head to head · open source
koreader vs Weblate
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars, 1,908 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Weblate has 6,071 stars, 1,356 forks, 493 open issues and last shipped yesterday. koreader leads on adoption by 390% (29,761 vs 6,071 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; Weblate is written in Python under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Weblate 22%. Weblate 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 | Weblate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Weblate if
- You want the Weblate feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Weblate 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 Weblate
Weblate is a libre, web based continuous localization system — a Python and Django application that connects translators to version control so translation happens alongside the code it belongs to, and it is used by more than 2,500 libre projects and companies in over 165 countries.
read the full Weblate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or Weblate more popular?
koreader has 29,761 GitHub stars and Weblate has 6,071. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and Weblate free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Weblate under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and Weblate?
koreader is written in Lua and Weblate 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 Weblate?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (29,761 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Weblate if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.