What it does
Koharu is an app for translating manga. It finds speech bubbles and text on each page, reads the text, translates it, paints over the original and places the translation back in.
You can proofread results, fix things by hand on a canvas, handle vertical and right-to-left text, and export layered files for further editing.
Its makers say it runs its vision and language models on your own computer to keep data private, though hosted AI providers can also be used. A graphics card makes it much faster.
Who it's for
Manga readers, fan translators and anyone translating comics.
Can I use it without coding?
Yes. There are ready-made installers for Windows, Mac and Linux. New to this? Start here.
Can I run it?
- Cost
- FreeNothing to pay or sign up for.
- Runs on
- Mac, Windows, Linux
- Computer
- Works best on a powerful computer or one with a graphics card (GPU)
- Privacy
- Your choice: run it on your device or use an online service
- API key
- Not needed
Try it
- Download Koharu for your computer from the project's GitHub releases page.
- Open a manga image, archive or PDF as a new project.
- Run detection, text reading and translation, then check and adjust the results.
Using Claude Code, Cursor or another AI coding assistant? Paste the prompt and it will walk you through the setup.New to this?
Before you install
- Only download from the official GitHub page or the official download page above. Copies with similar names exist for many popular projects.
- License (Apache-2.0): Permissive: free to use, change and share, including for business.
- More on staying safe