head to head · open source
calibre vs Calibre-Web-Automated
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars, 2,690 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,293 stars, 519 forks, 443 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. calibre leads on adoption by 312% (25,923 vs 6,293 stars). calibre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Calibre-Web-Automated is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. calibre has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Calibre-Web-Automated 8%. calibre was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (calibre, ebook, ebooks, 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
| calibre | Calibre-Web-Automated | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 519 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick calibre if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Calibre-Web-Automated if
- You want the Calibre-Web-Automated feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Calibre-Web-Automated fits your workflow better
About calibre
calibre is the official source code repository for the calibre e book manager, an open source application written in Python and released under GPL 3.0. It lives in the content and publishing ecosystem as a desktop tool for books, and it is cross platform, running on Linux, Windows and macOS. The project has been hosted on GitHub for roughly thirteen years, carries about 25,900 stars and 2,683 forks, and its home on the web is calibre ebook.com, where an About page and a screenshots page document it further.
read the full calibre overview →
About Calibre-Web-Automated
Calibre Web Automated is a free, GPL 3.0, self hosted digital library server distributed as the Docker image crocodilestick/calibre web automated , aimed at self hosters who want one automated service instead of running Calibre and Calibre Web side by side.
read the full Calibre-Web-Automated overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is calibre or Calibre-Web-Automated more popular?
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars and Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,293. calibre has the larger community by that measure.
Are calibre and Calibre-Web-Automated free?
Both are open source. calibre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Calibre-Web-Automated under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between calibre and Calibre-Web-Automated?
calibre is written in Python and Calibre-Web-Automated in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, calibre or Calibre-Web-Automated?
Choose calibre if you want the larger community (25,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Calibre-Web-Automated if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.