head to head · open source
koreader vs Calibre-Web-Automated
koreader has 29,802 GitHub stars, 1,911 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped today. Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,308 stars, 521 forks, 443 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. koreader leads on adoption by 372% (29,802 vs 6,308 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; Calibre-Web-Automated is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Calibre-Web-Automated 8%. koreader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ebook, epub, kindle, kobo), 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
| koreader | Calibre-Web-Automated | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-08-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 521 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick koreader if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- 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 koreader
KOReader is a free, AGPL 3.0 licensed document viewer written in Lua that runs on e ink readers from Cervantes, Kindle, Kobo and PocketBook, on reMarkable, and on Android and desktop Linux, aimed at readers who want broader format support, finer typesetting control and better performance than the reading software shipped with their device.
read the full koreader 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 koreader or Calibre-Web-Automated more popular?
koreader has 29,802 GitHub stars and Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,308. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and Calibre-Web-Automated free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Calibre-Web-Automated under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and Calibre-Web-Automated?
koreader is written in Lua 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, koreader or Calibre-Web-Automated?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,802 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Calibre-Web-Automated if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.