head to head · open source
readest vs parsifal
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars, 1,805 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parsifal has 529 stars, 188 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. readest leads on adoption by 4,791% (25,874 vs 529 stars). readest is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; parsifal is written in Python under MIT. readest has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, parsifal 36%. 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.
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Side by side
| readest | parsifal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 529 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-05-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 188 |
| 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
pick parsifal if
- You want the parsifal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and parsifal fits your workflow better
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 parsifal
Parsifal Parsifal is a tool to support researchers to perform systematic literature reviews. Report bug · Blog · Help Status About A systematic literature review is a secondary study with the objective to identify, analyze and interpret all available evidence from primary studies related to a specific research question. As suggested by Kitchenham and Charters, the activity to perform a systematic literature review involves planning, conducting, and reporting the review. Performing a systematic literature review is a labor intensive task that requires a huge amount of work from the researcher, designing the…
read the full parsifal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is readest or parsifal more popular?
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars and parsifal has 529. readest has the larger community by that measure.
Are readest and parsifal free?
Both are open source. readest is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and parsifal under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between readest and parsifal?
readest is written in TypeScript and parsifal 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 parsifal?
Choose readest if you want the larger community (25,874 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose parsifal if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.