MyAnimeList
Platform · this deep dive is built from the official pages of the platform itself and of the tools that support it.
Overview
MyAnimeList is a database of anime and manga with a community built on top of it. A user keeps personal lists of what they have watched and read, gives ratings, writes reviews and discusses all of it on the forum and in clubs. The platform describes itself as the world's largest anime and manga database and community, created by an anime fan for anime fans.
It is important to understand how it works before you start: this is not a social network with a feed, and not a video platform. The unit of content here is a catalogue entry (a title, a character, a company) and everything users write around it. There is no business presence in the form of a «brand page»; for companies there are two channels — advertising and programmatic access to the catalogue.
The operator is MyAnimeList Co., Ltd., named as the rights holder in the site footer and as a party to the user agreement. The agreement was updated on 16 December 2025.
Who's here
The platform gives numbers in two places, and they serve different purposes.
For advertisers: every month we serve 150 million page views to more than 12 million unique visitors. This is MyAnimeList's own statement in a commercial context; the page names neither the period it was counted over nor an independent measurer.
For users: a community of more than half a million users a day and fans from more than 200 countries around the world. These figures have the same owner — the platform itself. Note that «half a million a day» and «12 million unique a month» are metrics of different kinds; they cannot be combined into a single model.
The platform does not publish a language breakdown. The interface is English; individual sections (the advertising enquiry form, for example) carry a note that enquiries are also accepted in Japanese — that is the only trace of a second language on the pages we checked. There is no publicly available breakdown of the audience by country; the advertising form has a list of countries for the brief — the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, «multiple countries», «other», which points indirectly at priority sales markets, but not at the structure of the audience.
Getting started
Registration is free. The logic after that is simple: an account → anime and manga lists → a profile → the forum and clubs. The platform describes the path as creating a personal list from tens of thousands of titles and tracking what is completed, current progress and plans.
There is no business account. To a company that wants an official presence here the platform offers a single door — the advertising department: the advertising page has a form with a choice of role: advertiser company, advertising agency or «others (ad network, SSP, DSP…)». That last item shows that part of the inventory is sold through programmatic channels.
There is also a paid subscription for users — MAL Supporter. The prices are published: $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year («two months free»), plus gift options of $2.99 for a month and $8.97 for three months.
What you can publish
A user publishes ratings, reviews, blog entries, forum and club posts, and profile styling. The platform calls the forum the best place to discuss your favourite series and follow the news.
What the subscription gives in terms of styling is listed with numbers: your own style for the «About Me» block, with font, colours and background; twice as many favourites in each category — from 10 to 20; changing the colour of the status bars in your profile; a MAL Supporter badge; your own forum title; twice as long an ignore list — from 30 to 60. It is stated there too that the subscription removes display advertising only: Crunchyroll and HIDIVE video advertising and promotional material stay visible.
An advertiser has access to the formats named on the advertising page: «skins» (a high-reach format in various sizes and positions), standard IAB units and mobile units. The exact dimensions and weights sit in the media kit and the detailed specification, which are downloaded separately.
General content restrictions are set by the agreement: it has separate sections on «Use of the service» and «User content», and the API provides an nsfw parameter, because by default some methods do not return «not safe for work» material. So the split between «safe» and «adult» content is built into the platform itself.
How to grow
MyAnimeList has no algorithmic feed, and the platform does not promise one. Visibility comes from the catalogue: rankings, seasonal selections, top lists. The open pages show that the platform maintains rankings of top anime, top airing titles, most popular characters and recommendations, and all of them are built on user ratings rather than editorial choice.
There is no tool for promoting an entry inside the platform. The only paid way to increase visibility is to buy advertising through the form on the advertising page; there is no self-service dashboard with prices, everything goes through an enquiry.
The platform does not describe built-in statistics for users on the open pages. There is an indirect sign: the API gives access to anime and manga rankings and seasonal selections, so you can gather your own catalogue analytics programmatically.
Path to monetization
MyAnimeList does not pay creators. There is no reward programme for reviews, no share of advertising revenue and no subscription to an author on the pages we checked.
The cash flow runs towards the platform: a user can become a MAL Supporter for $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, and the platform frames this as supporting development rather than buying a service. There is a commerce part too — an online manga shop, which has a separate section in the agreement.
For a developer, earning is theoretically possible: the API agreement explicitly acknowledges the existence of «your commercial applications» — with a subscription, a one-off payment, a paid download, paid consultations or tiers of access for money. But that is earning from your own product, not a payout from the platform.
Tools and automation
The official API
MyAnimeList's API is open and documented — a rarity by the standards of niche platforms. The version is marked as beta: the base address is https://api.myanimelist.net/v2, the version is given in the address, and during the closed beta versions started with «0».
What is available: lists and details of anime and manga, rankings, seasonal selections, recommendations, reading and changing a user's list (the PATCH and DELETE methods), reading your own profile, and also the forum — boards, topics and topic content. The response format is JSON with a data block and a paging block with previous and next links; the selection is bounded by the limit and offset parameters, and the set of fields is set by the fields parameter.
Authorization is twofold. For actions on behalf of a user — OAuth 2 with the address https://myanimelist.net/v1/oauth2/authorize and the write:users scope, which allows viewing and changing basic profile data and lists, and publishing on the user's behalf. When a user login is not needed, the client authorizes with the X-MAL-CLIENT-ID header. The error codes are named as well: 400 — invalid parameters, 401 with the code invalid_token — an expired or invalid token, 403 — including when DoS is detected, 404 — not found. The documentation gives no numeric request rate limits.
The API terms of use
They are worth reading before you develop anything. The agreement is dated 8 August 2019 and requires you to obtain a Client ID through an application and registration; the key may not be passed to third parties and may be revoked at any moment.
There is no charge for the API at present, but with a caveat: there are no licence payments under the agreement, however the company reserves the right to start charging for access at any moment after notice and to limit the volume of data transferred.
The least obvious requirement is mandatory notice of release: on releasing an application the developer is obliged to notify the company and, at the company's choice, allow the application to be checked for compliance with the agreement; the same applies to major updates and materially new functionality — for instance turning a non-commercial application into a commercial one or adding advertising. If the company does not approve the application, you may not go on using it without written permission.
There is a reciprocal licence too: the developer grants MyAnimeList the right to index and cache, including by robots, any page on which they display MyAnimeList content.
Limits and rules
- A Client ID is required. Access to the API is only by a key obtained through an application; passing the key on is prohibited.
- Application review. Notice of release and of major updates is mandatory; the company may withhold approval.
- A charge for the API may appear. The company reserves the right to start charging after notice.
- Responsibility for the application's users. The developer must watch for violations, restrict violators and give users a channel for complaints.
- Adult content. By default some methods do not return NSFW material; the behaviour is switched by a parameter.
- The subscription does not remove all advertising. Crunchyroll and HIDIVE video advertising and promotional material remain.
- The legal frame. The agreement has separate sections on applicable law and jurisdiction, on inactive accounts and on recycling usernames.
Who it's for
It suits companies in the anime industry and adjacent niches — streaming services, manga publishers, merch makers, games: the audience is gathered by interest rather than demographics, and the ad formats are standard. It works for ad networks too: the platform explicitly invites networks, SSPs and DSPs.
It suits developers who need an anime and manga catalogue: a documented API with rankings, seasonal selections and access to a user's lists gives you enough for a tracker, a bot or a recommendation service. Just remember the mandatory application review.
It does not suit a brand presence «under your own steam»: there is no company page here, the feed is not algorithmic, and there is nothing with which to promote an entry from the inside. It does not suit projects that need predictable development terms: the platform retains the right to introduce a charge and to revoke a key. And it does not suit you if your product is outside anime — the context here is narrow.
Verified data
The checked data this deep dive rests on.
About the platform
the platform describes itself as follows: «Welcome to MyAnimeList, the world's most active online anime and manga community and database. Join the online community, create your anime and manga list, read reviews, explore the forums, follow news, and so much more!»
Self-description: this is the platform's claim about itself, not an independent assessment
source, checked 2026-07-28
the rights holder and party to the user agreement is MyAnimeList Co., Ltd.; the agreement was updated on 16 December 2025
The document header: «LAST UPDATED: December 16, 2025»
source, checked 2026-07-28
Who's here
the platform tells advertisers: 150 million page views a month to more than 12 million unique visitors
MyAnimeList's claim about itself; neither the period counted nor the measurer is named
source, checked 2026-07-28
the platform reports: a community of more than half a million users a day and fans from more than 200 countries
The «About» page; a metric of a different kind from the 12 million unique visitors a month
source, checked 2026-07-28
Advertising
the advertising formats: «skins» (a high-reach format in various sizes and positions), standard IAB units, mobile units; enquiries are submitted by advertiser companies, agencies and «others (ad network, SSP, DSP)»
Judging by the form, part of the inventory is sold through programmatic channels
source, checked 2026-07-28
Paid subscriptions
the MAL Supporter subscription: $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year («two months free»); the gift options are $2.99 for 1 month and $8.97 for 3 months
The «About MAL Supporter» page
source, checked 2026-07-28
the subscription gives: styling of the About Me block (font, colours, background), twice as many favourites in each category, from 10 to 20, a change of colour for the status bars, a Supporter badge, your own forum title, twice as long an ignore list, from 30 to 60; only display advertising is removed — Crunchyroll and HIDIVE video advertising and promotional material remain
The list of features and the footnote on the subscription page
source, checked 2026-07-28
API access
the API is documented and marked as beta: the base address is https://api.myanimelist.net/v2; available are lists and details of anime and manga, rankings, seasonal selections, recommendations, reading and changing a user's list (PATCH, DELETE), reading your own profile, forum boards and topics
The official MyAnimeList API reference (beta ver.)
source, checked 2026-07-28
authorization is twofold: OAuth 2 through https://myanimelist.net/v1/oauth2/authorize with the write:users scope for actions on behalf of a user, and the X-MAL-CLIENT-ID header when a user login is not required
The Authentication section of the reference
source, checked 2026-07-28
responses are in JSON with data and paging blocks (previous and next links); the selection is bounded by the limit and offset parameters, the set of fields is set by the fields parameter; by default some methods do not return NSFW material, and the behaviour is switched by the nsfw parameter
The Common formats and Common parameters sections
source, checked 2026-07-28
the API agreement of 8 August 2019: a Client ID is issued on application, it may not be passed to third parties, and the company may revoke it at any moment; there are no licence payments, but the company reserves the right to start charging after notice and to limit the volume of data transferred
Sections 2 and 6 of the API License and Developer Agreement
source, checked 2026-07-28
on releasing an application the developer is obliged to notify the company and, at its choice, allow the application to be checked; the same applies to major updates and materially new functionality — for instance turning a non-commercial application into a commercial one or adding advertising; if approval is refused, the application may not be used without written permission
Section 4(b) of the agreement
source, checked 2026-07-28
the developer grants MyAnimeList a revocable royalty-free licence to access, index and cache by any means, including robots, any page on which they display MyAnimeList content
Section 2(b) of the agreement
source, checked 2026-07-28
Languages
the interface language of the home page: en
The language is taken from the markup attribute, the versions from hreflang
source, checked 2026-07-28
the interface is English; the advertising page carries a note that enquiries are also accepted in Japanese
Refines the database entry on the language en
source, checked 2026-07-28
Catalogue section: all similar See also: catalogue index · region: USA and Canada · scheduler comparison · find by situation · platform restrictions