Tappytoon Review

What Tappytoon is

Tappytoon is an English-language store for Korean manhwa and webtoons, plus web novels, run by Contents First, Inc. Everything on it is licensed. The help centre puts it as All content on Tappytoon is serviced in official partnership with the respective creators and artists, and each title page carries the line "Published by Tappytoon under license from partners." Comics come in English, French and German; the novels are English only.

The store has been around for a while: the iPhone app's first release on the App Store is dated June 25, 2015. Tappytoon publishes no catalog size. The genre filters on its Discover and Popular pages are Romance, Action, BL, Fantasy, Drama and GL, with a separate "Steamy" filter on the Discover shelf. It sits with the other licensed adult webtoon stores in our platform reviews.

Who Tappytoon suits

A reader of romance fantasy and BL manhwa who wants the 18+ editions and does not mind reading them in a browser. Tappytoon is strict about that split, so an iPhone owner who only ever opens the app will see the all-ages versions and nothing else.

It suits people who like a clear label. Tappytoon tells you in the title whether an edition is censored, which most webtoon stores do not. It suits a budget reader less well than it first looks: purchases are final, and the Steamy and all-ages versions of one series are bought separately.

Steamy and Uncut: what Tappytoon's 18+ labels mean

Tappytoon sorts its adult editions into two tiers. Its content-label notice defines them like this:

• [Steamy] is for censored titles that still carry themes or depictions of adult situations. The age-rating notice adds that these may contain ... partially censored imagery.
• [Uncut] indicates titles which are unabridged and contain the full work, and may include explicit or adult themes and depictions.

Both tiers can only be viewed by adults and age-confirmed audiences that are aged 18 or older. Below them sit the PG and 16+ ratings that the apps carry. So the answer to "is Tappytoon uncensored?" depends on the label: an [Uncut] edition is the full work, a [Steamy] one is not.

A practical point for anyone who started a series in the app. The Steamy edition is a separate product from the all-ages one, and Tappytoon's help article on steamy comics says they are bought separately. Episodes you unlocked in the all-ages version do not open the Steamy version. Our mature content ratings explainer covers how other stores word the same tiers.

Why the Tappytoon app never shows Steamy comics

Tappytoon states the reason itself: Due to Apple and Google platform policies, steamy comics are available only on our website and mobile website. Apple's App Review Guideline 1.1.4 bans Overtly sexual or pornographic material outright, and Google Play's content policy has a similar ban, so the store builds carry only the PG and 16+ editions. The US App Store lists the app at 16+ and Google Play rates it 13+.

The phone browser works. "Mobile website" is in Tappytoon's own sentence, and unlocked steamy episodes are kept in your Library on the account. The route to switch them on, from the help centre:

1. Open tappytoon.com in a browser and log in.
2. Confirm that you are 18 or older (or equivalent in your jurisdiction).
3. Click the "All-ages" button at the top of the page.
4. Select "mature mode". Steamy and Uncut titles then appear in lists and search.

Whether that confirmation is a ticked box, a birthdate or a document check is not published; finding out takes an account. Logged-out visitors can still see Steamy titles and episode lists on the Discover page. The terms set the minimum age for the service as a whole at 16. Readers who want the same web-first pattern explained across stores can see reading adult comics on a phone.

support.tappytoon.com

What you can read free

Quite a lot, slowly. Tappytoon has four free routes:

• Free first episodes on many series. PASSION [Steamy] opens with episodes 0 to 2 free.
• Time Till Free on marked titles: read the next episode of the selected comic for free, one episode at a time, every 24 hours. The episode locks again when the free window ends.
• Free Tickets, handed out weekly, which read a locked episode for free for 48 hours.
• Points for watching video ads or completing partner offers.

Episodes bought with points are different: Episodes unlocked with points will be permanently added to your unlock history. Browsing needs no account, though Tappytoon warns that there are limitations without one, and the 18+ editions always need a login. How the timed model compares with other stores is in our wait-for-free glossary entry.

Tappytoon points: what an episode really costs

Points are the currency, and Tappytoon never quotes a dollar price per episode. The numbers it does publish make the sum easy. These are the point packs and Club plans on the US App Store and in the help centre:

• monthClub Standard (monthly)$4.994,400 points on the first day of each cycle, 30 bonus points a day, Time Till Free every 12 hours↗
• yearClub Standard (yearly)$47.99same perks, points awarded monthly↗
• once1400 points$1.991,400 points↗
• once3900 points$4.993,900 points↗
• once7800 points$9.997,800 points (an 8000 Points SKU at the same price is also listed)↗
• once8800 points [Sale]$9.998,800 points, sale SKU↗
• once16500 points$19.9916,500 points (a 17000 Points SKU at the same price is also listed)↗

Source: support.tappytoon.com. Prices change with region, promotions and the store you buy through.

PASSION [Steamy] charges 300 points an episode, with a "10% 20+ Bulk Discount" for buying 20 or more at once. Converted:

For a whole series the arithmetic runs like this. Forty episodes at 300 points is 12,000 points, or 10,800 with the bulk discount. Three 3,900-point packs ($14.97) cover that with points to spare. Episode prices vary by title, so treat 300 as the figure on one checked series and look at the price on the series page before buying.

Two caveats from the store list itself. Apple shows two sets of point SKUs at the same prices (7,800 and 8,000 points both at $9.99; 16,500 and 17,000 at $19.99), plus an "8800 points [Sale]" row, and it is not clear which set is current. Point prices on the website need an account to see. Google Play gives a range of $1.99 to $99.99 per item. Why stores price episodes in points is explained in how webtoon coins work.

Tappytoon Club and VIP

The Club is a subscription that pays out in points. Club Standard costs $4.99 a month or $47.99 a year (Tappytoon's own note says that works out to $3.99 a month). It gives 4,400 points on the first day of each billing cycle, 30 bonus points a day and Time Till Free every 12 hours instead of every 24.

Against the $4.99 point pack, the Club wins. The pack gives 3,900 points; the Club gives 4,400 for the same money, about 14 episodes at 300 points, and up to 900 more in a 30-day month if you collect the daily bonus every day. A reader who already buys one pack a month gets more from the subscription.

A newer VIP tier adds 8,000 points a month, 30 bonus points for checking in each day and 30+ Free Series ... in the VIP Lounge. Tappytoon's VIP notice does not print the price.

The Club renews automatically: the store will automatically charge and renew your membership every subscription cycle. It is sold through the apps, so you cancel through the store you subscribed in. On an iPhone, Apple's route is Settings, your name, Subscriptions, then the plan. On Android, Google says uninstalling the app does not cancel. The full routes are in cancelling a comic subscription.

support.tappytoon.com

Tappytoon on iPhone, Android and the web

• ✓iPhoneYesTappytoon Comics & Novels, rated 17+; steamy editions not available in the app
• ✓AndroidYesPlay Store app, Play rating 13+; steamy editions not available in the app
• ✓BrowserYesthe only place to read Steamy and Uncut editions

The apps are the convenient way to read the all-ages catalog and to buy the Club. The App Store listing mentions an HD Mode and the Club's shorter Time Till Free waits. Google Play marks the app "Contains ads", which are the optional rewarded videos. Tappytoon's help centre does not document offline downloads, so we cannot say whether the apps keep episodes for reading without a connection. The website is the only place to read [Steamy] and [Uncut] editions, in vertical scroll like the apps.

Privacy and billing

Tappytoon does not publish what a card charge looks like on a statement. Store purchases show up as App Store or Google Play transactions. Google Play's Data safety section says the app may share name, email address, user IDs and device IDs, with "Advertising or marketing" among the purposes.

Refunds are off the table. The help centre says all purchases and unlocks of comics or chapters are final and no refund can be made, and the terms say the same about points in capitals. Spend a small pack first if you are unsure about a series.

Can creators publish on Tappytoon?

No open route. While we don't currently have an open submissions program, our team does review inquiries from time to time. There are no creator tips or subscriptions on the reader side either. Artists looking for somewhere to publish adult webtoons should look at platforms that take NSFW webtoon creators.

Pros and cons

Alternatives to Tappytoon

For the same licensed Korean romance and BL with web-only 18+ editions, Manta is the closest match. Its "[Full ver.]" editions are read in the browser, and its membership adds an all-you-can-read library of 300+ series that Tappytoon does not have. Lezhin also keeps its R-rated catalog on the website, and it is the one store that ships an official Android APK carrying those titles. Readers who want explicit adult webtoons without a romance-fantasy lean can look at Honeytoon, where the uncensored versions sit on its "Ultra" plans, or Toomics, sold mainly as a VIP subscription with 18+ series on the website. All of them are compared on the best adult webtoon platforms.

Final verdict