RuneManga vs Papago for translating manga
Papago or RuneManga for manga and manhwa pages: image translation, batches, extensions, languages, price and what happens to your images.
Short answer
Papago, by Naver, is a general translator with an image mode: on its website, after a Naver login, and in its apps it reads the text in a picture and returns it translated. The paid Papago Plus adds batches of up to 100 images and a Chrome extension. It is strong for Korean and covers 14 languages for images, but its pages say nothing about speech bubbles, vertical Japanese or comics. RuneManga is made for manga, manhwa and webtoons: whole chapters, the translation set in the bubbles, a free plan and 89 target languages.
| Feature | RuneManga | Papago |
|---|---|---|
| WebApp upload | Yes. Add images, a folder, a ZIP, a CBZ or a PDF (50 to 500 pages at once depending on the plan, 20 MB each), correct the result in Edit mode, and download single pages, a ZIP or one PDF. | Yes: the Image tab on papago.naver.com takes JPG, PNG and GIF files after a Naver login, one image at a time. Papago Plus translates up to 100 images at once on the web. |
| Browser extension | Yes, in the Chrome Web Store (Chrome, Brave, Opera) and Edge Add-ons; a Firefox version is in review. It translates pages right on the sites you read: an R button per page, Auto mode while you scroll, show original, Translate an area, Edit image and a ZIP of the page's translations. | Only with Papago Plus: its Chrome extension translates an image on a web page when you click its icon, and you can download the result. The free Papago has no image extension. |
| Languages | From Japanese, Korean, Chinese, English and six more languages (or auto-detect) into 89 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish and French. Arabic and Thai output is experimental. | 14 languages for images, with source detection: Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian and Arabic. |
| Bubble-aware typesetting | Yes. Lettering in speech bubbles, caption boxes and text on the art is erased, the background filled in and the translation fitted in its place. Sound effects stay as drawn. Edit mode, in the WebApp and the extension, lets you move, restyle and rewrite the text. | Naver describes its image translation as erasing the original text and drawing the translation in. Its pages do not mention speech bubbles, vertical Japanese or comics. |
| Colorize | SoonPlanned, not available yet. The colorizer is in development. | No. |
| Translation engine | RuneLingua, our own AI translator for manga dialogue, on every plan, Free included. A few languages it does not cover well yet use another translation service. You can also connect your own AI key (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, DeepSeek, xAI or OpenRouter). | Naver's own Papago translation. |
| Pricing | Credits, 1 per page. Free at $0: 20 credits a day, claimed on the site, plus 30 once at sign-up that never expire. Supporter ($2.99, 1,000 a month), Pro ($4.99, 2,500) and Ultimate ($9.99, 5,000) are on sale now, with packs of 1,000, 2,500 or 6,000 credits that never expire. | Free Papago allows 30 images a month on the website with a login. Papago Plus is a monthly subscription: Basic $9.99, Standard $29.99 and Advanced $55.99 on the web, with a one-month trial. |
| Privacy and retention | Pages are processed on RuneManga's servers; only the text found on the page goes to the translation engine. Jobs are deleted about an hour after they finish and are not used for training. | For the free Papago, Naver says data is used for learning with your consent. Papago Plus is described as having strict data security. |
| Sign-up needed | Yes for the WebApp: a free sign-in with Google, Discord or an emailed link, no card. | Yes: image translation on the website needs a Naver account. |
When RuneManga is the better fit
- You read manga, manhwa or webtoons and want the translation set inside the bubbles, sized to fit.
- You want to translate a whole chapter at once from images, a ZIP, a CBZ or a PDF, on the Free plan.
- You read into a language Papago does not offer for images, such as Turkish or Portuguese.
- You want an extension that translates pages on the sites you read without a subscription.
When Papago is the better fit
- You mostly translate Korean and want Naver's own translation.
- You translate photos, menus and documents as well as comics, in one app.
- You already pay for Papago Plus and want its Chrome extension and batches of 100 images.
Questions
Is Papago good for manhwa?
Papago is strong for Korean and can translate a picture of a page. It is a general image translator and does not say it handles speech bubbles, so try the same page in both and compare.
Is Papago image translation free?
Free Papago allows 30 images a month on the website with a Naver login, and Papago Plus raises the limits with a subscription. RuneManga's Free plan gives 20 credits a day, one per page.
Does Papago have a browser extension for images?
Only Papago Plus, the paid version, has a Chrome extension that translates images on web pages.
Sources
- Papago: image translation
- Papago Plus: plans and limits
- Papago Plus: features
- Papago Plus in the Chrome Web Store
- Naver Cloud: Papago image translation
Facts checked on October 29, 2026 from each tool's own pages and store listings. Something out of date? Write to [email protected].