Best Self Hosted Alternatives to CLZ Comics (Collectorz)

BookLore is a self-hosted web application for organizing and reading a personal digital library. It supports multiple users, rich metadata management, and device/app connectivity via OPDS, with a built-in web reader for common ebook formats.

Key Features

• Smart shelves and dynamic “magic shelves” with rule-based, auto-updating collections
• Automatic metadata fetching (including covers) with tools to search, pick, and edit metadata
• OPDS catalog support for connecting external reading apps
• Built-in reader for EPUB, PDF, and comics with customization, notes, and reading position sync
• BookDrop folder-based imports and web uploads for adding books quickly
• Multi-user management with granular permissions and optional OIDC authentication
• Reading stats and visualizations (timeline, reader analytics)

Use Cases

• Run a private family or community ebook library with per-user access controls
• Centralize and enrich an existing ebook collection with automated metadata and fast search
• Serve ebooks to devices and apps via OPDS, including Kobo/KOReader workflows

BookLore combines library management, metadata tooling, and reading capabilities in a single web UI, making it suitable for anyone who wants a curated, multi-user digital library experience with broad device compatibility.

Mylar3 is a web-based automation tool for building and maintaining a comic book library. It monitors series you follow, searches for new issues via NZB and torrent sources, and then post-processes downloads into an organized collection.

Key Features

• Series watchlists with monitoring for new issues and updated information
• Integration with common NZB and torrent download clients, plus “blackhole” workflows
• Automatic grabbing, sorting, and configurable file/folder renaming
• Weekly pull-list browsing and monitoring, including viewing releases weeks ahead
• Library scanning to find and download missing issues
• Failed-download handling to retry with alternative releases
• Issue metadata tagging (built on a modified ComicTagger) and series information export
• Notifications for snatches/downloads via supported notification services
• Story-arc tracking to help maintain reading order across series

Use Cases

• Automatically keep up with ongoing comic series and new weekly releases
• Repair and complete an existing library by detecting and fetching missing issues
• Standardize naming, folder layout, and embedded metadata for reader apps and managers

Limitations and Considerations

• Primarily focused on comic formats (CBR/CBZ); trade paperbacks/graphic novels are monitored with some workflow limitations
• Requires working indexer/provider configuration and compatible download clients for best results

Mylar3 is well-suited for homelab and media-automation setups that want hands-off comic acquisition and consistent library organization. It combines release monitoring, download automation, and robust post-processing to help keep collections complete and tidy.

Kapowarr is a web-based application for building and managing a digital comic book library, designed in the style of the *arr ecosystem. It helps you organize volumes and issues with rich metadata, and automates searching, downloading, and post-processing of comic files.

Key Features

• Import existing comic libraries and map volumes to folders
• Fetch and manage metadata for volumes and issues (commonly via ComicVine)
• Automated bulk actions such as searching monitored content for entire volumes
• Manual search and selection for fine-grained control over downloads
• Post-processing: rename, move, extract archives, and organize files to your preferred structure
• Supports multiple issue types and collections (e.g., TPBs, one-shots, hardcovers)
• Familiar *arr-style web UI and configurable automation settings

Use Cases

• Maintain a structured, metadata-rich archive of digital comics
• Automate acquisition and organization of ongoing series as new issues release
• Clean up inconsistent filenames and folder layouts across an existing collection

Limitations and Considerations

• Metadata and some automation depend on third-party providers and may be affected by rate limits or provider changes

Kapowarr is well-suited for anyone who wants an automated, *arr-like workflow for comics while keeping full control over naming, folders, and download decisions. It combines library management, metadata, and post-processing to keep a comic collection consistently organized.

Atsumeru is a self-hosted media server designed to manage and serve manga, comics and light novels. It provides library organization, metadata editing and synchronization with native desktop and mobile clients.

Key Features

• Library management for series and archives with support for categories, autocategories and metacategories
• Native clients and manager apps for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android with two-way reading history sync
• Supports archive and ebook formats: CBZ, CBR, CB7, PDF, ePub (limited), FB2 (limited) and DjVu
• Metadata editing with automatic import from ComicInfo.xml and book_info.json and ability to parse from supported catalogs
• Multi-user support with separate histories and access-control features including role-based access
• REST API with OpenAPI/Swagger documentation for integration and automation
• Docker image available for containerized deployment and a runnable JAR for manual setups
• Batch download support to download whole series for offline reading

Use Cases

• Personal library: host and organize a private collection of manga, comics and light novels with rich metadata
• Small groups or household sharing: provide multi-user access with separate reading histories and access controls
• Syncing reading progress across desktop and mobile apps while maintaining local control of content

Limitations and Considerations

• ePub and FB2 support are available but have known limitations in parsing and rendering compared to archive formats
• Runs on the Java platform and requires a Java runtime for the standalone JAR deployment; resource usage scales with library size

Atsumeru is focused on providing a privacy-friendly, metadata-rich media server tailored for sequential reading formats. It is suitable for users who want local control over their manga/comics/light novel collections and integration with native reading clients.

ComicOPDS is a lightweight OPDS 1.2 server for hosting and browsing CBZ comic libraries using metadata extracted from ComicInfo.xml. It is designed to stay responsive even with very large collections and supports OPDS page streaming for compatible readers.

Key Features

• OPDS 1.2 catalog for CBZ comic libraries
• Folder-hierarchy browsing
• Full-text search using SQLite FTS5 (title, series, writer, publisher, year, and more)
• CBZ downloads
• Page streaming via OPDS Page Streaming Extension (PSE 1.1)
• Cover thumbnail extraction from CBZ files with thumbnail caching
• Web dashboard with library statistics and charts
• Smart Lists (saved search filters)
• Optional HTTP Basic Authentication
• File system watching to detect library changes and auto-update the index
• Docker and Docker Compose deployment support

Use Cases

• Self-host a large comic library for OPDS clients such as Panels (iOS)
• Provide fast search and browsing for a NAS-based CBZ collection
• Stream pages to mobile devices without downloading full archives

Limitations and Considerations

• Focused on CBZ and ComicInfo.xml; other comic formats/metadata standards may not be supported
• Some OPDS clients support downloads but not search or streaming, depending on the app

ComicOPDS is a practical option if you want a performant OPDS catalog specifically tuned for comics, with strong indexing/search, thumbnails, and optional streaming for supported readers.