head to head · open source
so-novel vs TranslateBooksWithLLMs
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars, 726 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. TranslateBooksWithLLMs has 2,424 stars, 319 forks, 23 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. so-novel leads on adoption by 237% (8,157 vs 2,424 stars). so-novel is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; TranslateBooksWithLLMs is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. so-novel has attracted 9% 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
| so-novel | TranslateBooksWithLLMs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.2K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | Python |
| Last push | 2026-07-26 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 726 | ⑂ 319 |
| 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 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 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 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 so-novel or TranslateBooksWithLLMs more popular?
so-novel has 8,157 GitHub stars and TranslateBooksWithLLMs has 2,424. so-novel has the larger community by that measure.
Are so-novel and TranslateBooksWithLLMs free?
Both are open source. so-novel is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TranslateBooksWithLLMs under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between so-novel and TranslateBooksWithLLMs?
so-novel is written in Java 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, so-novel or TranslateBooksWithLLMs?
Choose so-novel if you want the larger community (8,157 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.