Komga

What is Komga?

Komga is an open source media server for your comics, manga, BDs, magazines and ebooks. You point it at folders of CBZ, CBR, PDF and EPUB files, and it organizes them into libraries you browse and read from any device — through its built-in web reader or an OPDS-compatible app on your phone or tablet.

What is Komga best for?

Readers with a large comics or manga collection who want to self-host it instead of relying on a cloud store or a device-locked app. It’s a strong fit if comics and manga are your priority and you value a clean web reader, a stable API, and full control over your files and metadata.

What can Komga do?

• Organize CBZ, CBR, PDF and EPUB files into libraries, collections and read lists
• Read in the browser with automatic mode detection — left-to-right, right-to-left for manga, and vertical scroll for webtoons, plus double-page spreads
• Serve your library over OPDS v1 and v2 to e-reader and reader apps, including a Mihon (Tachiyomi) extension
• Sync to Kobo e-readers and to KOReader
• Edit metadata per series and book, and import embedded ComicInfo metadata automatically
• Manage multiple users with per-library access control and age restrictions
• Detect duplicate files and pages, and import ComicRack .cbl read lists
• Automate with a documented, stable REST API

Where does Komga fall short?

• It’s comics- and manga-first, so its EPUB/ebook handling is thinner than dedicated ebook servers. For a mixed ebook-and-comic library, Kavita or Calibre-Web are a better fit.
• There’s no native metadata scraper that pulls covers and details from online databases — metadata comes from embedded ComicInfo.xml or your own manual edits, so a poorly-tagged collection needs cleanup work.
• It runs on the JVM (Kotlin + Spring Boot), which carries a heavier memory footprint than lighter alternatives like the .NET-based Kavita — worth noting on a small NAS or Raspberry Pi.

Is Komga free?

Yes — Komga is completely free and open source under the MIT license. There’s no paid edition, no cloud tier, and no feature paywall; you only pay for the hardware you run it on. Official Docker images make it straightforward to deploy on a home server or NAS.

What does Komga replace?

Komga is a self-hosted alternative to Plex for comics and to storefront readers like Comixology (now folded into Kindle). Instead of streaming from someone else’s cloud or reading inside a store’s app, you own the files and serve them from your own machine.

FAQ

Is Komga open source? Yes. Komga is released under the MIT license, one of the most permissive open source licenses — the full source is on GitHub and free to use, modify and self-host.

Can I self-host Komga for free? Yes. Komga is free with no paid tiers; the only cost is the server or NAS you run it on. Official Docker images are the usual way to deploy it.

Is Komga a good Plex alternative for comics? For comics and manga, yes — Komga gives you a dedicated reader and library management that Plex lacks. For movies, TV and music, Plex or Jellyfin remains the better choice.

What do I need to run Komga? A machine that can run Java (or Docker), some disk space for your library, and your comic files in CBZ, CBR, PDF or EPUB format. It runs comfortably on a home server, NAS or a mini PC.