Anime · head-to-head

AniList vs MyAnimeList

AniList

AniList's public GraphQL endpoint at graphql.anilist.co answers anime, manga, and character queries with no authentication at all — confirmed live with an unauthenticated POST that returned a normal GraphQL error payload alongside a wide-open Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * header. OAuth only comes into play for account-scoped actions like updating a user's list; browsing the catalog is free and unmetered beyond a per-minute rate limit.

MyAnimeList

MyAnimeList's official v2 REST API was reconfirmed live at api.myanimelist.net/v2 — an unauthenticated request returned a 403 from the real gateway rather than a network error, and a preflight OPTIONS carried no Access-Control-Allow-Origin header, so cors is corrected to no. It requires a registered OAuth 2 client, the same one the community 'Official MAL API' club (the entry's stored url) walks new developers through, and remains completely free to use.

AniListMyAnimeList
AuthenticationOAuthOAuth
Pricingfreefree
FormatsJSONJSON
CORSyesno
HTTPSYesYes

AniList supports CORS, while MyAnimeList doesn't — pick AniList for direct browser calls.

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