WebVetted β„’ Beta
Recommendation
Caution
Overall Summary
Suspicious
Why we think so

Quick verdict: suspicious. MangaBuddy is a high-traffic, long-running free manga reader (about 20 million monthly visits, global rank ~1,900) that serves content over HTTPS and uses Cloudflare. Those are positive technical signals. However, the site hides registrant details behind a privacy service, exposes no email or phone contact on the site, and appears to host unlicensed/aggregated manga β€” a legal and copyright risk. No Google Safe Browsing or crypto-blacklist hits were found, but the combination of privacy-protected WHOIS, heavy ad/third-party ad networks, and the site’s unofficial content means proceed with caution. If you only browse, risk is low; avoid submitting personal or payment data and prefer official licensed manga sources where possible. πŸ›‘οΈ

Confidence Score
45%

Risk Insights

⚠️

High usage but legal risk

About 20M monthly visits and global rank ~1,900 show wide adoption.
Multiple news/posts flag the site as an unofficial free manga host, which implies copyright exposure.
If you only read, risk is lower; avoid sharing or downloading content for redistribution.
βœ…

Technical signals are strong

Site uses Cloudflare and HTTPS with a valid origin certificate.
No Google Safe Browsing or crypto blacklist detections were found.

Contradictory Signals

The site behaves like a mature content aggregator but hides owner identity, which is common for unofficial media hosts.

Signal A: High traffic and long-running domain (suggests established service)

Signal B: Privacy-protected WHOIS and no official contact (reduces accountability)

Category Scores

Identity 40/100
Reputation 65/100
Technical 85/100
Content 30/100
Legal 35/100
Business Validity 50/100

Red Flags & Warnings

  • Registrant is privacy-protected (PrivacyGuardian) and WHOIS lacks clear organizational identity β€” lowers trust.
  • Site likely hosts or aggregates unlicensed manga content; this creates legal and takedown risk even if users aren't directly scammed.
  • No posted contact email or phone number on the site; only social links β€” poor direct accountability.
  • Heavy use of many third-party ad networks increases chance of malicious or intrusive ads.

πŸ”Ž Detailed Checks & Analysis

Identity transparency (WHOIS)

Score: 40/100
Failed

"WHOIS shows a PrivacyGuardian contact and a U.S. postal box address; that reduces ability to contact an accountable owner for takedown or dispute resolution."

Reason: Registrant uses a privacy service and the WHOIS contact fields are masked, so organizational identity is not verifiable.

Reputation & traffic signals

Score: 65/100
Passed

"SimilarWeb and other traffic providers report ~20M monthly visits and a global rank near 1,900; widespread use supports reputational presence but doesn't guarantee legitimacy of content licensing."

Reason: Large, stable traffic and multiple news mentions indicate a widely used site, but some sources flag legal concerns.

Technical security (TLS, hosting, safebrowsing)

Score: 85/100
Passed

"Valid Cloudflare origin certificate and no Google Safe Browsing or crypto-blacklist matches lower the probability of active distribution of malware or phishing on the canonical domain."

Reason: Site uses HTTPS and Cloudflare; Google Safe Browsing shows no active phishing/malware flags.

Content legitimacy (copyright/licensing)

Score: 30/100
Failed

"News articles and community posts repeatedly describe MangaBuddy as a free reader that may host unlicensed scans/translations β€” this is a legal risk for the operator and for users who redistribute content."

Reason: Site is known to host free manga aggregations and is discussed as an unofficial source in news and reviews, raising copyright/takedown risk.

Contactability & business validity

Score: 50/100
Failed

"Contact scraping returned social links but no administrative or customer support email/phone; that weakens commercial trustworthiness."

Reason: No direct business email or phone found on the site; only social profiles are listed, reducing clear routes for support or dispute resolution.

Your Next Steps

  • 1
    Do not provide payment details or personal data on mangabuddy.com; the site is mainly for free reading and has no clear verified business contact.
  • 2
    If you need licensed copies or want to support creators, use official platforms (e.g., Viz, Kodansha, Shonen Jump, Comixology).
  • 3
    Verify you are on the correct domain (mangabuddy.com) and avoid look-alike domains (e.g., mangabuddy.top) which have lower trust scores.
  • 4
    If you see suspicious ads or download prompts on the site, leave the page and scan your device for malware.
  • 5
    Report phishing/malicious ads found on the site to your browser vendor and consider using an ad-blocker for safer browsing.

Evidence & Citations