Komga vs LANraragi
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Komga
Media server for comics, manga and e-books
VS
LANraragi
Self-hosted archival manga and comic reader
| Feature | Komga | LANraragi |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Kotlin | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,688 | ★ 3,114 |
| First released | 2019 | 2016 |
| Replaces | ComiXology, Kindle | ComiXology |
What are Komga and LANraragi?
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
LANraragi
LANraragi is a web application for archiving and reading manga and doujinshi collections stored in archive files. It offers tagging, search, and a responsive reader, all running from a single Docker container.
- Archive-based comic library
- Tagging and search
- Responsive web reader
- Plugin system
Komga vs LANraragi: key differences
Komga is written in Kotlin, while LANraragi is built with Perl. LANraragi is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Komga. LANraragi is the more established project (first released 2016), while Komga arrived in 2019. Komga has the considerably larger community, at 6,688 GitHub stars versus 3,114.
Why pick each one
Choose Komga if…
- Excellent for comics
- Good metadata handling
- OPDS for apps
Watch out for
- Less ideal for plain e-books
- Niche focus
Choose LANraragi if…
- Simple single-container deploy
- Good for large archives
Watch out for
- Archive files only
- Niche audience
Frequently asked questions
Is Komga or LANraragi 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 Komga and LANraragi free and open-source?
Yes. Komga is licensed under MIT and LANraragi under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Komga and LANraragi with Docker?
Komga: yes. LANraragi: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Komga or LANraragi?
LANraragi has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Komga. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.