COPS 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.
| Feature | COPS | Stump |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 134 | ★ 2,714 |
| First released | 2013 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Kindle | Kindle, ComiXology |
What are COPS and Stump?
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
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
COPS vs Stump: key differences
COPS is written in PHP, while Stump is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for COPS versus MIT for Stump. COPS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Stump. COPS is the more established project (first released 2013), while Stump arrived in 2022. Stump has the considerably larger community, at 2,714 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 Stump if…
- Fast and lightweight
- Clean interface
Watch out for
- Still pre-1.0
- Fewer features than Komga
Frequently asked questions
Is COPS 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 COPS and Stump free and open-source?
Yes. COPS is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Stump under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run COPS and Stump with Docker?
COPS: yes. Stump: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, COPS or Stump?
COPS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Stump. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.