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Comparison · Collab
Komga vs Zettlr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Komga and Zettlr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Komga vs Zettlr: at a glance
What is Komga?
Komga's NextUI beta keeps gaining features while the old UI gets only translations.
Komga ships every one to two weeks, and almost all feature work lands in NextUI, the rewritten web interface served at /next. The third NextUI beta in 1.28.0 added contextual navigation, such as moving between books in a series or read list, and 1.29.0 added Notable Entities metadata that only NextUI shows. The latest patches fix page counts and KOReader hashes and carry dependency and translation updates.
What is Zettlr?
Zettlr added admonitions after six years, then spent a release fixing its updater.
Zettlr 4.8.0 brought admonitions, a feature six years in the making, plus translation updates and a fix for a long-standing logic bug in search. 4.9.0 followed in late October to stop a false 'Update failed' error introduced by 4.8, drop macOS 12 and old Ubuntu support, distrust the eMudhra TLS certificates and render reference-style images.
Komga vs Zettlr: editorial side-by-side
Komga
5.0COLLAB
Komga's NextUI beta keeps gaining features while the old UI gets only translations.
◆ Current state
Komga ships every one to two weeks, and almost all feature work lands in NextUI, the rewritten web interface served at /next. The third NextUI beta in 1.28.0 added contextual navigation, such as moving between books in a series or read list, and 1.29.0 added Notable Entities metadata that only NextUI shows. The latest patches fix page counts and KOReader hashes and carry dependency and translation updates.
◆ Where it's heading
NextUI is moving from preview to the main interface: each minor release adds features exclusive to it, and the old web UI now receives only translations and dependency bumps. The server side keeps adding API checks and Kobo sync fixes underneath.
◆ Prediction
Expect further NextUI betas with editing and navigation features, and eventually a release that makes NextUI the default; the entries don't give a date.
Zettlr
2.5COLLAB
Zettlr added admonitions after six years, then spent a release fixing its updater.
◆ Current state
Zettlr 4.8.0 brought admonitions, a feature six years in the making, plus translation updates and a fix for a long-standing logic bug in search. 4.9.0 followed in late October to stop a false 'Update failed' error introduced by 4.8, drop macOS 12 and old Ubuntu support, distrust the eMudhra TLS certificates and render reference-style images.
◆ Where it's heading
Releases arrive roughly monthly and alternate between a headline writing feature and cleanup of the previous one. The app is tracking Electron's platform support, so older operating systems will keep falling away.
◆ Prediction
A small 4.9.x fix release or a feature-led 4.10 in about a month fits the pattern; the entries don't hint at its contents.
Alternatives to Komga and Zettlr
Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Komga or Zettlr.
Capacities
Capacities adds whiteboards and a global graph to its object-based notes.
Guru
Guru's Knowledge Agents get the plumbing that makes their answers checkable and safe.
EGroupware
EGroupware retires 23.1 and keeps shipping security fixes every week or two.
Immich
Immich's 3.4 candidate adds passkeys and built-in backups.
PhotoPrism
PhotoPrism now lets AI assistants search your photo library over MCP.
See all Komga alternatives → · See all Zettlr alternatives →
Recent activity from Komga and Zettlr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5d agoKomgaPage count and KOReader hash fixes
- 8d agoZettlrZettlr 4.9 fixes update errors and drops macOS 12
- 19d agoKomgaRelease 1.29.1
- 21d agoKomgaRelease 1.29.0
- 1mo agoKomgaNextUI login, sorting and search fixes
- 1mo agoKomgaThird NextUI beta adds contextual navigation
- 1mo agoKomgaAPI restriction checks and a Kobo re-download fix
- 1mo agoZettlrZettlr 4.8 adds admonition blocks
- 3mo agoZettlrZettlr 4.7 adds long-requested custom shortcuts
- 4mo agoZettlrZettlr 4.6 fixes regressions from the editor transition
- 5mo agoZettlrZettlr 4.5 adds a long-running task indicator
- 6mo agoZettlrZettlr 4.4 improves the file manager and security model
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Komga and Zettlr?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Komga is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Komga better than Zettlr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Komga is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Komga?
Top Komga alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Komga alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/komga for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Zettlr?
Top Zettlr alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Zettlr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/zettlr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.