head to head · open source
koreader vs Openlib
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Openlib has 2,474 stars, 130 forks, 87 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,103% (29,761 vs 2,474 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; Openlib is written in Dart under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| koreader | Openlib | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-01-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 130 |
| 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 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 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 Openlib
Openlib is an open source Android app written in Dart with Flutter that downloads and reads books from Anna’s Archive. It lives in the Flutter mobile app ecosystem and is licensed under GPL 3.0, with public source code, GitHub releases, and links to Android package pages for com.app.openlib.
read the full Openlib 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 Openlib more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and Openlib has 2,474. 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 (29,761 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.