Navidrome vs Readest

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureNavidromeReadest
CategoryMedia ServersE-books & Media Library
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 22,746★ 23,192
First released20192024
ReplacesSpotifyKindle, Apple Books

Why pick each one

Choose Navidrome if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Works with many mobile apps
  • Easy to set up
Navidrome details

Choose Readest if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 23.2k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
Readest details

Frequently asked questions

Is Navidrome or Readest better?

Neither is universally better. Readest has the larger community, while Navidrome is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Navidrome and Readest free and open-source?

Yes. Navidrome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Readest under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Navidrome and Readest with Docker?

Navidrome: yes. Readest: yes.

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