head to head · open source
koodo-reader vs sile
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars, 2,116 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sile has 1,784 stars, 106 forks, 287 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. koodo-reader leads on adoption by 1,482% (28,217 vs 1,784 stars). koodo-reader is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; sile is written in Lua under MIT. koodo-reader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, sile 6%. koodo-reader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | sile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 106 |
| 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 sile if
- You want the sile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and sile 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 sile
SILE is an open source typesetting system for producing printed documents and PDF files. It lives in the Lua, publishing, and typesetting ecosystem, and its category is Content & Publishing / Publishing. The engine is written from the ground up, uses Lua, and borrows some concepts and algorithms from TeX while taking ideas from graphical systems such as InDesign.
More in Content & Publishing
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Frequently asked questions
Is koodo-reader or sile more popular?
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars and sile has 1,784. koodo-reader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koodo-reader and sile free?
Both are open source. koodo-reader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and sile under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koodo-reader and sile?
koodo-reader is written in JavaScript and sile in Lua. 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 sile?
Choose koodo-reader if you want the larger community (28,217 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose sile if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.