head to head · open source
readest vs sile
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars, 1,805 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sile has 1,791 stars, 109 forks, 287 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. readest leads on adoption by 1,345% (25,874 vs 1,791 stars). readest is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; sile is written in Lua under MIT. readest has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, sile 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.
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Side by side
| readest | sile | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 109 |
| 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 sile if
- You want the sile feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and sile 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 sile
What is SILE? SILE is a [typesetting][typesetting] system; its job is to produce beautiful printed documents. Conceptually, SILE is similar to [TeX][tex]—from which it borrows some concepts and algorithms—but the similarities end there. Rather than being a derivative of the TeX family SILE is a new typesetting and layout engine written from the ground up using modern technologies and borrowing some ideas from graphical systems such as [InDesign][indesign]. Where does it run? SILE can be downloaded & installed to your system or run remotely as a CI job. What can I do with SILE (that I can’t do with TeX)? First…
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Frequently asked questions
Is readest or sile more popular?
readest has 25,874 GitHub stars and sile has 1,791. readest has the larger community by that measure.
Are readest and sile free?
Both are open source. readest is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and sile under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between readest and sile?
readest is written in TypeScript and sile in Lua. 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 sile?
Choose readest if you want the larger community (25,874 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose sile if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.