head to head · open source
koreader vs rentry
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rentry has 594 stars, 34 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped yesterday. koreader leads on adoption by 4,910% (29,761 vs 594 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; rentry is written in Python under MIT. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, rentry 6%. 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.
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Side by side
| koreader | rentry | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 594 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 34 |
| 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 rentry if
- You want the rentry feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and rentry 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 rentry
rentry is the official Python client set for Rentry.co, a markdown powered paste and publishing service that offers preview, custom URLs and editing. The repository ships two things: rentry.py , a complete command line tool contained in a single file with no dependencies, and rentry client , an installable library that wraps the same API for programmatic use. Both default to the hosted instance at https://rentry.co, and the shared configuration lets the base protocol and base URL be repointed elsewhere, such as a local development server.
read the full rentry overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or rentry more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and rentry has 594. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and rentry free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and rentry under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and rentry?
koreader is written in Lua and rentry 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 rentry?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose rentry if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.