Kavita is a self-hosted reading server built to handle manga, comics (CBR, CBZ, ZIP/RAR), and ebooks (EPUB, PDF). It ships a responsive web reader that works on phones, tablets, and desktops, with multi-user support and per-user reading progress. Setup is a single binary or Docker container; no account or external service is needed.
Kavita
kavitareader.com
Our take
Kavita fills a gap that general media servers like Jellyfin do not: a first-class reading experience for digital comics and manga collections, with proper chapter tracking and a purpose-built reader. The web reader is solid, though power users who want native mobile reading apps will find the options thin compared to the Subsonic ecosystem for music. Kavita+ is an optional paid subscription for premium metadata features, but the core server is entirely free and self-contained. Worth it for anyone with a large CBZ or EPUB library who wants to read from any device without a third-party service.
GitHub at a glance
Kareadita/Kavita
Stars
10,988
Last commit
today
healthy
License
GPL-3.0
Latest release
v0.9.0.2
1mo ago
Listed in
Kavita alternatives
Kavita license, in plain English
GPL-3.0 Strong copyleft
Free to use and modify, but anything you distribute that is built on it must also be open under the same license.
Permits
- Commercial use
- Modification
- Distribution
- Patent use
- Private use
Requires
- Disclose source
- Same license
- State changes
- License and copyright notice
Does not provide
- Liability cover
- Warranty
Why it matters: Strong copyleft keeps every distributed version open. A vendor cannot fold this into a closed product and ship it without releasing their changes.
Plain-language summary of the project's license, not legal advice. Read the full text for the exact terms.