head to head · open source
so-novel vs Weblate
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars, 726 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Weblate has 6,080 stars, 1,359 forks, 493 open issues and last shipped yesterday. so-novel leads on adoption by 34% (8,157 vs 6,080 stars). so-novel is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; Weblate is written in Python under GPL-3.0. so-novel has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Weblate 22%. Weblate 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
| so-novel | Weblate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.2K | ★ 6.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-07-26 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 726 | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick so-novel if
- You weight community size — 8.2K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Weblate if
- You want the Weblate 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 Weblate fits your workflow better
About so-novel
So Novel is an AGPL 3.0 Java tool that extracts structured content from web pages and exports it as standard ebook and document formats including EPUB, TXT, and PDF, built for people who want offline copies of web fiction and for anyone turning web content into readable documents.
read the full so-novel overview →
About Weblate
Weblate is a libre, web based continuous localization system — a Python and Django application that connects translators to version control so translation happens alongside the code it belongs to, and it is used by more than 2,500 libre projects and companies in over 165 countries.
read the full Weblate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is so-novel or Weblate more popular?
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars and Weblate has 6,080. so-novel has the larger community by that measure.
Are so-novel and Weblate free?
Both are open source. so-novel is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Weblate under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between so-novel and Weblate?
so-novel is written in Java and Weblate 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, so-novel or Weblate?
Choose so-novel if you want the larger community (8,157 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Weblate if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.