head to head · open source

readest vs hammer-editor

readest has 25,874 GitHub stars, 1,805 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hammer-editor has 811 stars, 46 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped yesterday. readest leads on adoption by 3,090% (25,874 vs 811 stars). readest is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; hammer-editor is written in Kotlin under MIT. readest has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, hammer-editor 6%. readest 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.

readest ★ 26K hammer-editor ★ 811 category Content & Publishing

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Side by side

readest hammer-editor
GitHub stars ★ 26K ★ 811
License AGPL-3.0 MIT
Written in TypeScript Kotlin
Last push 2026-11-02 2026-11-02
Forks ⑂ 1.8K ⑂ 46
Self-hosting Yes Yes
Data ownership Your server Your server

pick readest if

  • You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
  • You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
  • Your stack matches TypeScript
  • You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance

full readest profile →

pick hammer-editor if

  • You want the hammer-editor feature set and don't need the biggest community
  • You prefer the MIT license terms
  • Your stack matches Kotlin
  • You evaluated both and hammer-editor fits your workflow better

full hammer-editor profile →

About readest

Readest [Readest][link website] is an open source ebook reader designed for immersive and deep reading experiences. Built as a modern rewrite of Foliate, it leverages Next.js 16 and Tauri v2 to deliver a smooth, cross platform experience across macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and the Web. [![Website][badge website]][link website] [![Web App][badge web app]][link web readest] [![OS][badge platforms]][link website] [![Discord][badge discord]][link discord] [![Reddit][badge reddit]][link reddit] [![AGPL Licence][badge license]](LICENSE) [![Language Coverage][badge language coverage]][link locales]…

read the full readest overview →

About hammer-editor

Hammer: A story editor A simple tool for building stories. ![badge kotlin] ![badge platform android] ![badge platform ios] ![badge platform windows] ![badge platform linux] ![badge platform macos] Available on: Windows [![.exe](

read the full hammer-editor overview →

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Frequently asked questions

Is readest or hammer-editor more popular?

readest has 25,874 GitHub stars and hammer-editor has 811. readest has the larger community by that measure.

Are readest and hammer-editor free?

Both are open source. readest is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and hammer-editor under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.

What is the difference between readest and hammer-editor?

readest is written in TypeScript and hammer-editor in Kotlin. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.

Which should I choose, readest or hammer-editor?

Choose readest if you want the larger community (25,874 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose hammer-editor if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.