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CLUSTER HOSTED-SELF-READING · 21 ENTRIES · EARLIEST ENTRY 2026-01-27

Self-hosted ebook library readers

These self-hosted web apps manage and read personal ebook libraries, with upload, organization, and cross-device progress syncing. The dated history is too thin to read a shape from, with only three dated entries before the index start, so the cluster predates the index or its members are undated. Traction is led by bookshelf (366 stars), with cedar-server (10 stars) and Kolibre (9 stars) trailing.

Entry timeline

ENTRY TIMELINE

JAN 2026: 1MAR 2026: 1MAY 2026: 1AUG 2026: 4SEP 2026: 9OCT 2026: 5
JAN 2026OCT 2026

Each bar is the month a member carries, which is a creation date where the source published one and a crawl date otherwise. Nothing in the index was found before 11 August 2026, and coverage broadened sharply on 14–15 August, so a bar from then on reports how much we found that month, not how much was built; an earlier bar reports how far back a member's own source dated it — not how long we have been watching.

Members by activity

Activity signals, not revenue.

Build origin · 1 hand-coded · 19 unlabelled

Operator · 13 hobby · 2 indie · 3 open source · 2 unlabelled

Two labels per entry, never collapsed into one: how it was built, and who stands behind it. Counted over the 20 listed below. Unlabelled means nothing has decided yet — not that the answer is small.

  1. 01bookshelf366★26 dayslivehobbySelf-hosted web app that stores and serves a personal ebook collection using object storage, without needing a database.
  2. 02cedar-server10★22 daysliveindieSelf-hosted server that reads PDFs, EPUBs, and articles aloud in natural voices, with word highlighting, and syncs libraries across devices.
  3. 03Kolibre9★10 days—hobbySelf-hosted reading library that manages an ebook collection, pushes books to e-readers, and automatically collects highlights and reading history.
  4. 04inky-self-hosted6★21 dayslivehobbyA self-hosted companion app that collects books and articles, prepares them for e-ink displays, and sends them to e-reader devices.
  5. 05openshelf4★25 days—hobbySelf-hosted web app that indexes personal Calibre and OPDS book libraries, lets users browse titles, and downloads selected books to a folder.
  6. 06ember3★7 days—hobbyLocal web dashboard that manages a Kindle's ebook library over SSH, including upload, rename, move, and delete, with no cloud.
  7. 07legejo2★6 dayslivehobbySelf-hosted ebook library that lets users upload EPUBs, organize them on shelves, and sync reading progress across browsers and e-readers.
  8. 08BookKin1★28 days—hobbySelf-hosted web app that manages home and personal collections of EPUB and PDF books as a searchable digital library.
  9. 09bokhylle0★12 days—hobbySelf-hosted household book library that manages a shared collection of e-books and provides private shelves and built-in readers.
  10. 10Registrum0★15 days—Self-hosted web app that reads EPUB, PDF, CBZ, and ZIP books with vertical and right-to-left text support and cross-device progress syncing.
  11. 11read-on-rmfakecloud0★23 days—hobbyBrowser extension that sends web pages as EPUBs or PDFs to a self-hosted server for reading on a reMarkable tablet.
  12. 12goodreads-pipeline0★19 days—hobbyApp that watches a Goodreads to-read shelf and imports each book into a self-hosted library without duplicating existing files.
  13. 13Syncer0★4 days—Self-hosted e-book reader that syncs reading positions across devices and supports highlights, notes, folders, and tags for PDF and EPUB files.
  14. 14MoxHome0★10 days—hobbySelf-hosted web app that translates EPUB books and produces language-learning packages with vocabulary cards, grammar notes, and level-tagged content.
  15. 15grimmory0★22 daysliveopen sourceSelf-hosted web app that manages an ebook library and provides a reading interface.
  16. 16Quire0★26 daysliveopen sourceSelf-hosted Android EPUB reader that browses a calibre-web library over OPDS, downloads books, and syncs reading progress across devices.
  17. 17PaperRelay0★1 molivehand-codedhobbySelf-hosted web library and continuous PDF reader that syncs papers from local sources for researchers.
  18. 18shuhai0★1 mo—hobbySelf-hosted novel search and reading service that aggregates results from user-supplied book sources and provides a customizable reader.
  19. 19booklore0★4 moliveopen sourceSelf-hosted web application that allows users to upload, organize, and read ebooks in a personal library, with a clean reading interface.
  20. 20BiblioPod - Your Personal Digital Library & Reading Platform0★unknownliveindieWeb platform for uploading and reading ePub books that tracks reading progress, organizes collections, and sets reading challenges with local storage.

Ranked by traction, highest first, and paged 20 at a time — this is a window on the cluster, never the whole of it. Ties are broken by a stable id so a product cannot appear on two pages or fall between them. Browse every cluster.