COPS vs Kavita
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | COPS | Kavita |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 134 | ★ 11,728 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Kindle | Kindle, ComiXology |
What are COPS and Kavita?
COPS
COPS is a lightweight Calibre OPDS and HTML PHP server that exposes a Calibre library without needing Calibre running. It targets users wanting a minimal way to share their library. It is deployed via Docker or a PHP stack.
- OPDS and HTML catalog
- Reads Calibre metadata database
- Very lightweight
- No Calibre process needed
Kavita
Kavita is a fast, self-hosted digital library that handles e-books, comics, manga, and magazines with a polished reader. It targets readers with mixed digital collections. It is deployed via Docker.
- Handles books, comics and manga
- Fast polished web reader
- Collections and reading lists
- OPDS support
COPS vs Kavita: key differences
COPS is written in PHP, while Kavita is built with C#. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for COPS versus GPL-3.0 for Kavita. COPS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Kavita. COPS is the more established project (first released 2013), while Kavita arrived in 2021. Kavita has the considerably larger community, at 11,728 GitHub stars versus 134.
Why pick each one
Choose COPS if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Easy to host
- Good OPDS support
Watch out for
- Read-only catalog
- Basic interface
Choose Kavita if…
- Great mixed-media support
- Fast and modern
- Active development
Watch out for
- No metadata editing
- Library organization is folder-based
Frequently asked questions
Is COPS or Kavita better?
Neither is universally better. Kavita has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are COPS and Kavita free and open-source?
Yes. COPS is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Kavita under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run COPS and Kavita with Docker?
COPS: yes. Kavita: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, COPS or Kavita?
COPS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Kavita. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.