Free Programming Books
E-books & Media LibraryCurated catalog of free programming ebooks and resources
Replaces Paid technical book subscriptions
Best Offline-First E-books & Media Library for self-hosting
The 20 best Offline-First 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
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
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
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
Thorium Reader
E-books & Media LibraryOpen-source EPUB and audiobook reader for desktops
Replaces Adobe Digital Editions, Apple Books
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
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
Zimit
E-books & Media LibraryCaptures websites into offline-readable ZIM archives
Replaces Pocket, web archiving services
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
Kthoom
E-books & Media LibraryIn-browser comic book and archive reader
Replaces ComiXology
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 |
| 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 |
| Sigil | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | GPL-3.0 | 6,992 |
| epub.js | Under-an-hour setup | Easy | 128 MB | BSD-3-Clause | 6,962 |
| Libation | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | GPL-3.0 | 6,314 |
| PDF Arranger | Read-the-docs project | Easy | 256 MB | GPL-3.0 | 5,972 |
Quick picks
- Most adopted: Free Programming Books (398,998 GitHub stars).
- Lightest footprint: Free Programming Books (from 64 MB RAM, against 2,048 MB for the heaviest here).
- Licensing: 7 of 20 use GPL-3.0; check the rest individually if you plan to modify and redistribute.
Every option here is open-source and self-hostable, tagged Offline-First within the e-books & media library category. Deploy effort is graded from published container recipes, not vendor claims — see the methodology.