head to head · open source
koreader vs WritingTools
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars, 2,019 forks, 1,345 open issues and last shipped yesterday. WritingTools has 2,479 stars, 165 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. koreader leads on adoption by 1,143% (30,818 vs 2,479 stars). koreader is written in Lua under AGPL-3.0; WritingTools is written in Swift under GPL-3.0. koreader has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, WritingTools 7%. 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 | WritingTools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-08-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 165 |
| 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 WritingTools if
- You want the WritingTools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and WritingTools 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 WritingTools
Writing Tools 🍎 Using a Mac? Jump to the macOS (Native Swift Port) section → macOS Instantly proofread and optimize your writing system wide with AI: Summarize content (webpages, YouTube videos, documents...) in a click: Add your own buttons for unlimited potential! ✨ What is Writing Tools? Writing Tools is an Apple Intelligence inspired application for Windows, Linux, and macOS that supercharges your writing with an AI LLM (cloud based or local). With one hotkey press system wide, it lets you fix grammar, optimize text according to your instructions, summarize content (webpages, YouTube videos, etc.), and…
read the full WritingTools overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is koreader or WritingTools more popular?
koreader has 30,818 GitHub stars and WritingTools has 2,479. koreader has the larger community by that measure.
Are koreader and WritingTools free?
Both are open source. koreader is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WritingTools under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between koreader and WritingTools?
koreader is written in Lua and WritingTools in Swift. 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 WritingTools?
Choose koreader if you want the larger community (30,818 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WritingTools if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.