head to head · open source
koodo-reader vs grimmory
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars, 2,116 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. grimmory has 4,373 stars, 324 forks, 243 open issues and last shipped yesterday. koodo-reader leads on adoption by 545% (28,217 vs 4,373 stars). koodo-reader is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; grimmory is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. koodo-reader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, grimmory 7%. grimmory was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cbr, cbz, epub), 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
| koodo-reader | grimmory | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 324 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick koodo-reader if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick grimmory if
- You want the grimmory feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and grimmory fits your workflow better
About koodo-reader
Koodo Reader is a cross platform ebook manager and reader written in JavaScript and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web, and it is distributed both as downloadable desktop and mobile applications and as a hosted web version at web.koodoreader.com. The project lives in the JavaScript ecosystem, is developed with yarn and git, and has been maintained for roughly seven years, with a repository that carries about 28,000 stars and 2,100 forks.
read the full koodo-reader overview →
About grimmory
Grimmory is a self hosted digital library for ebooks, comics, documents, and audiobooks that runs on your own server under the AGPL 3.0 licence, built for readers who want their whole collection — files, metadata, reading progress, and sharing — in one place they control rather than spread across devices, apps, and cloud accounts.
read the full grimmory overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koodo-reader or grimmory more popular?
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars and grimmory has 4,373. koodo-reader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koodo-reader and grimmory free?
Both are open source. koodo-reader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and grimmory under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koodo-reader and grimmory?
koodo-reader is written in JavaScript and grimmory in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, koodo-reader or grimmory?
Choose koodo-reader if you want the larger community (28,217 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose grimmory if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.