Calibre-Web

Calibre-Web is a self-hosted web interface for browsing, reading, and downloading books from an existing Calibre library, adding an OPDS feed, Kobo sync, and one-click e-reader delivery that the Calibre desktop app doesn’t offer on its own. It runs in a single Docker container, only reads the Calibre database it’s pointed at, and works from any device with a browser instead of a desktop-only app.

What is Calibre-Web?

Calibre-Web isn’t a library manager on its own, it’s a web front end for one that already exists. Calibre itself still does the heavy lifting: importing books, editing metadata, converting formats, and maintaining the actual database. Calibre-Web reads that same metadata.db file and turns it into a browser-based interface with cover art, tags, ratings, and series info, plus a built-in reader for EPUB, PDF, and a handful of other formats, without needing the Calibre desktop app running the whole time. Fine-grained per-user permissions control who can read, download, edit metadata, or upload new books, and LDAP, Google/GitHub OAuth, and proxy authentication cover anyone who’d rather not manage another password.

How does Calibre-Web organize a library?

There’s no folder scan the way Kavita or Audiobookshelf work. Calibre-Web points at a Calibre library folder, the one containing metadata.db, and reads whatever’s already inside it. Building or maintaining that library itself still happens through the Calibre desktop app, or through Calibre-Web’s own upload and metadata-editing tools once books are already in. A fresh install ships with a small sample library at library/metadata.db in the repo, useful for testing; moving that file out of the Calibre-Web folder afterward is worth doing so a future update doesn’t overwrite it.

Is Calibre-Web legal to run?

Yes. Calibre-Web is self-hosted software like anything else in this category: it reads and serves files from a Calibre library folder it’s pointed at and does nothing beyond that. It doesn’t fetch books from anywhere on its own, doesn’t scrape retailer catalogs, doesn’t crack DRM. What matters, as always, is what ends up inside that Calibre library in the first place: books already bought DRM-free, personal scans or conversions of physical books already owned, and public-domain titles from sources like Project Gutenberg are all fine. This page has nothing to do with pirated ebooks or any tool built around finding them.

How to install Calibre-Web with Docker

1. Create a folder for the Calibre library (or point at an existing one) plus a separate one for Calibre-Web’s own config.
2. Save the docker-compose.yml below and edit the volume paths and PUID/PGID to match.
3. Run the compose file from that folder.
4. Open the server’s IP address on port 8083 and log in with the default admin / admin123 credentials.

services:
  calibre-web:
    image: linuxserver/calibre-web:latest
    container_name: calibre-web
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/Toronto
    volumes:
      - "/path/to/config:/config"
      - "/path/to/library:/books"
    ports:
      - "8083:8083"
    restart: unless-stopped

docker compose up -d

PUID and PGID should match whichever user owns the library files on the host, standard practice across every LinuxServer.io image. To also pull in Calibre’s own ebook-convert binary for on-the-fly format conversion, add DOCKER_MODS=linuxserver/mods:universal-calibre to the environment block, per the official LinuxServer.io Calibre-Web docs; leaving it out keeps the image lighter.

Reading Calibre-Web on mobile and through OPDS and Kobo sync

Calibre-Web has no dedicated mobile app of its own, but its OPDS feed covers most of the same ground: KOReader, Moon+ Reader, and any other OPDS-capable app can browse and read straight from a Calibre-Web server without installing anything Calibre-specific. Kobo sync is the standout feature here: pointing a Kobo e-reader’s Wi-Fi settings at a Calibre-Web instance syncs the library directly onto the device over the network, no cable and no Calibre desktop app running in the background.

Calibre-Web vs Kavita

Kavita is the closer comparison on this site: a free, GPL-3.0 digital library server that scans folders directly instead of depending on a Calibre database, and treats comics and manga as equally first-class alongside ebooks, webtoon mode included. Calibre-Web’s advantage runs the other way: anyone already maintaining a Calibre library gets a browser interface, OPDS, and Kobo sync on top of it for free, without switching tools or rebuilding a library from scratch.

	Calibre-Web	Kavita
Built for	Ebooks, via an existing Calibre library	Comics, manga & ebooks equally
Requires an existing Calibre database	Yes	No
Kobo device sync	Yes	No
Webtoon / long-strip reading mode	No	Yes
OPDS support	Yes	Yes
License	GPL-3.0	GPL-3.0

• Builds directly on an existing Calibre library, no separate metadata rebuild
• Native Kobo sync over Wi-Fi, no cable or desktop app required
• Fine-grained per-user permissions plus LDAP/OAuth login options
• Full OPDS feed for third-party reading apps

• Requires a Calibre library to already exist and be maintained through Calibre itself
• No official mobile app, OPDS and email delivery only
• Comics and manga formats fit less naturally than in a tool built around them
• Ships with a default admin/admin123 login that must be changed manually

FAQ

Is Calibre-Web free?

Yes, entirely. It’s open source under GPL-3.0, with no paid tier, premium features, or subscription anywhere in the project.

What port does Calibre-Web use by default?

Port 8083 on the linuxserver/calibre-web image, changeable through the port mapping like any other container.

Is Calibre-Web legal to run?

Yes, it’s open-source software like any other self-hosted program. What matters is what gets stored in the Calibre library behind it, and this page assumes books that are already legally owned.

Does Calibre-Web require Calibre to be installed?

Not to browse and read an existing library. Calibre desktop is still useful for importing new books, editing metadata in bulk, and format conversion, and can be layered into the Docker image itself through the DOCKER_MODS environment variable.

Does Calibre-Web support Kobo sync?

Yes, natively. Pointing a Kobo device’s Wi-Fi settings at a running Calibre-Web instance syncs the library directly onto the device.

Can I install Calibre-Web without Docker?

It’s not required. A pip package (calibreweb) covers a native install on Linux, Windows, or macOS, though Docker stays the more consistent path across platforms and is what this page defaults to.

The Audiobookshelf fiche on this site covers the same idea from the audio side, a dedicated library server instead of a general media server stretched over a format it wasn’t built for. For comics and manga instead of ebooks, or a library that skips the Calibre database requirement entirely, the Kavita fiche covers that angle. Our homelab setup guide for beginners covers the Docker basics all of these depend on.