head to head · open source
readest vs PolyglotPDF
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars, 1,805 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PolyglotPDF has 1,324 stars, 198 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 1.1 years ago. readest leads on adoption by 1,854% (25,874 vs 1,324 stars). readest is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; PolyglotPDF is written in Python under GPL-3.0. readest has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, PolyglotPDF 15%. readest was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ebook), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| readest | PolyglotPDF | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-09-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 198 |
| 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 PolyglotPDF if
- You want the PolyglotPDF feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and PolyglotPDF 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 PolyglotPDF
python包在2.2版本之前预计不会更新，2.2版本预估采取解析最底层span获取更信息的布局逻辑解决，预估解决：行内公式错误判断为公式块，错误将粗体文本进行分段bug,以及insert html方法重复嵌入字体文件导致处理页数较大pdf时浪费计算资源极其卡顿。 目前效果，对于基于文本的pdf,polyglotpdf的解析方式依旧是最优解。 ocr和布局分析并不总是完美。（考虑处理文本上下标问题，大部分pdf文件中上标下标文本通过指定坐标和字体大小实现伪上下标，考虑替换为真正的上下标文字对应的Unicode编码，但并不完美），对于报告型表格文档，polyglotpdf效果相当完美，当然表格中的复杂矢量数学公式依旧无法正确处理）。 寻求意见的改进方法，对于复杂的颜色布局文本或者粗体参杂常规字体文本，提出以下方法，对于流内容我们可以解析为html格式如下： ABSTRACT: The swine industry annually suffers significant economic losses caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Because the available commercial vaccines have limited protective efficacy against epidemic…
read the full PolyglotPDF overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Publishing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Publishing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is readest or PolyglotPDF more popular?
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars and PolyglotPDF has 1,324. readest has the larger community by that measure.
Are readest and PolyglotPDF free?
Both are open source. readest is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PolyglotPDF under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between readest and PolyglotPDF?
readest is written in TypeScript and PolyglotPDF 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 PolyglotPDF?
Choose readest if you want the larger community (25,874 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose PolyglotPDF if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.