Where to find manga for an e-reader, and which files you can actually convert
Finding manga for an e-reader is really two problems, and most guides only answer the first. The first is where to get it legally. The second is what you end up holding, because an e-reader needs a file, and a lot of legal manga is not sold as a file at all. It is sold as access inside an app. That distinction decides everything that follows.
↑ Upload and configure in our Studio
So here is the rule this whole page turns on. If a purchase or a loan gives you a file with DRM on it, that file opens in the seller's app and nowhere else. It cannot be converted, not here and not with any other tool, and anyone who tells you otherwise is describing something you should not do. If it gives you a file without DRM, a CBZ, a CBR, a PDF or an EPUB, then it is yours, and getting it onto your Kindle or Kobo properly sized is a one-minute job on this page. The sources below are sorted by which of those two things you get.
Nothing here requires you to go looking in the grey corners of the internet. There is more legal manga available as real files than most people expect, between publishers who sell downloads, bundles, openly licensed comics, works old enough to be out of copyright, and the volumes you already own on paper.
- Files auto-delete after 24 hours
- No install, runs in any browser
- Free to use
- The genuine open-source KCC engine
The routes that end in a file you can convert
Buy from a seller that sells files, not app access
A small set of sellers hand you the actual file, and each states it plainly on its own pages. J-Novel Club says its ebooks are DRM-free EPUB3 and that purchased ebooks can be downloaded from your user library, across light novels and manga. GlobalComix draws the line explicitly: a PDF purchase is DRM-free and permanently yours to download, while its subscription unlocks only grant a licence to read. Irodori Comics sells digital downloads as PDFs and describes buying a title as owning a DRM-free version of it. The rule for any store is the same: the listing has to say DRM-free, or name a format rather than an app. If it does not, assume the file is locked. Meanwhile most mainstream manga is sold as app access, which is the honest state of the market rather than a complaint; Kobo's own help page is unusually clear about the split, since a DRM-protected book needs Adobe Digital Editions to reach a non-Kobo device while a DRM-free one can be exported straight there. Publishers frequently sell only through those retailers: Seven Seas lists Amazon, BookWalker, Google Play, Apple, Kobo, NOOK and OverDrive on its own digital page rather than running a download store. Buying there is fine. Just do not expect a convertible file. Our store-by-store map, bundles included, is at /blog/where-to-buy-drm-free-manga.
Read openly licensed and public domain comics, which are free to keep
Some comics are published under a licence that lets you keep and reshape them, and those are the freest files you will ever convert. Pepper&Carrot is the best known: it is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, and its episode pages hand you the high resolution pages as numbered JPGs rather than a ready-made archive, which is exactly what a converter wants anyway. Zip an episode's pages into a CBZ, or drop the images straight in, and you have a volume for your reader with the author credited. Read the licence on any such comic before you reshape it, because they differ: some are attribution-only, while others forbid derivative versions entirely, which rules out repackaging. Comics old enough to be out of copyright are free in the same practical sense and benefit most from the contrast work a conversion does, though be aware the large public domain comic archives are Western golden age material rather than manga. The free end of the map is covered in /blog/where-to-buy-drm-free-manga.
Borrow from your library, and know where that road ends
A library card is the most underused legal source there is, and it costs nothing. Libby lends real comics and manga, with OverDrive naming DC, Marvel, Image, IDW and VIZ Media among its publishers, and Hoopla lends manga well too. Be clear about what you get, because this route does not end in a file. Manga on Libby is frequently served through Media Do, and Libby's own help page says those titles open in your browser outside Libby's normal reader and cannot be downloaded at all. For titles that do download, Adobe EPUB and Adobe PDF are DRM-protected by definition, and what reaches your computer first is not even the book but a licence stub that Adobe Digital Editions exchanges for the protected file. Open EPUB and Open PDF carry no such protection, but they are uncommon for commercially published comics. Sending a loan to a Kindle exists only for US libraries and is documented for ebooks rather than comics, and choosing the EPUB for a loan gives up the Kindle option on it. So borrow freely and read in the app: it is excellent for trying a series before buying the volumes worth owning. The full picture is in /blog/read-manga-with-library-apps.
Scan the volumes you already own
The shelf behind you is a legal source most people overlook. A volume you bought on paper can be scanned or photographed for your own use, and a folder of page images or the PDF a scanner produces is the easiest input this converter takes. It is slow work per volume and it needs the spine handled carefully, but the result is a file nobody can withdraw from you, at the quality you chose. Scanned pages often come out grey and bordered, which is what the margin trim and auto-level passes are for; the general case lives at /tools/scanned-pdf-for-ereader.
Convert the file for your exact reader
This is the step none of the sources do. Drop a CBZ, CBR, CB7, CBT, ZIP, RAR, 7Z, PDF or EPUB on this page, pick your model, and every page is rebuilt for that screen: margins trimmed, double page spreads split right half first, right to left reading written into the file, contrast lifted for e-ink. The output is an EPUB a Kindle opens natively or a KEPUB for a Kobo, and it waits on your Reader Shelf so the reader itself can fetch it. Device by device: /tools/manga-for-kindle and /tools/manga-for-kobo.
What each legal source gives you
| Source | What you end up with | Convertible here? |
|---|---|---|
| Sellers that state DRM-free (J-Novel Club, GlobalComix, Irodori Comics) | A real download you keep: EPUB3 at J-Novel Club, PDF at the other two | Yes. This is the route the converter was built for |
| Comic and manga bundles | Usually DRM-free downloads, but formats and terms are set per bundle | Yes when the bundle page says DRM-free, which is the thing to check first |
| Kindle Store and Kobo store | App and device access; most titles are DRM-protected | No. Reads well on that device, but the file cannot be converted |
| Publisher stores that sell via retailers | Whatever the chosen retailer gives you, usually DRM-protected | Only if that retailer sold it DRM-free, which the listing must say |
| Openly licensed comics (Pepper&Carrot, CC BY 4.0) | High resolution page images per episode, free to keep and reshape with credit | Yes. Zip the pages into a CBZ, or drop the images straight in |
| Works out of copyright | Scans of old print as archive files or PDFs, though the big comic archives are Western rather than manga | Yes, and they benefit most from contrast and page work |
| Library loans (Libby, Hoopla) | For manga, often browser-only with no file at all; otherwise a DRM-protected EPUB or PDF | No. Borrowing is for reading, and no tool changes that |
| Official apps (WEBTOON, Tapas, publisher apps) | Free reading, plus an in-app offline cache on some series. No file leaves the app | No. Nothing to convert, and the apps are a good read as they are |
| Volumes you own on paper | A scan or photo set you made: a PDF or a folder of page images | Yes, and the margin trim and auto-level passes are built for exactly this |
How to tell in advance whether a file will convert
Three checks settle it before you spend money. Does the product page use the words DRM-free, or say you get a download rather than access? Does it name a format, a CBZ, an EPUB or a PDF, rather than naming an app? And after buying, does the file open in a plain reader on your computer without signing in to anything? A file that needs an account or a specific app to open has DRM, whatever the extension says. An .acsm file is not the book at all; it is a licence stub that Adobe Digital Editions exchanges for a protected file.
What this converter does not do, stated plainly
It does not remove DRM, and it will not be made to. It does not host, index or link manga, so it is not a place to find a specific series; it is the step after you have the file. And it cannot improve what was never captured: a low resolution scan stays low resolution, though contrast and sizing still help it considerably. Everything it does do is listed on /tools/read-manga-on-kindle for Kindle owners and /tools/manga-for-kobo for Kobo owners.
A note on fan translations
Unofficial fan translated releases are how a lot of readers first met the medium, and the practice has a real history worth understanding, which is set out at /blog/what-is-a-scanlation. The sources on this page are the legal ones, and with publishers now releasing many series in English the same week they run in Japan, the gap that practice originally filled is much narrower than it was.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy manga for a Kindle or Kobo?
For reading on the device you bought it on, the Kindle Store and the Kobo store are the obvious answers and they work well. For a file you keep and can move, you want a seller that says DRM-free on the listing: J-Novel Club sells DRM-free EPUB3 downloads of manga and light novels per its own FAQ, and GlobalComix sells DRM-free PDFs you keep permanently. Comic and manga bundles are periodically a good way to own a lot at once, and since formats and terms are set per bundle the thing to read is the bundle page itself; our judgement framework is at /blog/humble-bundle-comics-worth-it. The store-by-store detail is at /blog/where-to-buy-drm-free-manga, and the device comparison at /blog/kindle-vs-kobo-for-manga.
Can I convert manga I bought from Kindle or another big store?
Not if it has DRM, which most of it does. A DRM-protected purchase is licensed to open in that company's app or on its hardware, and stripping that protection is not something this site does or will help with. There is no workaround to offer and no setting to change. The way to own a convertible manga file is to buy one sold without DRM in the first place, which is why the sources above are sorted that way.
Is there legal free manga I can download and keep?
Yes, in three forms. Comics published under an open licence, such as Pepper&Carrot under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, can be downloaded, converted and kept as long as you credit the author. Works whose copyright has lapsed are free to anyone. And official publisher apps give away free chapters and first volumes to read, though those stay in the app. The free-on-a-Kindle loop is walked through at /blog/can-you-read-manga-on-kindle-for-free.
What about the official Webtoon and Tapas apps?
They are a genuinely legal way to read an enormous amount of comics for free, and for vertical scroll series they are usually the better reading experience anyway. They are not a source of files. WEBTOON's own support documentation describes downloading as an offline cache inside the app for some Originals, one download per episode per account, kept about a month and managed in the app's own downloads list. Tapas is explicit that a download does not grant permission to view the content outside the app, and some services say plainly that offline reading is not available at all. Nothing leaves the app, so there is nothing to convert, and that is a fair trade for a free read. If you want a vertical scroll series on e-ink you need a file you own, and the panel splitting side of that is at /tools/manga-for-kindle.
Which file formats can I actually convert here?
CBZ, CBR, CB7, CBT, ZIP, RAR, 7Z, PDF and EPUB, as long as the file is not DRM-protected. A folder of page images zipped up counts, which is what makes a scan or an openly licensed comic's page files work. Output is an EPUB for a Kindle, a KEPUB for a Kobo, a PDF for a reMarkable, or a cleaned CBZ. The format pages start at /tools/cbz-to-epub.
Conversion runs on Kindle Comic Converter (KCC), the open-source engine manga readers have used for years, hosted here with a live preview so there is nothing to install. The sources above are other people's stores, libraries and projects; the conversion is the part they leave to you.
Free, sized for your exact device, right to left kept, waiting on your shelf