head to head · open source
koreader vs ebooklib
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars, 2,019 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ebooklib has 1,820 stars, 269 forks, 110 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,593% (30,818 vs 1,820 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; ebooklib is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, ebooklib 15%. koreader 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
| koreader | ebooklib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 269 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick koreader if
- You weight community size — 31K 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 ebooklib if
- You want the ebooklib feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ebooklib fits your workflow better
About koreader
KOReader is a document viewer primarily aimed at e ink readers. [![AGPL Licence][badge license]](COPYING) [![Latest release][badge release]][link gh releases] [![Gitter][badge gitter]][link gitter] [![Mobileread][badge mobileread]][link forum] [![Build Status][badge circleci]][link circleci] [![Coverage Status][badge coverage]][link coverage] [![Weblate Status][badge weblate]][link weblate] Download • User guide • Wiki • Developer docs Main features portable : runs on embedded devices (Cervantes, Kindle, Kobo, PocketBook, reMarkable), Android and Linux computers. Developers can run a KOReader emulator in Linux…
read the full koreader overview →
About ebooklib
About EbookLib EbookLib is a Python library for managing EPUB2/EPUB3. It's capable of reading and writing EPUB files programmatically. Heads up! EbookLib 0.20 was the final version supporting Python 2.7. Starting with the next release EbookLib requires Python 3.10+, has no dependency on six anymore and ships with type annotations. Want to contribute? It's easy! We welcome bug reports, suggestions, and Pull Requests. Before submitting a Pull Request, please take a quick look at our simple guidelines. Our contribution process is straightforward, with no special procedures to worry about. The API is designed to be…
read the full ebooklib overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or ebooklib more popular?
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars and ebooklib has 1,820. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and ebooklib free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ebooklib under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and ebooklib?
koreader is written in Lua and ebooklib in Python. 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 ebooklib?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (30,818 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ebooklib if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.