head to head · open source
koreader vs koodo-reader
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. koodo-reader has 28,217 stars, 2,116 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. koreader leads on adoption by 5% (29,761 vs 28,217 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; koodo-reader is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, koodo-reader 7%. koreader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (cbz, ebook, epub, fb2), 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 | koodo-reader | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 28K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| 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 koodo-reader if
- You want the koodo-reader feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and koodo-reader 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 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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or koodo-reader more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and koodo-reader has 28,217. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and koodo-reader free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and koodo-reader under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and koodo-reader?
koreader is written in Lua and koodo-reader 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 koodo-reader?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose koodo-reader if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.