head to head · open source
koreader vs HRConvert2
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HRConvert2 has 1,369 stars, 82 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. koreader leads on adoption by 2,074% (29,761 vs 1,369 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; HRConvert2 is written in PHP under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, HRConvert2 6%. koreader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ebook), 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 | HRConvert2 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 82 |
| 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 HRConvert2 if
- You want the HRConvert2 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and HRConvert2 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 HRConvert2
HRConvert2 is an open source, self hosted, resource aware file conversion server written in PHP and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It presents a public facing web workflow in which users drag, drop, convert, and download files without accounts, sessions, databases, cookies, or tracking. The project lives in the self hosted file conversion ecosystem, where it replaces hosted converters by running conversion tools on the operator's own machine.
read the full HRConvert2 overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or HRConvert2 more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and HRConvert2 has 1,369. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and HRConvert2 free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and HRConvert2 under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and HRConvert2?
koreader is written in Lua and HRConvert2 in PHP. 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 HRConvert2?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose HRConvert2 if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.