head to head · open source
LibreTranslate vs TranslateBooksWithLLMs
LibreTranslate has 16,674 GitHub stars, 1,707 forks, 126 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. TranslateBooksWithLLMs has 2,424 stars, 319 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. LibreTranslate leads on adoption by 588% (16,674 vs 2,424 stars). LibreTranslate is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; TranslateBooksWithLLMs is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. LibreTranslate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, TranslateBooksWithLLMs 13%. TranslateBooksWithLLMs 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
| LibreTranslate | TranslateBooksWithLLMs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-03 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 319 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LibreTranslate if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick TranslateBooksWithLLMs if
- You want the TranslateBooksWithLLMs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and TranslateBooksWithLLMs fits your workflow better
About LibreTranslate
LibreTranslate is a free and open source machine translation API written in Python and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the open source translation ecosystem and is positioned as a self hosted alternative to hosted translation services. The project does not rely on proprietary software such as Google or Azure for translation. Instead, it uses the open source Argos Translate library as its translation engine.
read the full LibreTranslate overview →
About TranslateBooksWithLLMs
TranslateBooksWithLLMs is a Python desktop application under AGPL 3.0 for translating full length books, documents, and subtitle files with large language models. It lives in the Content and Publishing ecosystem, specifically around ebook translation, document localization, and publishing related workflows. The project ships as a local app that opens a browser interface at http://localhost:5000 after the bundled executable is run.
read the full TranslateBooksWithLLMs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LibreTranslate or TranslateBooksWithLLMs more popular?
LibreTranslate has 16,674 GitHub stars and TranslateBooksWithLLMs has 2,424. LibreTranslate has the larger community by that measure.
Are LibreTranslate and TranslateBooksWithLLMs free?
Both are open source. LibreTranslate is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TranslateBooksWithLLMs under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LibreTranslate and TranslateBooksWithLLMs?
LibreTranslate is written in Python and TranslateBooksWithLLMs 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, LibreTranslate or TranslateBooksWithLLMs?
Choose LibreTranslate if you want the larger community (16,674 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose TranslateBooksWithLLMs if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.