Kavita - Self-Hosted Digital Library
Kavita — a fast, self-hosted digital library for comics, manga, EPUB and PDF. Built-in readers, OPDS, Docker-ready, OIDC, AniList/MAL sync and rich metadata.
Categories:
Kavita is a fast, feature-rich, self-hosted reading server for comics, manga, webtoons, EPUBs, PDFs, and more, designed for personal libraries and sharing with friends and family.
🚀 Overview
Kavita is a powerful self-hosted digital library server that allows users to organize, manage, and read their collections of comics, manga, ebooks, and PDFs across multiple devices. It provides built-in responsive readers, advanced metadata handling, user management, and community features like ratings and reviews, all while prioritizing privacy and performance.
This project solves the problem of scattered digital reading collections by offering a centralized, customizable server that parses metadata automatically, supports folder watching for new content, and enables seamless sharing without cloud dependencies. It's built for avid readers, self-hosting enthusiasts, comic collectors, manga fans, and families who want to share libraries securely.
Developed by majora2007 and the community to create a superior, all-in-one alternative to tools like Komga or Ubooquity, Kavita emphasizes speed, extensibility (via OPDS and API), and ongoing improvements based on user feedback.
✨ Key Features
- Built-in Readers: Responsive web readers for EPUB, PDF, CBZ/CBR, images with webtoon mode, continuous scrolling, annotations, highlights, and send-to-device (e.g., Kindle).
- Metadata & Discovery: Auto-parsing from filenames/ComicInfo.xml, ratings, reviews, full-text search, smart filters, and collections/reading lists.
- User & Sharing: Role-based access, age restrictions, OIDC auth, multi-user support, and OPDS for third-party apps.
- Kavita+ Premium: Sync with AniList/MAL, external metadata, personalized recommendations, smart collections (optional subscription).
- Upcoming: Continued beta improvements toward 1.0 stable release.
🛠 Tech Stack
- Frontend: TypeScript, HTML, SCSS
- Backend: C# (.NET Core)
- Database: SQLite (default)
- Auth: Built-in users / OIDC
- Hosting: Docker, Linux, Windows, macOS (self-hosted)
👥 Who Is This For?
This project is useful for:
- Self-hosting enthusiasts building personal media servers for comics and ebooks
- Comic/manga collectors seeking advanced organization and readers
- Families and friends sharing reading libraries securely
📸 Screenshots / Demo
- Live demo: https://demo.kavitareader.com (demouser / Demouser64)
- GitHub: https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita
🔥 Project Status
- 🟢 Actively building
Last updated: 2026-03-24
❓ FAQ
Is this project free?
Yes / Open Source (GPLv3) (Core software is completely free; optional Kavita+ subscription unlocks premium features like external syncs.)
Is the source code available?
Yes — https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita
Can I contribute?
Yes — report bugs via GitHub Issues, suggest features in Discussions ("Ideas" category), submit PRs following CONTRIBUTING.md, or help with localization on Weblate.
📬 Contact & Links
- Website: https://www.kavitareader.com
- GitHub: https://github.com/Kareadita/Kavita
- Discord: https://discord.gg/kavita
Built with ❤️ and kept warm on WarmIndex.
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