A comic reader built for the Linux desktop
Pelta is a lightweight, GTK-native comic reader with sharp image upscaling, drag-and-drop .cbr and .cbz support, and no library to build. Fast to open, effortless to read, and private by default.
- Open source · AGPLv3
- Zero telemetry
- GNOME-native Flatpak
Stand Still. Stay Silent by Minna Sundberg, licensed under CC BY-NC.
Product features
Blazing fast
Built in Rust with GTK4 & libadwaita. Instant startup, buttery scrolling, and an interface that stays out of your way. Wayland-only.
Flatpak distribution
Ships as a Flatpak, so it runs the same way on any Linux distro you're on. No .appimage, no .snap, no compiling from source.
Cross-platform
A Tauri-based build takes Pelta CBR past Linux too, with the same reading experience in the browser, plus macOS and Windows.
Zombie-apocalypse proof
No cloud server, no login to keep, no sync to wait on. Your graphic novels sit on your own hard disk, unplugged from the internet.
Behaves like a file opener
Drag a .cbr, .cbz or .pdf into the window and it opens. No data hoarding, no metadata scraping.
Image processing
Lanczos resampling for smart upscaling and a matte that matches the border to your screen.
Open in your browser
Pelta CBR also runs in the browser. Drop in a .cbr or .cbz file and start reading.
The webapp decompresses the images into a cache on your device, and your files stay there.
Open the page
The Pelta Manifesto
The project has the following foundational values that guide its development:
Pelta CBR is committed to free and open source software. It will never be for sale, and it stays that way through our GNU AGPLv3 license.
Built by humans, for humans. This project is community-driven. Our aim is to improve the lives of users and the Linux desktop as a whole.
We are committed to GNOME-first development. Pelta CBR was conceived for GNOME and tracks the latest GNOME release. It will remain the desktop we target first, even as the Tauri build brings it to other platforms.
Aesthetics matter as much as features. Reading comics on the Linux desktop should be visually pleasing and enjoyable, built on consistent, familiar design patterns. New users should be able to open a comic without ever reaching for documentation.
No accounts. No tracking. No noise. Every feature has to earn its place by making reading better.
These principles are heavily inspired by The Hylki Manifesto and Calm Products for a Chaotic World.
Whoami
I am Leonardo Betti, a product designer living in London, UK. Pelta CBR is a hobby project I build in my spare time. If it is useful, you are welcome to support it on Ko-fi. Donations help fund an iOS release that isn’t ready yet.
