head to head · open source
so-novel vs Calibre-Web-Automated
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars, 726 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,308 stars, 521 forks, 443 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. so-novel leads on adoption by 29% (8,157 vs 6,308 stars). so-novel is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; Calibre-Web-Automated is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. so-novel has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Calibre-Web-Automated 8%. Calibre-Web-Automated was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ebook), 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
| so-novel | Calibre-Web-Automated | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.2K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-07-26 | 2026-08-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 726 | ⑂ 521 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick so-novel if
- You weight community size — 8.2K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- 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 so-novel
So Novel is an AGPL 3.0 Java tool that extracts structured content from web pages and exports it as standard ebook and document formats including EPUB, TXT, and PDF, built for people who want offline copies of web fiction and for anyone turning web content into readable documents.
read the full so-novel 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 so-novel or Calibre-Web-Automated more popular?
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars and Calibre-Web-Automated has 6,308. so-novel has the larger community by that measure.
Are so-novel and Calibre-Web-Automated free?
Both are open source. so-novel is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Calibre-Web-Automated under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between so-novel and Calibre-Web-Automated?
so-novel is written in Java 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, so-novel or Calibre-Web-Automated?
Choose so-novel if you want the larger community (8,157 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.