How to Self-Host Kavita 2026

TL;DR

Kavita (GPL 3.0, ~6K GitHub stars, C#) is a self-hosted digital library server for manga, comics, and books. It reads CBZ/CBR (comics), EPUB (ebooks), and PDF files, tracks your reading progress across devices, and organizes series automatically from folder structure. Kindle Unlimited is $9.99/month for a rotating selection. Kavita serves your own collection — everything you've purchased, downloaded, or converted — for free. Pair it with a tablet or the Paperback iOS app for a near-native reading experience.

Key Takeaways

Kavita: GPL 3.0, ~6K stars, C# — manga/comics/books server with reading progress sync
Formats: CBZ, CBR, CB7, PDF (comics/manga), EPUB, PDF (books) — all major formats
Series detection: Automatically groups volumes by series from folder/filename patterns
OPDS: Expose your library as an OPDS catalog for any compatible reading app
Reading progress: Tracks page/chapter progress per book, syncs across devices
vs Jellyfin: Jellyfin is for video/audio; Kavita is the equivalent for books/comics

Kavita vs Komga vs Calibre-Web

Feature	Kavita	Komga	Calibre-Web
License	GPL 3.0	MIT	GPL 3.0
Focus	Manga + Comics + Books	Manga + Comics	Books (EPUB)
OPDS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Formats	CBZ/CBR/EPUB/PDF	CBZ/CBR/PDF	EPUB/PDF/MOBI
Series grouping	Auto	Auto	Manual/Calibre
Reading in browser	Yes	Yes	Yes
Progress sync	Yes	Yes	No
User management	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metadata fetch	AniList/MangaDex	AniList/MangaDex	Google Books

Part 1: Docker Setup

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  kavita:
    image: jvmilazz0/kavita:latest
    container_name: kavita
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5000:5000"
    volumes:
      - /path/to/your/manga:/manga        # Your manga library
      - /path/to/your/comics:/comics      # Your comics library
      - /path/to/your/books:/books        # Your ebooks library
      - kavita_config:/kavita/config
    environment:
      TZ: America/Los_Angeles

volumes:
  kavita_config:

docker compose up -d

Visit http://your-server:5000 → complete initial setup wizard.

Part 2: HTTPS with Caddy

library.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5000
}

Part 3: Library Organization

Kavita reads your folder structure to identify series. Use this structure:

Manga library

/manga/
├── Attack on Titan/
│   ├── Attack on Titan v01.cbz
│   ├── Attack on Titan v02.cbz
│   └── Attack on Titan v03.cbz
├── One Piece/
│   ├── One Piece v001.cbz
│   └── One Piece v002.cbz
└── Demon Slayer/
    ├── Chapter 001.cbz
    └── Chapter 002.cbz

Comics library

/comics/
├── Batman/
│   ├── Batman #001 (1940).cbz
│   └── Batman #002 (1940).cbz
└── Spider-Man/
    ├── Amazing Spider-Man v01 #001.cbz
    └── Amazing Spider-Man v01 #002.cbz

Books library

/books/
├── Dune/
│   ├── Dune (1965) - Frank Herbert.epub
│   └── Dune Messiah (1969) - Frank Herbert.epub
└── Technical/
    ├── Clean Code - Robert C Martin.epub
    └── The Pragmatic Programmer.epub

Part 4: First Setup

Add libraries

Admin → Libraries → Add Library
Name: Manga, Comics, or Books
Type: Manga / Comic / Book (affects how Kavita scans)
Folder: /manga (the mounted path)
Save → Scan Library

Scan and metadata

After scanning, Kavita:

Groups files into series by folder name
Detects volume/chapter numbers from filenames
Fetches metadata from AniList (manga) or Marvel/ComicVine (comics)

Part 5: OPDS Feed

OPDS (Open Publication Distribution System) lets any compatible reading app connect to Kavita:

OPDS URL: https://library.yourdomain.com/api/opds/YOUR_API_KEY

Find your API key: Profile → User API Key

Compatible OPDS reading apps

App	Platform	Notes
Paperback	iOS	Best manga app for iPhone/iPad — free
Chunky Comic Reader	iPad	Excellent CBZ reader for iPad
Panels	iOS/macOS	Clean comic reader with OPDS
Moon+ Reader	Android	EPUB/PDF with OPDS support
KOReader	E-Ink	Best for e-readers (Kobo, Kindle)
Tachiyomi (Mihon)	Android	Manga reader with OPDS extension

Paperback (iOS) setup

Install Paperback from App Store
Settings → Trackers → + Add source
Choose "Kavita (OPDS)"
URL: https://library.yourdomain.com
API Key: your Kavita API key
Your manga library appears in Paperback

Part 6: Reading in Browser

Kavita has a built-in web reader:

Browse library → Click series → Click volume/chapter
Web reader opens with:
- Left/right navigation (click sides or arrow keys)
- Reading direction: Left→Right or Right→Left (manga mode)
- Page fit: Width, Height, Original, Full
- Double-page spread mode
- Bookmarks

Mobile web reader

The web reader is responsive and works on phones:

Tap left → previous page
Tap right → next page
Tap center → show controls

Part 7: Metadata and Covers

Fetch metadata automatically

Admin → Tasks → Refresh Metadata
Kavita connects to:
- AniList — for manga series info, descriptions, genres
- MangaDex — for manga covers and descriptions
- ComicVine — for Western comics

Manual metadata override

Right-click series → Edit Metadata:

Custom cover image (paste URL or upload)
Summary, genres, tags
Publication status, year

Cover images

Kavita uses embedded covers in CBZ files. Add custom cover:

# CBZ = ZIP file — add cover.jpg as the first file:
unzip series_v01.cbz -d /tmp/cbz
cp custom-cover.jpg /tmp/cbz/!cover.jpg  # ! sorts first alphabetically
cd /tmp/cbz && zip -r ../series_v01.cbz .

# Create users in Admin → Users:
# - Admin: full access
# - User: read library, track progress
# - Guest: read-only, no progress tracking

# Share specific libraries:
# Admin → Libraries → select library → Manage Access
# → Grant access to specific users only

Reading lists and collections

+ → Create Reading List — ordered list of chapters across series
+ → Create Collection — group related series (e.g., "Isekai favorites")

Maintenance

# Update:
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

# Backup (config only — your files are on your filesystem):
tar -czf kavita-config-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz \
  $(docker volume inspect kavita_kavita_config --format '{{.Mountpoint}}')

# Trigger library scan:
# Admin → Libraries → Scan All Libraries

# Logs:
docker compose logs -f kavita

# Check disk usage by library:
# Admin → Dashboard → Storage stats

Why Self-Host Kavita?

The case for self-hosting Kavita comes down to three practical factors: data ownership, cost at scale, and operational control.

Data ownership is the fundamental argument. When you use a SaaS version of any tool, your data lives on someone else's infrastructure subject to their terms of service, their security practices, and their business continuity. If the vendor raises prices, gets acquired, changes API limits, or shuts down, you're left scrambling. Self-hosting Kavita means your data and configuration stay on infrastructure you control — whether that's a VPS, a bare metal server, or a home lab.

Cost at scale matters once you move beyond individual use. Most SaaS equivalents charge per user or per data volume. A self-hosted instance on a $10-20/month VPS typically costs less than per-user SaaS pricing for teams of five or more — and the cost doesn't scale linearly with usage. One well-configured server handles dozens of users for a flat monthly fee.

Operational control is the third factor. The Docker Compose configuration above exposes every setting that commercial equivalents often hide behind enterprise plans: custom networking, environment variables, storage backends, and authentication integrations. You decide when to update, how to configure backups, and what access controls to apply.

The honest tradeoff: you're responsible for updates, backups, and availability. For teams running any production workloads, this is familiar territory. For individuals, the learning curve is real but the tooling (Docker, Caddy, automated backups) is well-documented and widely supported.

Server Requirements and Sizing

Before deploying Kavita, assess your server capacity against expected workload.

Minimum viable setup: A 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM VPS with 20GB SSD is sufficient for personal use or small teams. Most consumer VPS providers — Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr — offer machines in this range for $5-10/month. Hetzner offers excellent price-to-performance for European and US regions.

Recommended production setup: 2 vCPUs with 4GB RAM and 40GB SSD handles most medium deployments without resource contention. This gives Kavita headroom for background tasks, caching, and concurrent users while leaving capacity for other services on the same host.

Storage planning: The Docker volumes in this docker-compose.yml store all persistent Kavita data. Estimate your storage growth rate early — for data-intensive tools, budget for 3-5x your initial estimate. Hetzner Cloud and Vultr both support online volume resizing without stopping your instance.

Operating system: Any modern 64-bit Linux distribution works. Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and Debian 12 are the most commonly tested configurations. Ensure Docker Engine 24.0+ and Docker Compose v2 are installed — verify with docker --version and docker compose version. Avoid Docker Desktop on production Linux servers; it adds virtualization overhead and behaves differently from Docker Engine in ways that cause subtle networking issues.

Network: Only ports 80 and 443 need to be publicly accessible when running behind a reverse proxy. Internal service ports should be bound to localhost only. A minimal UFW firewall that blocks all inbound traffic except SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS is the single most effective security measure for a self-hosted server.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Running Kavita without a tested backup strategy is an unacceptable availability risk. Docker volumes are not automatically backed up — if you delete a volume or the host fails, data is gone with no recovery path.

What to back up: The named Docker volumes containing Kavita's data (database files, user uploads, application state), your docker-compose.yml and any customized configuration files, and .env files containing secrets.

Backup approach: For simple setups, stop the container, archive the volume contents, then restart. For production environments where stopping causes disruption, use filesystem snapshots or database dump commands (PostgreSQL pg_dump, SQLite .backup, MySQL mysqldump) that produce consistent backups without downtime.

For a complete automated backup workflow that ships snapshots to S3-compatible object storage, see the Restic + Rclone backup guide. Restic handles deduplication and encryption; Rclone handles multi-destination uploads. The same setup works for any Docker volume.

Backup cadence: Daily backups to remote storage are a reasonable baseline for actively used tools. Use a 30-day retention window minimum — long enough to recover from mistakes discovered weeks later. For critical data, extend to 90 days and use a secondary destination.

Restore testing: A backup that has never been restored is a backup you cannot trust. Once a month, restore your Kavita backup to a separate Docker Compose stack on different ports and verify the data is intact. This catches silent backup failures, script errors, and volume permission issues before they matter in a real recovery.

Security Hardening

Self-hosting means you are responsible for Kavita's security posture. The Docker Compose setup provides a functional base; production deployments need additional hardening.

Always use a reverse proxy: Never expose Kavita's internal port directly to the internet. The docker-compose.yml binds to localhost; Caddy or Nginx provides HTTPS termination. Direct HTTP access transmits credentials in plaintext. A reverse proxy also centralizes TLS management, rate limiting, and access logging.

Strong credentials: Change default passwords immediately after first login. For secrets in docker-compose environment variables, generate random values with openssl rand -base64 32 rather than reusing existing passwords.

Firewall configuration:

ufw default deny incoming
ufw allow 22/tcp
ufw allow 80/tcp
ufw allow 443/tcp
ufw enable

Internal service ports (databases, admin panels, internal APIs) should only be reachable from localhost or the Docker network, never directly from the internet.

Network isolation: Docker Compose named networks keep Kavita's services isolated from other containers on the same host. Database containers should not share networks with containers that don't need direct database access.

VPN access for sensitive services: For internal-only tools, restricting access to a VPN adds a strong second layer. Headscale is an open source Tailscale control server that puts your self-hosted stack behind a WireGuard mesh, eliminating public internet exposure for internal tools.

Update discipline: Subscribe to Kavita's GitHub releases page to receive security advisory notifications. Schedule a monthly maintenance window to pull updated images. Running outdated container images is the most common cause of self-hosted service compromises.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Container exits immediately or won't start

Check logs first — they almost always explain the failure:

docker compose logs -f kavita

Common causes: a missing required environment variable, a port already in use, or a volume permission error. Port conflicts appear as bind: address already in use. Find the conflicting process with ss -tlpn | grep PORT and either stop it or change Kavita's port mapping in docker-compose.yml.

Cannot reach the web interface

Work through this checklist:

Confirm the container is running: docker compose ps
Test locally on the server: curl -I http://localhost:PORT
If local access works but external doesn't, check your firewall: ufw status
If using a reverse proxy, verify it's running and the config is valid: caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

Permission errors on volume mounts

Some containers run as a non-root user. If the Docker volume is owned by root, the container process cannot write to it. Find the volume's host path with docker volume inspect VOLUME_NAME, check the tool's documentation for its expected UID, and apply correct ownership:

chown -R 1000:1000 /var/lib/docker/volumes/your_volume/_data

High resource usage over time

Memory or CPU growing continuously usually indicates unconfigured log rotation, an unbound cache, or accumulated data needing pruning. Check current usage with docker stats kavita. Add resource limits in docker-compose.yml to prevent one container from starving others. For ongoing visibility into resource trends, deploy Prometheus + Grafana or Netdata.

Data disappears after container restart

Data stored in the container's writable layer — rather than a named volume — is lost when the container is removed or recreated. This happens when the volume mount path in docker-compose.yml doesn't match where the application writes data. Verify mount paths against the tool's documentation and correct the mapping. Named volumes persist across container removal; only docker compose down -v deletes them.

Keeping Kavita Updated

Kavita follows a regular release cadence. Staying current matters for security patches and compatibility. The update process with Docker Compose is straightforward:

docker compose pull          # Download updated images
docker compose up -d         # Restart with new images
docker image prune -f        # Remove old image layers (optional)

Read the changelog before major version updates. Some releases include database migrations or breaking configuration changes. For major version bumps, test in a staging environment first — run a copy of the service on different ports with the same volume data to validate the migration before touching production.

Version pinning: For stability, pin to a specific image tag in docker-compose.yml instead of latest. Update deliberately after reviewing the changelog. This trades automatic patch delivery for predictable behavior — the right call for business-critical services.

Post-update verification: After updating, confirm Kavita is functioning correctly. Most services expose a /health endpoint that returns HTTP 200 — curl it from the server or monitor it with your uptime tool.

See all open source media library tools at OSSAlt.com/categories/media.

The SaaS-to-Self-Hosted Migration Guide (Free PDF)