Where the JLPT and Joyo lists are curated by test boards and ministries, the frequency list is empirical: how often each kanji actually appears in a corpus of modern Japanese text (newspapers, primarily). The list below is the top 2,500 kanji from the davidluzgouveia/kanji-data dataset, bucketed in groups of 500.
Frequency is the most practical lens for "will I run into this" - WaniKani teaches almost all of the top 1,500 and trails off in the long tail. Personal coverage against this list lives on the frequency coverage page once you're logged in.
WaniKani vs frequency, at a glance
Bucket
Kanji
WaniKani covers
Notes
Top 1-500
500
100%
The kanji that appear in literally every newspaper article.
501-1,000
500
99%
Still part of everyday written Japanese - WaniKani teaches almost all.
1,001-1,500
500
95%
Less common but recognisable; WaniKani covers most.
Rare characters: archaic, technical, literary. Largest WK gap.
Why frequency matters more than test lists
JLPT and Joyo lists are useful but artificial - they exclude common characters by editorial choice (place names, given names, certain compounds). Frequency lists capture what you'll actually encounter when reading. If your goal is reading novels, manga, or news without constant lookups, top-1,500 coverage is the most direct proxy for "am I ready".
Finishing WaniKani gets you comfortable reading coverage for roughly the top 2,000 - enough that lookups become rare rather than constant.
Top 1-500 (500)
The kanji that appear in literally every newspaper article.
For a personalised view - which top-2,500 kanji you already know, broken down by bucket and tied to your live WaniKani progress - paste a personal access token on the login page.