head to head · open source
koreader vs LibreTranslate
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars, 2,019 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LibreTranslate has 17,256 stars, 1,792 forks, 126 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. koreader leads on adoption by 79% (30,818 vs 17,256 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; LibreTranslate is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, LibreTranslate 10%. koreader 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| koreader | LibreTranslate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 17K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| 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 LibreTranslate if
- You want the LibreTranslate 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 LibreTranslate 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 LibreTranslate
LibreTranslate Try it online! API Docs Community Forum Bluesky Free and Open Source Machine Translation API, entirely self hosted. Unlike other APIs, it doesn't rely on proprietary software such as Google or Azure to perform translations. Instead, its translation engine is powered by the open source Argos Translate library. Getting Started Quickstart Usage Instructions Community Resources Credits This work is largely possible thanks to Argos Translate, which powers the translation engine. License GNU Affero General Public License v3 Trademark See Trademark Guidelines
read the full LibreTranslate 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 LibreTranslate more popular?
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars and LibreTranslate has 17,256. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and LibreTranslate free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and LibreTranslate under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and LibreTranslate?
koreader is written in Lua and LibreTranslate 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 LibreTranslate?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (30,818 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose LibreTranslate if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.