head to head · open source
koreader vs Openlib
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars, 2,019 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Openlib has 2,510 stars, 136 forks, 87 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,128% (30,818 vs 2,510 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; Openlib is written in Dart under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Openlib 5%. koreader was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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.
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Side by side
| koreader | Openlib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-01-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 136 |
| 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 Openlib if
- You want the Openlib feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and Openlib 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 Openlib
Openlib An Open source app to download and read books from shadow library (Anna’s Archive) Note 📝 WARNING: This App Is In Beta Stage, So You May Encounter Bugs. If You Do, Open An Issue In Github Repository. Publishing Openlib, Or Any Fork Of It In The Google Play Store Violates Their Terms And Conditions Screenshots 🖼️ Description 📖 Openlib Is An Open Source App To Download And Read Books From Shadow Library (Anna’s Archive). The App Has Built In Reader to Read Books As Anna’s Archive Doesn't Have An API. The App Works By Sending Request To Anna’s Archive And Parses The Response To objects. The App Extracts…
read the full Openlib overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or Openlib more popular?
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars and Openlib has 2,510. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and Openlib free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Openlib under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and Openlib?
koreader is written in Lua and Openlib in Dart. 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 Openlib?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (30,818 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Openlib if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.