The best 9anime alternative in 2026
9anime became AniWave in August 2023, and a year later it was taken down along with the rest of the FMovies group. Sites calling themselves 9anime today are copies.
By the Rotten Brains team · Updated 23 September 2026 · 3 min read
The short answer
The real 9anime turned into AniWave in 2023 and was shut down in August 2024. Any 9anime you find now is a copy. Rotten Brains is free, needs no account, and has anime with sub and dub where both exist.
What happened to 9anime?
9anime launched in 2016 and became one of the main places to watch anime free, in English sub and dub, with no sign-up. It belonged to the same Hanoi-based group that ran FMovies. By October 2020 TorrentFreak counted it at more than 39 million visits a month, and by May 2023 it was at 214 million.
It was already under pressure. In July 2020 it was one of the sites, with KissAnime and Gogoanime, in a Disney application to the Delhi High Court to block 118 pirate domains in India. On 2 August 2023 the operators dropped the 9anime name: "Because of DMCA issues and multiple ISPs blocking our domain, we decided to rebrand 9anime as Aniwave." Every 9anime domain began redirecting to aniwave.to.
That is why many people never noticed the end. What closed in late August 2024 was AniWave, and on 29 August ACE confirmed that Hanoi police, with its support, had shut down the whole FMovies operation, which it called the largest piracy ring in the world. The 9anime name was left behind for anyone to use, and plenty of sites use it now.
Even before the shutdown, the operators warned that "many clone/fake 9anime sites" were "mostly stealing your data". A security company has since reported that sites using the 9anime and AniWave names are unverified clones, some redirecting to scam, gambling or fake-update pages.
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What people liked about 9anime, and where it is now
English sub and dub for most shows, free
On Rotten Brains: every season and episode, with up next →No sign-up before the first episode
On Rotten Brains: pick up where you left off →A site that stayed usable from 2016 through years of blocks
On Rotten Brains: the player finds a working source by itself →
9anime vs Rotten Brains
Status
9anime: Renamed 2023, shut down August 2024
✓Rotten Brains: Online and updated every day
Who runs it
9anime: Unknown copies using the name
✓Rotten Brains: One site, one domain
Account needed to watch
9anime: Usually not
✓Rotten Brains: No
When a server fails
9anime: Pick another by hand
✓Rotten Brains: Switches source by itself
Subtitles
9anime: Varies
✓Rotten Brains: Many languages, several versions each
Watch parties
9anime: Rarely
✓Rotten Brains: Yes, friends join without an account
Resume on any device
9anime: Rarely
✓Rotten Brains: Yes, with a free account
Address
9anime: Renamed AniWave in 2023, then closed; copies use both names
✓Rotten Brains: One address: rotten-brains.com
| 9anime today | Rotten Brains | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Renamed 2023, shut down August 2024 | ✓Online and updated every day |
| Who runs it | Unknown copies using the name | ✓One site, one domain |
| Account needed to watch | Usually not | ✓No |
| When a server fails | Pick another by hand | ✓Switches source by itself |
| Subtitles | Varies | ✓Many languages, several versions each |
| Watch parties | Rarely | ✓Yes, friends join without an account |
| Resume on any device | Rarely | ✓Yes, with a free account |
| Address | Renamed AniWave in 2023, then closed; copies use both names | ✓One address: rotten-brains.com |
A look around Rotten Brains
Real screenshots from the site, in the order that matters most to someone coming from 9anime.
01
Every season and episode, with Up Next
Shows open on a watch page with every season beside the player. The episode you are on is marked, and Up Next sits right above the list, so finishing an episode is one tap from the next.
Anime is here too, with sub and dub where both exist.
02
Pick up where you left off
With a free account, every movie and episode remembers the second you stopped, on every device. Continue Watching sits at the top of the home page, next to what is new in the shows you follow.
You never need the account to watch. It only adds the memory.
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03
The player finds a working source by itself
On 9anime a dead server meant going back, picking the next one and hoping. Here every title is checked against several sources before you press play, and the player starts on the one that answers first.
If a source stalls, the player tries the next one and picks up where you were. You can still pick one yourself from the settings menu, with a note on which ones carry extra audio languages or subtitles.
04
Subtitles in dozens of languages
Subtitles come from more than one source, so most titles have several versions per language. If the first one is out of sync with the video, the next one usually is not.
Many get lined up with the dialogue automatically when you pick them, and there is a delay slider for the rest.
05
Watch parties with friends anywhere
Start a party from any movie or episode and send the link. Everyone who opens it watches the same second of the same video, with a chat alongside, and the player keeps them in sync.
Any free account can start one. Friends can join and watch without an account at all.
06
Built for your phone too
The site works the same on a phone as on a laptop: the player pins to the top, the episode list scrolls underneath, and the controls are sized for thumbs.
Add it to your home screen and it opens full screen, like an app, with no store and no install.
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Questions
Is 9anime the same as AniWave?
Yes. 9anime renamed itself AniWave on 2 August 2023, citing DMCA issues and ISP blocks, and all its domains redirected there. AniWave was then shut down in August 2024.
Which 9anime site is the real one?
None. The original has been gone since August 2024. Its own operators warned that fake 9anime sites were mostly after your data, and that was while the real one still existed.
Does Rotten Brains have anime in sub and dub?
Where both exist, yes. Anime is listed season by season, and if a source fails the player moves to another one by itself.