head to head · open source
calibre vs sile
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars, 2,690 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sile has 1,784 stars, 106 forks, 287 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. calibre leads on adoption by 1,353% (25,923 vs 1,784 stars). calibre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; sile is written in Lua under MIT. calibre has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, sile 6%. 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 | sile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 106 |
| 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 sile if
- You want the sile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and sile 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 sile
SILE is an open source typesetting system for producing printed documents and PDF files. It lives in the Lua, publishing, and typesetting ecosystem, and its category is Content & Publishing / Publishing. The engine is written from the ground up, uses Lua, and borrows some concepts and algorithms from TeX while taking ideas from graphical systems such as InDesign.
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Frequently asked questions
Is calibre or sile more popular?
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars and sile has 1,784. calibre has the larger community by that measure.
Are calibre and sile free?
Both are open source. calibre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and sile under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between calibre and sile?
calibre is written in Python and sile in Lua. 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 sile?
Choose calibre if you want the larger community (25,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose sile if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.