head to head · open source
calibre vs Weblate
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars, 2,690 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Weblate has 6,071 stars, 1,356 forks, 493 open issues and last shipped yesterday. calibre leads on adoption by 327% (25,923 vs 6,071 stars). calibre is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Weblate is written in Python under GPL-3.0. calibre has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Weblate 22%. Weblate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (python), 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 | Weblate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Weblate if
- You want the Weblate feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Weblate 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 Weblate
Weblate is a libre, web based continuous localization system — a Python and Django application that connects translators to version control so translation happens alongside the code it belongs to, and it is used by more than 2,500 libre projects and companies in over 165 countries.
read the full Weblate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is calibre or Weblate more popular?
calibre has 25,923 GitHub stars and Weblate has 6,071. calibre has the larger community by that measure.
Are calibre and Weblate free?
Both are open source. calibre is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Weblate under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between calibre and Weblate?
calibre is written in Python and Weblate in Python. 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 Weblate?
Choose calibre if you want the larger community (25,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Weblate if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.