head to head · open source
koodo-reader vs Openlib
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars, 2,116 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Openlib has 2,474 stars, 130 forks, 87 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. koodo-reader leads on adoption by 1,041% (28,217 vs 2,474 stars). koodo-reader is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Openlib is written in Dart under GPL-3.0. koodo-reader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Openlib 5%. koodo-reader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | Openlib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-01-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 130 |
| 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 Openlib if
- You want the Openlib feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and Openlib 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 Openlib
Openlib is an open source Android app written in Dart with Flutter that downloads and reads books from Anna’s Archive. It lives in the Flutter mobile app ecosystem and is licensed under GPL 3.0, with public source code, GitHub releases, and links to Android package pages for com.app.openlib.
read the full Openlib overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koodo-reader or Openlib more popular?
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars and Openlib has 2,474. koodo-reader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koodo-reader and Openlib free?
Both are open source. koodo-reader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Openlib under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koodo-reader and Openlib?
koodo-reader is written in JavaScript and Openlib in Dart. 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 Openlib?
Choose koodo-reader if you want the larger community (28,217 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Openlib if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.