14 open-source apps
Best self-hosted E-books apps
E-book, comic and audiobook libraries and readers. Serve your digital book collection to any device.
The most popular self-hosted apps for e-books on GitHub are Calibre, Calibre Web and Audiobookshelf, ranked by stars below.
Ranked by GitHub stars
All 14 E-books apps
Calibre
kovidgoyal/calibre
E-book library manager that can view, convert, and catalog e-books in most of the major e-book formats and provides a built-in Web server for remote clients.
E-booksPythonCalibre Web
janeczku/calibre-web
Browse, read and download eBooks using an existing Calibre database.
E-booksFluentAudiobookshelf
advplyr/audiobookshelf
Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS.
Music StreamingJavaScriptDockerKavita
Kareadita/Kavita
Cross-platform e-book/manga/comic/pdf server and web reader with user management, ratings and reviews, and metadata support.
E-booksC#DockerKomga
gotson/komga
Media server for comics/mangas/BDs with API and OPDS support, a modern web interface for exploring your libraries, as well as a web reader.
E-booksKotlinDockerCalibre Web Automated
crocodilestick/Calibre-Web-Automated
All-in-one solution, combining the modern lightweight web UI from Calibre-Web with the robust, versatile feature set of Calibre (fork of Calibre Web).
E-booksJavaScriptDockerBookwyrm
bookwyrm-social/bookwyrm
Social network for tracking your reading, talking about books, writing reviews, and discovering what to read next.
E-booksPythonStump
stumpapp/stump
A fast, free and open source comics, manga and digital book server with OPDS support.
E-booksTypeScriptKapowarr
Casvt/Kapowarr
Build and manage a comic book library. Download, rename, move and convert issues of the volume to your liking.
E-booksPythonDockerkiwix-serve
kiwix/kiwix-tools
HTTP daemon for serving wikis from ZIM files.
E-booksC++BookLogr
Mozzo1000/booklogr
Manage your personal book library with ease.
E-booksJavaScriptDockerAtsumeru
Atsumeru-xyz/Atsumeru
Manga/comic/light novel media server with clients for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android.
E-booksJavaDockerBindery
jarynclouatre/bindery
Folder-watching converter for e-books and comics. EPUB to Kobo KEPUB via kepubify, CBZ/CBR/PDF via Kindle Comic Converter, with per-device profiles, ComicInfo.xml naming, chapter-to-volume bundling…
E-booksPythonDockerMyMangaDB
FabianRolfMatthiasNoll/MyMangaDB
Manga collection manager with automatic metadata, MyAnimeList import and detailed collection statistics.
E-booksTypeScriptDocker
What is the best self-hosted app for e-books?
By GitHub stars, Calibre is the most popular self-hosted app for e-books with 26,071 stars, followed by Calibre Web and Audiobookshelf. The best fit depends on your needs, so compare Docker support, license and recent activity on each app page.
Are these E-books apps free?
Yes. All 14 apps in this category are open source and free to run on your own server. A few also offer a paid hosted plan or enterprise add-ons, but self-hosting the open-source edition costs nothing beyond your hardware.
How do I install a self-hosted E-books app?
9 of the 14 apps here ship a Docker image, which is the easiest route: rent a small VPS or use a home server, install Docker, and start the app with its Docker Compose file. Apps without an image list their native install steps in the README.
Which E-books apps are most actively developed?
Measured by commits in the last twelve months, the most active projects are Calibre (2,554 commits), Bookwyrm (1,350 commits) and Audiobookshelf (487 commits). Active development usually means faster bug fixes and security patches.