Is it possible to beat free Calibre?
You can't beat free product in price, but you can beat it in value. Calibre is free. It's an open source software supported by large community. Thousands of developers create new plugins, submit bugs and fix them. You may call it collective intelligence. But communities - is not the best way to create a quality product. In fact all the best products in the world are created by small professional teams. That is why every day we see that one or two Calibre users switch to Alfa Ebooks Manager. If you also want to try Alfa, press Download.
Calibre vs Alfa Ebooks Manager
The first Alfa's advantage over Calibre, which is obvious from the first sight is more beautiful and comfortable user interface. The point is that Calibre is developed for three platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux. So the developers have to build the same software for 3 different systems and of course this imposes limitations on the variety of tools they can use. In particular they can't use Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) - the graphical subsystem by Microsoft for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. On the other hand, Alfa that is focused only on Windows-users, uses all these Microsoft's gifts to create really comfortable UI.
The second issue with Calibre is its monstrous and overkill functionality. Every developer in the large community wants to add a small function that she personally needs. Finding compromise between thousands of opinions is very difficult task. In result working with Calibre is like using a steam-hammer to crack nuts. Every operation is overloaded by options that average user won't ever need. We also receive thousands of customer feature requests, but have to be patient and not implement every feature. Thus we keep Alfa easy-to-use and beautiful.
Most users also don't like Calibre's practice of transforming your library structure in windows folders. When it creates electronic library, your book files are moved to calibre's folder. Especially it's weird in case with audio books, that have considerable size. Besides, Calibre uses to insert own fields in ebook file metadata, that sometimes violates common standards. Unlike it Alfa lets you keep your Windows folders structure in the way you like. The built-in File Manager allows to more and rename files while automatically updating paths in the e-Library. And Alfa always follows the common standards of metadata structure.
Like with any open-source product you may experience difficulties with Calibre support. The only option you have is to post your problem to community forum. Sometimes it may be answered, sometimes not. They have no obligation to support you because the software is free. At the same time every Alfa user's email that comes to us is answered.
And the last (but for some people, may be the most important) point is security. Because Calibre is open-source, it's code is open for hackers. And be sure it has exploits. Taking into account that Calibre connects to the Internet (for example to update book data), your computer gets an security flow through which your personal data can be stolen and your library can be damaged. We don't claim that Alfa doesn't have exploits, but definitely, it's much less easy and obvious target for hackers.
Import library from Calibre to Alfa
Of course we provide and easy way to move your library from Calibre to Alfa Ebooks Manager. In the File menu you can find the dedicated tool for this operation. You just need to select the calibre database file (metadata.db) and press the Load button. This will load books from Calibre.
Optionally you can select to import only books of certain Genre, Publisher or Series. Select needed books (or select all - Ctrl+A) and press Save. This will import books to Alfa's ebook catalog.
Customer review
Alfa Ebooks Manager - Simply works
Why would you consider this software over others? Put simply, Alfa simply works … every time. I can personally confirm that even years later. What I like: it works flawlessly, rapidly imports book data, searches for a title on my smartphone, shows the complete database with pictures and other relevant data. Besides, I like excellent support (usually within hours)
Kennith Druitt - Rating: 4.6 -
You can't beat free product in price, but you can beat it in value. Calibre is free. It's an open source software supported by large community. Thousands of developers create new plugins, submit bugs and fix them. You may call it collective intelligence. But communities - is not the best way to create a quality product. In fact all the best products in the world are created by small professional teams. That is why every day we see that one or two Calibre users switch to Alfa Ebooks Manager. If you also want to try Alfa, press Download.
Calibre vs Alfa Ebooks Manager
The first Alfa's advantage over Calibre, which is obvious from the first sight is more beautiful and comfortable user interface. The point is that Calibre is developed for three platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux. So the developers have to build the same software for 3 different systems and of course this imposes limitations on the variety of tools they can use. In particular they can't use Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) - the graphical subsystem by Microsoft for rendering user interfaces in Windows-based applications. On the other hand, Alfa that is focused only on Windows-users, uses all these Microsoft's gifts to create really comfortable UI.
The second issue with Calibre is its monstrous and overkill functionality. Every developer in the large community wants to add a small function that she personally needs. Finding compromise between thousands of opinions is very difficult task. In result working with Calibre is like using a steam-hammer to crack nuts. Every operation is overloaded by options that average user won't ever need. We also receive thousands of customer feature requests, but have to be patient and not implement every feature. Thus we keep Alfa easy-to-use and beautiful.
Most users also don't like Calibre's practice of transforming your library structure in windows folders. When it creates electronic library, your book files are moved to calibre's folder. Especially it's weird in case with audio books, that have considerable size. Besides, Calibre uses to insert own fields in ebook file metadata, that sometimes violates common standards. Unlike it Alfa lets you keep your Windows folders structure in the way you like. The built-in File Manager allows to more and rename files while automatically updating paths in the e-Library. And Alfa always follows the common standards of metadata structure.
Like with any open-source product you may experience difficulties with Calibre support. The only option you have is to post your problem to community forum. Sometimes it may be answered, sometimes not. They have no obligation to support you because the software is free. At the same time every Alfa user's email that comes to us is answered.
And the last (but for some people, may be the most important) point is security. Because Calibre is open-source, it's code is open for hackers. And be sure it has exploits. Taking into account that Calibre connects to the Internet (for example to update book data), your computer gets an security flow through which your personal data can be stolen and your library can be damaged. We don't claim that Alfa doesn't have exploits, but definitely, it's much less easy and obvious target for hackers.
Import library from Calibre to Alfa
Of course we provide and easy way to move your library from Calibre to Alfa Ebooks Manager. In the File menu you can find the dedicated tool for this operation. You just need to select the calibre database file (metadata.db) and press the Load button. This will load books from Calibre. Optionally you can select to import only books of certain Genre, Publisher or Series. Select needed books (or select all - Ctrl+A) and press Save. This will import books to Alfa's ebook catalog.
Customer review
Alfa Ebooks Manager - Simply works
Why would you consider this software over others? Put simply, Alfa simply works … every time. I can personally confirm that even years later. What I like: it works flawlessly, rapidly imports book data, searches for a title on my smartphone, shows the complete database with pictures and other relevant data. Besides, I like excellent support (usually within hours)
Kennith Druitt - Rating: 4.6 -
Rated 4.5/5 based on 11 customer reviews
