Mihon. The extension-repository model means more sources, more guides, and forks (SY, AZ, J2K, Komikku, Yokai) that all read the same library if you ever switch. Doki’s appeal is real but narrower: Kotatsu’s design, continued.

Downloads: Mihon from GitHub via our Mihon page (with hashes); Doki from the DokiTeam GitHub repository.

Related: all comparisons · server software compared

The real difference is scope

Under the skin these are cousins: same library metaphor, categories, tracking and repositories. Aniyomi’s extra scope means extra moving parts — video sources break and recover on their own rhythm, and its extension repository had the family’s most public legal moment when Sony’s 2024 DMCA notice led to roughly 200 extensions being removed (the app itself was never taken down; details in our Aniyomi guide). Mihon’s narrower scope is why it ships the family’s platform changes first.

Verdict

• Choose Mihon if manga is the whole point, or you want the reference app every guide assumes.
• Choose Aniyomi if you actively watch anime through extensions and want episodes beside chapters, with one tracker sync for both.

Both are free and open source, and your library backup travels between the family — try Aniyomi for a week without uninstalling Mihon. Downloads: Mihon from GitHub; Aniyomi from its own GitHub releases.

Related: all comparisons · best Android manga readers

Where Mihon wins

When the ecosystem shifts — a backup-format deadline, an extension-format change, a nasty upgrade bug — the fix lands in Mihon first, because the forks build on it. The 0.21.x sequence is the perfect example: the .tachibk deadline and the updating-screen fixes are Mihon release-note stories. If you ask for help anywhere, “which Mihon version?” is the baseline question.

Where SY wins

Day-to-day reading at scale. Merging the same series from multiple sources into one entry, having the app notice a series is a webtoon, and getting recommendations from your own library are quality-of-life features stock Mihon simply does not offer. Our SY guide details the set.

Verdict

New to the family? Start with Mihon (download) — you can move to SY later with your backup intact. Already feel Mihon’s limits every day? SY is the upgrade path the community built for exactly that feeling. Either way, keep backups current (guide).

Related: all comparisons · Mihon vs Aniyomi

The case for switching

Every month, more sources change something — a domain, a layout, an anti-bot check — and a frozen 2024 app cannot adapt. Extensions written for the modern format target Mihon and its forks. The migration itself is painless while 0.21.x is current: back up, install, restore (step-by-step). The Mihon team’s warning is explicit that this direct path narrows after 0.21.x, so “later” has a real cost.

The case for staying (narrow, but real)

• Your device runs Android 6/7: current Mihon cannot install. Tachiyomi still runs — keep it, keep backups, and plan around a future device change.
• A legacy extension you depend on: rare in 2026, since repositories moved on — but if one source only works in the old app, running both side by side is legitimate; they do not conflict.

Verdict

For roughly everyone on Android 8.0+, Mihon is the right default in 2026 and Tachiyomi is a museum piece — respected, documented (see our legacy download page), and finished. Download Mihon from GitHub via our Mihon page, and read how it stacks up against its own forks in Mihon vs TachiyomiSY.

Related: all comparisons · best Android manga readers