head to head · open source
PyMuPDF vs so-novel
PyMuPDF has 11,057 GitHub stars, 831 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. so-novel has 8,911 stars, 754 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. PyMuPDF leads on adoption by 24% (11,057 vs 8,911 stars). PyMuPDF is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; so-novel is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. PyMuPDF has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, so-novel 8%. PyMuPDF 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
| PyMuPDF | so-novel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 8.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 831 | ⑂ 754 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PyMuPDF if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick so-novel if
- You want the so-novel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and so-novel fits your workflow better
About PyMuPDF
PyMuPDF The PDF engine behind over 50 million monthly downloads, powering AI pipelines worldwide. PyMuPDF is a high performance Python library for data extraction, analysis, conversion, rendering and manipulation of PDF (and other) documents. Built on top of MuPDF — a lightweight, fast C engine — PyMuPDF gives you precise, low level control over documents alongside high level convenience APIs. No mandatory external dependencies. Why PyMuPDF? Fast — powered by MuPDF, a best in class C rendering engine Accurate — pixel perfect text extraction with font, color, and position metadata Versatile — read, write…
read the full PyMuPDF overview →
About so-novel
So Novel 概述 So Novel 是一款通用的网页内容处理与导出工具，它致力于帮助用户高效地从网页中提取结构化信息，并将其灵活导出为 EPUB、TXT、PDF 等多种标准电子文档格式。适用于学习采集、格式转换、电子书制作等场景。 预览 点击查看图片 TUI 预览 (Text based User Interface) WebUI 预览 (网页版) CLI 预览 (Command Line Interface) 安装 📦 手动下载压缩包 🪟 Windows 1. PowerShell 2. CMD (命令提示符) 🐧 Linux cmd REM REM 高级用户使用自定义 JRE 启动程序 REM 将 "your path\java.exe" 替换为你的 JRE 路径，例如： REM "C:\Java\jdk 21\bin\java.exe" REM @echo off your path\java.exe ^ XX:+UseZGC ^ XX:+ZGenerational ^ Dconfig.file=config.ini ^ Dmode=tui ^ Dfile.encoding=GBK Big5 ^ jar app.jar Linux / macOS：run linux.sh / run macos.sh 修改 java 路径 常见问题 讨论 支持 & 赞助
read the full so-novel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is PyMuPDF or so-novel more popular?
PyMuPDF has 11,057 GitHub stars and so-novel has 8,911. PyMuPDF has the larger community by that measure.
Are PyMuPDF and so-novel free?
Both are open source. PyMuPDF is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and so-novel under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PyMuPDF and so-novel?
PyMuPDF is written in Python and so-novel in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, PyMuPDF or so-novel?
Choose PyMuPDF if you want the larger community (11,057 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose so-novel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.