Free Programming Books
E-books & Media LibraryCurated catalog of free programming ebooks and resources
Replaces Paid technical book subscriptions
Best Free E-books & Media Library for self-hosting
The 60 best Free e-books & media library you can self-host, ranked by community traction.
KOReader
E-books & Media LibraryDocument and ebook reader for e-ink and mobile devices
Replaces Kindle, Pocketbook reader
Koodo Reader
E-books & Media LibraryCross-platform ebook reader with annotations and sync
Replaces Calibre, Apple Books
Calibre
E-books & Media LibraryPowerful ebook library manager with a built-in server
Replaces Kindle, Apple Books
Readest
E-books & Media LibraryCross-platform ebook reader with sync server
Replaces Kindle, Apple Books
Ebook2audiobook
E-books & Media LibraryConvert ebooks into narrated audiobooks locally
Replaces Audible, Speechify
DeDRM Tools
E-books & Media LibraryCalibre plugin suite for removing DRM from purchased ebooks
Replaces Adobe Digital Editions
Ladder
E-books & Media LibraryBypass paywalls as 12ft.io does
Replaces 12ft, 13ft
Suwayomi-Server
E-books & Media LibrarySelf-hosted manga reader and downloader server
Replaces ComiXology
Sigil
E-books & Media LibraryMulti-platform EPUB ebook editor
Replaces Adobe InDesign EPUB export
epub.js
E-books & Media LibraryJavaScript library for rendering EPUB books in the browser
Open Library
E-books & Media LibraryOpen, editable catalog and library platform for books
Replaces Goodreads
Calibre-Web Automated
E-books & Media LibraryCalibre-Web with automatic ingest and conversion
Replaces Kindle
Libation
E-books & Media LibraryAudiobook library manager and Audible backup tool
Replaces Audible app
PDF Arranger
E-books & Media LibraryDesktop tool to merge, split, and rearrange PDF pages
Replaces Adobe Acrobat, PDFsam
pdf2htmlEX
E-books & Media LibraryConverts PDF documents to HTML while preserving layout
Replaces Commercial PDF converters
Papra
E-books & Media LibraryMinimalistic self-hosted document archiving platform
Replaces Evernote, Dropbox
13ft
E-books & Media LibraryBypass paywall by acting as GoogleBot
Replaces 12ft
Calibre-Web Automated Book Downloader
E-books & Media LibraryWeb tool to search and download ebooks into your library
Replaces Kindle Store
LANraragi
E-books & Media LibrarySelf-hosted archival manga and comic reader
Replaces ComiXology
Thorium Reader
E-books & Media LibraryOpen-source EPUB and audiobook reader for desktops
Replaces Adobe Digital Editions, Apple Books
BookWyrm
E-books & Media LibraryFederated social reading and book review platform
Replaces Goodreads, StoryGraph
Stump
E-books & Media LibraryFast, low-resource comic and ebook media server
Replaces Kindle, ComiXology
OpenBooks
E-books & Media LibrarySearch and download ebooks from IRC Highway
Replaces Kindle Store
Plato
E-books & Media LibraryDocument reader for Kobo e-readers
Replaces Kobo reader app, Kindle
Standard Ebooks Tools
E-books & Media LibraryToolset for producing and validating high-quality EPUBs
Replaces Commercial ebook production tools
Storyteller
E-books & Media LibrarySelf-hosted server that syncs ebooks with audiobooks
Replaces Audible, Kindle
LazyLibrarian
E-books & Media LibraryAutomated ebook and audiobook collection manager
Replaces Audible, Kindle
Mylar3
E-books & Media LibraryAutomated comic book downloader and library manager
Replaces ComiXology
Kapowarr
E-books & Media LibraryBuild and manage a comic book library
ttu Ebook Reader
E-books & Media LibraryBrowser-based ebook reader with progress tracking
Replaces Kindle
mangadex-downloader
E-books & Media LibraryCommand-line downloader for MangaDex manga
Replaces Manual downloads
kepubify
E-books & Media LibraryFast EPUB to Kobo KEPUB converter in a single binary
Zimit
E-books & Media LibraryCaptures websites into offline-readable ZIM archives
Replaces Pocket, web archiving services
ComicTagger
E-books & Media LibraryCross-platform metadata editor for comic archives
Replaces ComiXology
Komf
E-books & Media LibraryMetadata fetcher for Komga and Kavita libraries
Replaces Goodreads
kobodl
E-books & Media LibraryDownload and de-DRM books from your Kobo account
Replaces Kobo
BookLogr
E-books & Media LibraryManage your personal book library with ease
Koha
E-books & Media LibraryEnterprise-class ILS with modules for acquisitions, circulation,
Suwayomi
E-books & Media LibraryAn open-source manga reader server with bundled Web UI
Upvote RSS
E-books & Media LibraryGenerate rich RSS feeds from Reddit, Hacker News, Lemmy, Mbin
Tranga
E-books & Media LibraryAutomated manga downloader for Komga and Kavita
Replaces ComiXology
Tinyfeed
E-books & Media LibraryGenerate a static HTML page from a collection of feeds
Replaces Feedly, Google Reader
EpubPress
E-books & Media LibraryConvert web articles into self-hosted ebooks
Replaces Pocket, Instapaper
KOHighlights
E-books & Media LibraryViewer and exporter for KOReader book highlights
Replaces Kindle Notebook export
Booksonic-Air
E-books & Media LibrarySelf-hosted audiobook streaming server with Subsonic API
Replaces Audible
Bragibooks
E-books & Media LibraryWeb app that organizes and tags audiobook files via Audible metadata
Manga-Tagger
E-books & Media LibraryAutomated metadata tagging tool for manga archives
Replaces ComiXology
Atsumeru
E-books & Media LibraryManga/comic/light novel media server with clients for Windows, Linux,
Evergreen
E-books & Media LibraryHighly-scalable software for libraries that helps library patrons find
Kthoom
E-books & Media LibraryIn-browser comic book and archive reader
Replaces ComiXology
dir2opds
E-books & Media LibraryMinimal OPDS server for personal ebook collections
Replaces Calibre Content Server
RERO ILS
E-books & Media LibraryLarge-scale ILS that can be run as a service with consortial features,
MangAdventure
E-books & Media LibrarySelf-hosted manga reader and online manga catalog
Replaces Commercial manga sites
MyMangaDB
E-books & Media LibraryManga collection manager with automatic metadata, MyAnimeList import
Readflow
E-books & Media LibraryTrack your Kobo reads on Anilist.co and Hardcover.app using
Inkheart
E-books & Media LibraryLightweight PDF library and reader
Petrolette
E-books & Media LibraryThe news reader that doesn't know you
Replaces Netvibes
Vore
E-books & Media LibrarySimple, multi-tenant feed reader
Ubooquity
E-books & Media LibraryFree to use, versatile, lightweight, multi-platform, and secure home
No apps match these filters.
At a glance
| App | Deploy effort | Difficulty | Min. RAM | License | ★ Stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Programming Books | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 64 MB | CC-BY-4.0 | 398,998 |
| KOReader | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 30,304 |
| Koodo Reader | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 256 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 28,496 |
| Calibre | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 512 MB | GPL-3.0 | 26,142 |
| Readest | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | AGPL-3.0 | 25,162 |
| Ebook2audiobook | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 2,048 MB | Apache-2.0 | 20,347 |
| DeDRM Tools | Read-the-docs project | Medium | 128 MB | GPL-3.0 | 15,372 |
| Ladder | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 20 MB | GPL-3.0-only | 9,174 |
| Suwayomi-Server | Under-an-hour setup | Medium | 512 MB | MPL-2.0 | 7,870 |
| Sigil | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | GPL-3.0 | 6,992 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Free Programming Books (398,998 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Ladder (from 20 MB RAM, against 4,096 MB for the heaviest here).
- Fastest to deploy: Suwayomi (one-click platform packages).
- Licensing: 19 of 60 use MIT; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Free within the e-books & media library category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.