head to head · open source
readest vs kokoro-tts
readest has 24,413 GitHub stars, 1,586 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kokoro-tts has 1,883 stars, 177 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 27 days ago. readest leads on adoption by 1,196% (24,413 vs 1,883 stars). readest is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; kokoro-tts is written in Python under MIT. readest has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, kokoro-tts 9%. readest was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (epub), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| readest | kokoro-tts | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 177 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick readest if
- You weight community size — 24K 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
pick kokoro-tts if
- You want the kokoro-tts feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and kokoro-tts fits your workflow better
About readest
Readest is an open source, cross platform ebook reader built with Next.js 16 and Tauri v2 for readers who want one modern library across macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web.
read the full readest overview →
About kokoro-tts
kokoro tts is a Python command line text to speech tool built around the Kokoro model, and it lives in the open source Python text to speech and publishing ecosystem. The project wraps model inference in a CLI workflow so users can convert written text into spoken audio without building a separate speech pipeline.
read the full kokoro-tts overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is readest or kokoro-tts more popular?
readest has 24,413 GitHub stars and kokoro-tts has 1,883. readest has the larger community by that measure.
Are readest and kokoro-tts free?
Both are open source. readest is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and kokoro-tts under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between readest and kokoro-tts?
readest is written in TypeScript and kokoro-tts 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, readest or kokoro-tts?
Choose readest if you want the larger community (24,413 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose kokoro-tts if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.