head to head · open source
koodo-reader vs Tangent
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars, 2,116 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tangent has 551 stars, 38 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. koodo-reader leads on adoption by 5,021% (28,217 vs 551 stars). koodo-reader is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Tangent is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. koodo-reader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Tangent 7%. 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 (markdown), 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 | Tangent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 551 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 38 |
| 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 Tangent if
- You want the Tangent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Tangent 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 Tangent
Tangent is a local note writing and personal knowledge management tool, distributed as a TypeScript monorepo, for writers, researchers, and personal knowledge management practitioners who want styled, link connected notes stored on their own machine rather than in a hosted service.
read the full Tangent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koodo-reader or Tangent more popular?
koodo-reader has 28,217 GitHub stars and Tangent has 551. koodo-reader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koodo-reader and Tangent free?
Both are open source. koodo-reader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tangent under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koodo-reader and Tangent?
koodo-reader is written in JavaScript and Tangent in TypeScript. 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 Tangent?
Choose koodo-reader if you want the larger community (28,217 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Tangent if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.