head to head · open source
calibre vs read-aware
calibre has 26,407 GitHub stars, 2,750 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. read-aware has 501 stars, 46 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. calibre leads on adoption by 5,171% (26,407 vs 501 stars). calibre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; read-aware is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. calibre has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, read-aware 9%. calibre was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ebook, ebook-reader, 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 | read-aware | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 501 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-10 | 2026-11-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.8K | ⑂ 46 |
| 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 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 calibre
calibre calibre is an e book manager. It can view, convert, edit and catalog e books in all of the major e book formats. It can also talk to e book reader devices. It can go out to the internet and fetch metadata for your books. It can download newspapers and convert them into e books for convenient reading. It is cross platform, running on Linux, Windows and macOS. For more information, see the calibre About page. Screenshots Screenshots page Usage See the User Manual. Development Setting up a development environment for calibre. A tarball of the source code for the current calibre release. Bugs Bug reports and…
read the full calibre 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 calibre or read-aware more popular?
calibre has 26,407 GitHub stars and read-aware has 501. calibre has the larger community by that measure.
Are calibre and read-aware free?
Both are open source. calibre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and read-aware under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between calibre and read-aware?
calibre is written in Python 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, calibre or read-aware?
Choose calibre if you want the larger community (26,407 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose read-aware if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.