BookLore vs Stump
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
Stump
Fast, low-resource comic and ebook media server
| Feature | BookLore | Stump |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Java | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,231 | ★ 2,712 |
| First released | 2024 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Kindle, Goodreads | Kindle, ComiXology |
What are BookLore and Stump?
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
Stump
Stump is a free, open-source comic, manga, and ebook server built with Rust for speed and low resource use. It implements the OPDS standard and offers a modern web interface for browsing and reading.
- Comic and ebook serving
- OPDS support
- Modern web reader
- Very low resource use
BookLore vs Stump: key differences
BookLore is written in Java, while Stump is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for BookLore versus MIT for Stump. Stump is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for BookLore. Stump is the more established project (first released 2022), while BookLore arrived in 2024. Stump has the considerably larger community, at 2,712 GitHub stars versus 1,231.
Why pick each one
Choose BookLore if…
- Tidy library management
- Web reader included
- Active development
Watch out for
- Young project
- Smaller community
Choose Stump if…
- Fast and lightweight
- Clean interface
Watch out for
- Still pre-1.0
- Fewer features than Komga
Frequently asked questions
Is BookLore or Stump better?
Neither is universally better. Stump has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BookLore and Stump free and open-source?
Yes. BookLore is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Stump under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BookLore and Stump with Docker?
BookLore: yes. Stump: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, BookLore or Stump?
Stump has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for BookLore. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.