head to head · open source
anymd vs read-aware
anymd has 1,069 GitHub stars, 93 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. read-aware has 501 stars, 46 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. anymd leads on adoption by 113% (1,069 vs 501 stars). anymd is written in Rust under MIT; read-aware is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. anymd has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, read-aware 9%. read-aware was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (epub), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| anymd | read-aware | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.1K | ★ 501 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-11-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 93 | ⑂ 46 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick anymd if
- You weight community size — 1.1K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick read-aware if
- You want the read-aware feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and read-aware fits your workflow better
About anymd
anymd PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, EPUB, HTML and web pages, images (OCR), audio and video (metadata, subtitles, transcripts). A fast Rust MCP server and CLI that runs on your machine. No API key. Install · Benchmarks · Tools · CLI · Formats · Docs Formerly pdf reader mcp . Migrating from pdf reader mcp A real, unedited terminal recording (asciinema + agg, script ). The last command is Claude Code answering from the PDF through the anymd MCP server. Why anymd Fast. Native Rust converts in parallel, page by page. On the 19 benchmark documents every tool converted, anymd takes 12.1 s in total; docling 1,723.3 s…
read the full anymd overview →
About read-aware
ReadAware An ebook reader with a self evolving agent. It remembers your reading across books, and plugins extend the reader and the agent alike. Underneath is a quiet, carefully made reader for EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, PDF, and more that works fully offline, with or without AI. Website · Download · Discord English · 简体中文 · 日本語 ReadAware is free and built in the open. If it makes your reading better, give it a star — stars are how new readers find the project. One reader. One agent. Open ended plugins. ReadAware is a free and open source reader for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS. At its center is a single…
read the full read-aware overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is anymd or read-aware more popular?
anymd has 1,069 GitHub stars and read-aware has 501. anymd has the larger community by that measure.
Are anymd and read-aware free?
Both are open source. anymd is licensed under MIT and read-aware under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between anymd and read-aware?
anymd is written in Rust and read-aware in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, anymd or read-aware?
Choose anymd if you want the larger community (1,069 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose read-aware if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.