BookLore vs Komga
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
BookLore
Self-hosted web app for organizing and reading ebooks and PDFs
VS
Komga
Media server for comics, manga and e-books
| Feature | BookLore | Komga |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 91 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | Kotlin |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,243 | ★ 6,688 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Kindle, Goodreads | ComiXology, Kindle |
What are BookLore and Komga?
BookLore
BookLore is a self-hosted application for organizing, managing, and reading a personal ebook and PDF library in the browser. Written in Java and deployed via Docker, it offers metadata fetching, a web reader, and multi-user shelves.
- Organizes e-books and PDFs
- Web-based reader
- Metadata fetching
- Multi-user shelves
Komga
Komga is a self-hosted media server focused on comics, manga, BD, and e-books with a clean web reader and OPDS support. It targets comic and manga collectors. It is deployed via Docker.
- Comic and manga focused
- Web reader with OPDS
- Metadata and collections
- REST API
BookLore vs Komga: key differences
BookLore is written in Java, while Komga is built with Kotlin. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for BookLore versus MIT for Komga. Komga is the more established project (first released 2019), while BookLore arrived in 2024. Komga has the considerably larger community, at 6,688 GitHub stars versus 1,243.
Why pick each one
Choose BookLore if…
- Tidy library management
- Web reader included
- Active development
Watch out for
- Young project
- Smaller community
Choose Komga if…
- Excellent for comics
- Good metadata handling
- OPDS for apps
Watch out for
- Less ideal for plain e-books
- Niche focus
Frequently asked questions
Is BookLore or Komga better?
Neither is universally better. Komga has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BookLore and Komga free and open-source?
Yes. BookLore is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Komga under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BookLore and Komga with Docker?
BookLore: yes. Komga: yes.