PRODUCT RESEARCH
Lezhin
This research note is kept separate from the app profile so the main page stays focused on ranking data.
One-line positioning
Lezhin Snack is a global vertical short-drama platform launched in February 2026 by Lezhin Entertainment, the South Korean webtoon company behind Lezhin Comics and Bomtoon, now part of the Kidari Studio group. It launched simultaneously in Korea, the US and Japan, adapting 30,000+ proprietary webtoon IPs into live-action short dramas and monetizing through coin purchases, memberships and ad-watch unlocks, with BL/GL and mature-themed IP as its key differentiator.
Product & company
Store listings and public media identify Lezhin Entertainment, Inc. (Gangnam-gu, Seoul; per the App Store seller record) as the operator of Lezhin Snack, with parent company Kidari Studio, a South Korean content group that completed its acquisition of Lezhin Entertainment for approximately KRW 130 billion in December 2020. The Lezhin group privacy policy names Lezhin Entertainment, LLC, a US entity, as its data controller, a different legal entity from the Korean seller within the same group and presented side by side. No mainland-China operating entity or equity linkage is visible in public sources.
Business model & format
Lezhin Snack monetizes primarily through coin purchases to unlock individual episodes, supported by membership subscriptions (Weekly US$6.99 / Monthly US$19.99 / Annual US$79.99) and rewarded ads that unlock the next episode free (added in version 1.6.2). Users can sign in with Lezhin KR accounts and link their coin balances, with Kakao/Naver login also supported; new members get 30 minutes of unlimited streaming. Since 1.4.0, AI captions cover 30 languages, and English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are supported.
Growth & market
Lezhin Snack launched officially on February 4, 2026, simultaneously in South Korea, the United States and Japan (listed on iOS on February 2). It leverages the Lezhin group's webtoon ecosystem of 70 million+ cumulative registered users worldwide and 24 million+ cumulative US users for traffic, after Lezhin's North American transaction volume exceeded KRW 20 billion in 2024. Positioned as the group's IP-conversion testing ground, it validates audience response with short dramas before expanding into longer dramas, animation, games and other formats. In its early months Google Play shows 100K+ downloads; iOS ratings remain thin, indicating an early ramp-up phase.
Risks & watchpoints
The entity evidence is solid and the classification is stably paid, so the product is suitable for public listing. Areas to watch: the product has been live only a few months and remains small, with a low and thinly sampled iOS rating; the heavy use of ad-watch unlocks raises questions about the balance between paid conversion and ad experience; mature/BL&GL content carries compliance and age-verification risk in some markets (an age-verification feature has been shipped); the standalone Lezhin Snack privacy policy and terms have not been independently verified, and the iOS seller (Korean Inc.) and the group privacy controller (US LLC) are different entities within the same group and should be presented side by side.