KOReader vs Nickel: which reader to use on a Kobo
Nickel is Kobo's own software. KOReader is the community alternative that runs alongside it. Here is what each does better, and why most Kobo tinkerers end up using both.
Last updated September 2026
Nickel is the name of the software your Kobo shipped with — the home screen, the store, the reader. KOReader is a separate reading app you can install alongside it without removing anything. Installing KOReader does not replace Nickel; it adds an icon that switches to KOReader, and closing KOReader drops you back into Nickel.
So the real question is not “which one” — it is “which one for what”.
What Nickel does better
- The Kobo store and library borrowing. Buying books, and OverDrive / Libby library loans, only work in Nickel. KOReader cannot open a DRM-locked store or library book.
- Kobo Plus and Pocket. The subscription catalogue and the read-it-later integration are Nickel-only.
- It just works. No setup, no dense menus. Sync with your Kobo account, reading stats in the Kobo app, sleep-screen covers.
- Fewer sharp edges. It cannot really be misconfigured.
What KOReader does better
- Typography. Real control over margins, line spacing, hyphenation, font weight, and per-font rendering. Nickel exposes a fraction of this, and hides some of it behind its own patched fonts.
- Formats. CBZ, CBR, FB2, DjVu, and a genuinely usable PDF mode with crop and column support. Nickel’s PDF and CBZ handling is poor.
- Custom dictionaries, Wallabag, RSS, OPDS. Built in.
- Progress sync that is not tied to a store. The same reading position on a Kobo, a phone and a Kindle, through KOReader’s own sync.
- Statistics you own. Detailed reading-time tracking stored on the device.
What Nickel does that KOReader can be made to do
Nickel’s own weaknesses — a cluttered home screen, no folder view, awkward collections — are mostly fixable with the Kobo mods (NickelMenu and friends) rather than by switching to KOReader. If your complaint is the home screen, not the reading experience, that is the lighter path.
How most people settle it
Read store and library books in Nickel, because you have no choice, and read your own EPUBs, PDFs and comics in KOReader, because it is better at them. The KOReader icon on the Nickel home screen makes flipping between them a single tap. Set KOReader’s progress sync so a book you start in one carries over if you open it in the other on another device.
If you only ever read Kobo-store purchases, KOReader has little to offer you. If you sideload most of your books, it is the reason to own a Kobo rather than a Kindle.