head to head · open source
calibre vs ShipShipShip
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars, 2,690 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ShipShipShip has 299 stars, 16 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. calibre leads on adoption by 8,570% (25,923 vs 299 stars). calibre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; ShipShipShip is written in Svelte under Apache-2.0. calibre has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, ShipShipShip 5%. calibre was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | ShipShipShip | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 299 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Svelte |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 16 |
| 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 ShipShipShip if
- You want the ShipShipShip feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Svelte
- You evaluated both and ShipShipShip 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 ShipShipShip
ShipShipShip is an open source, self hostable changelog and roadmap web application that lets product teams publish release notes, run a public roadmap, and gather community feedback through voting on proposed features.
read the full ShipShipShip overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is calibre or ShipShipShip more popular?
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars and ShipShipShip has 299. calibre has the larger community by that measure.
Are calibre and ShipShipShip free?
Both are open source. calibre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ShipShipShip under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between calibre and ShipShipShip?
calibre is written in Python and ShipShipShip in Svelte. 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 ShipShipShip?
Choose calibre if you want the larger community (25,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ShipShipShip if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.