head to head · open source
koreader vs sile
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sile has 1,784 stars, 106 forks, 287 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,568% (29,761 vs 1,784 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; sile is written in Lua under MIT. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, sile 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 | sile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Lua | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 106 |
| 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 sile if
- You want the sile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and sile 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 sile
SILE is an open source typesetting system for producing printed documents and PDF files. It lives in the Lua, publishing, and typesetting ecosystem, and its category is Content & Publishing / Publishing. The engine is written from the ground up, uses Lua, and borrows some concepts and algorithms from TeX while taking ideas from graphical systems such as InDesign.
More in Content & Publishing
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or sile more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and sile has 1,784. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and sile free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and sile under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and sile?
koreader is written in Lua and sile in Lua. 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 sile?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose sile if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.