This study was aimed to determine the characteristic and tretinoin release in nanoemulsion using virgin coconut oil (VCO) as oil phase compared with emulsion. The characteristics of the tretinoin nanoemulsion (TN) were observed in terms of droplet morphology by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and droplet size by particle analyzer and light microscope and the pH value by pH meter. The release rate of tretinoin in nanoemulsion and emulsion was measured by Franz diffusion cell using cellophane membrane. Result of this research showed the droplet morphology of tretinoin nanoemulsion and emulsion were spherical. The droplet size of tretinoin nanoemulsion (72.57 ± 18.16 nm) was smaller than tretinoin emulsion (10.54 ± 0.61 m). The pH value of tretinoin nanoemulsion and tretinoin emulsion was 6.24 ± 0.01 and 6.21 ± 0.02. In interval times 5 – 60 minutes the tretinoin release rate (flux) in nanoemulsion was 0.158 ± 0.016 µg/cm2 /minute higher than in emulsion which was 0.048 ± 0.016 g/cm2 /minute. In interval times 60 – 180 minutes, tretinoin release rate (flux) in nanoemulsion was 0.046 ± 0.005 g/cm2 /minute lower than in emulsion which was 0.090 ± 0.016 g/cm2 /minute. In interval times 180 – 720 minutes the tretinoin release rate (flux) in nanoemulsion was 0.025 ± 0.001 g/cm2 /minute which had no significant different compared to in emulsion which was 0.022 ± 0.002 g/cm2 /minute. The statistical analysis of the tretinoin release rate value using independent T-test result was known that there were significant different between nanoemulsion (TN) and emulsion (TE). Conclusion: The droplet size of tretinoin nanoemulsion was below 100 nm, pH value 6.24 ± 0.01 and the tretinoin release rate in nanoemulsion using VCO was higher than in emulsion