head to head · open source
koreader vs Lector
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lector has 1,552 stars, 208 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,818% (29,761 vs 1,552 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; Lector is written in Python under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Lector 13%. koreader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (djvu, ebook, ebook-reader, 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| koreader | Lector | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-07-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 208 |
| 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 Lector if
- You want the Lector feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Lector 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 Lector
Lector is a Python and Qt desktop ebook reader released under GPL 3.0 or later. It lives in the Qt and Python desktop ecosystem, and its topics describe it as a crossplatform reader for ebooks and comics. The README shows a graphical application with views for reading, table browsing, distraction free reading, comics, annotations, bookmarks, view profiles, metadata, and a dictionary.
read the full Lector overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Publishing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Publishing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or Lector more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and Lector has 1,552. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and Lector free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Lector under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and Lector?
koreader is written in Lua and Lector 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 Lector?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Lector if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.