Kavita vs Mango
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kavita
Fast self-hosted digital library for all reading
VS
Mango
Archived
Self-hosted manga server and web reader
| Feature | Kavita | Mango |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | C# | Crystal |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,728 | ★ 1,777 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Kindle, ComiXology | ComiXology |
What are Kavita and Mango?
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
Mango
Mango is a self-hosted manga server and reader written in Crystal, designed to be fast and lightweight. It supports multi-user accounts, reading progress tracking, and an OPDS feed for external readers.
- Manga library and reader
- Multi-user accounts
- Reading progress tracking
- OPDS feed support
Kavita vs Mango: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Mango's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Kavita is actively maintained. Kavita is written in C#, while Mango is built with Crystal. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Kavita versus MIT for Mango. Mango is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Kavita. Kavita has the considerably larger community, at 11,728 GitHub stars versus 1,777.
Why pick each one
Choose Kavita if…
- Great mixed-media support
- Fast and modern
- Active development
Watch out for
- No metadata editing
- Library organization is folder-based
Choose Mango if…
- Very lightweight
- Simple to deploy
Watch out for
- Slower development
- Manga-focused only
Frequently asked questions
Is Kavita or Mango 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 Kavita and Mango free and open-source?
Yes. Kavita is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mango under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kavita and Mango with Docker?
Kavita: yes. Mango: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kavita or Mango?
Mango has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Kavita. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.